Song Nanxing carefully read through the information Chu Yan had sent him.
Five families had gone missing, one of which lived in Building 3, Unit 202 of their own community. It was a family of three—two adults and one child—and the missing person who had returned was the lost child.
The other four families were located in Cuihua Garden, Longteng Yuan, and Longhu Yayuan. All three neighborhoods were within five kilometers of Xingfu Garden.
Song Nanxing packed the information into his backpack, planning to first visit the family in his own community to look for clues.
Building 3 was at the innermost part of the complex, a place Song Nanxing rarely passed by—this was his first time here. When he arrived at the door of 202, he noticed a yellow seal already pasted on it.
As he was about to peel off the seal, an older woman from next door, 201, heard the noise and poked her head out cautiously. “Where are you from? That seal was put there by the police, you’re not supposed to tear it off.”
Song Nanxing remained calm, quickly flashing his work ID from the Exchange Center with a smile, trying to strike up a rapport. “I’m responsible for investigating the disappearance in 202. Sister, are you familiar with the family in 202? Could you tell me a bit about them?”
The woman sized him up—handsome, neatly dressed, and with a red stamp visible on his ID, clearly not some shady character. She sighed and stepped outside. “I know a little. That family really has had it rough. They were happy as a family of three before, but about a year or two ago, the husband took the child out, and somehow the child went missing. Ever since then, those two haven’t had a normal life. You could hear them arguing all day long, sometimes even getting physical…
“Just when they finally found the child, the whole family disappeared again.”
Song Nanxing asked, “Have you seen them recently?”
The woman brightened, slapping her palm. “Oh, I saw them plenty after the kid was found. The couple stopped fighting, too. The wife was constantly carrying the child around downstairs, telling everyone their kid was back. She even brought us some fruit, saying it was for good luck.”
“But in the last two or three days, they haven’t come out, and the house has been quiet. At first, I thought maybe they had gone out.”
Song Nanxing’s brow twitched. “You haven’t heard any noises from their place?”
The woman shook her head firmly. “No. When the kid was found, the house was lively, the couple wasn’t fighting, and they seemed happy. But that kid would cry for food in the middle of the night. The couple would cook for the child then, and the chopping was noisy as hell…”
Xingfu Garden was an old complex with poor sound insulation. The wall between 201 and 202 was thin, so it was easy to hear noises next door.
Song Nanxing asked, “Do you remember exactly when the noises stopped?”
The woman frowned, thinking for a while. “It should be the night before yesterday. That night, I slept through without waking up.”
Song Nanxing’s heart sank. After thanking the woman, he prepared to enter 202.
But the woman stopped him, hesitating. “Young man, what do you think happened? The news isn’t clear, and it’s scary. A perfectly good family just disappears like that. I heard from others that quite a few people have vanished this time.”
Seeing her anxious expression, Song Nanxing’s face darkened slightly. “We don’t have any leads yet. We’re still looking. But Sister, try to stay indoors as much as possible. If you see someone with bark-like skin or who’s always hungry, stay away from them.”
The woman nodded earnestly. Song Nanxing then turned and entered 202.
Inside, 202 was very clean and tidy, decorated in a warm, creamy style. But as soon as he stepped into the entryway, a strong stench hit him.
In the kitchen, half-prepared dishes were carelessly left out.
It was already May, early summer, with constant rain but rising temperatures. The meat half-cut on the chopping board had gone rotten, its pale surface crawling with faintly visible maggots. The vegetables nearby had decomposed into a liquid mess, green juice flowing off the counter and dripping onto the floor.
Holding his nose, Song Nanxing checked the kitchen. In the trash bin, he found meat packaging dated three days ago.
The timeline matched what the woman had said about the family going quiet.
Judging from the kitchen’s state, it seemed the family had left abruptly while cooking.
Besides the food left on the counter, the trash was full of discarded leftovers—mostly untouched meat. It looked like they hadn’t eaten much before leaving.
This also matched the woman’s description of the child always crying for food.
Song Nanxing recalled the hungry people at the gym; ordinary food wouldn’t satisfy them.
After a thorough search of 202, Song Nanxing turned to leave, planning to visit the other families and ask neighbors for information.
He first rented a car from the property management and followed navigation to the nearest location—Longteng Yuan.
As the car left the complex, his attention was drawn to a lush banyan tree by the roadside.
The banyan was thriving, its grayish-brown trunk twisting into three thick branches, the canopy spreading out in every direction. Against the gloomy sky, the greenery looked especially vibrant.
Song Nanxing glanced again, puzzled. “Was there a banyan tree here before?”
He didn’t remember one this well-grown. Could it be a newly transplanted landscaping tree?
But in an old community like Xingfu Garden, nobody usually cared about greenery anymore.
He murmured to himself and sped off toward Longteng Yuan.
Whether it was a city policy to replace all the green trees in the outer districts, he saw another banyan tree at Longteng Yuan. Through the car window, its narrow, elliptical dark green leaves revealed glimpses of the leaden gray sky, giving the tree a somewhat eerie vibe.
He drove into Longteng Yuan to investigate the second family.
Compared to the first family, which neighbors had noticed going missing, this second family occupied an entire floor, and no one seemed to know exactly when they disappeared.
Song Nanxing waited downstairs, asking a few residents of the same building, but most were vague or unwilling to get involved.
With no leads, Song Nanxing headed to Longhu Yayuan.
Unsurprisingly, a banyan tree stood outside Longhu Yayuan as well.
This tree was much larger than the ones outside Xingfu Garden and Longteng Yuan. Its gray-brown trunk was almost wide enough for two people to hug, with branches spreading wide, its canopy capable of blocking out the sun.
Song Nanxing parked under the tree and looked up at it.
Such a thick banyan couldn’t be a transplanted landscaping tree; it seemed to have grown there long ago.
But banyan trees were rare in Tong City. Seeing so many in one day was unusual.
Song Nanxing’s suspicion deepened. He memorized the scene and walked into the neighborhood.
Longhu Yayuan had two missing families. Song Nanxing visited each in turn and, from neighbors’ descriptions, pieced together that the disappearances had happened around the same time.
The two families lived one floor apart and were old acquaintances. The missing were the elderly members, who often liked to gather for square dancing. One day last year, after going out to dance, they never returned.
Song Nanxing pulled out the information on both families again.
Both households were multi-generational, one with six members, the other five.
In total, eleven people.
Eleven.
Song Nanxing mulled over the number, feeling like he was missing something important.
Walking out of the community, he pondered the significance of “eleven” until he reached the entrance and looked up at the lush tree canopy. Suddenly, his mind cleared, and he remembered what was special about that number.
The thick banyan tree, which required two people to hug around, was composed of eleven thick branches twisted together to form its main trunk.
Song Nanxing hurried back into the community and stopped a passing resident. “Is that banyan tree at the entrance newly planted, or has it always been there?”
The resident looked at him strangely. “Banyan tree at the entrance? Where?”
Following Song Nanxing’s pointing, he spotted the greenery and then corrected himself. “Oh, yeah, there is a banyan tree there.”
Song Nanxing pressed further. “Is it new, or has it always been there?”
The man frowned, recalling but hesitant. “I’m not sure… It seems new, but also like it’s been there a long time.”
His answer was muddled, but Song Nanxing already had a vague theory.
After thanking the man, he took out a folding knife and slowly approached the banyan tree.
The tree stood quietly, its dense leaves full of life.
Pressing the knife’s tip against the gray-brown bark, Song Nanxing pushed hard. The sharp blade met little resistance and easily pierced the bark. Gripping the handle tightly, he drew the blade down vertically—
The normally tough bark sliced open effortlessly, revealing a red-and-white interior, with dark red liquid seeping out.