Chapter 110: Testing the Waters
Twenty minutes passed.
A handsome young man in a brown jacket stood at the coffee shop entrance. He had short hair, wore round-framed glasses, and a black shirt underneath, looking quite professional.
This was Ronan Chen, Dodo's foster father.
"Over here!" Marcus waved towards the door.
Ronan Chen turned to look at Marcus, paused for a moment, then walked over and sat down opposite him.
Marcus picked up the coffee pot and poured him a cup.
"Sir, are you the one who spoke to me on the phone about the problems with Dodo's mother's custody agreement?"
Ronan Chen asked somewhat suspiciously.
After all, Marcus was wearing a black shirt, his muscles visible beneath it, a shaved head, and a goatee; he looked intimidating and didn't seem like a typical social worker.
"Yes, it's me. It's not just Li Ronan's agreement; she herself has serious issues."
"When was the last time you video chatted with Dodo?"
Marcus seemed confident, an attitude that made Ronan Chen uncertain.
"I video chatted with Dodo yesterday evening."
Ronan Chen looked at Marcus with some doubt, not understanding why he was asking this.
"Dodo calls you 'Dad,' and you've lived together for quite some time. As her father, you should know best the subtle changes in her. Now, think back carefully. When you video chatted with your daughter, did her eyes seem different at all?"
Marcus's words made Ronan Chen's expression tighten. After carefully considering his words, he replied hesitantly,
"It seemed a little off, it seemed... it seemed..."
"Scared!" Marcus placed his coffee cup on the table with a soft sound.
The sound seemed to strike Ronan Chen's heart as well, and he suddenly realized,
"Yes, fear. There's an unease in Dodo's eyes, but I thought it was just from adjusting to the new environment."
The more Ronan Chen thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. A child's eyes are the most revealing.
He quickly took out his phone to call Li Ronan to check on Dodo, but Marcus stopped him.
"Things aren't as simple as you think. Let me finish."
Marcus briefly recounted to Ronan Chen the story of Li Ronan, her ex-boyfriend, and another friend participating in a forbidden ritual at an abandoned ancestral site, offering their unborn child to the Mother Buddha Deity.
"How could that be? That's insane." Ronan Chen didn't believe it at all and tried to stand up, but Marcus gently pressed down on his shoulder with his left hand.
It was like being clamped in a vice; he couldn't move.
"Young people are so impatient. Today's society values evidence, and I'll naturally give you a chance to verify!"
After a moment, seeing Ronan Chen had calmed down, Marcus released his hand and told him how to verify.
Ronan Chen took a sip of coffee to calm himself, then hesitantly dialed Li Ronan's video call.
"Daddy."
Wearing a pink floral dress and a white cardigan, six-year-old Dodo appeared in the video, her smiling face adorned with two dimples.
"Hey, Dodo, where's your mom?"
Ronan Chen saw that Dodo had answered the video call and, feeling relieved, casually asked.
"Mommy went out to buy groceries. Daddy, I miss you so much."
"Daddy misses Dodo too. Last night I dreamt that Dodo was taken by bad people, and it was so hard to get her back. Dodo, how have you been with Mommy these past few days?"
Following Marcus's instructions, Ronan Chen asked calmly.
Dodo on the other end of the video call hesitated, but pouted and remained silent.
"What's wrong, Dodo? Are you not comfortable at Mommy's? Do you want Daddy to come get you?"
"Daddy, I can't leave. There's a bad man here with Mommy, and she's terrified of him. So Dodo has to stay with Mommy. Daddy, can you come and keep Mommy company and chase the bad man away?"
Dodo hesitated for a moment after hearing Ronan Chen's words, but still refused.
Ronan Chen's body tensed instantly. "Bad man" matched Marcus's description.
Marcus sat opposite Ronan Chen, made a shushing gesture, and pointed to his left eye.
He had already told Ronan Chen that if Dodo mentioned the "bad man," he absolutely could not ask questions, otherwise it would be fatally dangerous for both Dodo and himself.
"My poor Dodo, come closer, let Daddy see you."
Seeing Marcus's actions, Ronan Chen forcibly refrained from asking questions and continued speaking to Dodo.
Dodo, upon hearing this, pressed her entire face against the screen.
"Dodo, why are your eyes so red? Didn't you sleep well? Press your finger on it, let Daddy see if you're okay."
Ronan Chen instructed Dodo to pull down her lower left eyelid, his expression instantly freezing.
Sure enough, a diamond-shaped red mark appeared in the white of Dodo's left eye, below her pupil, like congealed blood.
"Thump."
A stuffed rabbit on the dresser behind Dodo suddenly fell to the floor.
Lying on its side, the rabbit's two red button eyes seemed to be staring intently at the camera on Dodo's phone.
Dodo withdrew her hand from her eyes, glanced back curiously, and then turned back again when she saw nothing unusual.
"Daddy, what's wrong?"
Ronan Chen leaned back sharply the moment the rabbit fell, as if startled.
"It's nothing, Dad just misses Dodo so much, he's getting emotional."
Ronan Chen rubbed his eyes, forcing a smile as he spoke casually.
He didn't know what had just happened, he just felt a shock, and a strange sense of dread washed over him.
Just then, the sound of a door opening came from behind Dodo, and Li Ronan, wearing a gray hoodie and a face mask, walked in.
"Dodo, who are you video chatting with?"
she asked, putting down a large bag of groceries she had bought.
"Mom, it's Dad."
Li Ronan's expression panicked for a moment, then instantly changed to a smile as she approached the camera and greeted Ronan Chen.
"Dodo, haven't you been sleeping well these past few days? And why does it look different? Is this a hotel?"
Ronan Chen saw Marcus dip his finger in water and write "address" on the table, and asked knowingly.
"Oh, Dodo's birthday is tomorrow, so I brought her out for a little trip."
Birthday tomorrow?
Hearing this, Marcus knew where to look for Li Ronan.
On Dodo's sixth birthday, Li Ronan took her to the old house where the Mother Buddha's video camera was kept. During negotiations to buy the house, she left Dodo alone in the hallway outside.
Then, lured by the deity, Dodo went up to the attic room and watched the video camera surrounded by countless religious statues.
With a chilling laugh, Dodo's childish voice shouted, "Hou-ho-xiu-yi, si-sei-wu-ma..."
The strange caterpillar manifestation of the Mother Buddha at the door raised half its body in a worshipful gesture, signifying that Dodo's contract with the deity had deepened, marking her as a sacrifice.
Li Ronan, arriving late, frantically snatched the camera from Dodo's hand, but then called out her true name again.
Too many deliberate coincidences; it seemed like a process she had planned long ago.
Since he knew Li Ronan was going there, he would simply wait for her to arrive.
Marcus wrote again on the table: "End."
Ronan Chen nodded unconsciously, as if stretching his neck, and said to the video:
"Okay, you guys be careful. Dodo, when you come back, Daddy will give you a belated birthday present. Daddy has to go now, goodbye Dodo."
"Goodbye Daddy!"
Dodo waved hesitantly. Although her mother seemed strange, a mother is a mother, and she sensed her mother was scared, so she had to stay with her.
"Sir, please help Dodo!"
Ronan Chen, after hanging up the video, instantly became panicked, looking at Marcus pleadingly.
He believed him, completely believed him.
Anyone could deceive him, but the emotion in Dodo's eyes would never lie to him.
(End of Chapter)
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