Chapter 137: Leaving No Trace

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After hearing the two men at the next table finish speaking, Zhou Yi approached them and struck up a conversation. Only after questioning them did he learn that children had also gone missing in places such as Changchun and Siping. More than ten days had passed, countless people had been mobilized, and yet not a single clue had been found.

Those who had stolen the children could still be glimpsed in the nearby villages, but once pursued for a hundred miles, they would somehow vanish without a trace. Recently, this was the subject most often discussed by the common people over tea and after meals. Everyone claimed that a monster was devouring children.

Zhou Yi had once suspected the same, but after thinking it over, he dismissed the notion that demons were running rampant in troubled times.

Any demon that had cultivated to maturity would usually hide deep in the mountains. Even those that occasionally ventured into the world would not steal children to eat. Such an act defied Heaven itself. Even if no one in the mortal realm could subdue such a creature, the laws of Heaven would never permit it. A deed so damaging to one’s virtue would surely draw down thunder. No demon would willingly undertake such a thankless task.

Frowning, Zhou Yi pondered the cause and effect of the matter. Though there were few clues, he had managed to discern two points that, while not truly clues, were still worth considering.

First, the people stealing the children were certainly no ordinary mortals. They either possessed supernatural abilities or were extraordinarily skilled martial artists. That much could be inferred from the fact that they entered homes in the dead of night, carried off children, and left without being discovered.

The second point confirmed the first. If these people were truly skilled martial artists, they would not be limited to traveling only ten miles in an hour. With their movement techniques, avoiding the notice of ordinary people should have been effortless.

If so, then after stealing the children, they must have deliberately appeared in public, making a conspicuous display before hiding themselves once more. It was a smokescreen, meant to mislead everyone’s attention.

Watch posts had been established along all the major roads into Meihekou. Zhou Yi did not need to observe them himself to know that the child thieves would never dare enter Meihekou openly in broad daylight.

Zhou Yi waited in Meihekou for an entire day, but no one appeared. His irritation grew steadily worse. Returning to the tavern, he ordered a bottle of white liquor and tipped back a large swallow.

After nightfall, the number of pedestrians dwindled. Before long, Zhou Yi was the only person left in the tavern, still drinking. The child thief seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

Around midnight, Baozi and Mu Chen returned. Seeing Zhou Yi waiting there, all three shook their heads and sighed. Another day had been wasted for nothing.

“Brother Yi, what are these people trying to do? Children are disappearing all over the Northeast now. In some places only one or two are taken, while in Dunhua City the numbers are enormous. Why would they steal so many children?” Baozi asked as he turned the pheasant skewered on a branch over the fire.

“If I knew, would I still be sitting here?” Zhou Yi replied. He took two deep breaths, calming the irritation churning inside him.

“Something similar happened in the waning years of the Ming dynasty. Children disappeared then as well, but they were all boys and girls around seven years old, and there weren’t nearly so many of them.” Mu Chen suddenly recalled an incident recorded in the Maoshan scriptures and muttered the words aloud.

“The end of the Ming dynasty? Did they ever find out who was responsible?” Zhou Yi turned and asked.

Mu Chen rubbed his chin. “I read about it in the Maoshan scriptures. Because it happened around the same time as the Red Pill Case at the end of the Ming dynasty, the matter was never known to the wider world. According to legend, it was somehow connected to the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian.”

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Baozi curled his lip after hearing this. “Wei Zhongxian has been dead for more than three hundred years. What could he possibly have to do with children disappearing now?”

Mu Chen ignored Baozi and continued. “The story is somewhat absurd. According to legend, if one gathered forty-nine pairs of virgin boys and girls, their blood could be used as an ingredient to refine an elixir. Whoever consumed it would gain immortality. No one has ever actually tried such a thing throughout history. Besides, the children disappearing now are all infants still wrapped in swaddling clothes. It probably isn’t someone trying to refine that vile pill.”

After listening, Zhou Yi shook his head. “These thieves probably aren’t trying to refine that pill. Think harder. Are there any other records?”

As soon as Zhou Yi finished speaking, Baozi was about to pour cold water on the idea. Zhou Yi hurriedly raised a finger to his lips, signaling him to be silent. He had noticed more than ten people hurrying toward them in the distance.

But silence was useless. The three of them were roasting pheasant, and the bright fire blazing before them could hardly escape the notice of those approaching men.

The group glanced in their direction but did not stop, continuing straight south.

Zhou Yi studied them briefly. None of them carried anything bulky. The children were not with them.

“Brother Yi, what are those people doing out so late?” Baozi asked, turning his head.

“Let’s follow them and find out. Their movement techniques are impressive. Even if they aren’t carrying children now, there’s no guarantee they aren’t on their way to steal some.” Mu Chen rose as he spoke and prepared to give chase.

Zhou Yi caught hold of Mu Chen and shook his head. Then he glanced to the side, signaling that someone else was hiding nearby. Mu Chen understood at once and gave Zhou Yi a faint smile.

He then turned around, loosened his belt, and relieved himself beside a large tree behind them. The moment his belt came undone, four men surrounded the trio.

“What are you doing out here so late?”

The speaker had no trace of a regional accent, making it impossible to tell where he was from.

“You can see what we’re doing, can’t you? Drinking! What else would we be doing?” Zhou Yi took another large swallow of white liquor, then tore off a chicken leg and blew on it to cool it.

The four men carefully examined the trio once more. Then they bared their teeth in a smile at Zhou Yi.

“You carry on.”

With that, the four turned and walked away.

If Zhou Yi had not stopped Mu Chen just now, the three of them would already have given away their movements.

“Should we follow them?” Baozi asked, fastening his single mace to his waist.

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“Keep your distance. Don’t let them notice us.” After saying this, Zhou Yi led Baozi and Mu Chen along behind the group, far enough back to remain concealed.

The more than ten men moved with extreme caution. After traveling a short distance, four of them would remain behind in hiding for a while. Only after confirming that nothing was amiss would they catch up with the others and continue onward. This made it even more necessary for Zhou Yi and the other two to proceed carefully.

The group traveled swiftly through the night without taking any detours, heading all the way toward Shenyang. After dawn, the ten men were exhausted, but they did not enter any town to rest. Instead, they sat by the roadside and ate dry rations.

When the ten men ahead stopped, Zhou Yi and the others naturally stopped as well.

“Are they headed for Shenyang?” Baozi turned to ask Zhou Yi. Afterward, he rose onto his toes and peered southward.

Zhou Yi shook his head to show that he did not know. The three of them had begun following these people only because their movements seemed suspicious. There was no proof that they had anything to do with the missing children.

“We’ll reach the mass graveyard in less than a hundred miles. Baozi’s dream girl, the Miaojiang saintess, is still there,” Mu Chen teased when he saw Baozi’s expression.

“Enough. Keep following them!”

They had barely exchanged a few words when the ten men began moving again.

After daybreak, more and more travelers appeared on the road, most of them heading into the fields to harvest grain. The ten men spread out as they traveled, though none strayed too far from the others. That way, if anything happened to one of them, the rest would discover it immediately.

What had made them so cautious?

If they had simply strode ahead, Zhou Yi would not have become suspicious. But the more careful they were, the more it proved that they were hiding something.

By afternoon, the group had reached the mass graveyard. Zhou Yi had assumed that the men belonged to the same faction as the Miao tribesmen, but they did not greet Dong Nuo’s group. Instead, they continued on to Shenyang to rest.

“Brother Yi, you two stay here and keep watch. I’m going out for a while!” Baozi scratched his head and gave a foolish grin.

“Be careful. Come back quickly!” Zhou Yi warned.

Baozi immediately headed toward the mass graveyard on West Mountain...

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