Volume 1, Chapter 162: Your Distant Relative

Shen Wan followed Chi Xingwan and Wei Shi'an toward the southwest, while Teacher Qin and the head teacher of the neighboring class went to visit Xu Yifei's home.

"Walking any further will lead to the jagged rocky beach. There is nothing out there. Even if the two kids wanted to play truant, they wouldn't come to a place like this," Shen Wan said.

Chi Xingwan walked ahead with her head down, and Wei Shi'an said, "I trust Xingwan. The two of them must be here."

After walking a bit further, Shen Wan received a phone call from Teacher Qin.

"Teacher Qin says Xu Yifei is not home. His mother brought him back from the hospital this morning, and then his parents had a big argument. Both parents completely neglected Xu Yifei. When they went to his room to call him for lunch, they found out he was missing. They are looking for him now as well."

It was almost certain the two children were together, but Shen Wan grew even more worried. Xu Yifei had run away after hearing his parents fight, leaving him in a fragile emotional state. Who knew what he might do?

"Miss Shen, look at the two kids in the sea. Are those them?" Chi Xingwan suddenly asked.

They were still some distance from the shoreline. Shen Wan squinted and looked over, indeed spotting two children on the beach. One was wearing a school uniform, while the other wore casual clothes.

"That's right, the one in the school uniform is Muxia, and the other one must be Xu Yifei."

Shen Wan hurriedly ran forward. Ahead lay the jagged rocky beach; they had to cross it to reach the shoreline. With no proper path, they had to carefully step across all sorts of strange rocks.

"Muxia skips classes just to come here for what? Is he going clam digging?" Shen Wan muttered to herself.

Chi Xingwan suddenly spoke up, "They are walking into the sea. They look like people going to drown themselves."

"What?!" Both Shen Wan and Wei Shi'an were startled. They looked up, but the distance was too great for them to see clearly, though they could feel that the figures of the two children were growing smaller and smaller.

Because the boys were walking deeper into the sea, the distance increased, making their figures naturally appear smaller.

Shen Wan shouted at the top of her lungs, "Muxia, what are you doing? Come back here right now!"

The two children in the sea did not hear her. They continued to step forward into the ocean, the water already submerging their chests. Soon, they would be completely swallowed by the sea.

Chi Xingwan said, "Take your time, I'll go ahead."

In the blink of an eye, Shen Wan saw that Chi Xingwan was no longer by her side. Looking ahead, she saw Chi Xingwan moving across the treacherous rocky beach as if it were flat ground. With barely a touch of her feet, she seemed to glide forward, just like the martial artists skilled in lightweight Kung Fu in television dramas.

"That's incredible..."

Wei Shi'an steadied her so they could walk together. "Stop marveling and let's hurry up."

When the two of them crossed the rocky beach and reached the shore, Chi Xingwan had already returned, carrying the two children—one under each arm.

Seeing that Muxia was safe and sound, Shen Wan let out a sigh of relief, which was immediately followed by a surge of anger. "Muxia, what did older sister tell you before? If anything is troubling you, you need to tell me, and I will find a way to help. How could you keep everything to yourself and even have such a terrifying thought?"

Muxia stood there blankly, not uttering a single word.

Shen Wan grew even angrier. Just as she opened her mouth to scold him further, Chi Xingwan interrupted, "Stop yelling at them. They can't hear you right now."

Chi Xingwan tapped the two children on their foreheads. Both boys suddenly trembled violently, and shortly after, their expressions lost their dull, lifeless look.

Muxia looked around in a daze, then turned to Shen Wan. "Sister Wanwan, why are you here?"

Angered, Shen Wan said, "You still have the nerve to ask me? Tell me yourself, why did you climb the wall and skip school?"

Muxia immediately looked guilty. Xu Yifei, standing beside him, quickly spoke up, "Sister Shen, don't blame Muxia. I was the one who asked him to come out."

"No, Xu Yifei just came to the school to chat with me, and I brought him here," Muxia chimed in, taking the responsibility upon himself as well.

Looking at the two boys, Shen Wan felt a mixture of anger and warmth. She could tell that Xu Yifei truly considered Muxia a friend, and Muxia had accepted this friend in return.

"Alright, regardless of who brought whom, running off without telling your parents or teachers is wrong. Besides, what were you doing just now? Why did you walk out into the sea? Do you have any idea how terrified I was watching from afar?"

Muxia and Xu Yifei lowered their heads, only now noticing that their clothes were soaking wet.

"Why are our clothes wet? We didn't go into the sea. We were clearly on the rocky beach the whole time."

"What are you two talking about?" Shen Wan felt a wave of anxiety.

Especially regarding Muxia, she worried that there might be some hereditary illness in his family, and she was terrified that Muxia was starting to show symptoms.

"Sister Wanwan, Yifei and I really didn't go into the ocean," Muxia insisted firmly.

Chi Xingwan said, "They aren't lying. They had lost consciousness by the time they entered the water. Let's head back first and discuss the details later."

Though her mind was full of questions, the two children were drenched; if they didn't change into dry clothes quickly, they would easily catch a cold.

She made a quick phone call to Teacher Qin and then headed toward Muxia's house with the others.

"So, what on earth happened?" Shen Wan asked after the two boys had changed into dry clothes.

Xu Yifei kept his head down as he spoke, "My mom and dad were fighting again today. They've been arguing constantly lately, and I got so upset that I ran out. I sneaked into the school while the security guard wasn't paying attention. Muxia's class happened to be having P.E., so I found him to talk."

Xu Yifei had vented his grievances to Muxia, telling him how distressed he was because his parents kept fighting. Muxia had then asked for the reason.

"It's all because of that elephant. Ever since my dad bought that elephant statue and brought it home, his temper has been terrible, and he constantly argues with my mom. So I asked Muxia to help me. I wanted to steal the elephant and throw it away in secret."

Chi Xingwan asked, "What elephant?"

Xu Yifei described it, "It's an elephant porcelain statue. My dad bought it and placed it in his study, saying it would bring good fortune to his career."

Shen Wan continued, "So why did you go to the jagged rocky beach?"

Xu Yifei whispered, "I said we needed to hide it in a place where no one goes so my dad couldn't find it, so Muxia brought me to the rocky beach."

Muxia nodded in agreement. "We buried the elephant in the rocky beach and planned to come right back. We have no idea why we ended up in the sea afterward. Sister Wanwan, you have to believe us."

Shen Wan was stunned. She had never heard of anything so bizarre. Could it really be that the two boys had no recollection of it at all?

Wei Shi'an suddenly spoke up, "I believe you."

Muxia peered over at her and asked, "Excuse me, are you two friends of Sister Wanwan?"

That reminded Shen Wan that she hadn't introduced them yet. "Muxia, this is Sister Wei Shi'an. She says she's a distant relative of yours and has come specifically to look for you. The other one is Sister Chi Xingwan, who came along with her. She's the one who just saved you both from the sea."

Muxia stared at Wei Shi'an with wide eyes. "But, I didn't know we had any distant relatives."