Dinner was had at the forest bureau's cafeteria—several pots of stew and a few bottles of baijiu.

After a few rounds of drinks, everyone started to get a bit tipsy. I couldn't help but start boasting, talking about knowing some bigwigs and being good friends with some head police officers.

Upon hearing that I had connections with the police, the manager's attitude became much warmer. He patted my shoulder and repeatedly praised me.

This made me a bit proud, and just as I was thumping my chest, assuring that anything in my hometown could be resolved by me, a commotion was heard outside.

The manager was a bit annoyed and told a waiter to check what was going on.

A man in a ragged cotton jacket barged in with a brick in hand; it was Bai Sanshui.

He shouted, "Damn it, I'll kill you! Give me back my son!"

Breaking through the waiter and the chef's attempts to stop him, he rushed to Li Yaozu's side: "If you don't return my son today, I'll kill you!"

Li Yaozu didn’t even put down his chopsticks: "Your wife can't give birth, your daughter ran away because she’s afraid of the pain. What's that got to do with me? Don't act crazy here."

Hearing this, my mind went blank. I really couldn't understand how Bai Sanshui's son's death was related to his wife's fertility issues and his daughter’s fear of pain.

Pain?

Could it be?

Thinking about the stench at Bai Sanshui's home, a terrible thought suddenly struck me. The alcohol instantly sobered me up, and my hand holding the chopsticks began to tremble.

"It's been ten days! My daughter’s been gone for ten days, my son is dead, and my wife has gone mad!" Bai Sanshui was crying and shouting.

Hearing it was just a runaway, I sighed in relief. No matter how ignorant, it couldn’t be a horrific case of a father killing his daughter.

Li Yaozu put down his chopsticks and slowly said, “If your daughter ran away, go and find her. If your wife is mad, get her treated. What’s the point of making a scene here?”

“I already told you.”

“I can help with seeking offspring.”

“You’ve seen those families who had sons after my help before, haven’t you? If you doubt me, ask the Lao Zhao family, the Lao Wang family.”

“Is it my fault your wife can't conceive anymore?”

“I told you long ago that your daughter is too young, seeking offspring wouldn’t work, and now she’s scared away. How’s that my fault?”

“I said you should find a shamaness; your own health is poor.”

Li Yaozu stood up, pointing at Bai Sanshui: "You’re the one who's incompetent and went to the Mammy's Goddess cave to make trouble."

“This month’s deity pleas have gone unanswered because of you.”

“If it weren’t for your family living here for generations, we'd have thrown you out to freeze in the snow long ago!”

“And you dare to make a scene here!”

“If by the new year the Mammy’s Goddess still hasn’t responded, you just wait. Don’t need me to do anything, everyone here will tear you apart.”

Bai Sanshui's face turned red with anger, standing there gripping the brick.

Seeing the situation, the manager timely intervened to stop it: “What’s this all about? You’re all neighbors, talk it out peacefully.”

“Old Bai, we’ve sent people to look for your daughter, don't get anxious.”

“As for your son, your brother said he’s willing to let you adopt your nephew. Don’t make a scene, just go back home.”

Bai Sanshui moved his lips, loosened his grip, and dropped the brick.

The waiter and some fellow staff members then escorted Bai Sanshui out.

The meal naturally lost its appeal, and everyone went back to their places.

On the way back, it began to snow heavily, with the temperature dropping to below minus thirty degrees Celsius.

Back at the guesthouse, the photographer was editing the promotional footage shot today, while I lay on the bed, sobering up, thinking about everything that had happened today, feeling something was off.

I asked the photographer: "What kind of rituals do you think they use for seeking offspring that could make a daughter run away out of pain? Could it be abuse?"

“It's hard to say. You know, there used to be families who inserted ninety-nine steel needles into their daughters to seek offspring, or broke a girl’s limbs, soaked her in a wine jar, and buried it to seek offspring. In these remote places, anything can happen.”

The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I became, thinking I also have a daughter. Although I knew I shouldn't meddle, I still picked up my phone and shared the past few days' events with my old classmate, including that bizarre audio clip.

We discussed whether we could help that poor mother and daughter in any way.

My old classmate, having many connections, said he would ask his police friends about it for us.