"That's the uncle who comes to see us every night," the child replied innocently. "We asked him his name, but he never answered. He only made the sound 'A Da... A Da...' from his throat, so we called him A Da."
"What did 'A Da' do when he came to see you every night?" Shen Cuiyu softened her voice and patiently guided the child.
"He brought us food! Sometimes it was roasted meat, sometimes it was sweet wild fruits," the child counted on their fingers. "He also made little rabbits out of foxtail grass and played hide-and-seek with us! But A Da always lost to us because he hopped when he walked and made a lot of noise..."
Listening to the child's innocent description, Shen Cuiyu's eyebrows gradually softened.
These innocent children didn't understand the concept of life and death, nor did they know what a corpse transformation was.
In their pure eyes, 'A Da' might just be a playmate with a somewhat terrifying face, who was silent but extremely gentle...
Everyone looked at each other in surprise when they heard this.
This ferocious-looking corpse had traveled dozens of miles every night to kidnap the children, only to bring them food and play with them?
Someone couldn't help twitching the corners of their mouth and muttered in a strange tone, "This 'corpse ghost'... is a bit too... childlike, isn't it?"
Everyone returned to the morgue with full of doubts and confusion. When Old Man Guo saw the safe and sound children, his eyes instantly turned red, and his voice trembled with excitement:
"Thank you, masters! Thank you! As long as the children are okay!"
But the joy of the disciples didn't last long. The children were successfully retrieved, but the corpse was missing. It seemed that the task was only half completed, and a dull and frustrated atmosphere permeated among the disciples.
Just then, the shabby gate of the morgue was knocked. Two constables in official uniforms strode in. Behind them was an extremely thin child.
Everyone's attention was drawn to them.
It was a boy about seven or eight years old. His body was as thin as a reed in the wind. His clothes were wide, shabby, and covered in dust. His little face was as dirty as a kitten's, but his eyes were still clear. At this moment, he was in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking.
Old Man Guo quickly stepped forward. The constable sighed and said, "This child... is here to identify a corpse."
Everyone's surprised gazes shifted down to this child who was shorter than a millstone. He carried a small bamboo basket on his back, which was bulging, and no one knew what was inside. Meeting everyone's gazes, he straightened his back, trying to look more confident. His young face was pretending to be mature and serious at this moment, but there was a faint tiredness between his eyebrows.
"He came to the yamen early in the morning. When we found him, he was picking up things on the ground to eat. He looked so pitiful..."
Everyone felt a pang of sourness in their hearts when they heard this. Old Man Guo stroked the child's head and softened his voice as much as possible. "Kid, which corpse are you here to identify?"
The child looked up and replied in a childish voice, "I'm here to find my father."
"Who is your father?"
"His name is Ji San. He came to work in the mine not long ago."
Everyone looked at each other in surprise and suspicion. There were quite a few corpses in the morgue, but the only ones that matched the child's description were the thirteen corpses from the mine accident. But the other twelve had already been claimed. Could it be...
Shen Cuiyu stepped forward, took out a clean handkerchief, wet it with water, and gently wiped the dirt off the child's face. She asked softly, "What's your name? Where are you from?"
"Ji Xiaoqi. I'm from Dashan Village," the child stared at Shen Cuiyu for a moment, then obediently let her wipe his face and replied in a low voice.
"Dashan Village?" Old Man Guo was stunned when he heard this. "That place is dozens of miles of mountain road away from Yongding Village! How did you, a little kid, find your way here?"
Ji Xiaoqi pursed his lips tightly and lowered his head without saying a word. The slight frown on his forehead hid the self - esteem that a child had learned too early.
Old Man Guo remembered what the constable had said about "picking up things to eat" and immediately understood that this child must have endured hardships along the way, sleeping in the open and going hungry.
Everyone looked at each other, and for a moment, no one dared to speak. They didn't know how to tell this lonely child about Ji San's corpse transformation and escape.
Ji Xiaoqi glanced at everyone's expressions, was silent for a moment, and suddenly said:
"On my way here... I heard about the corpse transformation in Yongding Village. Is that zombie... my father?"
"Do you know what corpse transformation means?" Zhong Shengwan asked with some reluctance.
Ji Xiaoqi lowered his eyelids, and his long eyelashes trembled slightly. "It means losing one's memory and hurting people uncontrollably. But my father didn't mean to. He was a good man. He would share steamed buns with beggars even when he had no money..."
This child seemed to be more sensible and calm than children of his age. He wiped his face and said, "I must see him alive or find his corpse when he's dead. Please find my father's body."
Since Ji Xiaoqi had memories, he had been dependent on his father. Wherever there was work, his father would carry his tools and go to that village.
He had never seen his mother. According to his father, his mother had died in childbirth when he was born.
Although he had never had his mother's love since childhood, his father had given him all his love, and he never felt lonely.
He was already eight years old this year, at the age when he should enter the school.
Before his father left this time, he had entrusted Ji Xiaoqi to an old neighbor. He had also happily stroked Ji Xiaoqi's head and said that the wages for the job in Yongding Village were very generous. After this job, he would be able to save enough money for Ji Xiaoqi's tuition fees. But the families of the people who had gone out to work with his father had all hung up pale mourning cloths one after another...
Although Ji Xiaoqi was young, he had already vaguely understood what had happened from the silence, sighs, and tears of the adults.
His father often told him that fallen leaves should return to their roots. Ji Xiaoqi didn't understand what it meant before, but now he did.
This time, it was his turn to take his father home.
Everyone was deeply shocked when they heard this.
From the moment they met until now, this child had not shed a single tear or made a single cry.
At an age when children should be acting coquettishly and asking for candy, he had trekked alone for more than ten miles on a dangerous mountain road just to find a possibly already cold corpse and take him home.
Shen Cuiyu looked at this thin but stubborn and heart - wrenching child in front of her. All the strange actions of the corpse flashed through her mind like lightning. It had rushed out of the morgue urgently when it heard a child crying, traveled dozens of miles at night, looked for food, and accompanied the children to play... All the clues suddenly connected at this moment, pointing to a heart - rending truth.
"He just couldn't let go of his child. Even after death, he wanted to see him one more time..." Old Man Guo murmured, revealing everyone's speculation. An indescribable sourness and shock instantly filled the cold morgue.
Shen Cuiyu suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were clear and determined, and her voice was steady as she broke the silence on the scene:
"I know how to call it back."