Chapter 10 The Evil Sheep - Xiangzi

When the first firework is lit in the stream behind the shrine after 8 o'clock, it is the beginning of the climax of the festival. The narrow road leading to the shrine is full of lanterns, and the turbulent crowd is as crowded as the national railway at the peak of traffic.Some people dress grandly like in ancient times, and many people come wearing yukata. The lively scene of the summer festival is reflected in the calcium carbide lamps and colorful lamp shadows. A police station resembling a telephone booth was set up next to the gate, which seemed about to be crushed by the crowd. Detective Kiyoko Suda was standing in front of the police station, looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

Her thoughtfulness was not because she wanted to watch the fireworks, but because at this moment, beside her feet, lay the corpse of a dog, which made her startled. About five minutes ago, the man who sold the cotton candy rushed here holding the corpse and shouted: "The dog was killed." The crowd was in an uproar.According to him, it was his pet dog tied to the stall. He heard a gunshot just now, and the dog also fell to the ground.The bullet hit the brain.Warm blood flowed from the wound, staining the white fur of the dog.Having just graduated from the police academy this spring, Kiyoko still looks very stiff in her uniform, just like her at this moment; she feels nauseous at the corpse.Even though it was a dog, being shot in such a noisy place became a topic of uproar among the crowd.The two detectives in the bureau abandoned the dog and went to the scene.

Therefore, Qingzi is the only one staying in the bureau at the moment. She, who kept her eyes on the sky, was finally attracted by the bursting red fireworks, and didn't notice the girl approaching at all.The fireworks dissipated, leaving only the night sky scorched by the heat.When the noise of the crowd sounded again, Qing Zi felt that someone was watching him and looked back. Beside the gate, there is a girl who has been forgotten by the crowd.Clothes resembling a pure white dress fluttered on his knees, and he leaned against the door with an extremely tired expression.The girl's clothes don't match this scene at all, so her sudden appearance makes people feel like fireworks disappearing in the night sky and falling to the ground, combining with the instant dream.She has long hair draped over her shoulders, and silver artificial flowers pinned to her ears.The girl fiddled with the flowers with grown-up-looking fingers in a bored manner, staring straight at Kiyoko with dripping black eyes.

This is the first lost child - Kiyoko intuitively thinks so, she approaches the girl with a smile.The recent children are very smart, and no children have been lost since morning. This situation seems very unreasonable and makes people worry. "Lost?" The girl took a step back shyly. "Lost?" "Where is this place?" Finally, he murmured to himself.Her innocent voice and childlike appearance don't match the lonely expression on her face. "What's your name?" "Qu Muling... is in the first grade of elementary school." "Who are you coming with? Mom?"

"Without anyone—" The long eyelashes drooped, and he lowered his head and replied, "Dad and Mom are at home...the phone number is 5648881. Auntie, please call them." "Oh! It turns out that you went out to play alone and couldn't go home. Don't worry, I will call you right away and wait inside!" "No, don't come here!" Escaping from Kiyoko's outstretched hand, the girl suddenly screamed: "Can't move! I'll be beaten. So will Auntie - like that dog over there. Uncle has a big gun on him. He says if you don't listen to him, you'll be killed like that dog ...I don't want to bleed so much. Uncle is watching us now, where he is aiming at this flower... Blood, so terrible! The face was hit by the butt of his gun, and there was a lot of nosebleed..."

At first, Kiyoko thought the girl was lying.There was no trace of being beaten on her face, if she had a nosebleed, how could her clothes be so white without any stains? ——However, the girl's fingers that were fiddling with the silver artificial flowers were indeed trembling all the time. "Who is the uncle you speak of?" "It's a masked man—there's another one, the uncle who tricked me!" The smile on Kiyoko's face disappeared, the girl was not joking.And the dog had indeed been shot, with warm blood still flowing from his body. "Where are those uncles? What kind of people are they?"

Qing Zi looked around in a hurry, but there were only bustling crowds around, but she couldn't see where the two people the girl said were hiding.There is only the fear of being aimed at by hidden guns in all directions. "Well! Where?—what kind of man?" The girl kept shrinking back, shaking her head constantly. "Ten minutes later, auntie, call my house and tell my father and mother that I am fine... The uncle said that he will contact them at 13 o'clock. No action is allowed within these ten minutes. Don't try to help me, I really will was shot..." In the end, the girl shook her head with a melancholy expression as if she had given up her heart, then turned around and ran towards the crowd.For a moment, Qingzi wanted to grab her back, and suddenly, "Bang!"

Startled by the terrible explosion, Qingzi stopped naturally. Being hit, "Ah!" she exclaimed.There was bursts of laughter, and all the crowd looked up, and Qingzi also shifted his attention like an idiot, looking up at the sky. Just as the reverberation sound of the explosion spread to every corner of the night sky, the fireworks disappeared like green willow branches in an instant.