Chapter 18: The Line We Cross For Love

Sisi played with the straw hay in her hand. There was nothing fun to do at home, so Sisi's pastime was to make random weaves from almost anything.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Her finger stopped mid-braid. Was her father home?

Carefully placing down her weave, she walked towards the door and peeked through the peephole.

Outside was a man not really that familiar to Sisi, but she still knew him. It was her father's co-worker.

Without opening the door, Sisi asked, "Excuse me, is there anything you need?"

Ron, who was outside, smiled when he heard Sisi's voice inside the house. He cleared his throat and tried to act naturally. "Sisi, right? I'm Ron. Your dad was gathering wood on the side. I'm here to deliver a tool. Can you please open the door?"

Sisi paused. Her mind turned, and she remembered her father telling her not to talk or open the door to strangers...

But Uncle Ron knew Father. He is not a stranger, right?

Looking at his face, Sisi didn't think that he was a bad guy.

So she opened the door.

MISTAKE.

The moment she was exposed, Ron's smile turned into something sinister. It was a very sudden shift that Sisi didn't have time to react to.

He grabbed her arm and covered her mouth to prevent her from calling for help. It was easy for a grown man to overpower a malnourished six-year-old girl.

Sisi continued struggling, her tiny hands randomly clawing the arm that was restraining her. Her eyes were blurry with tears. Fear and confusion were what Sisi felt.

Why was he doing this? Sisi felt uncomfortable being held like this. Isn't he Papa's co-worker?

Sisi tried to fight back. Her feet managed to knock over a clay water jar placed outside their house...

CLASH!

The house beside theirs opened. An old woman came out.

Ron paused. He looked at the old woman with a deranged look on his face.

...

When Ugan almost arrived at his house, before he could even get close to his door, his eyes widened when he saw the gruesome sight laid bare in his yard.

Lying on the ground was an old woman. Her head was shattered by a blunt object, revealing the contents. She had already stopped breathing, and in her hand was a makeshift ribbon that Sisi always wore.

"Miss Eula!" Ugan called out in grief. It was the old widow who doted on Sisi the most and took good care of her when he was at work.

Whenever he was away, the old woman would always check up on Sisi. This time seemed to be the same, but unfortunately, she met a very tragic fate.

Why kill her? She was just an old woman!

He wanted to rush towards her body, but he knew it was too late... she couldn't be saved.

There was no time. Sisi still needed him. Prioritizing the living is better than caring for the dead, Ugan told himself as he pushed down the guilty conscience in his heart.

He rushed to his door and opened it. The moment he saw the empty house, his heart sank.

"Sisi! Sisi! Sisi!" he called out repeatedly like crazy as he almost uprooted all the furniture inside the house, in hopes that maybe Sisi just hid herself somewhere.

After a while, Ugan slumped down on the ground, his eyes staring blankly at the mess.

The entire house was devoid of Sisi.

Someone really took Sisi away.

RON!

Ugan stood up and wasted no time as he ran out of the house. With tears in his eyes, he rushed barefoot to the police station.

He knew it was probably useless, but he couldn't just sit still and wait for his daughter's death, right?

...

"So you're saying your co-worker is a child trafficker and took your daughter away after killing your neighbor?" The police looked at Ugan as he grumpily spun the fountain pen on his fingers.

Of course, he was annoyed. He was already very pressured by the higher-ups to investigate the demons. Now, before he could even come out of the station, a crazy man knelt down and pulled him back in.

Ugan's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the police straight in the eyes. If this were normal circumstances, he wouldn't have dared do such a thing, but the police's nonchalant attitude rubbed him the wrong way.

The police crumpled a piece of paper and threw it in his face. He frowned as he snarled at Ugan, "The fuck are you looking at me like that?"

"I'll send someone to clean up the old woman's body. Now, leave. The police station is very busy right now, and we can't entertain irrelevant cases."

Ugan snapped. He lunged at the police and grabbed his collar. "What do you mean irrelevant?! My child is missing!"

The police gave Ugan a degrading look while ripping off his hands from his collar. "Irrelevant. The fact that your daughter went missing is nothing special. In this town, many children went missing every day. You have been struggling in society for many years, you should know the truth."

"For every parent that loves their children, their kid is special to them, but for us police, your child is just another irrelevant number in the missing cases that are very common in this town."

He pushed Ugan off and stood up. He looked at the mirror on the side and fixed the name badge on his chest.

Officer Leon.

Leon looked at Ugan, who was glaring at him, and sneered. "You're blaming me for being heartless? I won't explain much since I know you know the circumstances you are in now."

"This town lacks police officials, and even the town head is corrupt. What makes you think that reporting it to the police would help?"

"It's already dark. Now go home obediently. Accept that your child is now gone. You can remarry if you want and have another child."

If not for the fact that Ugan looked very lost and pathetic, Leon wouldn't have wasted time to talk to him.

After fixing his uniform, Leon walked out of the station, leaving behind Ugan who seemed to have lost his soul.

WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO? WHAT DO I DO?

Ugan was losing his mind from grief. There was nothing that could help him in this police station. Where would Ron be now?

Wait!

His eyes were filled with madness as he thought of something. He didn't know where Ron was, but he knew where his wife lived.

...

BANG BANG BANG!

"Open the door! I need to talk to you!" Ugan slammed the wooden door like a crazy drunkard. It was already night, and he was going against the law by still wandering around.

There was no movement on the in the house. Ugan knocked on the door again. He knew that there was someone inside, because he just saw a shadow flicker from the window.

"Do you think you can get rid of me by ignoring me? NO! I'll continue to knock here until you open the door!" At this point, anger and pain were already clouding Ugan's mind.

The door finally opened, but just a slit. A woman poked her head out. Her face was battered. There was a huge bruise on her left eye and the side of her mouth.

"The fuck do you want?" The woman's face looked irritable as she glared at Ugan.

"Tell me where Ron is and I'll leave you alone." Ugan panted, his emotions starting to shift into something more extreme.

Hearing Ron's name, the woman's face cooled down. "I don't know where he is." And just as she was about to close the door shut, a huge force suddenly pushed the door open, sending her tumbling down on the floor.

BANG!

Her entire body slammed down. Before she could even react, a fist suddenly plummeted onto her face.

"Bitch! Tell me where he is or I'll kill you!" Ugan had already lost his mind. All he wanted to do was find his daughter and nothing else.

He continued to punch the woman multiple times as she tried to shield herself using her arms.

"Mama? What's—"

Hearing the childish voice, Ugan's actions stopped. He slowly turned his head and saw a little boy standing on the side. The child's eyes were shocked at what he was seeing, then anger overwhelmed the boy's fear.

"Let go of Mother!" The child grabbed the glass on the table and threw it at Ugan.

The glass directly hit his shoulder, but Ugan couldn't feel anything. He let go of the woman that was trapped below him and stood up. His eyes were filled with violence as he stared at the little boy.

It was a very predatory look. The child sensed the crisis. He wanted to run, but when he saw his groggy mother on the floor, the boy couldn't bear to leave her behind.

"This is Ron's child, right?" He chewed those words carefully in his mouth. "Will he let go of my daughter once I have his son in my hands?"