Suddenly, a voice called out to him from behind.

The voice sounded quite familiar, as if it belonged to someone he knew.

Henry Walker turned around and saw a sturdy, dark-skinned scholar striding toward him.

“William Ford?”

He hesitated for a moment, then recognized who it was.

William Ford John Ford, like Henry Walker, was a typical rich young master in Jiulian City, but he was different from the others—this guy actually had academic honors. Not long ago, he had passed the county-level exam and become a xiucai, and it was said he was quite talented.

In fact, John Ford didn’t have much of a relationship with him, but because his name was the same as a hero from Liangshan, Henry Walker remembered it after hearing it just once.

“Henry Jr., I need help, I need help!” John Ford walked up to him, blushing.

Henry Walker immediately understood what this guy wanted. Though he was a rich young master, he was extremely fond of gambling and often ended up short on cash, borrowing money everywhere.

He was probably out of gambling funds again.

Smiling, he reached into his money pouch and took out ten taels of silver, handing them over.

“How’s your luck today?”

“Not bad, not bad, hahaha, you’re always so generous, Henry Jr..”

John Ford grabbed the silver and hurried off.

Henry Walker shook his head. Money was a small matter; after all, the Lu family was wealthy, and someone would soon come to pay him back.

He turned around and went to look for the vendor selling rice powder.

The vendor’s cart had already entered the alley, with only a small part still outside.

He quickly walked over in a few strides.

Then he turned into the alley.

“Huh??”

Henry Walker suddenly stopped in his tracks.

This alley was actually a dead end!

It was completely empty inside—no cart, not even a shadow of a person.

He narrowed his eyes, his body instinctively on guard.

He carefully checked the entire dead-end alley from top to bottom, left to right.

The alley was only a dozen meters long, with gray-black walls of houses on both sides. The end was blocked by an old black wall, with a few sealing papers pasted on it.

The white papers with red characters looked a bit gloomy in the setting sun, and some corners were peeling up, as if they’d lost their stickiness.

“There’s no hidden door on the wall, so where did the cart go...?”

Henry Walker recalled everything again and again, and he clearly remembered that the cart had entered this alley.

He backed out and saw a few children still chasing and playing by the roadside.

These kids were dressed simply, looking like children from ordinary families.

Henry Walker put on a smile, took a few copper coins from his pocket, and stopped a little girl who was chasing someone.

“Little girl, can I ask you something?”

“Big brother, what do you want to ask?”

The little girl had two pigtails, looked about nine or ten years old, her cheeks rosy. Maybe because she often played on the street, she wasn’t afraid of strangers and answered confidently.

“Big brother wants to know, did you see the rice powder cart from Liji pass by here just now? Did it go into this alley?”

Henry Walker slipped two copper coins into the little girl’s palm.

She immediately beamed with joy.

“I didn’t see any rice powder cart! We play here every day, and the rice powder cart usually only comes in the morning. In the afternoon, they all go to Antique Street.”

“You didn’t see it?”

Henry Walker was stunned, thinking the child was lying on purpose.

Seeing his expression, the little girl widened her eyes and answered seriously.

“I’m telling the truth. There weren’t any carts on the street today. If you don’t believe me, ask the others. The street was empty, nothing at all.”

At this moment, the other children ran over to chime in.

“That’s right, that’s right. My mom was going to come buy something, but all the carts were gone. It’s really strange.”

“This big brother said he just saw a Liji rice powder cart.” The little girl pointed at Henry Walker.

“Where? Where?”

“Didn’t see it. The street’s not that big.”

“Maybe you saw it in your dreams, big brother? Hee hee hee...”

The group of kids started laughing and playing again.

The smile on Henry Walker’s face gradually faded.

He turned to look at the Goldfish Restaurant.

In the shadow, the restaurant was bustling with people and business was booming.

It was lively over there, forming a stark contrast with the deserted street here.

“So, did you see...”

Henry Walker turned back, but his voice abruptly stopped.

The children who had been beside him had all disappeared without a trace.

Looking around, the street was cold and empty, nothing in sight.

There weren’t even any passersby.

The children’s laughter had vanished in an instant. Logically, kids this age couldn’t possibly disappear so quietly and all at once.

Henry Walker was confident—after all, he had trained in Black Tiger Blade techniques, and his keen senses could even detect wild wolves, yet he hadn’t noticed the children leaving.

Staring at the desolate, lifeless street, he suddenly shivered and quickly walked toward the Goldfish Restaurant.

Tap tap tap tap...

His footsteps sounded unusually clear. The closer he got to the restaurant, the more he felt a wave of warmth all over.

Whoosh!!

All of a sudden, as if breaking through the surface of water, Henry Walker suddenly felt everything around him come alive, full of vitality.