Chapter 156: Zu Ti

Yan Yu looked at the children—some lying on the ground, others huddled together—and at the nearby ruins still smoldering from the fire. He walked over to Master Tong’s side, unable to shake the feeling that what he was witnessing was unbelievable. How could this have been accomplished?

“Was all of this your doing? And what about those corpses we found along the road?” Yan Yu asked.

By now, Master Tong had regained consciousness. Nodding at Yan Yu, he said, “Most of it was done by those four children. I just came in at the end to finish things off and set the fire. They even got me on camera at the beach. These younger generations are truly fierce. I thought I had already placed them on a very high pedestal, sometimes even overestimating them. But it turns out, I still underestimated them.”

Yan Yu listened to Master Tong’s words, but they only left him more confused. He had no idea what Master Tong meant. Noticing Yan Yu’s puzzled expression, Master Tong glanced at Tong Fei and decided not to explain further. Instead, he gently pulled both Yan Yu and Tong Fei into his embrace.

The children all rose to their feet, gazing at the charred ruins before them. It felt surreal. Just before midnight last night, they had been locked in the village’s prison. And now, only a few hours later, not only had they been saved, but the entire village had been erased forever.

The greatest contributor to this victory, Zhang Xuan, was still lying on the ground, twisting his weary body. It felt like he hadn’t slept this late in ages. Wiping his face, he sat up and looked around at the children’s smiling faces. Despite the exhaustion and even having to crawl through a dog hole last night, it had all been worthwhile. Saving a life was worth more than building a seven-story pagoda; by now, he must have accumulated countless pagodas in merit. As for those human traffickers, Zhang Xuan shamelessly shifted all the blame onto Master Tong and Uncle Yang.

Lost in thought about how many pagodas he might have earned, a child approached and tugged on Zhang Xuan’s sleeve.

“Big brother, thank you. Without you, I don’t know how much longer I would have stayed inside,” the child said.

Zhang Xuan looked down at the child, unfamiliar with him. Then he scratched his chin, feeling a bit awkward. Suddenly, a spark of recognition hit him. Last night, in the prison cell, a child had called him “big brother.” It was too dark to see the face clearly then, and he wasn’t sure if this was the same child. Nevertheless, he decided to take a chance. “I remember now. You’re the child at the prison door last night.”

“Yes! Big brother, you remember me?” the child replied eagerly.

Relieved to have guessed correctly, Zhang Xuan exhaled deeply. With so many pagodas accompanying him, luck was on his side. “By the way, what’s your name?”

“Big brother, my name is Zu Ti. A few months ago, I was preparing to move to Yangping with my father. But later, I got separated from him. I met someone who claimed to be kind and said they would help me find my parents. Unfortunately, they were human traffickers, and that’s how I ended up here.”

Listening to Zu Ti’s story, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but think how similar it was to the tale of the brothers Nie Zheng and Nie Rong—both sought refuge with relatives, trusted a ‘kind stranger,’ only to be led astray into the lair of thieves. Clearly, Zhang Xuan had no way of knowing, or perhaps simply didn’t recall, who this Zu Ti truly was. In truth, his knowledge of the history from the Jin to the Sui dynasty spanned only the basics learned in high school—some details about the Nine-Rank system originating with Cao Cao, perfected in the Western Jin, and the reforms by the Tuoba clan in Northern Wei. Beyond a few historical figures from textbooks, he knew little else.

“What are your plans now?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“I want to find my father. It’s been so long, and he must be terribly worried. I need to find him soon and let him know I’m safe.” Zu Ti’s heart ached with longing to reunite with his family.

Seeing Zu Ti’s anxious expression and earnest desire to reunite with his loved ones, Zhang Xuan patted the boy’s head gently and said softly, “For now, stay with us. Wandering alone in this forest isn’t safe. We’ve finally rescued you all from this nightmare; don’t let yourselves fall into another. Otherwise, all our efforts last night would have been in vain. Once we leave the forest and reach the government office, we’ll hand you all over to the authorities. That way, we can rest easier. In the meantime, stick close to us. You’ll reunite with your family soon enough. Just don’t let another ‘kind stranger’ trick you again.”

Zu Ti shook his head resolutely. “I won’t. I’ll never trust someone so easily again.”

“Don’t expose your true heart to others so readily. The human heart is treacherous. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Remember that. I don’t want to see you back in the traffickers’ lair again.” Zhang Xuan said this with a solemn air, then strode toward Master Tong and his wife, leaving Zu Ti alone to ponder his words.

Clenching his fists tightly, Zu Ti watched Zhang Xuan’s retreating figure and shouted with all his strength, “Big brother, and all the other brothers and uncles, thank you. Thank you for saving me from that nightmare.” Many children, hearing Zu Ti’s cries, joined in, their voices ringing out in gratitude to Zhang Xuan and the others.

Zhang Xuan, Master Tong, and the others smiled quietly as they watched the children, their hearts warmed by the calls of thanks.