Chapter 16 - Having a Conscience

Editor: mako

Proofreader: kllua

For the first family they went to, the child’s father was a primary school teacher.

Due to his son’s disappearance, his wife had fallen ill, and he had searched all the places he could find and think of. “I asked for leave from school to wait for news at home. Could it be that the kidnapper abducted Xiao Jie for ransom?”

In today’s world, if a child was lost, one could only hope that they were kidnapped for ransom, as this was the only way in which they might be returned.

As Huo ZhenYe was not used to this kind of situation, he told Da Tou to talk to the man while he wandered around the house.

Although the economic status of this family was not exceptional, their household was maintained well. They even partitioned a room for the little boy with a wooden board, and inside, it contained his reading materials and toys.

Huo ZhenYe looked around carefully, but he did not see anything peculiar about this family.

After the first house, they headed to the second house, where the child’s father was a small government employee. They had two children, and it was the youngest son who had been abducted.

The eldest daughter, who was in her early teens, comforted her mother in the house while pouring tea for Huo ZhenYe and Da Tou. She asked with high expectations, “Father has gone out to find his friends for suggestions. Uncle, do you have any news regarding Xiao Kai?”

Da Tou shook his head. “We are currently trying our best. The more evidence we have, the faster we can find your brother.”

On the wall, there hung a picture of the whole family, and the little boy in the picture was white and chubby. At that time, his sister was holding him in her arms as she smiled towards the camera.

When Da Tou was conducting the questioning, Huo ZhenYe looked around the house, and the sister attentively showed him the things belonging to her brother. “Xiao Kai hasn’t learned how to read yet, so he’s been learning to recognize words with me. This was what he wrote.”

Huo ZhenYe, who found it hard to refuse the little girl, picked up the book. He flipped through two pages before praising, “He writes well.”

The girl’s eyes reddened, and she held back her tears. “Mister, please find my brother.”

At only five years old, her brother was the youngest amongst all the missing children. Huo ZhenYe thought before saying, “Your brother is the youngest, and the possibility of those younger being saved is greater than older children.”

When the girl heard this, she quickly passed such words to her mother in the room, “Mother, Uncle said that my brother will definitely return.”

Through the door, they could hear the woman sobbing softly. With her head bowed, she appeared as if she could not bear to listen on anymore.

When they left, Da Tou asked Huo ZhenYe hopefully, “Young Master Huo, is what you said true?”

Huo ZhenYe’s words were not entirely false, and it was what he had inferred according to reason. “It is true that the younger the child is, the more likely they are to live. After all, small children are more likely to forget their parents.”

Some children would regard their abductors as their parents and submit themselves to oppression, making it easier for them to survive.

However, for those older children, they were harder to sell and were more likely to create loud disturbances. So, they were usually abandoned or had their corpses dumped somewhere.

Da Tou turned silent. When they first set off, he was full of confidence, but after visiting the two families, his heart felt heavy.

When they arrived at the third house, Da Tou was filled with even more pity, as the child’s mother was a widow. The first two families had their husbands and daughters for comfort, but she only had herself.

She asked Da Tou a similar question, “Could it be a kidnapper? It was written in the newspaper that those kidnappers would request a ransom. As long as my child is returned to me, I can give them anything.”

Da Tou wanted to promise her that he would find her son, but he could not say it. He could only keep saying, “We will try our best.”

When they went out of the door, Da Tou’s eyes turned red. “Young Master Huo, there are no useful clues.”

Huo ZhenYe slowly exhaled and said, “There is. Besides having the same birthday, they have another thing in common.”

Da Tou blinked, and his two eyes were as wide as copper bells. No matter how, he did not see any similarity at all.

The three families had different social statuses, occupations, varying complexity of interpersonal relationships, and different personalities. So how were they similar? They obviously had no contact with each other at all.

“What… What do they have in common?”

At this point in time, Huo ZhenYe, who had been bustling for about half a day, was already hungry. He drove to a coffee stall on the street and bought two cups of coffee with two cream buns.

The Russians had opened bakeries in the settlement. In addition to selling bread, they also set up several tables and chairs on the road to sell coffee, black tea, and snacks. The taste of their bread was nothing exceptional, but it was better than hunger. It was their cream snacks and ice cream that were unique.

The diners were mainly British. At 3:15 p.m. every day, the street would be filled with those dining on coffee and snacks. There were sailors, businessmen, and even priests from the church opposite the street.

Huo ZhenYe also bought a bag of gem biscuits which were butter cookies topped with red and green sweet icing. Resembling gemstones, they were called gem biscuits, and it was a favorite among children.

He put the bag of biscuits in the car before drinking the coffee and eating the bread.

At this point in time, Da Tou was very curious. “So, what do they have in common?”

Huo ZhenYe gazed at the church across the road before nodding. “They are all religious.”

Da Tou tried his hardest to recall as he asked, “How do you know that?”

Huo ZhenYe smiled. “I did not notice it at first either. In the first house, there is a small porcelain statue of the Virgin Mary on the windowsill. Meanwhile, the woman from the third household constantly grasps the cross in front of her chest when talking to you.” She might have been praying for her child’s return.

“What about the second family?” From Da Tou’s memories, he remembered that the second family had nothing to prove that they were religious.

“The little boy’s writing book was issued by the church.”

When foreign religions first entered, they would first present their benefits in order to attract believers and show their differences from local religions.

For example, children could learn English with priests in church for free. Although they studied the Bible, it could still be considered as learning a foreign language. Children were also given Christmas presents during Christmas.

Many households with passable family conditions knew the importance of literacy, but they did not have the financial resources to send their children to an English school. In the end, they would embrace the religion because of the convenience it brought forth.

Da Tou’s mouth was agape. “Young Master Huo, how do you grow such a brain?”

“I still don’t know if this similarity will be useful or not.” Huo ZhenYe drank a gulp of bitter coffee before continuing, “However, at least it is a common factor.”

Hearing that, Da Tou’s whole body filled with energy, and he copied Huo ZhenYe’s action and took a gulp of the coffee. After drinking, his face wrinkled like an old orange peel as he spluttered, “I will then ask those parents if they know each other!”

Huo ZhenYe interjected with a smile, “You do not have to go back to those three houses. You can just go to the church and ask.”

There were many churches in the settlement, but this was the one that was found equidistant to the three families and was somewhere they could reach by tram.

Father John from the church was very polite. This was because Huo ZhenYe could speak English, and he appeared wealthy. So, even if Huo ZhenYe brought a policeman into the church, he did not drive them away.

When Father John knew that the children from their congregation were currently missing, he was extremely sorrowful. “God will definitely punish the one responsible. I will pray for the children.”

After that, Father John tried to persuade Huo ZhenYe to join the religion, saying that his entry to church was also God’s intention.

Huo ZhenYe gave a slight smile. “Then we must send the one responsible to meet God as soon as possible.”

Da Tou, who heard Huo ZhenYe talking to the priest in a series of fluent English, was surprised. As soon as the priest left, he quickly asked, “What did the westerner say?”

The first and second households were indeed part of his congregations and would listen to his sermon every week. However, there was one that was not on the list.

Besides, they did not worship in the same church and did not know each other.

Like this, the clue broke off here once again, and Da Tou was very dispirited. He thought that they had finally found an important clue and could solve the case to find the three children!

However, it turned out useless. It has been five days since the first child disappeared, and Da Tou knew that the longer it took, the harder it would be to bring them back.

“Let’s go eat first.” They found a noodle shop for a meal that was filling and time-saving.

Da Tou, who did not have an appetite, pushed his noodles around and asked Huo ZhenYe, “Young Master Huo, what shall we do next?”

Huo ZhenYe’s noodle bowl was placed in front of him. He picked at the fine noodles with his chopsticks, but he did not take a bite. He threw down his chopsticks and said, “I’ll be going somewhere, so you should go back to the precinct and see if they found any new clues. I’ll be finding my informant.”

Da Tou was filled with deep admiration. Young Master Huo was indeed the young master. He had only been a consultant for a few days, but he already had an informant.

Huo ZhenYe ran out of the noodle shop and went straight to the Bai’s house.

Ah Xiu, who heard two long knocks and one short knock in succession, quickly opened the door.

“Has he fallen asleep?” At this time, Bai Zhun would usually be taking an afternoon nap.

Ah Xiu shook her head and nodded towards the courtyard.

Bai Zhun was sitting on a bamboo rocking chair. With his eyes closed, he was basking under the sun in the courtyard.

“Tch, why are you here again?” Bai Zhun impatiently opened his eyes. However, after noticing the look on Huo ZhenYe’s face, he changed his tone, “What is it?”

“I came here for proper business.” Huo ZhenYe took out a piece of paper from his pocket, on which he copied the names and birthdays of the three missing children. “These children are missing. Can you find them?”

Bai Zhun turned his face back, looked at the sun in the courtyard before closing his eyes and replying, “I can if they are dead.”

Huo ZhenYe’s hands that were holding the paper tightened before he handed the white paper to Bai Zhun. Knowing that it would expend Bai Zhun’s energy, he said solemnly, “Please help.”

Bai Zhun slowly exhaled. A troublemaker would always be a troublemaker. Now, besides making trouble, he also wanted to interfere with trouble.

He held out three fingers. “Three times.”

Huo Zhenye did not understand, so Bai Zhun hummed, “You owe me three times.”

Jin DanGui was one time, and the current situation was another. What was the other time?

Huo ZhenYe did not have time to think further, so he earnestly agreed, “Okay, I owe you three times.”

Bai Zhun was satisfied. With a move of his fingertips, a paper servant cleaned up the courtyard and brought forth the incense burner.

Bai Zhun picked out three incense sticks from the incense holder and recited the names and birthdays of the three children in his heart. He then lit the incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner.

The three wisps of smoke first rose straight before intertwining with each other.

Huo ZhenYe silently looked at this scene in front of him. While he had hoped for clues, he also hoped that there was no news. Despite that, whether the information found was good or bad, at least he would know something.

“They are not dead yet.”

Huo ZhenYe breathed a sigh of relief. As long as they were still alive, he still had time to save them.

The smoke should have risen straight into the air, but it turned out to wind and entangle with each other. Bai Zhun, who felt benevolent, added, “They are together.”

This was in line with Huo ZhenYe’s guess. The abductor had a certain objective when choosing the target.

Huo ZhenYe hurried out. Seeing how he ran off without even saying bye, Bai Zhun’s expression turned bad. However, before his temper flared, Huo ZhenYe ran back.

Panting, he handed Bai Zhun a paper bag. “This is for you.”

After saying that, he ran away again. Throughout this process, the doors of the Bai family opened and closed repeatedly, causing Bai Zhun to frown at the noise.

It was only when Huo ZhenYe truly left that he took a look at the white paper bag. The paper bag vaguely exuded a sugary fragrance. When it was opened, inside was a bag of biscuits where each piece was topped with red and green transparent icing.

Bai Zhun’s face thawed. Huo ZhenYe could still be considered as someone with a conscience.

Taking a piece between two fingers, Bai Zhun put it to his mouth and took a small bite.

“Ah Xiu, make tea.” One could hear a tinge of happiness in his words.