At this moment, Henry Thompson's memories were somewhat distant and blurry, but he vaguely remembered that day when Ethan Bolton's father scolded for a while, saying that thing was left by their ancestors. Even though it wasn’t worth much—just a broken stone—it was still an heirloom and must not be thrown away carelessly.

Of course, in reality, Henry Thompson clearly saw Ethan Bolton's father casually toss the stone aside. Henry Thompson suspected that day, Zhang’s father just wanted to hit his son and found a random excuse.

“Could it be that this is the Zhang family’s blade mentioned in the folk song?”

If that’s really the case, then it all fits.

After that, Henry Thompson never saw that stone again. In fact, as they grew older, neither Henry Thompson nor Ethan Bolton would have nothing better to do than play with a stone—there were plenty by the roadside.

At this moment, Henry Thompson could more or less confirm that perhaps everything mentioned in the folk song was true.

He subconsciously touched his chest. The jade pendant was cool, but there was no change.

That trace of coolness instantly woke Henry Thompson up. Quickly, he looked at Anna Brooks, a bit eager and impulsive, and said, “Sister Na, can I meet your grandmother?”

He wanted to know where this song came from, who passed it down, how many years it had been spread, and whether the song was complete.

Why was this self-immolation case connected to a rural folk song?

And what was that red shadow? Why did it want to kill the people from the eight families mentioned in the song?

Moreover, when it killed, did it kill just one, or did it target anyone related to the eight families? If so...

“Hm?”

Before Anna Brooks could speak, Henry Thompson suddenly froze.

He quickly flipped through the files. Although he had read these documents countless times, he still checked them again and muttered, “Grace Hudson's parents have already passed away. She died young, so after Grace Hudson died, there was no one else left in the Hong family.”

“As for Quentin Carter, his wife is still alive, but Quentin Carter had no children. The couple never had any offspring.”

“No need to mention Ethan Bolton...”

The Zhang family only had Ethan Bolton as the sole descendant. Ethan Bolton's parents died early, so Ethan Bolton was the only remaining member of the Zhang family.

“When Howard Smith died, he wasn’t married yet, but Howard Smith wasn’t an only child—he had a younger brother...”

“Brian Miller was an old man, single all his life.”

“Howard Clark had a daughter. After Howard Clark died, she left Silver City with his wife, and their whereabouts are unknown.”

Henry Thompson quickly checked through. Some of these people were married, some had children—not all were alone, so previously Henry Thompson hadn’t noticed anything unusual here.

But at this moment, Henry Thompson suddenly thought of himself.

“My parents died in an accident three years ago... a complete accident, a car lost control and overturned, but... is it really an accident now?”

Henry Thompson's parents died three years ago.

It was caused by an accident!

It had nothing to do with the self-immolation case, so Henry Thompson had never considered his parents as part of it, never connected them to this case, because this was a self-immolation case.

At this moment, Henry Thompson's mind was in turmoil.

The Zhang, Hong, Zhou, and Liu families were completely cut off—no direct descendants left.

Howard Smith had a younger brother, Howard Clark had a daughter, and if he himself was the “Li” mentioned by the Li family’s sword, then the Li family... seemed to be just him.

“This isn’t killing one person, it’s... exterminating entire families!”

His fear grew, and with it, his anger!

Weren’t my parents supposed to have died in an accident?

Of course, none of this could be fully confirmed yet, since there were still people left in the Wang and Zhao families.

...

“Henry Thompson!”

Anna Brooks's shout snapped Henry Thompson back to reality.

“Are you okay?”

Anna Brooks saw that after Henry Thompson asked his question, she answered, but he ignored her, as if he was lost in thought.

“I’m fine!”

Henry Thompson hurriedly shook his head. Anna Brooks glanced at him, then suddenly said, “You... do you think these people are related to the families in the song? But these are just rural folk songs, some are adapted from myths, some are just sung for fun. I think it’s probably just a coincidence. Aren’t there still two missing?”

As she spoke, she wanted to laugh, but before she could, she suddenly froze and glanced at Henry Thompson.

Two families were missing—one with the surname Zheng, one with the surname Li!

Henry Thompson?

Could this be related to Henry Thompson?

After all, she was an inspector, and she had basic logic and reasoning skills. In an instant, she connected it to Henry Thompson. He had been investigating these people all along—could it be related to him?

“Henry Thompson, your surname is Li, right?”

“...”

Henry Thompson gave a wry smile. Could he say it wasn’t?

Anna Brooks immediately frowned. “Tell me the truth, is there something wrong with the deaths of these six people?”

She had read the files, though not in detail, but it seemed they all died accidentally, and not in the same year. How could this be connected?

“Sister Na, let’s not talk about this for now. Can I meet your grandmother?”

Henry Thompson didn’t want to say more about this.

Seeing this, Anna Brooks didn’t press further and decided to let it go for now. She said, “I just told you, but you didn’t hear me. My grandmother passed away a few years ago...”

“Sorry!”

“It’s fine. My grandmother was over ninety when she passed, so it was a happy ending.”