The boy didn’t respond.

Liwu sighed. She leaned down, staring like a stern school teacher. "I am Tai Liwu, the detective with all the bad luck. Do you want me to give you a hug?"

The boy let out a loud scream, pushing back, as if he could get away from her. "Ji Xiaoyu." he whispered. "Don’t hug me."

Liwu was the boogeyman of the country. There were many parents that said to children, ’eat your food or I will call detective Tai Liwu to hug you.’ Things like this had made her infamous.

Xuanji arrived at that moment. "I have a name for drum boy. Ji Xiaoyu, he went missing from a camping trip last week. The camp guardian filed a case but the parents said it was not big deal so there was no official search."

Liwu looked from the child to Zhou Ming. "We need to know exactly where you picked up this barrel."

Zhou Wuji’s grin faltered. "I...I don’t remember well. My system just said rare catch so..."

"Jeez dude, just show us the coordinates of where you parked your boat. Don’t you have a black box, radar...something. I don’t do boats or ship so I don’t know what the parts are." Xuanji butted in rudely.

While Wuji and Xuanji went into the boat to figure out the route, Liwu leaned in to pick up the boy from the barrel.

"Wait, towel first." Linlin stopped her.

And the boy refused to be touched Liwu meanwhile, crouching deeper in the barrel. She sighed, her coat swirling dramatically.

"Let me do it." Weijun offered to help. He stretched his hands, and lifted the boy from the barrel. He whimpered as his feet detached from the cold floor.

A medic took him from Weijun, placing him on a gurney. "Where should we take him?" She asked him.

Liwu replied quickly, "My precinct. If he goes to the hospital, press will follow. His parents will arrive and who knows who else is involved in this that could be looking to shut him up. He is safer in the precinct. We have a well equipped treatment room and in-house medical doctor."

"I will go with them." Weijun assured her with his words and eyes. He would see to it that the ambulance did not take the wrong turn.

As they departed, Zhou Wuji and Xuanji came from the boat. At the same time, He Xiao Yi arrived with two crime scene investigators that carried off the barrel. More climbed onto the boat to investigate it for any clues of the child being held on it.

"I did not take the kid, I rescued him." Wuji protested. "It wasn’t as if I went fishing for a little boy in a barrel. My system chooses what I pull from the sea. You should all be thanking me for saving his life."

Linlin nodded. "We are thankful, but you know how this goes by now. We have to investigate. You need to go back with us to the precinct and give a full statement."

"And don’t you dare cast your net or rod in my sea or I will chain you to the bottom of this sea right now." Liwu threatened.

Zhou Wuji muttered, "I help you find dead bodies and kids in barrels, you should be encouraging me to do more fishing."

Liwu did not entertain him with a response. She knew that no matter what she said, Wuji would return to the sea and pulled out something else. He was also right, he had pulled something good from the sea, for once. Now, it was time to go and find out what the mystery of the boy in the barrel was.

The precinct was already buzzing when she arrived, with Linlin by her side. Officers crowded the bullpen, voices raised, tension thick enough to choke. At the center of the tension stood a man and woman, both middle aged, wearing worn down jackets. The smell of sea food wafted off both of them strongly. Their faves were flushed, eyes wild, screaming demands to see their son with a fervor that bordered on hysteria.

"Bring him to us right now," the man barked, fists pounding a desk. "You have no right to keep him from us!"

The woman clutched the old shawl around her neck. It was brown, with a few holes from being hang on a nail. "He is our child. He is not a system host, and neither are we. The Bureau has no right to hold Xiaoyu. Bring him out right now or we will go to the press and make you regret this."

Weijun, flanked by two senior officers raised a hand to calm them. "I am the mayor, and I am the one that has asked the bureau to hold your son. Perhaps you don’t understand the gravity of what’s happening but you soon will. Every protocol is going to be followed to the T or P. Your son is safe, but this is an investigation which involves child services as well. Your threats will not hasten the process." His tone was firm, but the parents only grew louder, their desperation curdling into menace.

Liwu paused close to the doorway, her sharp eyes narrowing. She had no idea how the parents had heard the news and rushed to the precinct, but their reactions were not matching. She expected to see enthusiasm or grief. Both responses at the same time were also acceptable and understandable. But this was something else. Their emotions gave off rage. Their outraged too pointed. It was as if they were performing for the room, trying to force the narrative rather than pleading for their child. All this made them even more suspicious in her books.

Xuanji walked by her, stopping to frown at the commotion. "How did they know we found their son?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Linlin answered the question with a curse on the tip of her tongue. "Sleazy Han released the story just moments after the ID came in. He was at the scene, disguised as a crime scene tech."

Liwu clenched her fists. "That sly son of a bitch. He will do anything for a front page story."

Linlin raised her phone. "It gets worse." One the screen was an image of Weijun lifting the boy from the barrel. It looked heroic. As if it had been timed perfectly."