Chapter 341: Let’s Play a Game

2022-05-20

“What was written on the note? And how do you know someone left it there on purpose?” I blurted out.

I could hear Sun Qingqing crying on the other end. Her words came out between sobs: “We found Hu Ningning and Li Jun’s backpacks. The two of them left their bags together, but we couldn’t find the kids anywhere nearby. Everything inside the bags was intact, nothing missing. But we found a note in one of them.”

She paused for a moment before adding, “On the note it said—’Let’s play a game.'”

“Say that again?” I asked, making sure I’d heard right. “What did the note say?”

Sun Qingqing repeated, “Let’s play a game.”

The moment I heard her, I knew this wasn’t simple. I’d only ever heard that exact phrase from one person: Wu Zui. Back when Wu Zui took Liu Yinyan, that was the same thing she said to us. Now the same words show up again. Is this the start of Wu Zui’s next move?

Let’s play a game. That’s Wu Zui’s style, no doubt about it.

Could it be that when Teacher Gao went out earlier, she met someone connected to Wu Zui? And the person who died just happened to be Gu Hui—someone clearly wants to bring Gu Chen back. If Gu Chen comes back, I’d definitely follow. Ever since my escape, Wu Zui had no idea where I went. Is this their way of drawing me out?

“We’ll head to your school,” I told her. “Just try to stay calm. Call me if anything changes.”

“Alright,” Sun Qingqing replied. She sounded young—no wonder she was listening to my instructions so closely.

After hanging up, I turned to Gu Chen. “You were right—this isn’t so simple. They found the kids’ bags, with a note that said, ‘Let’s play a game.’ From Sun Qingqing’s description, there’s no way a child wrote that note. It had to be an adult’s handwriting.”

Gu Chen started getting dressed as he spoke. “If this was a kidnapping, they wouldn’t leave a note like that behind.”

“Let’s move,” I said as I quickly splashed water on my face. “And keep in mind—it’s more than just these two kids who could’ve been taken. There’s definitely more to come. Judging from Gu Hui’s death, the goal may have been just to bring you back, or even drag me back into this.”

We said our goodbyes to Gu Chen’s father. Gu Chen had already called for someone to collect Teacher Gao’s body, so we were about to leave too.

Outside the village, Gu Chen’s car was still parked where he’d left it. He drove us to the elementary school in town, and by the time we arrived it was close to ten in the morning. We skipped any formalities—Gu Chen contacted the school and let them know who we were. At that point, the note was in my hands.

I looked over the piece of paper. Aside from those few words, nothing else was written. There weren’t any other clues on it, and clearly no fingerprints either.

“Let’s play a game.” Those words sat dead center on the page.

I glanced at the principal standing nearby. “Any leads yet? The investigation should’ve started by now, right?”

“Yeah,” the principal said, “but we haven’t found anything. The kids just disappeared right under a surveillance camera.”

I frowned. “Go check with the other students too. Is anyone else missing?”

The principal shook his head, answering firmly, “No, it’s just those two. Not a single other kid is missing. It’s a school day—everyone else is here.”

“And another thing!” the principal added quickly, “We’ve got a new rule. If a parent doesn’t come get their child, we charge a fee to help send them home. You have to understand things from our side—if every missing kid gets blamed on us, we’re screwed. They were already off school grounds when it happened…”

I understood his urge to deflect blame, but that wasn’t the point now. I waved him off. “That’s for the best. Just don’t lose any other kids.”

He nodded. “We’re being careful. But where did they go?”

Just then, his phone started ringing. He glanced down—it was an unfamiliar number. When he answered, his face gradually turned pale. Within seconds, the phone slipped from his hand.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

The school leader replied in a trembling voice, “A man called. He said a boy named Li Jun was dead, dumped in a well near the school. He said it was our first riddle. What does that even mean, Li Jun is dead?”

Hearing that, my heart sank. The killer wasn’t giving us any time. We’d barely left the village when this happened.

“Did he say anything else on the call?” I pressed.

The school leader knelt to pick up his phone and said, “He knew who I was. Just told me straight—Li Jun from our school is dead in a well nearby.”

I nodded slowly. “Do you know exactly where that well is?”

The principal thought for a moment, then said, “Yes, I do! Let’s go, I know the place.”

Without another word, he hurriedly led us outside.

We followed the school leader as he waddled ahead, sweating under his bald head and gasping for breath. Pretty soon, a small grove came into view, all surrounded by wire fencing. In the center was a wire gate.

About thirty minutes later, we arrived at the spot. The gate lock was unlocked and hung loosely on the door.

This place was a little grove behind the school, basically deserted. The school leader rushed ahead, calling, “It’s just up front—right there!”

We looked where he was pointing and sure enough, we saw an abandoned well.

As we walked, I asked, “Did you ever search here for those two kids?”

The school leader shook his head, speaking anxiously. “No, this is the back entrance. It used to be woods—they wanted to expand the campus someday, but never finished. It’s been closed off, but now the gate is open. I don’t get it.”

Now we were right at the well. I leaned over to look inside, but it was pitch black.

“Can you move aside a bit?” I asked. “You’re blocking the sunlight.”

When the leader stepped away, I finally got a clear look. Peering down, I saw a small child curled up at the bottom, wearing a school uniform, wedged tight in that cramped space. He couldn’t have been taller than four feet, the well itself probably six and a half feet deep.

He’d left through the school’s front gate at around five thirty yesterday, yet now he was in a dried-up well by the back gate. So after leaving, did he come back, or was he thrown in by the killer? Or did he just fall in by accident?

And what about Hu Ningning—where was she now?

The principal said, “This area is always kept locked. The lock is higher than he is—how could a little kid reach it?”

“Which means he couldn’t have come in alone,” I said. “Find a rope—let’s get him out of there.”

The principal shouted, “Li Jun! Li Jun!”

But after calling for ages, there was no response. I figured the killer wasn’t lying—Li Jun had to be dead. Judging from the timing, he’d likely been down there a whole day and night, making it almost impossible for him to still be alive.

“That’s enough,” I told them. “Chances he survived are slim.”

Gu Chen scanned the area before saying, “Priority is getting the body out.”

The principal found a rope tied around a tree—used for keeping the tree warm during winter—and handed it to Gu Chen. Gu Chen tugged the rope a few times to check its strength.

He looked into the well and said, “Here’s the plan. I’ll go down and tie the rope around him. Then we all pull him up together.”

The well was so narrow that Gu Chen barely had space to move, his feet couldn’t even fit flat.

“How’s it looking down there?” the principal called anxiously. “Li Jun—is he okay?”

Gu Chen replied, “The body’s already cold. No visible wounds, but it’s not clear how he died. I’ll come back up and then we can pull him out together.”

He tied the rope around the boy, then looked up to us, braced himself against the well wall, and climbed up. The principal and I hurried to pull him out. Gu Chen hooked a hand over the edge, grabbed my arm and with a heave, climbed out.

“Pull,” Gu Chen instructed.

We pulled the rope gently, careful not to harm the boy’s body any further.

Luckily, the well wasn’t that deep. Gu Chen leaned in, braced both hands beneath Li Jun, and helped lift him out.