“ Actually s-s-sir , we found the exact same ring at the riverside . The ring was emerald and smelled of lavender . This time , the characters on it were the name of another person . I-i-in addition , a medical test showed that the old man had a dose of cannabis before his death ,” the other officer started .
“ Did you find anything about the owner of the ring ? How about the owner of the previous ring in the clinic ?” The general glowered , growing impatient by the second .
“ S-s-sir , we ’ ve checked everywhere in our files ; people who ’ ve moved elsewhere , people who ’ ve immigrated into this city , people who currently live here , but we haven ’ t found a single clue leading us to anywhere ,” the first officer spoke again .
“ I ’ ve had enough of this nonsense ,” the general sighed , “ Just get out of my office .” With that , the two officers stood to attention and saluted before gingerly closing the office door behind them .
A crowd of children had gathered around a brand-new stall on the street . Some children were leaping in joy , while others pushed to get to the front of the group . Everyone was trying to grab something from the tidily arranged toys . Above the stall hung posters and flashing lights attracting the children ’ s attention . Behind the display of toys stood a young man with a composed smile amongst the eager bunch of children . An overly-excited boy , who looked about five or six , approached the vendor . “ Do you have any lanterns ?” he asked cheerfully .
“ Don ’ t worry little boy , I ’ ve got some in my storage back there . Let me bring you there ,” the stall vendor replied , pointing his finger to indicate a storage room in which the lanterns were kept . Gently holding the child ’ s hand , they walked towards the lantern storage taking one step at a time . Eventually , they turned the corner and found a lean man with a rigid figure . He had a neatly trimmed beard with a crew cut , and barely batted an eye at the arrivals . Out of the corner of his eye , a young boy skipped around the vendor , laughing and smiling in delight . The vendor gave him a firm nod . No more instructions were needed to be given before the guard had opened the double sliding doors leading into the warehouse storage facility .
All was dark . In the blink of an eye , several rays of light beamed at the boy . He covered his eyes , using his hands to shield his face from the blinding light . “ Where am I ? Where are the lanterns ?” The young child couldn ’ t help but panic . Behind him , the boy heard the sound of doors come to a halt as they closed , making a loud thud , like when a lightning storm was about to begin . He started to cry . Footsteps sounded all around him . The boy ’ s right ear picked something up . Whoosh . Something long came into contact with him and wrapped itself around his neck . Collapsing onto the floor , the child ’ s vision became a blur , the world spiralling out of control . Nobody heard his cries as he screamed , “ Help ! Help ! Please help me !”
General Zhao took off his spectacles and rubbed his eyes . These past few weeks had been pretty rough , what with two suicides and one missing child . He looked many years older than his actual age . The pair of narrow eyes on his face became even narrower as he thought intently about another case he had to solve . His bushy eyebrows tensed , gripped firmly on his face , and then descended down slowly , as though he were suspecting somebody or something with absolute certainty . Some people thought he always had a stern expression , one that meant business at all times . Zhao had a widely arched moustache and a cleanly shaven beard proportionate to it . He bore a stocky build and was tall enough to spot a suspect in the crowded streets of the city . Unsurprisingly , the general had a reputation for having high expectations – all the officers in the police department never wanted to work under him .
Dawn was approaching . The fading orange sunlight swept across rivers and buildings , before creeping behind the green mountains gazing at the scenic view down below . Trees leaned against each other in the midst of the whispering wind , swaying to and fro . Refreshed by the encouraging voice of the breeze , Zhao relentlessly got up out of his office chair and walked towards the filing cabinet , where stacks upon stacks of information were stored . The general opened the top drawer and began searching through the files in it . Suddenly , his eye came across an unnoticed file . Scanning over the documents inside the file , General Zhao found the names on the rings which belonged to unknown people . His eyes widened with a jolt .