Dad, come back, come, come.
When the encrypted letter has not been deciphered, it is just a piece of white paper with several groups of numbers written at random, but when the deciphering is completed, it has a meaning that can be extended endlessly, and the end of that extension is a gloomy darkness.
[My brother and I always played like this when I was young.]
Both Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai clearly remember what Chi Yingxue said.
At that time, they really thought it was "playing", because when Chi Yingxue said this, his expression was naturally the same as usual.
But they now know that this is not a game, even if Chi Yingxue wants to put a veil of "play" on this memory, inside, it is still childhood hell.
Every time my father returned to the house, every communication, for the young Chi Yingxue, was the opening of the gate of hell again.
Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai were silent for a long time.
They didn't know what to say or what they could say. The clearly turbulent emotions rolled in their hearts like boiling water, but they fell to their mouths and there was only silence.
Cold wind came in through the crack of the door, making the coded letter tremble slightly.
Kuang Jinxin took a deep breath and put both the letter and the nursery rhyme book into his backpack. After getting dressed, he got up and said to Qian Ai, "Let's go."
Qian Ai has not completely recovered from the shock, and asked in a daze, "Where are you going?"
Kuang Jinxin said: "Find a way and find a way to get to the west wing."
"The west wing? Isn't the badge in the east wing?" Qian Ai thought that he had made a mistake.
"The badge is in the east wing, but Xiaoxue is in the west wing." After Kuang Jinxin finished speaking, seeing Qian Ai looking at him blankly, realizing that he had missed something, he quickly added, "Chi Zhuolin said."
"What else did he say, can you share it with me all at once." Qian Ai held his forehead, a cipher letter for a while, and Chi Yingxue's position for a while, feeling that he didn't enter the hanging flower door, as if he had missed a world.
Kuang Jinxin: "It's really gone, that's all, I promise."
"Okay." Looking at Kuang Jinxin's sincere eyes, Qian Ai chose to believe it. In the current situation, it is indeed difficult to find both the badge and Chi Yingxue. The so-called greedy can't chew too much. If you focus on finding Chi Yingxue, maybe you can meet up with the captains and counselors in the west wing...
Hey? and many more.
Qian Ai found that he seemed to have overlooked a question, the east and west wing of the courtyard... shouldn't they be together
He told this to Kuang Jinxin, who obviously didn't think about it at all: "Are we together..."
"Definitely," Qian Ai didn't live in a courtyard house, but he did not miss the TV series, and immediately made a good gesture, "It's like this is a courtyard. It's the east wing, opposite to each other, splashing the foot-washing water here, and splashing it a little further away, can splash on the door curtain over there!"
Without further ado, after clarifying the goal, the two immediately left the room and prepared to explore the surrounding situation to see if they could identify the direction of the inner courtyard by distinguishing the south, south, north and west, and then find the right way.
As soon as he went out, Qian Ai was about to use his mobile phone to illuminate it, but was stopped by Kuang Jinxin: "If there is a moon, don't waste electricity."
"It's alright," Qian Ai said casually, "my phone is out of battery, you can put it on again."
Kuang Jinxin: "Mine is out of power."
"..." Qian Ai obediently pressed the flashlight off, and further adjusted it to low power mode before putting it back in his pocket.
Kuang Jinxin turned around and closed the door gently.
Qian Ai stood at the door, his eyes slowly adjusting to the moonlight, and he could see the surroundings clearly.
This is a long and narrow yard, and it can't actually be called a yard, because from the row of houses behind him and Kuang Jinxin, down the steps, there is a wall soaring to the sky, a row of rooms and a wall, like The two long sides and the two short sides of the rectangle are deep into a mass of darkness, and the end cannot be seen clearly.
What way is there to find, either to the left or to the right, choose one of the two.
Qian Ai was thinking about it, when he heard Kuang Jinxin call him: "Brother Qian, look quickly."
Qian Ai turned back when he heard the words, and found that Kuang Jinxin was facing the door that had just been closed. He raised his head and looked at a certain point on the door.
He followed inexplicably and found that in the center of the lintel, there were two small wooden plaques, one with the word [East Wing] and the other with [Tian].
"Is this the East Wing?" The happiness came so suddenly that Qian Ai couldn't bear it. In his life, there has never been such a beautiful event of "just trying to find a way, the destination fell from the sky".
Kuang Jinxin is also not sure.
The two of them looked along a row of rooms. There were four rooms in total. Except for the one they just came out of, the doors of each of the remaining rooms were closed, and the hollow panes were inlaid with frosted glass, making it impossible to see anything inside. But without exception, there are two wooden plaques hanging on the lintels of these rooms, one reads [East Wing], and the second plaque is combined in order, which is [天][地][人][和].
Kuang Jinxin: "It should be."
Qian Ai: "Should."
One came from a tunnel, and the other followed Chi Yingxue's father. They didn't dare to be distracted to observe the surroundings. The two little friends returned to the door of [Tian]'s room, not so sure, and came to a conclusion.
"There are only four rooms anyway," Qian Ai opened the door that they had just closed, "Look!"
They were familiar with this room, from the floor tiles to the sofa, from the tunnel to the closet, and after a while, the two of them searched through the room. They even checked the ceiling carefully on the stool, but found nothing.
During the whole process, there were no flashes that belonged to the badge.
For this result, the two friends were psychologically prepared. After all, they had stayed in the room for so long and the environment was so dark, and the flashes were discovered early. The reason why I have to rummage again is just to rule it out with complete confidence.
The two left the room and closed the door for the second time.
Qian Ai walked to the second [ground] room, and when he reached the door, only to find that Kuang Jinxin was not following. When he turned around, he saw his teammates looking at the towering wall under the steps.
"What's wrong?" Qian Ai asked.
Kuang Jinxin thought thoughtfully: "Brother Qian, didn't you say that the east and west rooms must be facing each other, since this side is the east side room, the other side of the wall..."
"It's the West Wing!" Qian Ai knew what he was thinking. If that was the West Wing, it meant that Xiaoxue was behind the wall!
"Then what's going on now? Continue to look for the badge, or just push the wall?" Qian Ai was eager to try, with the arrogance of "all the physical work, just say hello".
Kuang Jinxin was taken aback and said quickly, "Look for the badge first, in case we guess wrong, Chi Yingxue is not there, otherwise it will be empty."
"Okay." Qian Ai put down his fist and glanced at the wall reluctantly.
Kuang Jinxin hurriedly walked two steps, came to Qian Ai's side, faced the door panel of the [ground] room with him, and took his teammates back to the "find badge mode".
The door panels were tightly seamed, and there was no sound inside.
The moonlight penetrates the hollowed-out carvings and shines on the frosted glass, with a blurred coolness.
"I pushed." Qian Ai gave Kuang Jinxin a wink.
Kuang Jinxin nodded, there may be danger or there may be nothing in it, but no matter what, he is ready.
Qian Ai gently pushed the door open.
Qian Ai was startled, as if the door was not tightly closed, but was originally closed.
As soon as the door opened, a voice floated out from the crack of the door. It was a child's song, crisp and tender, half-humming and half-singing.
"Throw, throw, throw the handkerchief~~ Gently put it behind the child~~ Don't tell him~~"
The door panel opened to the side along the inertia, the door gap became wider and wider, and the singing became clearer and clearer.
"Hurry up and grab him~~ hurry up and grab him~~"
The moonlight poured into the room along the wide open door, reflecting a slender figure squatting in the center of the room.
The room was empty, like a cold box, the figure squatted on the ground, hugged his knees, and hummed a song about playing games.
Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai couldn't see what he looked like, it was very strange, just like the moonlight deliberately avoided his face, even the outline of his facial features was stingy to reflect, they could only vaguely distinguish that it was a child, and then, no more.
"Throw, throw, throw the handkerchief..." The child who was mechanically repeating the game song suddenly tilted his head to look beside him, there was nothing beside him, but he watched intently, and the game song jumped to the back all of a sudden, hurriedly and cheerfully , "Hurry up and grab him, hurry up and grab him~~"
He sang earnestly, watched intently, and even turned his eyes halfway around, as if a child beside him really had a handkerchief removed and was picking up the handkerchief and happily chasing another person.
Throwing the handkerchief, at least three or more children can play.
The figure in the center of the room was only himself.
Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai stood at the door, their hearts were torn apart by two completely different emotions, one was panic, the other was blocked, they couldn't tell which one had the upper hand.
"Are you, Chi Yingxue?" Kuang Jinxin asked softly.
The game song in the house is interrupted.
The child slowly raised his head and looked over, his face was still blurred.
Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai couldn't see what he looked like, couldn't see his expression, and couldn't even meet his gaze.
The dark clouds and fog have made the moonlight very dark, and the child, it is even darker.
"Clap clap."
He suddenly patted the ground beside him twice.
Qian Ai's breathing almost stopped, clutching her chest with a frantic heartbeat, asking to look at Kuang Jinxin, her eyebrows turned to 8:20.
Kuang Jinxin looked at the figure inside the house and the ground he photographed. He probably understood.
After two minutes.
"Throw, throw, throw the handkerchief..." When Qian Ai sang this song, she felt ashamed. He hasn't figured it out yet.
Right now, Kuang Jinxin and Xiao Heiying—let’s call them that, because until they faced each other, his face was still hidden in darkness, and Qian Ai couldn’t take a closer look. With the handkerchief, he happily danced around in a circle, humming and circling, and he had to think about who to give the handkerchief to.
From the beginning to the end, the little black shadow did not say a word.
This made Qian Ai even more clueless. He always felt that the other party might be hiding some killer move. He really gave him the handkerchief.
Thinking of this, Qian Ai resolutely put the handkerchief behind Kuang Jinxin.
Little Black Shadow put down the handkerchief for a moment, his body froze for half a second, and then he switched the lyrics and sang "Hurry up and catch him".
As soon as Qian Ai bent down, Kuang Jinxin felt that there was no way, there was a gust of wind behind him, and it was hard not to notice.
Likewise, he also noticed the moment when the child was stiff.
For some reason, his heart felt sour for no reason.
Picking up the handkerchief, he immediately chased after Qian Ai, who was quite devoted, and squatted down after running quickly, with a proud face of "I'm amazing."
The game song starts again.
Kuang Jinxin walked unhurriedly, and after two circles, ignoring the frequent glances from Qian Ai, he put the handkerchief behind the child.
After walking another half circle, the child realized that he first turned his head in disbelief, then immediately picked up the handkerchief and excitedly went after Kung Jin Xin.
It was obvious that he couldn't see his face, let alone his expression, but the other's surprise, surprise, and all the emotional changes seemed to be diffused in the air, and he could easily sense it with every breath.
"Don't let him catch him—" Seeing that the child's hand was about to touch Kuang Jinxin's clothes, Qian Ai was in a hurry.
Kuang Jinxin was also very involved. Running was really running. He didn't release the water at all. In the end, he locked his position and squatted down before he was caught by the child.
The child was not annoyed, he hummed the song again, and soon he put the handkerchief behind Kuang Jinxin's back.
Qian Ai had a complicated feeling of being isolated in his eyes.
Kuang Jinxin picked up the handkerchief. This time, it was his turn to chase the child. The other person is tall and has long legs. He stepped over and grabbed the child's arm!
Slightly cool.
Kuang Jinxin only had time to capture this feeling, and the figure scattered without warning, like a puff of sand, scattered into fine particles floating in the air.
They can be bathed in moonlight and float in mid-air like tiny fireflies.
Suddenly there was a warm light in the room.
Kuang Jinxin and Qian Ai were stunned and followed the light source.
In the corner of the wall, I don't know when, a candle was lit.
This is the first time they have seen light other than the moon and mobile phones after entering the house. The yellow-red candles could not brighten the room as bright as day, but it was warm for a long time.
…
"Still not." Qian Ai sighed dejectedly and turned to close the door of the [East Wing] [Earth].
Except for the floor tiles, this empty room does not need to be turned over, especially with the blessing of candlelight, it is almost unobstructed.
"Don't be discouraged, Brother Qian, think about it from another angle. Fortunately, there are only four rooms. If we are so short, won't we eliminate 50%?" Kuang Jinxin looked at the remaining [people] and [and], "If there are four Ten rooms…”
"Don't," Qian Ai hurriedly stopped, "this is the world of consciousness. If Xiaoxue hears your creativity and adds drama to us, then there's really no way to survive."
"..." Kuang Jinxin convinced him of his strange thoughts.
"You said," Qian Ai asked lightly, looking at the closed door, "was that Xiaoxue just now?"
Kuang Jinxin shook his head: "I don't know."
The candlelight was still burning, and the frosted glass was tinged with a pale yellow halo from the inside.
"Hopefully not," he said quietly.
[East wing] [people] in front of the door.
Qian Ai touched the door panel, one time it was fresh, the second time it was cooked, and she pushed forward with moderate force.
Like the [ground] room, the door opens easily and without hindrance.
Another empty room.
It was another thin figure whose face could not be seen clearly.
The only difference is that this time, he knelt in the middle of the room, and there were no more cheerful songs, only his own slaps.
One moment, one moment.
He fanned so hard, as if he wasn't hitting himself.
While fanning, he repeated over and over again with a crying voice: "I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong..."
His back was straight, but his whole body was shaking.
Not stubbornness, but fear.