Chapter 16 The Visible Missing Person
Chapter 16: The Visible Missing Person
"Could I trouble you and your husband for some help? Senma Town has encountered a strangeness, and I am here bothering you precisely to resolve everyone's problems," Zhou Ming pleaded kindly.
The woman heard this and looked again at the empty spot, communicating with the air with her eyes, as if someone there was talking to her.
After a long while, she sighed, then readjusted her emotions and said, "Alright, what else do you want to ask?"
"May I ask where Mr. Wu went seven days ago?" Zhou Ming asked.
"Honey, I remember you went to the tavern seven days ago, didn't you?" The woman spoke to the air, then fell into a brief silence.
"Hmm... that's right. He also remembers that he was last at the tavern, then woke up at home, and has been back ever since. There's no such thing as being missing," she relayed her husband's words to Zhou Ming.
"But I heard that Mr. Wu was indeed missing for a few days, and you couldn't find him during that time. Does Mr. Wu have no memory of those days?"
"That is quite strange, but it's good that he's back. Nothing else happened, right?"
"But everyone in town is saying Mr. Wu went missing. What's your take on that?"
The woman frowned at this, looking at the flickering candlelight, a look of fear on her face, as if she had thought of something terrifying.
Then, she softly said to Zhou Ming, "Some neighbors in town have indeed become very strange. Many people suddenly can't see my husband anymore, and some people in town have truly gone missing... I think some peculiar things have indeed happened in the town."
Zhou Ming pondered for a moment and asked, "But we outsiders also can't see your husband. Haven't you ever thought..."
"Impossible! How could there be something wrong with us! Are you suggesting that my child and I are going crazy right now?!" Before Zhou Ming could finish, the other party flatly denied it, her voice suddenly rising by several decibels.
"Calm down! I was just proposing a possibility."
"What possibility are you talking about? It's clearly you who can't see a living person, so why are we crazy?!"
Zhou Ming tried his best to soothe her emotions, but it seemed to have no effect, so he had to temporarily back down and politely change the subject.
"Alright, let's not discuss that for now. Why do you think such a strange phenomenon is occurring?"
The woman glared, still wanting to argue. Zhou Ming saw that her bottom had already lifted from the stool, but just as she was about to stand up straight, she suddenly seemed to be pulled by someone, and her movement to rise abruptly stopped.
Then, she looked at the spot beside her with a puzzled expression, staring at the empty stool next to her, and fell silent again.
After about ten seconds, her agitated emotions slowly calmed down. She sat back in her original seat indignantly and looked at Zhou Ming.
"I suspect something strange has happened to this town. Yesterday, my husband and I discussed it, and we are already preparing to move," the woman suppressed her inner displeasure and continued to answer Zhou Ming's question.
"Mommy, I want to sleep." Her four-year-old son, nestled in his mother's arms, was startled awake by the recent argument, opening his hazy, sleepy eyes.
The hostess looked at her child, then at Zhou Ming, and politely issued a farewell: "Hidden Ones, my child is tired. Could I trouble you to leave?"
"Please give me five more minutes!"
Zhou Ming continued to fight for more time, looking down at the recently awakened child and kindly said, "Little one, can I play a small game with you?"
"Wh-what kind of game?" The boy squinted his sleepy eyes at Zhou Ming.
"You sit here, and your mother sits there. Then you draw your dad's actions, and finally remember what your dad said, and tell it to big brother later, okay?" Zhou Ming finished, then turned to the hostess and said, "Madam, you also draw the actions, and as for what your husband said, could you please write it on paper?"
The woman sighed helplessly and said, "After this test, could I trouble you to leave? The child is really tired."
"Of course! I'm truly sorry for disturbing you all like this. Just a little more effort for the last part." Zhou Ming apologized solemnly again.
"Ugh, then let's start quickly," the woman urged impatiently, wanting to end the unpleasant conversation as soon as possible.
Zhou Ming wasted no more time, arranging the child to sit in another spot five meters away, then had the hostess sit at the table, giving each of them a piece of paper.
Finally, he looked in the direction of the air that the mother and son were watching and said, "Mr. Wu, please casually strike three easy-to-draw poses, and then say one easy-to-record sentence."
Once ready, the room fell silent. Zhou Ming saw both the mother and child staring blankly at the air in the same direction.
After a few seconds, both their faces simultaneously broke into knowing smiles, as if they had seen something funny, and they lowered their heads to start drawing on the paper.
Zhou Ming quietly paced closer to the hostess and saw her quickly sketching a human figure on the paper with her pen.
Then another.
And then one more.
After drawing three actions, she smiled, and with a flourish of her pen, wrote a sentence at the bottom of the paper—[I will always love you and Xiaoming, and I will protect you no matter what happens.]
Zhou Ming took a deep breath, looking at the pitch-black night outside the window, feeling a tightness in his chest.
He paced to the child's side and looked at the child's drawing.
On that paper were three stick figures: the first stick figure held up hands forming a heart, the second stick figure was in a horse stance, and the third was doing a comical golden rooster stands on one leg pose. The moment Zhou Ming saw these three drawings, his mind buzzed, and all the hairs on his body stood on end.
He followed the child's gaze to the empty air, as if trying to see something invisible.
Finally, Zhou Ming softly asked, "What did your dad say?"
"Dad said he'll always love Mom and me, and that he'll protect us no matter what happens!"
The air was silent.
The candlelight flickered slightly.
The woman smiled at the air, covering her mouth, and whispered something softly to the empty chair, her eyes full of love, a slight blush on her cheeks, as if someone beside her was speaking moving words of love to her.
Zhou Ming stared at this scene, stunned.
Suddenly, the woman paused, her shy expression gone, and she turned to look at Zhou Ming, a look of embarrassment on her face.
She seemed to have been reminded by her husband and expressed her concern to Zhou Ming.
"Hidden Ones, are you alright? We're going to sleep. You should also go back and rest early."
Zhou Ming snapped out of his daze, making one last, unwilling attempt: "Could I trouble Mr. Wu to carry the child back to the bedroom?"
"Honey, take Xiaoming back," the woman said gently.
Zhou Ming watched the hostess's gaze slowly move to the empty air, as if someone had moved from in front of her to beside the child, and the child also looked at the empty air, then stood up himself and slowly walked towards the bedroom.
That's right, no one was carrying him; the child was walking by himself!
But clearly, in the eyes of the child and the woman, the non-existent husband was carrying their son towards the bedroom.
At this moment, an impulse rose in Zhou Ming's heart, and an evil thought was born in his mind: If he were to directly break the child's leg right now, would his father still 'carry' him? In this wife's eyes, would her husband be able to make a move to protect his family and attack him?
"Hidden Ones?" The woman saw Zhou Ming in a daze, picked up the candlestick from the table, and leaned closer, looking at his face with concern.
"Oh, I'm fine!"
Zhou Ming took a deep breath and suddenly came to his senses. He knew he couldn't do that... it was too crazy.
"Thank you for your cooperation. I will do my best to resolve this incident," Zhou Ming said. "By the way, do you have a photo of your husband?"
"Only one."
"Please bring it for me to see."
"Just a moment."
A few minutes later, the woman brought the photo.
Zhou Ming looked at the man in the photo. He had a prominent nose, a resolute and very handsome appearance. Even with low clarity and the man not striking a proper pose, it was evident he was very masculine, a traditional handsome type.
Zhou Ming then thanked the hostess and immediately took his leave.
As soon as he stepped out the door, a fierce sandstorm hit him. Zhou Ming lowered his head, turned on his portable flashlight, and walked towards the inn where the crows perched.
This was his first time in a town in the wilderness. The living conditions of the people here were extremely primitive, with no electricity or running water. They drew water from wells and relied on candles and kerosene for light.
Almost no one locally used electrical appliances, and although many small shops here sold battery-powered lighting tools, no one used them, as batteries were simply too luxurious for them.
After nightfall, the streets here were ridiculously dark. The dim candlelight in residents' rooms could not serve as streetlights at all. Without moonlight, it was truly pitch black, where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Zhou Ming recalled a full day of investigation. The investigation was more difficult than he had imagined. Aside from the residents who hadn't gone crazy, among the crazy residents, only the household he had just visited was cooperative.
He spent a day collecting all the personal information of the missing persons and their whereabouts before their disappearance. Fairly detailed information had been gathered, but useful clues were few and far between.
"It seems it's not just disappearances, but also cognitive distortion."
He felt that cognitive distortion better described this incident. This term was no exaggeration and very apt.
"In any case, I should report back to the inn first."