Chapter 1

On this side of He'an, by the sea, the evening fire clouds in summer are the most beautiful, as if a giant brush has rolled across the horizon, dyeing the sky into a magnificent oil painting.

The police station was rarely busy, and Officer Rao Shishi was leaning over the inquiry desk, lifting her eyelids to look at the clouds outside. She was thinking about the plot of the novel she read last night, internally complaining about how slowly the serialized story was progressing, wondering if tonight would finally bring the chapter where the male and female leads resolve their misunderstandings.

"Excuse me, is my father here?" A child's voice rang out in the empty hall, sweet and innocent.

Rao Shishi straightened up, not seeing anyone, and leaned down again. A short little fellow stood in front of the inquiry desk, not even tall enough to reach the counter. She had no idea how he got in without making a sound.

"Little friend, what do you need?"

The child's chubby little hands clung to the edge of the inquiry desk as he tried to tiptoe: "I'm looking for my father."

"Who is your father?" It felt a bit strange for such a small child to call "father" instead of "dad." [1]

"Zhong Jin," the child replied.

Rao Shishi blinked: "Zhong Jin, Director Zhong... is your father our Director Zhong Jin?" Her voice involuntarily rose a few pitches, filled with surprise. Director Zhong had been working in He'an for a year, and she had never heard that he had a daughter.

The child remained silent, staring at Rao Shishi with big, shiny eyes.

Rao Shishi quickly stepped out from behind the inquiry desk. Standing up, she realized the child was even shorter than she thought, looking to be around three or four years old, even shorter than the golden retriever at the seafood noodle shop.

Even if Director Zhong had a daughter, he shouldn't let her run around outside by herself, right?

Rao Shishi squatted down and asked, "Little friend, where did you come from?"

"The Demon Palace."

Rao Shishi: "...... What's your name?"

"Zhong Yuntong."

"Little Zhong Yuntong, do you remember your mom and father's phone numbers?"

"What's a phone?"

Rao Shishi: "......"

Communicating with such a small child was nearly impossible. Rao Shishi settled her on a bench in the hall and shared some snacks she had brought, then went to check the surveillance footage to see where the child had come from.

There were no traces of the child's movements on the surveillance, and the station hadn't received any reports of a missing child.

Rao Shishi returned to the child, squatted down, and asked carefully, "Can you say it again? Who is your father?"

The child, sucking on a lollipop, lowered her eyelids, her little legs swinging back and forth: "Zhong Jin."

Rao Shishi took out her phone, pulled up a photo of Director Zhong, and held it in front of the child, asking, "Is this the person?"

Zhong Yuntong pulled the lollipop from her mouth and answered loudly, "Yes."

Rao Shishi took a deep breath, opened her phone's camera, aimed it at the child, and snapped a photo, then sent it to Director Zhong.

She cautiously edited a message: [Director Zhong, this little friend claims to be your daughter and is currently at the police station. How should we handle this? Please advise.]

After sending the photo and message, it felt like a stone sinking into the sea; there was no response from the other side.

Rao Shishi patted the child's smooth hair and comforted her, "Director Zhong is at a meeting at the city bureau today, so it might take a while for him to reply. Can you wait patiently?"

"Okay." The little one sighed and handed a snow cake to Rao Shishi, asking her to help unwrap it before stuffing it into her mouth.

Rao Shishi took a good look at the child. She was quite pretty, with bright eyes and shiny black hair styled into adorable Nezha buns, wearing a traditional Chinese jacket, resembling a doll from a New Year painting.

Even if she wasn't Director Zhong's child, being raised so well indicated she must come from a wealthy family.

The child was not shy at all; after finishing the snow cake, she asked Rao Shishi to help unwrap a preserved plum. The sour taste made her little round face scrunch up.

Seeing her reaction, Rao Shishi said, "Spit it here."

The child shook her head, determinedly chewing and swallowing the preserved plum.

Rao Shishi said, "Hey, spit out the pit."

The child stared with her dark eyes: "I already swallowed it."

Although Rao Shishi had little experience with children, she remembered swallowing a preserved plum pit when she was young. Adults had scared her, saying the seed would sprout in her stomach and grow into a tree from her head, but nothing ever happened. So, she thought it should be fine if this child swallowed a pit too.

However, she immediately confiscated the remaining preserved plums.

Zhong Yuntong sipped her yogurt, wondering if the Demon Lord father still remembered her.

She had originally been a Celestial Cloud Demon Dog raised by the Demon Lord. Other spirit beasts fought alongside their masters, especially the demon clan's spirit beasts, which often possessed immense dark powers, mysterious and strong.

But Zhong Yuntong was the opposite; she had been spoiled by her Demon Lord father since childhood. While she was glossy and well-fed, she had no impressive skills. The only thing she was good at was tearing down the house; when she destroyed the palace, her father would praise her as a good baby.

Zhong Yuntong had been a little tyrant in the Demon Palace, unaware that the outside world had changed dramatically. Her villainous Demon Lord father had been killed by the Immortal Clan. It was only when the news reached the Demon Palace that Zhong Yuntong cried out loud.

She spread her enormous silver-gray wings and flew out of the Demon Palace, following the scent to the human world, finally locking onto the He'an District Police Station, the place where her father's scent was strongest.

But her father had already reincarnated as a human, and logically, he should have lost his memories from his past life and wouldn't remember her.

Thinking of this made Zhong Yuntong a bit sad; her beloved father might have forgotten her.

At that moment, Rao Shishi's phone rang, and it was Director Zhong calling.

Rao Shishi answered the phone, and Director Zhong's clear voice came through: "The child is talking nonsense; hurry up and find her parents."

"Okay, Director Zhong." When speaking to Director Zhong, Rao Shishi unconsciously straightened her back and raised her voice.

Hearing her speak, Zhong Yuntong immediately slid off her chair and ran to the inquiry desk, tiptoeing and loudly asking, "Is it my father?"

After Director Zhong hung up, Rao Shishi leaned down: "Director Zhong said he is not your father. Who are your parents? Quickly tell me the truth."

The child didn't know how to explain such a complicated matter and could only clench her fists and repeat loudly, "Zhong Jin is my father."

In the afternoon, Rao Shishi carefully checked the nearby surveillance again and called Officer Wang, who was out on duty, back to help contact nearby police stations to see if there were any reports of a missing child.

There were no results; it was as if the child had appeared out of thin air.

Rao Shishi and Officer Wang had no choice but to contact the evidence identification center, asking them to work overtime to send the missing child for DNA sample comparison.

Taking DNA samples required drawing blood, and Zhong Yuntong was afraid of needles. When she saw the syringe, she ran away, and the little one was surprisingly fast; three adults couldn't catch her.

Rao Shishi had a solution. She told the child, "Doesn't your father not recognize you? As long as you get your blood drawn, it will prove you are his daughter, and he will recognize you."

Upon hearing that this would help her find her father, Zhong Yuntong immediately complied, mustering the courage to extend her arm toward the lady in the white coat: "You have to be gentle."

"Okay, I promise to be gentle. Don't look; just count to ten, and it will be over." The doctor from the identification department patiently reassured her.

Zhong Yuntong became more nervous: "But I don't know how to count to ten."

The doctor smiled and gently said, "Oh, so you haven't started kindergarten yet? You're really brave to be out here all alone; you're a little hero."

As they spoke, Zhong Yuntong's attention was diverted, and the blood draw was successfully completed.

The identification results would take two days, and Rao Shishi didn't dare disturb Director Zhong again. She called Deputy Director Mao Feixue to explain the situation and ask how to arrange for the child.

The station had encountered similar situations before, and Mao Feixue had some experience handling them: "There’s a private daycare on Coastal West Road called Little Sun Nursery. The teachers there are very responsible. We can send her there to stay for now, and the costs will be covered by the station until we find her parents."

After hanging up with Mao Feixue, Rao Shishi patted Officer Wang on the shoulder: "Let's go to Coastal West Road."

Officer Wang, holding the child, mimicked Rao Shishi and patted his shoulder: "I want to eat that."

Following the direction Zhong Yuntong pointed, there was a stall selling grilled sausages, where a few elementary school-aged children were gathered, chattering excitedly.

Rao Shishi asked, "Why are you hungry again?"

Officer Wang said, "Let her have one; how can a child resist the temptation of starchy sausages?"

Rao Shishi complained, "You don't know how many snacks she ate today; she finished off my snack box." But in reality, she indulged Zhong Yuntong and walked toward the food stall.

When Rao Shishi and Officer Wang approached the stall in their uniforms, the owner thought they were from the urban management team and prepared to flee with his cart.

Rao Shishi quickly stopped him: "Don't be afraid; we're just here to buy a sausage."

In the end, everyone had grilled sausages. Rao Shishi and Officer Wang each had one, while Zhong Yuntong had two, holding one in each hand and taking bites.

Wearing their uniforms, they were worried about being seen, so they took Zhong Yuntong to hide behind a flower bed to eat.

Zhong Yuntong popped her head out: "I don't want to hide here."

Officer Wang pressed her head down.

Rao Shishi urged, "Hurry up and eat; Director Zhong is at a meeting at the city bureau today. If he catches us eating grilled sausages during work hours, we're done for."

The city police bureau and the identification center were separated by a road, so the chances of being caught were quite high.

"Yes, yes, hurry up and eat." Officer Wang immediately agreed.

Officer Wang was most afraid of Director Zhong. In reality, the director rarely got angry and was usually quite easy to talk to. But Officer Wang felt he was deep and inscrutable, unlike Deputy Director Mao Feixue, who was friendly and approachable.

Officer Wang finished his sausage in a few bites, jumped down from the flower bed, and prepared to pick up Zhong Yuntong to leave. But when he looked to the side, the flower bed was empty: "Where's the child?"

Rao Shishi panicked as well: "She was just here; where did she go?"

The two searched around the flower bed and even asked the food stall owner, but they couldn't find Zhong Yuntong; it was as if she had vanished into thin air.

Notes:

[1] In here, Zhong Yuntong is using 爹 (diē) which is the more traditional, old-fashioned or formal way to call one's father instead of the modern and casual 爸爸 (bàba).