Chapter 126: The Words and Photographs Behind My Parents

Fortunately, it was not the evening rush hour, and the taxi reached Princeton Apartments in just over twenty minutes.

Upon getting out of the car, Zhang Mingyang dashed into the security booth.

"Oh? Mingyang, when did you get back?" asked Old Li, the security guard, looking at him.

"Let’s not talk about that for now," Zhang Mingyang panted and asked, "Old Li, have you seen my grandparents?"

Old Li thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen Old Zhang lately, and I haven't seen your grandmother go out either. I only work the day shift; how about I ask the night shift guard for you?"

"That would be a huge help, Old Li. I’ll go home first and come back to see you in a bit."

"Alright."

Leaving the booth, Zhang Mingyang headed straight for Building Five. His home was on the third floor, and instead of taking the elevator, he sprinted up the stairs.

Outside Room 301, Zhang Mingyang felt a slight sense of relief seeing that there were no signs of forced entry on the security door. However, his heart began to race again; he was terrified that no one would answer.

"Bang! Bang!"

"Grandpa! Grandma! I’m home!" Zhang Mingyang knocked on the door.

*Open the door! Please, open the door!* he prayed silently, but there was no response from within. He knocked a few more times—"Bang! Bang!"—still, there was no movement.

Panic began to set in. Fortunately, the security door used both a keypad and a key. He hurriedly entered the passcode and pushed the door open. The scene that greeted him left him stunned.

The living room was in utter chaos. There were signs of a thorough search everywhere; sofas and cabinets had been shoved aside, and all sorts of items were scattered across the floor.

"Grandpa? Grandma?" Zhang Mingyang called out to the elderly couple, his body trembling, but no one replied.

Stepping over the disarray, he moved further inside. With every step, his legs felt like jelly, and he felt as though he might collapse at any moment.

"Grandpa? Grandma?"

This time, with a sob in his voice, he entered the couple's bedroom. It had been ransacked just like the living room. They weren't there, so he checked his own room, only to find it in the same state of ruin. He searched their room, his own, the kitchen, and the bathroom, but found no sign of them.

"Thump!"

Zhang Mingyang’s legs gave way, and he collapsed to the floor. He knelt there, tears streaming down his face, unable to even cry out. Images of his grandparents flashed rapidly through his mind as he contemplated every terrifying possibility.

"Where are you? Please, don't let anything have happened to you!"

"Bang, bang...!"

Rapid footsteps echoed through the building. Zhang Mingyang looked toward the door instantly. "Are Grandpa and Grandma back?" He imagined the scene of the three of them reuniting.

"What is this...!?"

It was Peng Dongli and Tian Wenyuan who had arrived. They looked at the messy room in shock. Peng Dongli stammered, unsure of what to say. "What is...?"

He caught sight of Zhang Mingyang kneeling on the floor. "Junior brother!" He rushed over and helped him up.

Zhang Mingyang stared blankly at the two, his eyes dull, muttering, "My grandparents... they're gone..."

"Junior brother, pull yourself together!" Peng Dongli shook him hard. "If they're gone, we can look for them! What are you doing?"

Nearby, Tian Wenyuan, seeing Zhang Mingyang's state, rushed to search the other rooms.

"Junior brother, your wounds haven't healed yet. Let's get you up." Peng Dongli picked Zhang Mingyang up and sat him on the nearby sofa.

Zhang Mingyang remained in a daze, as if he had lost his soul, still mumbling to himself.

"Zhang Mingyang!" Peng Dongli shouted, trying to snap him out of it, but Zhang Mingyang didn't respond.

"Slap!"

Seeing there was no reaction, Peng Dongli raised his right hand and struck Zhang Mingyang across the face.

"Ugh?"

The pain snapped Zhang Mingyang back to reality. He saw Peng Dongli in front of him and buried his face in his chest, sobbing. "Senior brother! My grandparents are gone!"

Seeing Zhang Mingyang break down, Peng Dongli couldn't hold back his own emotions. He wiped the tears from his eyes and comforted him. "Junior brother, if they're gone, we need to find them immediately! Crying here won't do any good!"

"You two, come here and look at this!" Tian Wenyuan called out from the ancestral hall.

"What?"

The two hurried into the hall upon hearing him. The situation inside was the exact opposite of the rest of the apartment. Everything was perfectly in order, with no signs of being searched, and the photos of his parents still hung in place.

"Junior brother, is this your parents' memorial?"

Zhang Mingyang looked at his parents' photos and wiped his tears. "Yes, that's them."

"That's not right," Tian Wenyuan said, looking between the room and the rest of the apartment. "Why is there no sign of this room being searched?"

Peng Dongli looked around; it was indeed different.

Zhang Mingyang knelt before his parents' photos. "Mom! Dad! I didn't take good care of Grandpa and Grandma."

This time, neither of the men moved to help him up.

As Zhang Mingyang stared at his parents' photos, his eyes shifted to the incense burner. "Wait!" He stood up abruptly and grabbed the burner.

The two men looked on, puzzled. Peng Dongli asked, "Junior brother, what is it?"

Zhang Mingyang felt something was wrong with the four incense sticks left in the burner. He had always been the one to light the incense at home, and his grandmother had told him never to place more than three sticks in the burner.

"Senior brother, these incense sticks are wrong!"

"What?" The two didn't understand. "Is there a problem with the incense?"

Zhang Mingyang pulled out the four sticks and held them up. "We only ever offer three sticks of incense at home! We would never use four!"

What did this mean?

Zhang Mingyang looked back at his parents' photos. "These weren't placed by my grandparents. It must have been someone else!"

"Someone else?" Peng Dongli thought for a moment, and a name came to mind. "Junior brother, could it be Jin Yaowen?"

As soon as Peng Dongli said this, Tian Wenyuan felt it was highly probable.

Zhang Mingyang looked at his father's picture frame, walked over, and took it down. He flipped it over to check the back.

Sure enough! The writing on the back had been changed!

Originally, it had been his father's words: "Touch the darkness to find a way to survive."

The text had been crossed out and replaced with four characters: "The Darkest Hour!"

Peng Dongli walked over, seeing Zhang Mingyang staring at the back of the frame. "Junior brother, what are you looking at? 'The Darkest Hour'? Are these your father's words?"

Zhang Mingyang shook his head as he stared at the characters. "No, my father's words have been altered."

"What?" Tian Wenyuan came over to look. "Then what was written here before?"

Zhang Mingyang replied, "It was my father's message: 'Touch the darkness to find a way to survive.'"

*Touch the darkness to find a way to survive* had become *The Darkest Hour*? Why would they change it? Did it have any significance?

None of the three could fathom what it meant.

Setting his father's frame aside, Zhang Mingyang took down his mother's frame. This time, there was an extra photograph tucked behind it. It showed only a black and red circle, resembling a human eye.

"What is this?"

Zhang Mingyang stared at the photo, lost in thought. He had never seen anything like it.