With a sudden roll of thunder, inside the Siren Mansion, Tang Xin noticed the sky outside had darkened at some unknown point. Her water arts mastery made her very sensitive to the perception of moisture; judging by the current humidity, a heavy downpour would arrive before long.
Amy was squatting amidst a pile of junk boxes, rummaging through them while muttering under her breath, "Where is it?"
"Where did those two brats hide?!" Amy barked in frustration.
A few minutes ago, they had encountered two children inside the mansion. The moment Amy saw them, she chased after them like a demon finding a pair of lambs. The terrified children had ducked into a storage room on the second floor; any child would be frightened to see a strange woman reaching out with a predatory grin.
In the end, it was Tang Xin who sighed, climbed a ladder, and pulled open the attic hatch in the ceiling. Two thin, small figures immediately tumbled down with cries of alarm. Tang Xin caught the girl, while the older boy landed squarely on his buttocks, grimacing in pain.
"Don't! Don't you dare hurt my sister!"
The boy scrambled up and shouted, but his voice grew softer once he saw Tang Xin's face. He felt that such a gentle-looking sister wouldn't hurt his sister, unlike Amy, who was approaching while cracking her knuckles—the very woman who had just been chasing them!
The boy's face turned slightly pale as he stepped back. But thinking of his sister still in their hands, he grabbed a wooden stick and mustered the courage to swing it wildly as he stepped forward.
"Let—let go of my sister, or I'll fight you to the death!"
Tang Xin helplessly set down the little girl in her arms. The girl's small face, covered in thick dust, hid behind her white skirt, her large, watery eyes filled with mist and fear.
"What were you running for?!" Amy said aggressively, slapping the wooden stick out of the boy's hand with a single palm.
Once the boy realized the two in front of him weren't going to hurt them, he swallowed hard and retorted, "Then why were you chasing us?"
Amy's face froze. He actually had a point.
Guardiness remained in the boy's eyes as his gaze searched for an escape route. A few days ago, he and his sister had returned home to find a group of strangers who had turned their house upside down. Since then, strangers had been looking for them on the island every day, asking the town's residents about their whereabouts.
The usually kind acquaintances around them seemed to have turned into different people. Often, before he and his sister could even rest for a moment in a household,
Those people would show up at the door. They had been betrayed by their neighbors!
A child's natural wariness of malice made him realize those people had ill intentions toward him and his sister. Thus, he had taken his sister to hide in this abandoned mansion. For days, he had been the one going out to find food for her, only to be caught red-handed today.
"Kid, do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?!" Amy's angry voice made the boy tremble.
"Wh-what trouble?"
"Tell me, did you pick something up recently, or take something you shouldn't have?"
The boy, Baker, gradually calmed down. "Can you be more specific?"
Baker racked his brain, recalling the events of the past month. Based on what they were saying, it seemed he had done something he shouldn't have, which brought trouble to himself and his sister. But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't think of anything unusual.
Life over the past month had been no different from before! He went out to sea to fish during the day, and at night, he used the money he earned to provide a meager existence for himself and his sister, paying for her to attend the town's schoolhouse.
He had never even participated in any of the adventure activities held by the boys in town, nor had he ever entered the places rumored to be off-limits!
After their mother left, he knew he couldn't act recklessly or make any mistakes. He was careful in everything he did, trying his best not to bring any trouble into their lives. Why did these damn things still find him?
"If it's something I caught while fishing, I'll remember it. Describe it, and I'll give it to you. Just stop bothering me and Shanshan!" Baker shouted.
At this, Amy went silent.
She didn't know.
To be precise, other than this boy, no one knew what the anchor point sealing the miracle looked like, nor did they know the specific location of the seal. Because the song of the sea would bewitch people's hearts, the Withered Flower family always had death-row prisoners handle the placement and transfer of the anchor point every year to eliminate all possible risks.
"How about... you think a bit harder?" Amy said, gesturing with her hands.
Baker was speechless. "..."
He grit his teeth. "I should at least be told something, right?"
Amy sighed, leaning in close to the boy and lowering her voice. "If I tell you, you might face danger or even die because of what I've said. Do you still want to hear it?"
Baker paused, looking at his sister. He showed no fear; he didn't want his sister to worry.
The boy said cautiously, "If... if I die, my sister can't know about this. You have to give her a better life."
He didn't know what kind of whirlpool he was in, but he knew he currently held bargaining chips that could secure certain things.
Amy nodded solemnly.
Baker's expression struggled for a moment before he steeled himself and gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
Tang Xin took Shanshan out of the room, while Amy told Baker about the siren miracle and the matters regarding the seal.
Baker shook his head. "I'm sorry. Even after hearing all that, I really can't think of the 'anchor point' you mentioned. I truly haven't picked up anything strange this month. But I did meet a strange person."
Amy asked, "Tell me about him."
Baker replied, "That person was about one meter eighty tall, wearing red clothes, and even his hair was red. Not long after my sister and I hid here, he found us. He took something from that pile of junk over there, left us some food, and then left."
Baker pointed toward a corner of the junk pile. Amy began rummaging through the boxes and saw the food the boy had gathered over the past few days—biscuits, bread, and some candy snacks. There were also many daily necessities, like soapberries in a ceramic jar, toothbrushes tied with thick string, and a small box of charcoal powder nearby; they looked like items they had brought from home.
Notably, a music box sat in the corner. Inside was a photograph of a family of three: Baker, his sister, and a plainly dressed woman who looked to be their mother.
In the drawer beneath the music box were many handmade toys Baker had made for his sister. They were exquisitely constructed, and Amy could almost see the scene of the two children depending on each other for survival.
"I've checked; nothing is missing."
"Or rather, that thing was so insignificant that a normal person wouldn't even notice it."
Baker looked at Amy and said tentatively, "Is it possible that the anchor point you're talking about isn't a rune stone like in novels or movies? Could it be a piece of paper inside a pack of tissues that was endowed with magic?"
Amy froze on the spot, her mind reeling.
That possibility couldn't be ruled out.
In fact, it was closer to the truth. Only in this way, even if the islanders' hearts were bewitched by the miracle, they wouldn't be able to find the anchor point and the seal even if they searched for them—because they were likely part of their daily lives. A mundane bookshelf, or a weed by the roadside.
"If that's the case," Baker's voice trembled, "then how could I possibly remember?"
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