Chapter 1

On June 9, 2016, I took my daughter hiking.

Partway up, while I stopped to use the bathroom, a spacecraft appeared in the sky and took her away.

I immediately went to the police for help.

But the deeper they investigated, the more every piece of evidence pointed to one conclusion: I'd killed my own daughter and hidden her body.

Nothing I said could clear my name. Day after day, I searched for her alone, without finding a trace.

Until ten years later.

On June 9, I returned to that same mountain.

Then a painfully familiar voice called from the summit:

“Dad, you're so slow! I've been waiting ages!”

Even now, I remember that day perfectly.

It was 2016, before the university entrance exams were reformed. On the afternoon of June 8, the final-year students finished their last subject.

As soon as she got home, my daughter, Song Yuan, tugged me toward the door.

She wanted to go hiking.

Up Mount Tianfeng.

It was the highest mountain in our area, more than twelve hundred meters tall. The sea of clouds at its summit was breathtaking.

She'd wanted to see it for a long time.

To help her concentrate on studying, I'd promised to take her after the entrance exams.

It was already getting dark. I hesitated.

“Yuanyuan, it's nearly dark. How about tomorrow?”

Unease flickered in her eyes, along with a hint of impatience.

“No! I have to go up Mount Tianfeng today!”

My wife had always been strict with her. She immediately put her foot down.

“It's not safe for a girl to go out at night. Your dad's tired after working all day too. Another day. Be good.”

To my surprise, our obedient, sensible daughter defied her mother for the first time.

“It has to be tonight! No other time will do!”

Seeing my wife was about to lose her temper, I hurried to make peace.

I soothed her while asking Song Yuan why tonight mattered so much.

Our daughter's face stiffened. She stammered for a long time but couldn't give a reason.

That only made my wife more determined to keep her home.

Caught between them, I didn't know whom to persuade. I spoke to Song Yuan in private and told her we'd all climb Mount Tianfeng once her mother had calmed down.

She agreed on the surface, but tried to sneak out in the middle of the night.

I caught her.

Realizing she'd been discovered, she quickly covered my mouth.

“Dad, I'll listen to you and Mum about anything else. But I have to go up Mount Tianfeng today. If I'm any later, it'll be too late!”

I couldn't understand.

It was only a sea of clouds.

Couldn't she see it another time?

Why today?

But her pleading eyes finally softened my heart.

I agreed on one condition: I went with her.

She nodded happily.

And so I drove her to Mount Tianfeng.

That was the beginning of every nightmare.

The mountain lay on the city's eastern outskirts, about an hour's drive from home.

Since it was nighttime, I drove slowly.

Song Yuan was visibly excited and kept urging me to hurry.

Thinking she wanted to see the sunrise, I reassured her.

“The climb takes about two hours. We'll reach the top by four or five. Don't worry. We've got time.”

She shook her head.

“We won't make it in time.”

It didn't get light until around six here in June. How could we not make it in time?

But she was so insistent that I said no more.

After her exams, I could indulge her this once.

I pressed the accelerator all the way down.

We arrived half an hour earlier than expected.

The moment she got out, she raced up the trail as though she'd been given a shot of adrenaline. Her pace kept quickening, her eyes never leaving the summit.

As if something up there was waiting for her.

I rarely exercised and couldn't keep up.

She climbed faster and faster, widening the gap between us.

Luckily, she stayed within sight.

Just before the summit, I couldn't hold it any longer and turned alone into the woods beside the trail to relieve myself.

Then a piercing scream rang out.

Song Yuan's voice!

My heart clenched. I hastily pulled up my trousers and ran toward it.

The next sight struck me like lightning.

A silvery-white luminous object hung above the summit.

Its light was so blinding I couldn't make out its shape.

One word immediately came to mind.

UFO.

Could it be...

A spacecraft?

Worse still, a column of light shot down from it and enveloped Song Yuan.

In an instant, she vanished.

Before I could react, the craft became a streak of light and disappeared beyond the horizon.

The darkness was terrifyingly quiet.

As if nothing had happened.

Frantic, I searched all over Mount Tianfeng.

My hoarse cries of her name echoed through every ravine.

No one answered.

The next morning, I went to the police station and begged for help.

But after they began investigating, they escorted me into an interview room and questioned me again and again.

“Tell the truth. Did you kill Song Yuan?”

The white fluorescent lights hurt my eyes.

After days without proper sleep, I was exhausted, barely sustained by the last of my willpower and the hope of finding her soon.

I stared at the officer, thinking I'd misheard.

“What... what did you say?”

The middle-aged officer regarded me without expression and repeated his question.

“Tell the truth. Did you kill Song Yuan?”

I laughed in disbelief and anger.

“My daughter's been abducted by aliens, and you're sitting here asking a father whether he killed her?”

He slammed the table.

“I didn't ask you to question me.”

Swallowing my anger, I gestured for him to continue.

“All right, Officer. Go ahead. As long as it helps find my daughter, I'll cooperate with anything.”

He raised two fingers and spoke slowly.

“First, the unidentified flying object you mentioned doesn't exist.”

He paused.

“Second, as we understand it, Song Yuan isn't your biological daughter. You're her stepfather. Correct?”

I nodded.

“Yes. We're a blended family.”

He leafed through his file.

“Your wife, Wu Wei, says you wanted a child when you first married. But after she repeatedly refused, you let the matter drop.”

Seeing their contempt, even disdain, I began to understand.

“Don't tell me you think I killed Yuanyuan so Wu Wei would have my child?”

The young officer taking notes put down his pen.

“Didn't you?”

The older man's gaze seemed to bore through me.

“Tell the truth. Your lie is far too clumsy.”

I tried to keep my voice calm.

“I'm not lying. There are security cameras on the trail. Check them.”

He snorted.

“You won't give up until we put the proof in front of you, will you?”

He turned the laptop to face me and spoke one word at a time.

“We're asking precisely because we've watched the footage.”

I was already furious at their attitude. They seemed unwilling to do their jobs.

I didn't even know whether Yuanyuan was alive. Every minute wasted put her in greater danger.

But before I could say it, I saw the screen.

The moment I understood the video, my mind seemed to explode.

“Impossible!” I almost screamed. “That's impossible!”