Even though this puppet was dressed in real human clothes and looked just like a living person from a distance, it was impossible for Chen Chuan to mistake it for one.
From behind him, Bureau Director Lei said, "Did you forget to grab something? Let's step outside first."
Chen Chuan turned his head and replied, "Right." He turned around and walked out of the room. Bureau Director Lei looked inside once more. His son was sitting there behaving himself, playing with building blocks, though he could never seem to fit them together properly. The director gently pulled the door shut.
Once they had both returned downstairs, Bureau Director Lei looked at him. "Did you see something just now? You can tell me. Whatever it is, I can accept it."
Chen Chuan glanced at him.
Bureau Director Lei fell silent for a moment before speaking frankly. "Withdrawn, rigid, quiet, without any friends... but none of that is his fault. He was harmed back then and has been plagued by some inexplicable anomalous substance ever since. All of this is my fault, so I've accepted that he can't be treated like a normal child. As long as he can grow up safe and sound, it doesn't even matter if he no longer acknowledges me as his father."
Chen Chuan said, "Then let me tell you what I saw."
Bureau Director Lei looked over, waiting for his answer.
Chen Chuan met his gaze and spoke slowly. "What I saw wasn't a child at all. It was only a wooden puppet."
Bureau Director Lei froze. He stood rooted to the spot for a long while before suddenly throwing his head up, striding forward, and seizing Chen Chuan firmly by the shoulder.
Chen Chuan stood his ground without dodging. Bureau Director Lei stared intently at him. "Really?"
Chen Chuan nodded.
"So that's how it is... That's how it is..." Bureau Director Lei muttered. His eyes reddened slightly, and he gave Chen Chuan's shoulder a hard shake. "Thank you. Thank you, Student Chen!"
Chen Chuan asked, "Did you realize something, Director Lei?"
Bureau Director Lei took a breath before answering, "Yes. This is a question that has plagued me for two whole years."
By now, he seemed to have regained his composure. Releasing Chen Chuan's shoulder, he stepped back two paces and asked earnestly, "Student Chen, can you be certain that what you saw was a wooden puppet, and not anything else?"
Chen Chuan said, "I'm certain."
Bureau Director Lei nodded. "Then please wait here for a moment. I need to make a few phone calls."
"Please, take your time, Director Lei," Chen Chuan said, walking over to sit down on a nearby sofa.
Bureau Director Lei waited until Chen Chuan was seated before leaving the room. Although he appeared calm on the surface, Chen Chuan could see from the slight trembling of his back that he was deeply agitated, holding his emotions in check only through immense willpower.
After Chen Chuan had waited for about half an hour, Bureau Director Lei returned. He sat down on the sofa across from Chen Chuan and remained silent for a long time.
Chen Chuan did not initiate a conversation either.
After quite a while, Bureau Director Lei took off his black-rimmed glasses and groped around for a cloth. Finding none, he wiped the condensation off the lenses with his sleeve. He put them back on, looked at Chen Chuan, and said solemnly, "Student Chen, before today, I never imagined there would be a way to save my son's life. Thank you."
Chen Chuan said, "Director Lei..."
Bureau Director Lei waved his hand. "I haven't lost my mind. I know what you said is true." He looked up toward the ceiling. "Two years. Two whole years... Who could have guessed that what I've been facing day after day was nothing more than a wooden puppet?" He offered a self-deprecating smile. "What a joke, fancying myself an expert on esoteric cult rituals, yet failing to see through one right under my very nose."
Chen Chuan said, "Director Lei, it seems you truly believe me."
"Reason and emotion... emotion often gets the upper hand, so I never wanted to let my thoughts wander in that direction. But thankfully, when the truth was laid before me, I was still capable of making a rational judgment rather than immediately choosing to deny it." Bureau Director Lei added, "Without your reminder, it would have been nearly impossible for me to break past that blind spot on my own." He let out an emotional sigh. "Care too deeply, and judgment is clouded."
Chen Chuan thought for a moment. "It might be presumptuous to ask, but may I know what really happened back then?"
"There's nothing to hide," Bureau Director Lei said. He took off his glasses again, rubbed his reddened eyes, and put them back on, his earlier composure fully restored.
"As the director of the Esoteric Cult Examination Bureau, I frequently clash with illegal sects. Back when I was cracking down on one particular esoteric cult, my residential address was leaked.
"Later, I learned that one of their remnants who slipped through the net infiltrated my temporary lodgings and placed a ritual curse on my son. It wasn't overly complicated to explain—essentially, it forged a link between my son and an urban legend.
"Afterward, I tried countless methods to resolve it, but none succeeded.
"This matter eventually caught the attention of my ex-wife. Seeing me performing rituals on the boy, she immediately filed a complaint against me. But she didn't understand that if a ritual curse isn't suppressed, it harms those around it.
"Regulations forbid disclosing these matters to ordinary citizens who aren't law enforcers, so I couldn't explain it to her plainly. I could only hint that she needed to stay away from our son.
"Our marriage was arranged by our elders, without much affection between us, and we never truly understood each other. Even if I had told her the truth, she probably would have just thought I was raving mad, making up stories to scare her into giving the boy back.
"I kept trying to find a remedy, but she hid from me everywhere, until half a month later..."
He let out a heavy sigh. "If only I had discovered the real issue sooner, perhaps I could have prevented that tragedy. Yet in a way, I felt a trace of relief that her death had nothing to do with our boy, so neither of them had to bear that burden..."
At this point, he picked up the water glass beside him, tilted his head back, and drained it in a single gulp before setting it heavily back down on the side table.
He looked up at Chen Chuan. "Do you know? For that ritual to succeed, my boy had to remain alive. That means they must still have him locked away somewhere right now."
Chen Chuan asked, "Director Lei, do you need any help?"
Bureau Director Lei replied, "Thank you, but as for the ritual... I have a good idea of where they would hide him. I've already dispatched people there; we just need to wait here." After a pause, he took a breath and added, "However... this ritual must be broken first."
Chen Chuan observed his expression. "Is it difficult?"
Bureau Director Lei's lips trembled slightly. His fingers slowly curled in, and after several attempts, he finally clenched them into a tight fist. "All it requires is for me to personally beat what I see to death. Only then can the ritual be broken."
Chen Chuan's gaze sharpened as he looked at the man sitting before him, fully grasping the agony he was enduring.
No wonder the director of the Esoteric Cult Examination Bureau had never once considered this possibility. Any father would do everything in his power to avoid even the thought of harming his own child. The design of this ritual was simply too vicious and tormenting to the human heart.
He asked, "Is there no other way?"
Bureau Director Lei shook his head. "The very premise of this ritual was to destroy the love between family in the cruelest possible way. If this method isn't used, then even if it's broken, it will only recur later on." He drew a deep breath. "As a father, I failed in my duties and brought this misfortune upon him. The consequences are mine to bear."
He stood up and said to Chen Chuan, "Student Chen, please help me one more time. I need you standing behind me, watching, so you can remind me that it truly is just a puppet. Otherwise... I'm afraid I won't be able to bring myself to do it."
Chen Chuan rose as well and said solemnly, "Director Lei, I'm willing to help. It's just... aren't you worried that I might be mistaken?"
Bureau Director Lei met his eyes and said, "You're Supervisor Cheng's student, yes, but from what I know, you've personally resolved multiple urban legends. The Manshan flying head monster was eradicated by your hand. Moreover, I noticed that the intervals between your clearances were remarkably short, yet you remained completely unaffected.
"You might not even realize it yourself, but you possess a truly extraordinary gift—the ability to resist the incursions of anomalous substances. Your words carry far more credibility than anyone else's."
Chen Chuan understood. Bureau Director Lei hadn't just arranged for the boy's rescue earlier; he had also run a background check on him. Chen Chuan could understand that completely. When his own son's life was on the line, an abundance of caution was only natural.
Furthermore, Chen Chuan grasped the broader picture: it wasn't just Bureau Director Lei who perceived the boy as living flesh and blood; anyone else probably would have as well. And the urban legend's incursions against him had all been—
"Wait for me a moment."
Bureau Director Lei excused himself and stepped away, returning shortly with a claw hammer in hand.
"Let's go."
Chen Chuan followed him upstairs back to the third floor.
When the door was pushed open, Bureau Director Lei looked back with an inquiring glance. Chen Chuan peered inside, saw the puppet still huddled quietly in the corner, and gave him a nod.
Tightening his grip on the hammer, Bureau Director Lei stepped into the room. In his eyes, what sat there was still his well-behaved son. Yet he should have realized something was wrong long ago—the boy still looked exactly as he had two years ago.
He hadn't changed in the slightest.
Instinctively, the director wanted to shut his eyes, but dispelling the ritual forbade it. Dragging his feet as though they were filled with lead, he forced himself forward and raised the hammer high. In his vision, the child suddenly looked up, staring at him with innocent eyes: "Daddy, why do you want to hit me?"
Tears streaming down his face, Bureau Director Lei choked out, "Xiao Ying, I'm sorry."
He swung the hammer down, striking again and again with all his might.
In Chen Chuan's eyes, under the relentless pounding of the hammer, the puppet began to crack and splinter. At this very moment, with Bureau Director Lei's final strike, a sharp snap rang out as the wooden structure shattered, and a glass marble that served as an eyeball bounced onto the floor.
Bureau Director Lei stood there panting. What his eyes saw now was nothing more than a broken wooden puppet. With a clatter, the hammer slipped from his fingers and struck the floorboards.
He staggered back two steps and braced himself against the wall.
Chen Chuan looked toward him.
After resting for a long while, Bureau Director Lei regained some of his composure, a spark of life returning to his eyes. He said to Chen Chuan, "Thank you. Let's head down."
Chen Chuan nodded, took one last look at the shattered puppet, and followed him downstairs.
Once on the ground floor, Bureau Director Lei waited in silence for an outcome he could bear to hear.
Chen Chuan didn't speak either. For a time, the only sound in the living room was the steady, second-by-second ticking of the grandfather clock.
After about ten minutes had passed,
Ring, ring, ring...
The telephone in the living room suddenly went off.
Bureau Director Lei swiftly reached for it, but just as his hand touched the receiver, he paused. Slowly, he lifted it to his ear and made an effort to keep his voice steady. "Hello, this is Lei Guangcheng."
In the quiet living room, a clear, excited voice rang out from the earpiece, loud enough for even Chen Chuan to hear: "Director Lei, we found him! We found the boy! We found your son!"
Bureau Director Lei's eyes instantly welled with tears.
"He's just a bit weak right now. Those bastards only gave him basic water and food every day, but it's nothing serious. We're bringing him over to your place right away!"
Fighting back the violent surge of emotion in his chest, Bureau Director Lei said, "Thank you, Old Gao! Thank you... Thank you for all your hard work."
Chapter 126