Chapter 41: Rescue
Editor: Atlas Studios
After the rain, the soil in the forest became loose and soft. Yu Su walked along the path that the villagers had stepped on when they were cutting wood.
“That’s enough, Yu Su. If we go further in, we’ll really enter the forest. There are tall trees in the forest here. It’s unknown if there will be ferocious beasts inside. Don’t go further in.” Xiao Han, who had been following her closely, immediately grabbed her arm when he saw that she still wanted to go deeper.
At the thought that the little boy would encounter what she had experienced when she was young, Yu Su kept her head lowered and walked into the forest.
After being pulled by Xiao Han, she sobered up a lot.
“I’m sorry, I was too rash just now.” Half of Yu Su’s body was already drenched by the rain.
Xiao Han finally asked the question in his heart, “What’s wrong with you?”
“I suspect that Zhuangzhuang encountered a human trafficker and did not get lost.”
Yu Su’s answer made Xiao Han’s heart tighten. “What evidence do you have?”
After interacting with her for a few days, Xiao Han knew that Yu Su was not someone who spoke without thinking.
“I met Zhuangzhuang yesterday. In order to calm him down, I even went to the convenience store to buy him candy.” Yu Su took out the red candy wrapper. “Look, I picked this up by Zhuangzhuang’s field. It’s obvious that Zhuangzhuang went to the field to look for his grandmother. Then why did he disappear?”
Yu Su pointed at the way they had come. Other than the footprints of the two of them, there was another deeper footprint on the road.
The footprint had also become much lighter than before because of the rain.
At this rate, the only evidence that could confirm her guess would soon disappear in the heavy rain.
Xiao Han took a few steps back and squatted down to carefully examine the footprint. “That footprint is about the same size as mine, but it’s much deeper.”
Xiao Han was 1.87 meters tall and weighed 75 kilograms. His height and weight were tall and well-proportioned, which was rare among boys. Under normal circumstances, his footprints should be considered deep, but that footprint was deeper than his.
That person was either taller and stronger than him, just as Yu Su had guessed, he was carrying a child as heavy as a bucket of water in his arms.
Otherwise, it would not have left such a heavy footprint.
“This footprint is indeed abnormal.” Xiao Han stood up. “It’s impossible for the villagers to still want to go into the mountains to get firewood on such a rainy day.”
Almost everyone in the village had been mobilized to search for Zhuangzhuang. Everyone had searched every corner of the village but to no avail. That was why they had asked the production team to search around the village for the child.
The village was only so big. With such a thorough search, there was no reason why Zhuangzhuang had not been found.
“I’ve finally found both of you.” The person who came was a photographer.
Yu Su frowned. She did not expect the production team to record it at a time like this.
The cameraman guessed what she was thinking and said in embarrassment, “I have no choice, they want to increase the popularity of the show. What is that?”
The cameraman carried the camera that he had just turned on and walked over.
Yu Su and Xiao Han also followed. Yu Su found a perfectly packaged candy under a weed with traces of trampling.
The texture and color of the candy package were the same as the one she had bought for Zhuangzhuang yesterday.
Yu Su looked pleasantly surprised. She lowered her voice and said, “It’s the candy I bought for Zhuangzhuang. Zhuangzhuang must have left this behind!”
Xiao Han frowned. He hesitated between going back to call for help and going straight into the forest. They were not familiar with the situation in the mountains and could easily be in danger.
Yu Su knew what he was worried about, but the human traffickers might not have gone far yet. It was the best time to save Zhuangzhuang.
She steeled herself. “Now’s the best time. We have to get into the mountains!”
“What?” The photographer was confused.
“Did you bring your phone?” Xiao Han asked the cameraman.
The photographer nodded. “Yes, but the signal here isn’t very good.”
“It’s fine as long as he brought it. Why are the three of us afraid of him alone?”
As Yu Su spoke, she led the way into the forest with Xiao Han following closely behind.
The photographer had no choice but to follow.
The cameraman had already turned on the camera. The director, who was far away at the television station, quickly switched the scene from the villagers to Yu Su and Xiao Han.