Missing Child

Cries and panicked shouts echoed through the halls of Yanghua Manor, each sound, a searing needle pricking at Liang's nerves.

She pushed past Lord Yang Yuxuan, his face pale with shock, and entered the scene of disorder. Inside, furniture lay overturned, toys scattered like fallen soldiers. In the center stood Lady Yang Huan, cradling a sobbing young girl. Her composed features were twisted in terror, her eyes wild with disbelief.

"He's gone!" she choked out, her voice raw and frantic. "He… he just disappeared!"

Liang's gaze darted around the room, searching for the missing child. A trail of overturned blocks led to the shattered window, its glass glittering like spilled diamonds. Her heart raced. Had the child fallen, or taken?

"It was the shadow, Detective," another voice rasped. A maid stood trembling by the doorway. "I saw it… a dark figure disappearing into the night with the boy."

"A shadow?" Liang questioned, her brow furrowing. "Did anyone else see this shadow?"

The maid nodded, her eyes wide with fear. "Others heard the whispers too, Detective. Like a ghost in the wind."

Liang considered this as she knelt beside Lady Yang Huan, her voice calm. "Tell me everything you saw, Lady Yang. Every detail, no matter how small."

As Lady Yang Huan spoke, recounting a brief glimpse of a dark shape and chilling footsteps, Liang noticed a glint on the floor—a symbol of a phoenix written in blood.

Her eyes narrowed. "A phoenix symbol? Did anyone else see this?"

Lady Yang Huan, still cradling the sobbing child, glanced around the room. "I didn't notice anything, I was focused on my son."

Liang took the sample of the blood on the floor, to have it examined. "I will send this to the forensics for sampling, don't worry we will find him".

As morning came, Yanghua Manor buzzed with frantic activity. Police swarmed the estate, and Liang coordinated the search.

Lord Yang Yuxuan, his grief now laced with a determined resolve, provided little in the way of insight.

His story mirrored Lady Yang Huan's, adding only that he felt a cold gust of wind just before the shadow snatched the boy.

Meanwhile, younger siblings offered conflicting accounts, their memories muddled by fear.

Yet, one detail emerged repeatedly that sent a shiver down Liang's spine: all of them had felt a cold touch on their shoulders just before the boy's disappearance, a touch that left no visible mark but a chilling sense of dread.

As the hours bled into the day, the air grew thick with desperation. Liang felt a growing conviction that the disappearance was no ordinary crime. So she decided to go back into the basement in search of clues.

 She was going through the family history when she found an old diary. The yellowed pages talked about similar disappearances across generations, always on the night of a full moon.

Her blood ran cold as she stumbled upon an entry from her father, a seasoned investigator who had been in charge of a missing case long ago in Yanghua Manor.

"The darkness here runs deep," he wrote, his words scrawled in a hurry. "I sense an old, bad presence, twisting shadows to its will. The rose… it's more than just a symbol."

She flinched at the creak of the basement door, her fingers tightening around the worn leather cover of her father's diary. As the sound of footsteps echoed down the wooden steps, Liang's heart slammed against her ribs.

Then, a gasp echoed, the moonlight framing a stunned Lady Yang Huan at the bottom of the staircase.

"Liang?" she stammered, her eyes wide with surprise. "What are you doing down here?"

Liang quickly shut the diary. "Just… exploring," she offered, her voice thin under Lady Huan's scrutiny. "This place holds so much family history, it's like stepping back in time."

Lady Huan's brow furrowed, curiosity battling suspicion. "Family history," she echoed, stepping closer. "This basement? It's always been off-limits. Grandfather used to say it held bad memories, ghosts even."

Liang forced a laugh, attempting to dispel the growing tension. "Ghosts? Don't be silly, Lady Huan. There's nothing down here but spiders and dust."

Yet, the lie tasted bitter in her mouth. Her father's diary painted a different picture.

Huan's gaze lingered on the closed diary, a flicker of doubt sparking in her eyes. "Are you sure, Liang? I always felt… a cold air down here, something unsettling."

Liang's breath hitched. Had Lady Huan sensed the same darkness that plagued her father's entries?

Before she could respond, a sudden gust of wind rattled the old door of the basement, Huan yelped, clutching Liang's arm, her fear echoing the chill that settled in Liang's bones.

"See?" Huan whispered her voice barely audible. "There's something here, I know it."

Liang hesitated, torn between keeping her father's secrets and offering Huan some comfort. In the end, she decided on a partial truth. "There might be answers down here," she admitted, her voice hushed. "Answers to… why things have been the way they've been."

Huan eyes glimmered with a mixture of fear and anticipation. "Answers?" she breathed. "Do you… do you think it will help find my son?"

Liang's heart ached for Huan's pain. "Maybe," she said softly, "but we need to be careful. Whatever secrets this place holds, they might not be pleasant."

"Come, you need to rest for the night," Liang said. As they went back up, Liang walked Lady Huan to her room, assuring her that everything would be fine, before she went back to her room, just a temporary resident in the manor for her to stay as Lord Yuxuan suggested.