Li Wang stood stiffly in the tall grass, the phone pressed tightly against his ear. His uncle's voice was a low, gravelly growl on the other end, but the silence that followed his words was heavier.
The wind whispered through the field, rustling the dry stalks around him. The afternoon sun cast long shadows, stretching like fingers across the untamed earth. Li Wang's grip on the phone was so tight his knuckles had gone white. His breath came slow and measured, as if he were holding himself together by sheer will.
"Uncle. Did you hear me? I found him. I found Jian... I'm trying my best to bring him back," Li Wang whispered, his voice strained.
There was a pause—too long, too deliberate. The kind of silence that made the back of his neck prickle. Then, finally, the response came.
Wang Bushen's response was immediate, harsh. "Don't just try. Do it. Bring him back here. We might need him."
