PWE – Chapter 100 Two Fathers?

She returned outside the cave. The two-headed flood dragon had originally been trapped there by her.

But when she came out to look, it was nowhere to be seen.

It couldn’t possibly have escaped by itself, because it had no way of breaking the restriction she had placed on it.

So that meant…

That mysterious powerful figure must have taken it away? While she had gone inside the cave to investigate, he had quietly taken the two-headed flood dragon away?

His strength truly was unfathomable. In truth, the distance between the inside and outside of the cave wasn’t very far. Yet he had secretly taken the creature without her noticing at all. It showed just how perfectly he had concealed his aura.

Her fingers clenched tightly. She leapt into the air and quickly headed down the mountain.

She returned to the pit again and looked once more at the corpses inside it. The bodies showed no abnormalities. She was worried that the mysterious figure might come back and tamper with them again, afraid that sinister energy might appear on them once more.

Fortunately, it seemed that the mysterious figure had already given up on whatever was in the pit.

She stood beside the pit and thought for a few seconds. After flying around the entire Hongta Mountain once, she returned home.

Originally, she had gone up the mountain to figure out exactly who that powerful figure was.

But now, that person seemed even more mysterious and unfathomable.

However, she had a feeling that he might have some connection with Zhan Zeyan.

But what exactly that connection was—she neither wanted to guess nor dared to.

…

As soon as she returned home and placed the child on the bed, Zhao Lijuan brought over some food.

Zhao Lijuan set the dishes on the table and turned to Xiao Wange, saying,
“Wange, Auntie doesn’t have anything fancy at home, just some homemade dishes. You and Zhaozhao mustn’t dislike them.”

Xiao Wange glanced at the food on the table: stir-fried cured pork, scrambled eggs, and two small side dishes. These might not be much to wealthy people, but she knew Zhao Lijuan had taken out the best things her family had.

She smiled and said,
“Auntie, you’re too polite. These dishes look delicious—how could we dislike them? Zhaozhao and I both love cured pork and scrambled eggs.”

“Really? That’s good then.” Zhao Lijuan grinned happily.

She had been afraid Wange might look down on the food. After all, Wange’s life was very comfortable now, eating fresh meat every day. But fortunately, Wange didn’t mind at all. The more Zhao Lijuan looked at the girl, the more satisfied she felt.

It was just a pity that Zeyan had died so young, leaving Wange and Zhaozhao to live alone.

If necessary, she felt she should help Wange find another man. But he must be an outstanding man—only someone excellent would be worthy of Wange.

Surely Zeyan’s spirit in the afterlife would also hope Wange could find someone and live happily.

“Auntie, actually I just went up the mountain. There really are corpses in that pit—more than a dozen of them. You should ask Uncle to report it to the Public Security Bureau and let them handle it.”

Xiao Wange felt the bodies on the mountain had to be dealt with as soon as possible. Leaving them there might cause more trouble.

“More than a dozen?” Zhao Lijuan gasped. “How could there be so many?”

Xiao Wange’s expression turned serious.
“Yes, there really are that many. And we don’t even know where they came from. It’s best to report it quickly and let the authorities investigate.”

Zhao Lijuan understood the seriousness of the matter.

So she hurried outside.
“I’ll go tell the old man right now and have him go to the Public Security Bureau.”

This kind of matter had to be handled personally by him. After all, there were more than ten corpses on the mountain—a major case.

Xiao Wange didn’t say anything more and watched Zhao Lijuan leave.

…

Back in Zhaozhao’s room, Xiao Wange walked to the bedside. She raised her hand, intending to cast a spell to wake him.

But just as she lifted her hand, Zhaozhao woke up on his own.

He rubbed his eyes and looked at her, smiling sweetly.
“Mom…”

He reached out, wanting her to hold him.

Xiao Wange’s eyes flickered, and she quickly picked him up.

While marveling that the child had awakened by himself, she patted his back gently and said softly,
“It’s time for dinner. Let’s go eat.”

Zhaozhao snuggled into the crook of her neck, resting his head on her shoulder. In his soft childish voice he said,
“Mom, why did I fall asleep earlier? Did you carry me home? Mom, you worked hard—thank you.”

Then he lifted his little face and kissed her cheek.

Xiao Wange smiled and kissed his chubby cheek in return.
“It wasn’t hard at all. Being with Zhaozhao makes Mommy very happy.”

But the child waking up on his own was strange. Normally, the spell she cast would keep someone asleep until she personally lifted it. Yet he had awakened by himself.

Was the power inside his body acting up again? But she had already repaired the seal earlier—there shouldn’t be any power leaking out anymore. So why had he awakened?

“Mom, I had a dream just now,” Zhaozhao said, blinking his big round eyes. “I dreamed about Dad. But Dad was wearing black clothes and standing in a very dark place. I could barely see him. And he was very fierce. He didn’t hug me or kiss me. He just looked at me coldly, like I was someone else’s son.”

If it had been before, Xiao Wange would have thought this was just an ordinary dream.

But now she didn’t dare take it lightly.

This child was unusual—perhaps his dreams carried some special meaning.

She pressed her lips together and said,
“Maybe he was just tired. If he was tired, he couldn’t hug you.”

Zhaozhao thought for a moment, frowning slightly.
“Maybe. Because later I dreamed Dad changed into a military uniform. After that he became very gentle. He hugged me, took me to eat delicious food, and told me stories. Mom, I like Dad in the military uniform. He’s handsome and very gentle.”

Xiao Wange stroked his head.
“Then when your dad comes back, we’ll ask him to wear his uniform often.”

Zhaozhao nodded happily.
“Okay.”

Xiao Wange carried him toward the main room, but suddenly she frowned, her expression darkening slightly.

Why did she feel that the father in the child’s dream… was actually two different people?

Was it just her imagination?

…

After dinner, Xiao Wange put Zhaozhao to bed.

In the middle of the night she heard a great commotion in the village. She knew the Public Security Bureau had arrived to take the dozen corpses from the mountain.

Many villagers had probably gotten up to watch the excitement, so the whole village sounded noisy.

Xiao Wange didn’t take the child outside. It was too cold in the middle of the night, and she didn’t want him catching a chill. Besides, watching something involving corpses was not something she wanted her child to see.

The commotion lasted until around two or three in the morning.

By then, Xiao Wange and the child had already slept through a full cycle.

She had originally planned to take the child to Zhan Zeyan’s military unit.

But after thinking about it, she gave up the idea.

She already knew he was still alive.

Going to the army now would only be unnecessary trouble.

Better to sleep and avoid all the hassle.

…

On the third day, around three in the afternoon,

Xiao Wange was teaching the child how to read when the village party secretary and the village chief arrived with several police officers.

The party secretary said as soon as he saw her,
“Zeyan’s wife, these officers heard that you discovered those bodies, and that you have remarkable abilities. They want to ask you for help with something.”

The police captain standing at the front glanced at her and said politely,
“Comrade Xiao, I’m Fang Chengwu, captain from the neighboring county’s Public Security Bureau. The bodies taken from Hongta Mountain the night before last were actually all people from our county. They went missing ten days ago—all on the same day. We’ve been searching for them ever since. But we never expected they had left the county and ended up on your Hongta Mountain.”

Xiao Wange frowned slightly.

So they were from the neighboring county.

That mysterious figure was quite calculating—not abducting people nearby, but going to another county. Perhaps he feared that kidnapping people close to home would lead investigators straight to him.

“Comrade Xiao,” the captain continued, “besides those adults, eight children have also gone missing in our county. They disappeared one after another. The earliest has been missing for five days now. We’ve been investigating constantly, but it’s as if those children vanished into thin air. We have no clues at all. We heard that you’re very capable, so we hoped you could… help us find them.”

His voice carried a hint of pleading.

Eight children meant eight families.

Their county had already lost more than a dozen lives. If eight more children died, the higher authorities would surely hold them accountable.

Xiao Wange’s expression darkened slightly.
“Children are missing too?”

Could that also be the work of that mysterious figure?

“Yes, Comrade Xiao. Can you help us?” the captain asked, his eyes reddening. “The youngest child is just over three years old—about the same age as your son. The oldest is only five or six.”

Xiao Wange looked at Zhaozhao beside her. He was looking up at her.

“Mom,” he said softly, “let’s help those poor children and bring them back.”

She gently stroked his head and smiled.
“Alright. Mom will definitely find them.”

Hearing this, the captain finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Comrade Xiao, then… can you come with us now?”

He wanted to find the children as soon as possible.

Xiao Wange nodded.
“Yes. But I need to pack a few things first. Please wait a moment.”

“No problem at all,” the captain said quickly, smiling honestly.

Xiao Wange nodded and took the child into the room.

While packing, she thought quickly.

If those children had also been abducted by that mysterious figure, then going to find them might reveal some clues about him.

However…