PD -Chapter 45 No Body, Dead or Alive

I was jolted awake early in the morning by my alarm. Fighting off my exhaustion, I got out of bed, packed my things, and headed to the hospital to pick up Tang Shanshan.

Originally, Zhu Zhu had planned to come with us. That immediately gave me a headache. One tagalong was already more than enough—if another joined us, I really wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Fortunately, after a lot of persuasion, Zhu Zhu finally gave up the idea. Although Zhu Shengxing had mostly recovered after suffering the backlash from the Soul-Nurturing Jar, he still needed someone to stay by his side.

Besides, Zhu Zhu had been running back and forth between her father and Tang Shanshan these past few days. She was exhausted herself. Now she could finally spend some proper time with her father.

Although Zhu Zhu wasn’t coming with us, she happened to notice my van, which Liu Xiaopeng had just finished repairing. She immediately frowned.

“You’re taking Shanshan there in that?”

I casually tossed my bag into the vehicle and replied, “Yeah. It may look shabby, but it’s tough as nails.”

“No, no, no. How can Shanshan suffer riding in something like this?” Zhu Zhu grabbed Tang Shanshan’s arm and stared disapprovingly at my van.

“Miss Zhu, I don’t like the sound of that,” I said, rolling my eyes as I patted the dirty rear end of the van. “Don’t underestimate my old van. Haven’t you heard? This is a legendary vehicle.”

Zhu Zhu simply shook her head and ignored me. Instead, she pulled out her phone and started making calls. From what I gathered, she was telling a driver to bring a car over from the Zhu residence.

Before long, Uncle Tian arrived in a Mercedes-Benz G-Class and parked it right beside my battered van.

“Miss,” Uncle Tian greeted respectfully.

“Give them the keys. We’ll take a taxi back,” Zhu Zhu said before turning to Tang Shanshan. “Shanshan, do you really have to go?”

Tang Shanshan nodded.

“I have to see it for myself. I keep feeling that… whatever happens next, I still have some connection to that place.”

“Then be careful. Call me immediately if anything happens.”

Zhu Zhu was clearly worried sick. After saying that, she turned to me.

“Brother Han, you have to take good care of Shanshan. If anything happens to her, I won’t let you off.”

I thought to myself that rich young ladies were really troublesome, but I still put on a reassuring smile and promised her everything would be fine.

After a lengthy round of farewells and fussing, we finally transferred all our equipment into the G-Class.

Originally, I had planned to let Liu Xiaopeng drive while I caught some rest. But with a Mercedes G-Class sitting right in front of me, my hands started itching. The moment I slid into the driver’s seat, I felt like I’d transformed into a wealthy young elite.

The town where the accident had occurred was called Zhengji Town, about fifty kilometers from where we were.

After driving along the national highway for roughly an hour, we arrived in town. After asking around, we learned that the pond where the incident occurred was located in a nearby village. The village itself was named after the pond:

Longtan Village—Dragon Pool Village.

Longtan Village was fairly remote, another half-hour drive from the town. Following the GPS, we eventually arrived at the dam that had appeared in the news footage.

By then, it was nearly noon.

Worried that the vehicle would attract too much attention, we parked it in a secluded spot and walked down the embankment toward the pond.

The rescue teams had already withdrawn. The tense, dramatic scenes from the previous night were completely gone.

Only a few layers of police tape remained, surrounding an area about five meters from the water’s edge.

A middle-aged policeman spotted us approaching. He stood up from where he had been squatting and asked in the local dialect:

“What are you folks doing here?”

“Officer, we’re reporters from the city,” I replied.

After Liu Xiaopeng’s previous experience, I had come to realize that being a reporter was an extremely useful cover identity.

The officer frowned and stepped out from behind the police tape, carefully examining us.

“Wasn’t this already reported yesterday? There’s nothing left to see here. Everyone’s gone.”

“Have the children… been found?” I asked.

The officer shook his head and sighed.

“The rescue team sent five divers down there. They even used sonar detection equipment. They searched all night and found absolutely nothing.”

“How is that possible?” Liu Xiaopeng blurted out. “Whether they’re alive or dead, there should at least be bodies. You can’t just find nothing.”

The officer’s expression darkened instantly at the mention of the word dead.

Tang Shanshan sensed the change in atmosphere and quickly tugged on Liu Xiaopeng’s sleeve, signaling him to stop talking.

Nine children had vanished together. In a peaceful village like this, it was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Everyone was terrified.

At such a sensitive moment, even though people all knew the possibility in their hearts, nobody wanted to say that word aloud.

“I’m sorry, Officer,” I quickly smoothed things over. “My colleague is just very straightforward. Please don’t take it personally.”

I handed him an unopened bottle of mineral water.

Only then did his expression soften.

After taking a sip, he said:

“Actually, what he said makes sense. If the children really fell into the pond, then regardless of whether they were alive or dead, we should have found something.”

“But even sonar couldn’t detect any trace of them. That’s what makes it so strange.”

“Later, the police station and rescue teams concluded that the children probably weren’t in the pond to begin with. It’s possible something else happened to them. So we’ve withdrawn the rescue operation and redirected manpower to search the surrounding areas.”

“But someone saw them walk to the pond last night!” Tang Shanshan said, her voice trembling slightly.

She had probably remembered the scene from her dream again.

As for the witness she referred to, I wasn’t sure whether she meant the version of herself from the dream or the eyewitness mentioned in the news report.

The officer screwed the cap back onto the bottle.

“The witness is just a child. He’s older than the missing kids, but nobody can be sure whether he actually saw what he claims he saw.”

“If you want more information, go ask around in the village. The rescue personnel haven’t all left yet.”

He pointed toward the village not far ahead.

We thanked him and headed back.

Driving into the village, we immediately saw large groups of people scattered among the woods and fields near the entrance.

Some rescue workers in uniform were still there with search dogs.

The entire village was in a state of unrest.

Everyone looked exhausted.

Yet more than ten hours had passed since the previous night, and there was still not a single clue regarding the nine missing children.

“What do we do now?” Tang Shanshan asked from the passenger seat.

“Looking at the state of the village, it probably isn’t a good idea for us to start questioning people out of nowhere.”

I frowned and thought for a moment.

Then I decided to begin with the child the officer had mentioned—the one who supposedly witnessed all nine children walking toward the pond.

If school hadn’t been suspended, that child should be in class.

After considering it briefly, we turned the car around and headed straight for the elementary school in town.