Chapter 7 second quarter

There is a small Inari Shrine in Fuyuki Town near Kameku Bridge, commonly known as "Teura".Because the fox fairy here has a terrible expression, every time Maoqi's niece passed by here when she was a child, she always cried and refused to go forward.There are many Inari shrines in the Fukagawa area of ​​our office, why the one here alone scares her so much, Moshichi still wonders now thinking about it.However, it seems that not only my niece is afraid, but the nearby residents are also afraid of the fox fairy here. I heard that no one dares to approach it at night. These homeless children who are begging for life on the side of the road seem to be aware of this.It is said that since last autumn, four or five children from fourteen to five years old to seven years old have used this as a nest at night.There was also a girl about ten years old among them. I heard that a drunk man saw the faded red dress on the child and mistook it for a fox fairy, which caused a commotion.

For homeless children, the eerie Inari shrine seems like a very comfortable place to live.Residents of Hama Town, Fuyuki Town, and Yamato Town, in order to appease this frightening fox fairy, will not only take turns to clean up, but also serve bean curd sushi or rice balls, and sometimes even Daifuku cakes.Of course, they all came during the daytime, when those children were out to make money.When the children come back in the evening, they can eat these things dedicated to the fox fairy.For these children who are most worried about the three meals, there is nothing more fortunate than this.And because the surrounding shops are very tightly covered, as long as you enter the square gate, you can take shelter from the wind.

Every time the nearby residents see these children in the square gate, they reprimand and threaten them. If they do so, they will be punished by the Inari Shrine and possessed by a fox fairy. That's all.The children also understand very well that they will not do anything to irritate the residents for no reason. They just hide quietly inside, so they live in peace. Five of Daxuan's children died at the Inari Shrine in that temple-the one who notified the incident was also the sharp-eared Seiki. "There was a commotion around there. Everyone said that they were punished by Inari Shrine."

Mao Qi put on the straw sandals and ran out. There were two or three circles of people around the gate of the Inari Shrine in the temple.Women cover their faces or poke their mouths with their sleeves.Everyone either opened their eyes wide or closed their eyes and chanted. "Have you gone to call a doctor?" Mao Qi yelled, and someone replied: "I have already gone to call Gaoqiao's Liang'an doctor." When Mao Qi squeezed through the crowd and came to the front, she almost suffocated. In the Inari Shrine, which is only one tsubo in size, there are five children lying on top of each other.All around them was the rancid smell of vomit.

In this season, they only wear one jacket, and the jacket is full of patches.Bare feet were covered with mud.Sure enough, as I heard before, there was a girl among them.The girl was lying on the front, wearing a red dress with a peony pattern that could barely be seen after getting close, and a dirty comb stuck in her hair. Mao Qi quickly took the girl's pulse.The girl's hand was less than half the size of Maoqi's wrist, and it was very cold, without any pulse. Mao Qi checked the hands of the second and third children one by one.The oldest boy, with a large scar on his face, is about twelve years old, holding the hand of another seven-year-old boy lying on the ground, maybe a brother.All had no pulse, all were icy cold.But at the end, the ten-year-old boy in the big floral stripes still had a weak pulse.

"The child is still alive!" Mao Qi picked up the child and let him look up. The child's eyelids moved, revealing the white eyes. His breathing was shallow and fast, and the wings of his nose kept opening and closing. "Hey, boy, boy, cheer up, hey!" Mao Qi shouted loudly, and the child's eyelids moved again.He half-opened his eyes, the upturned black eyeballs suddenly fell back to the center of the eyeballs, and saw Mao Qi. "Come on, boy, the doctor will be here soon." Mao Qi hugged him and said so.I don't know if the child heard it, but he opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.Mao Qi put her ear close to his mouth, mixed with the sound of breathing, he could hear his weak voice saying:

"...forgive me, forgive me." Probably, he always said that every time he almost got caught stealing food, or got reprimanded by adults when he gathered here; every time he saw an adult walking towards him, he would say that. Mao Qi couldn't help feeling hot in his eyes, and gently shook the child. "Don't worry, no one will scold you. The doctor will be here soon." The child closed his half-opened eyes, no matter how much he shook his body, he didn't respond, put his ear to his lips, and couldn't feel the breath, he had already died. Mao Qi looked around slowly.There is a white plate in front of the small shrine in Inari Shrine, which may be used to hold small candlesticks and offerings.

Mao Qi held the child's hand, which felt a little sticky. Mochi looked at the white plate again, and there was something like soy sauce on the plate.