Chapter 3: 'The Left Foot of the Back Mountain' (1)\Chapter 2: 'The Left Foot of the Back Mountain' (1)\The next day, the disappearance of Li Peiying stirred up a huge commotion again, because this time even her classmate Liao Xiaoping had gone missing.\Liao Xiaoping's parents angrily came to the school. Liao's mother, right in the hallway outside the classroom, repeatedly blamed Zheng Yuting and Pan Yijie in front of the teachers, the principal, and the whole class, saying it was all because they took Liao Xiaoping out roaming around at night for no reason, which gave the criminals a chance to strike.\Hearing such accusations, Zheng Yuting and Pan Yijie felt both sad and wronged inside, but facing Liao's mother, who seemed like a shrew scolding them publicly, they didn't dare to say much, so they could only stand there with red eyes, silently taking the scolding.\Huang Qinglan, sitting inside the classroom, listened for a while and finally couldn't hold back, suddenly rushing out of the classroom to confront Liao's mother: “What nonsense are you talking about? If one of them had disappeared today, would their parents also be able to blame your daughter like this?”\“You…” Liao's mother was so angry she couldn't speak, and could only glare at Huang Qinglan with a sullen face.\At that moment, Liao's father and the teachers and principal standing nearby felt awkward, because no one wanted to keep blaming each other at such a critical time; it wouldn't help the situation at all.\Seeing the tense atmosphere growing, the principal stepped in to mediate: “Um… the three of you, go back to your classroom first! This has nothing to do with you here!”\“Thank you, Principal!”\Huang Qinglan nodded at the principal, then quickly pulled Pan Yijie and Zheng Yuting back to the classroom, so that Liao Xiaoping's mother wouldn't come up with some strange reason to scold them again.\Back in the classroom, everyone in class looked at Huang Qinglan with newfound respect, because no one had ever seen her lose her temper like this before. The most impressive part was that she only said one sentence and shut the other person up, which showed just how sharp her words were.\After a while, class teacher Xu Yuhui came in to continue the lesson, while Liao Xiaoping's parents were invited by the principal to the office, as the principal was concerned that continuing to argue outside the classroom would affect the students' mood for class.However, even so, the students still didn't feel like attending class, because everyone found it very hard to understand the series of events happening in their class. To put it more frankly, many girls were even worried that they might be next. As the situation escalated, many people had already stopped believing the speculation that Li Peiying had arranged to "elope" with an online friend, especially after earlier rumors that a "little girl in red" appeared on surveillance footage. Now, coupled with the bizarre disappearance of Liao Xiaoping while visiting the night market, although no one said it out loud, in everyone's mind, they were all thinking of the same thing—"Mó Shén Zǐ" (the Little Demon Spirit). The only thing capable of taking someone away without anyone noticing... must be this kind of ghost creature from folklore. "Mó Shén Zǐ" actually has different explanations in various regions of Taiwan, and to this day, there is no definitive conclusion. For example, in the mountains, the so-called ghost creature by the indigenous people actually refers to the souls of a pygmy black tribe that was annihilated by the Saisiyat over 500 years ago, which is also the origin of the "Pygmy Spirit Festival." According to legend, in that era, the pygmy blacks lived on one side of a major river, while the Saisiyat lived on the other. The pygmy blacks were skilled in farming and sorcery, so they crossed the river to teach the Saisiyat farming techniques, and in return, the Saisiyat invited them to join in the Harvest Festival. However, because the pygmy blacks were naturally lustful and also skilled in sorcery, they often bewildered Saisiyat women to harass them. Eventually, the Saisiyat could tolerate it no longer and devised a strategy to eliminate them. In the end, all the pygmy blacks fell into the trap, leaving only two or three survivors. Before these survivors escaped, they cursed the Saisiyat people, which led to years of disasters for the Saisiyat, and eventually, they had to change the Harvest Festival into the "Pygmy Spirit Festival" to appease the grievances of the pygmy spirits. These sorcery-skilled pygmy spirits later became what are known as "Mó Shén Zǐ." Since they were all ghost beings capable of bewildering humans with sorcery, it was natural for this association to form. Additionally, in some rural areas, "Mó Shén Zǐ" refers to something different.In the words of the Minnan people, a 'Móshénzǎi' is more like a mischievous spirit. They appear near piles of graves and specifically like to prank children, occasionally also adults. In this version, 'Móshénzǎi' usually lure you with delicious food to follow them, and then by the time your family notices, you suddenly realize your mouth is stuffed with disgusting things like grasshoppers or worms. It's considered a less harmful prank. However, the outcome of being taken away by a 'Móshénzǎi' in the mountains is very different! For instance, certain mountain accidents or cases of hikers mysteriously disappearing or dying are said to be the work of these 'Móshénzǎi.'
So… when the 'Red-Clothed Little Girl' first appeared in front of the audience, everyone associated her with the soul-enticing kind of 'Móshénzǎi.' The next day, after school, Teacher Xu Yuhui took four male classmates around the city to post missing person notices, hoping witnesses could provide clues. On the missing person posters they made, besides life photos of Li Peiying and Liao Xiaoping, there were also images of Li Peiying and the male netizen playing and taking sticker photos together, captured from surveillance footage.
As they posted the notices, they unknowingly ended up near the Ocean University. Coincidentally, a student named Yan Shihong, who had come out for a walk to buy dinner, recognized the boy in the image. 'Excuse me! May I ask... are you looking for this boy?'
Upon hearing this, Teacher Xu quickly grabbed his hand and said, 'Ah! Do you know the boy in this photo? One of our female classmates met him and then lost contact. Her family and we are very anxious. If you know him, could you help us find him?' Yan Shihong nodded and then immediately took out his phone to make a call. But after almost two minutes, it seemed he still couldn't get through. After trying one last time, he finally gave up and put down his phone, saying to Teacher Xu, 'Sorry! I can't reach him...' He put his phone away and began to explain, 'This boy is my high school classmate. His name is Cheng Renyi. He's now attending Taiwan Tech. He came to see me just the week before last.'Teacher Xu listened attentively while quickly jotting down the data with her pen, then asked him, "So... did he ever tell you that he came to Keelung to meet an online friend?"
"Yes! But he didn't tell me that it was going to be with a junior high school girl. Maybe he was afraid I would laugh at him if I knew?"
"Uh..." Teacher Xu awkwardly glanced back at the students' uniforms in the classroom, then turned back and continued, "So... what happened after they met? Didn't he come back to you?"
He shook his head: "No! I thought he went straight back to Taipei."
"I see. Is it convenient for you to leave your phone number? I'll ask the police to contact you, okay?"
"Huh? You reported this to the police?"
Teacher Xu nodded helplessly: "Yes! Because her parents really cannot reach her at all and are very worried she might have been deceived by someone."
"Eh... that's true! But I don't think it would be my classmate! He doesn't have the courage to abduct a minor girl."
"Oh? Then does he live in the dorm? Or...?"
"Oh! I have his dorm number. Can you wait a moment? I'll go back to the dorm and check."
"Okay..."
About ten minutes later, Yan Shihong wrote down Cheng Renyi's dorm phone number, department details, and so on for Teacher Xu, and also left his own name and phone number.
Finally, Teacher Xu repeatedly thanked him for his help and then drove back to drop off the male students who had helped put up posters today one by one.
Chapter 4 "The Left Foot of the Back Mountain" (2)
Chapter 2 "The Left Foot of the Back Mountain" (2)
Soon, the police arrived at Cheng Renyi's school dormitory. However, according to his roommates, Cheng Renyi hadn't returned for almost two weeks. Even the department head was looking for him, because if he continued to skip classes, he could eventually be barred from taking the final exam.
Being barred from the final exam might not be too severe for a good student, but for someone who normally doesn't study much, not being able to take the exam could directly lead to expulsion, with no chance for remediation.
The police had no choice but to release the news, hoping that viewers nationwide would help search for this pair of online friends who had gone missing shortly after meeting.It goes without saying that the police would never dare to release the image of the 'little girl in red' that appeared at the very end of the surveillance footage.
As for Liao Xiaoping, since she had also met the criteria of being missing for forty-eight hours, the police intensified their investigation in hopes of finding both of the young girls as soon as possible.
On Friday night, Yan Shihong's roommates all went home, leaving him alone in the dorm room that originally accommodated four people.
He sat in front of the computer, browsing BBS and chatting with friends on MSN. During the chat, he casually mentioned Chen Renyi's alleged abduction of a minor girl.
"Hey! Have you seen the news recently?"
"Yeah! You mean about Ah-Yi going missing?"
"Yes! He's seriously bad! He actually went after a middle school girl?"
"Uh… but didn't the police say they're only suspicious? Since he himself is missing… maybe he ran into some trouble?"
"Trouble? Kidnapping? Or robbery? Do you think that's possible? He doesn't look like some rich kid, who would want to kidnap him?"
"That's true! But it's hard to tell."
"Sigh! If I had known in advance that he was going to meet a middle school girl, I would have embarrassed him badly first. Maybe then he wouldn't have gone."
"Oh! Actually, a lot of young girls are quite mature these days. With a little makeup, you can't even tell they're underage. Maybe he didn't know at first! Didn't the news report say that they met online? Nowadays, there are so many cases of stolen or edited online photos!"
"Yeah! From the photos the police showed me, that little girl really looks quite mature. If I hadn't seen her classmates' uniforms before, I really wouldn't have guessed she's only in ninth grade."
"Really? The police even came to see you?"
"Yeah! When the girl's class advisor came near our school to put up posters, I happened to see them. That's when I found out about what happened with Chen Renyi. I originally thought Ah-Yi had just gone back to Taipei after meeting his online friend that day."
"I see? So… the police still haven't found him yet?"
"Yeah! Chen's parents are extremely worried! They keep calling to ask me if Keelung is safe."Just like you, I'm really afraid that he ran into criminals." \"Eh… actually, it might not necessarily be criminals. I think it's also very possible he encountered danger by the sea or in the mountains. Didn't your university, Hainan University, have both mountains and the sea?" \"Yes! That's possible, but I think the police must have already considered that. So why haven't they found him yet? Whether alive or dead, you should be able to find him!" \"Ah! Hearing you say that, it made my whole body shiver…" \"Sigh! There's nothing we can do. Realistically, that's just how it is. Although we all hope he's safe, we can't ignore the worst-case scenario." \"Mm!" \"By the way! That…" Yan Shihong and his friends continued chatting aimlessly and, without realizing it, ended up talking until past one in the morning. \"Ha… so tired…" He stood up, stretched, and let out a big yawn. At that moment, someone suddenly pinged him on MSN. \He sat down and saw that the nickname was actually Cheng Renyi's usual handle, "Cheng Ren Qu Yi," so he hurriedly moved the mouse to open the chat window, intending to properly question him about where he had been for the past two weeks. \"'Red color,' still not asleep this late?" \"Ah Yi! Where the hell have you been? Do you know how many people are looking for you? What have you been doing?" \"I <
