Lin Lu gripped his flashlight tighter and said, "This is bad, Asheng might have had an accident."
His expression grew solemn as he turned to Lin Qingshan and Lin Qingmu.
"Big brother, you go call the police quickly, second brother, go to the brigade and ask around if anyone has seen Asheng..."
A flashlight is a precious item, it wouldn’t just be discarded unless something happened.
Old Yuan staggered, nearly falling to the ground.
It was only because Lin Qingshan reacted quickly and caught him that he didn’t fall.
"Uncle Yuan, take care of yourself, we’re going to look for people right now."
After speaking, he pushed his bicycle towards the town.
Lin Lu was also anxious, he comforted Old Yuan by patting his shoulder, telling him to rest for now, and hurried off to the Brigade Department.
When Lin Fu heard the news, he took up a loudspeaker and began to call out.
Afterward, everyone in the Shuangshan Brigade knew about Lin Lu’s apprentice going missing.
Everyone started to look everywhere.
Soon, half an hour had passed.
The brigade’s young fellows, while searching, found a large patch of grass pressed down not far from the entrance of the village.
There were also signs of someone having made a fire.
That wasn’t all; they also found cigarette butts.
"This..."
"I just have a bad feeling about this, why would someone hang around so close to our brigade, what were they planning?"
Everyone had a bad feeling in their hearts, and their faces showed it.
Lin Aiguo knew this wasn’t something the younger generation could handle, he told the kids following behind to go and call the Captain and others.
The brigade children, upon receiving their orders, ran back to the village to call for help like the wind.
Lin Fu and others hurried over upon hearing the news.
Lin Aiguo stepped forward as the representative of the group and said,
"Dad, look at this area, it’s dark and looks like someone made a fire."
"And this cigarette butt, there aren’t many in the brigade who smoke, and this definitely wasn’t smoked by someone from our brigade."
"I suspect someone has set their sights on our brigade."
He spoke frankly, the only person in the entire brigade who smoked Daqianmen brand cigarettes was his second uncle.
But it was impossible that his second uncle would specially come here to smoke.
It must have been an outsider.
If the youngsters could understand this, a group of people whose ages added up to several hundred years surely wouldn’t be oblivious.
Lin Fu’s expression turned serious as he pondered.
Li Jiancai recalled selling pigs the day before, and his expression changed slightly, "...It couldn’t be because we sold the pigs, someone has eye on us, thinking of stealing money, right?"
This conjecture was reasonable.
In the eight surrounding villages, who didn’t know that their brigade’s pigs had gone to market?
While most people had assurable character, not everyone could be guaranteed to have an upstanding heart.
However, Lin Fu didn’t quite agree with this argument.
"Someone who smokes Daqianmen, is that the kind of person who would come to steal things?"
"I can’t figure out what these people are up to, but in any case, we need to be more careful from now on."
"...As for Mu Sheng’s case, I’m afraid we really have to report it to the police."
In saying this, his face tightened.
His gaze swept over the large patch of pressed grass, his mood heavy.
Lin Lu’s fingers rubbed back and forth, his mind a mix of worry and chaos.
Asheng couldn’t possibly have really had an accident, could he...
"Second brother, go back first, let’s wait for the police before we do anything else," Lin Fu said.
Remembering Old Yuan was still at home, Lin Lu reluctantly snapped back to reality and walked towards his house without a word.
Lin Fu’s furrowed brows showed no sign of easing, as he considered the security of their Shuang Shan Brigade to be in jeopardy.
He proposed, "I suggest we raise a few guard dogs and tie them at the village entrance during the night to ward off those with ill intentions, what do you all think?"
Regardless of whether today’s incident was a sign of ill intent towards their brigade, it’s always wise to be cautious.
The brigade also had the Sauce Factory and medicinal fields to consider, which couldn’t be compromised.
Qian Hua nodded, "I agree! We really should get a few dogs. Apart from anything else, the Sauce Factory is a vital site for production, and everyone would feel more at ease with a dog to watch over it."
Li Jiancai and others nodded in agreement.
Better safe than sorry.
Hearing the unanimous agreement, Lin Fu decided, "Since everyone agrees, then we’ll do it. Who’s willing to handle this?"
Chen Ziqiang, who was following a few of the brigade’s officials, volunteered, "I’d like to manage it."
"You?" Lin Fu hesitated, "You have the medicinal field to look after, do you have the time?"
Chen Ziqiang replied, "Yes, I have time. Aiguo and the others are helping with the medicinal field, and it’s all going well."
"Alright, then this matter is up to you."
With the dog-raising matter settled, Lin Lu returned home and told Old Yuan about the brigade’s search results.
Old Yuan stood still, trying to catch up with the news.
"Wait for the police to investigate, huh..."
Then, could Asheng still come back?
Lin Lu took a deep sip of tea and said, "We can’t find Asheng in the village, and the grass at the village entrance looks the way it does..."
He trailed off, making Old Yuan feel even more uneasy.
After a long pause, Old Yuan’s gaze drifted off into the distance, his voice sounding almost ethereal, somewhat distant.
"...Asheng is not having an easy time."
"He’d only just started to enjoy better days since becoming your apprentice, Asheng was happy every day."
"Although he doesn’t talk much and has few expressions on his face, I know he was truly happy..."
He couldn’t continue.
Lin Lu, too, was worried about his missing apprentice, would get up after sitting and start pacing in circles, his face full of self-reproach.
"Ah! It’s my fault, I should have let Asheng leave earlier."
If Asheng had left earlier, would he have been safe?
Old Yuan shook his head, "What does that have to do with anything? Don’t think like that, it’s all fate."
What’s meant to be a blessing can’t be a disaster, and no one can escape a disaster meant to happen.
All he could hope for now was that Asheng was alive and well, wherever he was.
Lin Qingshan was cycling rapidly. He had reported the incident to the police and brought Liu Guoan and a few other police officers back to the Shuangshan Brigade.
After their arrival, they first understood the brigade’s investigative findings before Liu Guoan and the other police officers stopped where they had sensed something awry.
"First, tell me exactly what you saw when you first arrived here," Liu Guoan instructed.
Lin Aiguo, who first discovered the site, recalled carefully and explained the situation in detail.
Liu Guoan nodded.
The police exchanged looks and then proceeded to inspect the area.
According to the comrades of the Shuangshan Brigade, when they arrived, much of the grass here was already flattened.
That indicated there were quite a few people here last night.
And the cigarette butts suggested that those who came here were not of low living standards.
"Captain, there’s a piece of fabric here," one of the young officers reported.
Liu Guoan hurried over and examined it.
It was plain, ordinary cloth.
But very worn.
It could easily be torn apart with a slight tear.
He estimated that the owner of the clothes wore them for not a short time, at least five or six years.
"Brigade Captain, there’s blood in the soil over here!"
Liu Guoan walked over and found a bloodstain buried in the dirt, only faintly visible.
Lin Lu and Old Yuan hurried over upon hearing that the police had arrived.
When they arrived, they immediately heard about the blood. They grasped each other’s hands tightly for support.
"What blood?" Old Yuan staggered forward.
Liu Guoan was startled and hurried to steady him.
Worried Old Yuan would collapse, Lin Lu said, "Old Yuan, please don’t get too excited. Let the police comrades investigate first. Let’s not make trouble for them now."
Time was of the essence, and any minute wasted was a minute lost in the search for Asheng.
Listening to him, Old Yuan stepped back a few paces, "Please continue, officer."
As he spoke, his eyes were fixed unwaveringly on the bloodstain on the ground.
Lin Lu married early; he was not yet fifty, and Old Yuan was a few years older, already in his mid-fifties.
Back in his youth, Old Yuan had taken part in the revolution, traveling all over the country.