Chapter 53: Devil’s Showdown 2
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Little Chu Feng walked out of the house with his small backpack:
“Goodbye, Grandma~”
“Feng Feng, your mom told me to remind you to eat the boiled egg she prepared for you in your backpack.”
“Okay, Grandma!”
The morning sun cast its rays onto the garden as Little Chu Feng took the elevator downstairs. In the side mesh pocket of his backpack was a boiled egg, specially prepared by his mom for him.
He had no intention of eating it, Little Chu Feng thought to himself. Xie Shiyu would help him eat it, and maybe even bring him some delicious fried eggs.
With his backpack on, Little Chu Feng headed to school. It was still quite early. Should he go and find Xie Shiyu?
His grandma’s house wasn’t far from Xie Shiyu’s, just across a bridge and down two streets, and he’d reach the residential building where Xie Shiyu lived.
Standing at one end of the bridge, Little Chu Feng looked across to the old neighborhood on the other side. He remembered the last time he went to find Xie Shiyu to go to school together, and it ended up being very unpleasant. Xie Shiyu seemed to dislike him coming to his house uninvited.
With a huff, Little Chu Feng decided not to go find Xie Shiyu!
He glanced at the digital watch on his wrist:
7:32
It was almost the time Xie Shiyu would leave.
Should he wait for him at the intersection instead of going to his house? If Xie Shiyu didn’t happen to pass by in five minutes, he would go to school by himself.
Little Chu Feng made up his mind. Cheerfully, he crossed the long bridge and walked to the other side of the street to wait.
Five minutes later
Little Chu Feng didn’t see Xie Shiyu.
Instead, he saw an uncle approaching him with a kind and gentle smile, crouching down to greet him warmly:
“You often go home from school with Little Xie, right? Chu Feng?”
***
7:32
Meanwhile, Little Shiyu was sweeping the classroom with a broom.
He came early today, as the class monitor.
Originally, it wasn’t his turn for duty today, but he exchanged shifts with someone else.
The teacher assigned him to be the class monitor for next Monday, and he had to stay after school to sweep the floor. But he wanted to invite Chu Feng to his house to see the swallows next Monday. So, he helped someone else sweep this week, and next Monday it would be their turn to help him.
Little Shiyu observed that there was also a swallow’s nest on the ground floor of the residential building! And it seemed to be a special kind of swallow, not the typical black and white one. This swallow had a circle of golden feathers behind its belly. Little Shiyu spent a long time at the library on the weekend and found out it was called a Golden-bellied Swallow. They had laid eggs in the nest on the ground floor, and the baby Golden-bellied Swallows were chirping away, making it particularly lively.
Chu Feng seemed to only be available after school on Mondays. Little Shiyu had to clear his schedule during that time.
7:52
Little Shiyu finished sweeping the floor, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Strange, why hadn’t Chu Feng arrived yet?
Chu Feng was the math class monitor and usually came early to collect homework.
Little Shiyu turned his head and poked Sun Bing:
“Have you seen Chu Feng?”
“Huh? Chu Feng… I don’t go to school with him, so how would I know… Oh right, he seems to be at his grandma’s house. He went there yesterday.”
Little Shiyu was taken aback.
…Grandma’s house?
He suddenly remembered the last incident. Chu Feng’s grandma’s house wasn’t too far from his own, so Chu Feng didn’t tell him and just came to wait near his house for him to go to school together…
Could it be!
Bang—
Little Shiyu abruptly pushed back his chair and ran out of the classroom.
When he reached the school gate, he bumped into Teacher Meng:
“Hey, Little Shiyu, class is about to start, where are you… Hey! Xie Shiyu!!”
Little Shiyu ran out of the school without looking back, heading towards the direction of the old residential area…
***
Residential building, convenience store.
Little Shiyu rushed to the door and immediately saw Uncle Ji Shiming sitting leisurely behind the glass counter.
Behind the uncle, there was a blue backpack, mostly obscured by the uncle. Little Shiyu could only vaguely see a clover leaf and… das.
Chu Feng’s backpack was a blue Adidas brand with the clover logo.
At the same time, Uncle Ji Shiming held a boiled egg in his hand.
—Chu Feng brings him a boiled egg to eat every morning!
Crack, crack.
Uncle Ji Shiming nonchalantly cracked open the egg, slowly peeled it away with delicate movements as if he were peeling off human skin.
Little Shiyu clenched his fist, stepping forward step by step, his eyes fixed firmly on Uncle Ji Shiming:
“Where is he?”
Crack, the eggshell shattered completely.
Uncle Ji Shiming took a bite of the white egg, then quickly spat it out, muttering: “As bad as ever.”
He looked up, as if just noticing Little Shiyu, and pretended to be surprised: “Oh Little Shiyu, it’s this late, why aren’t you in class yet…”
“Where is he.”
Little Shiyu’s expression was emotionless, his voice icy cold.
Uncle Ji Shiming bent down suddenly, reaching out to grab Little Shiyu’s wrist:
“Uncle doesn’t understand what you’re saying.”
Ji Shiming smiled kindly. He held Little Shiyu’s hand, his thumb pressing on the child’s pulse.
Excitedly, he felt that the kid in front of him, who always pretended to be unafraid, was nervous at this moment!
The pulse quickened.
Ji Shiming cruelly grinned. His other hand moved to Little Shiyu’s neck, stopping at his carotid artery… Just a pinch here, and he could effortlessly end the life of this seven-year-old.
Little Shiyu didn’t resist. Trying to resist with the strength of a seven-year-old against Ji Shiming, who had killed thirteen adult men, would be foolish. He stood quietly, realizing that the biggest card he had to play against Uncle was the blue ribbon.
If Uncle used Chu Feng to threaten him, then he would definitely take out the blue ribbon to exchange.
And revealing this ribbon would mean exposing himself to Uncle: he had witnessed Uncle’s murders from start to finish.
Ji Shiming knew someone had seen him commit murder, and he wouldn’t leave any witnesses alive.
In other words, either he exchanged the blue ribbon for Chu Feng’s safety, facing the risk of being killed by the serial killer himself. Or, regardless of Chu Feng’s fate, he kept the blue ribbon hidden to save himself. He could only choose one between Chu Feng’s safety and his own.
Little Shiyu was prepared for the consequences.
The blue ribbon was in his wardrobe at home, ready to be handed over at any time.
After the exchange, Little Shiyu speculated that Ji Shiming wouldn’t come after him immediately. His only chance was to find a way to eliminate Ji Shiming before he could act against him…
***
“Little Shiyu, what are you thinking?”
Ji Shiming chuckled and suddenly moved away.
Little Shiyu, who had calculated everything, at that moment, saw the backpack behind Uncle. He froze:
That blue backpack was an abidas brand, Logo: four-leaf clover.
—Counterfeit Adidas.
Little Shiyu blinked twice, stunned in place.
—This backpack wasn’t Chu Feng’s at all.
Uncle was deliberately testing him!
Little Shiyu didn’t see Chu Feng at school, panicked, and immediately rushed back to the corner store. He saw a backpack behind Uncle that looked a lot like Chu Feng’s, and Uncle was eating the boiled egg Chu Feng brought him every morning.
But…
Chu Feng hadn’t come to school on time, maybe he overslept or took a sick day.
Meanwhile, Uncle had received a batch of counterfeit abidas blue backpacks and displayed them in the corner store. At the same time, he was having boiled eggs for breakfast.
Under normal circumstances, none of this would be related.
No child would immediately suspect that the corner store owner was kidnapping their friend and putting their friend in danger just because the store owner was eating boiled eggs and had similar backpacks in the store.
Little Shiyu made this deduction because he had seen Ji Shiming commit murder, and he knew that Uncle Ji Shiming was a devil.
At this moment, the devil Ji Shiming squatted in front of Little Shiyu, smiling slyly, and tightly held his neck:
“So, Little Shiyu, tell Uncle, why are you nervous?”
“Are you worried that Uncle is a bad person?”
“How do you know that Uncle is a bad person?”
***
The devil’s cold gaze assessed him.
Little Shiyu knew that if he couldn’t come up with an answer, he would be killed by Uncle now.
From running all the way home from school, Little Shiyu’s small palms were slightly sweaty.
In front of him was a serial killer, Ji Shiming, who had different experiences, keen intuition, and more cunning probing than ordinary adults.
Ji Shiming’s hand on Little Shiyu’s neck was ready to strike, his pupils fixed firmly on the child. He was excited, like a snake eyeing its prey. This child was too talented. If he grew a little taller, maybe twelve or thirteen years old, perhaps he wouldn’t be able to handle him anymore.
But unfortunately, this child was only seven years old.
Ji Shiming grabbed Little Shiyu like catching a little cat. Little Shiyu couldn’t escape or resist at all.
“Little Shiyu, why aren’t you answering Uncle’s questions?”
“Why do you think Uncle is a bad person?”
After a moment, Ji Shiming saw Little Shiyu bow his head and whisper softly,
“I thought…”
Ji Shiming became somewhat urgent, “Thought what?”
Little Shiyu lowered his head even further, his tone mixed with fear and a slight tremble. Because it was so rare, Ji Shiming couldn’t even discern whether that tremble was feigned or suppressed fear.
“I thought Uncle… you and… the uncle from Room 104 were… the same kind of person.”
Ji Shiming was instantly taken aback.
Room 104, he remembered! That pedophile who had just been released from prison.
Ji Shiming immediately frowned in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that he, a fugitive wanted for twelve serial dismemberment cases, would be mistaken for that kind of scum by a little brat.
Each dismemberment case he committed was bizarrely theatrical. Additionally, each body part was disposed of at a different location, and by piecing together the initials of these locations, one could spell out a dirty message insulting the police.
He insulted them twelve times, and yet the police still couldn’t catch him, making countless criminals feel smug. The cases he committed were uncrackable even by the FBI; he was the shadow of the lamb, the legend of the devil.
And now, he, such a person, was mistaken by Little Shiyu for… a mere pedophile.
Ji Shiming felt profoundly insulted.
He immediately frowned, “How could you think I’m that kind of person?”
Little Shiyu didn’t speak, he turned his head, looking at Ji Shiming’s hand that held his wrist and the hand that touched his neck.
Ji Shiming: “…”
The convenience store uncle immediately let go of Little Shiyu.
God witness, he hated children, especially wild kids like Little Shiyu who ate cheap snacks, had no taste, no culture, and no parents to discipline them.
When he grabbed Little Shiyu just now, his hand smeared with a hand cream scented with maiden peony, touched the palm sweat of this wild child.
Ji Shiming was disgusted to death, he quickly took out the pale pink silk handkerchief from his pocket, wiped it off, and waved his hand impatiently towards Little Shiyu:
“Go to school!”
Little Shiyu raised an eyebrow, and bounced out of the convenience store.
His mood did not relax, but instead became more serious. Knowing that the convenience store uncle hadn’t kidnapped Chu Feng, then…
Where did Chu Feng go?
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