Scarlet Falls

Uncle Yuan is a kind-hearted person...

After leaving the raw meat factory, Wei Wei greeted the workers in the factory with a smile and said goodbye.

I thought about how they looked when I dug out their eyes, and my expression became gentler when I turned around to say goodbye.

He drove the car and walked on the streets of Scrap Iron City at night with some boredom, looking at the light rain falling in the sky and the lights distorting.

There was a lot to gain tonight.

Except it's useless.

How could Uncle Yuan be still angry with himself, so he deliberately gave him this clue?

We all know that places with traces of encounters between high-level extraordinary people often represent danger and fear.

There are some powerful high-level transcendent beings, such as bishops or agents.

A single thought can turn a wilderness gathering point or even a city into a devil's paradise.

And where they have fought, even if three years have passed, there is no guarantee that some will will still remain.

If you go there to investigate, if you are lucky, you will find nothing. If you are unlucky...

...anything is possible.

And this is what I like about Uncle Yuan, right?

It is a virtue to lie to others with the truth...

Although the place I want to go to is the Church of the Faceless God, it may be the last place I want to go, but it is for work.

Many thoughts flashed through Wei Wei's mind.

After all, he suddenly made a decision, turned the steering wheel, and drove towards the west of the city.

…

…

"Bang bang bang..."

It was late at night, and the church was empty. Only a few candles were dimly lit in the hall.

Outside the church, the garbage mountain not far away looked like an undulating monster in the dark night. The only lamp beside the garbage mountain that had not been smashed by someone shone on the mouse groping in the garbage heap, illuminating everything. The shadows of things are distorted and elongated.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

There was a heavy knock on the door again, and the nun in the side hall came over with a chandelier, leaned against the crack of the door and looked out.

In the middle of the night and in a remote location, she didn't dare to open the door.

"Who?"

"..."

No one answered, but a gun stuck out from the crack in the door and pointed at her forehead.

The nun was so frightened that she almost peeed. She opened the church door tremblingly, and the man outside the door slowly walked into the church.

"You...what do you want to do?"

The old nun trembled and explained in fear: "We have no money here. There is a bank not far ahead..."

"There's no money in the bank at night."

The man whispered, a smile slowly appearing on his face: "Besides, I am here to visit relatives."

"Visiting relatives?"

The old nun was taken aback, with an expression of surprise and fear on her face.

Looking at her face that already had many wrinkles, Wei Wei couldn't help but think of the scene in the past when she was in a bad mood and would pull naughty children into the office and prick their thighs with needles. , the smile on his face became much gentler.

He stretched the gun to his forehead and rubbed it, and said with a smile: "Don't you remember me? Sister Xu."

"you……"

The old nun looked at Wei Wei blankly, trying hard to open her cloudy eyes, but she obviously didn't recognize him.

Wei Wei is not in a hurry to introduce himself. There is a big gap between himself now and three years ago.

Very few people can be recognized at a glance, except for guys like Ye Feifei, who has an amazing memory and is always unlucky.

He turned his head with a smile and slowly looked around the church. Before today, he never thought he would come back.

The few years I lived in this church were really dull and boring, and there were many hidden things that made people unable to get angry.

Rows of shabby benches, a few white candles lit in the corners, dusty colorful glass, and facing the church hall, the man wearing a black robe and holding his hands on his chest, but without any Faceless man statue with facial features and identification.

I originally thought that my memory of this place had faded long ago, but I didn't expect that when I returned here again, the scenes would be so clear.

He remembered that he had also poked his head outside the church door to look inside. The nuns usually did not allow them in.

I was once put on clean and neat clothes, and sang gospel hymns to the sound of Father An’s piano next to the statue of the faceless man.

Everything is just older than it was three years ago, but nothing has changed.

There are no clues to be found.

This is actually normal. Extraordinary people have strange abilities, but only a few can retain them for three years.

Maybe, I also understand, but I just want to find an excuse to come back?

"Squeak..."

The side wooden door next to it made a low creaking sound.

Wei Wei turned around and saw a figure leaning behind the door, cautiously looking inside.

"hello……"

He smiled and said hello, and then said: "Don't wake up the sleeping children, you come in too."

The figure behind the door was trembling, but he obviously had no intention of coming in.

Wei Wei pointed his gun at him. Outside the wooden door, there was a little nun wearing a black and white robe, who was so frightened that she froze in place. Under the hint of the crazy eyes of the old nun next to her, she quietly walked in, holding two hands intertwined. Hands, standing by the wall obediently.

"That's right. I just came back to visit my relatives."

Wei Wei smiled, continued to point the gun in the direction of the window, and said with a smile: "You come in too."

Next to the window, a trembling face appeared, another familiar face. It turned out that the fat cook in the restaurant was still here.

He had a fierce look on his face, and he was holding a rolling pin in his hand. He was facing the muzzle of the gun. He couldn't help but tremble. His fat figure rolled in from the window with some difficulty, and stood obediently in front of the little nun. Next to it, the rolling pin was also hidden behind him.

"Don't be afraid, I really don't mean any harm."

Wei Wei sat down on the bench, checked the bullets in the gun, and then put it back on when it clicked.

He glanced at them with a smile: "Are you the only ones?"

Except for the unfamiliar young nun, the other two people could remind him of many beautiful memories.

For example, there is never enough food to eat, thighs are pricked by needles, looking at the little girl with lewd eyes, and endless farm work at a young age.

There are also children who were adopted by so-called kind believers and came back a few months later. From then on, their eyes were dull and they were afraid of bathing.

His smile became gentler and he slowly lit a cigarette.

"Where's Father An?"

"..."

Only when this question was asked, the expression on his face seemed a little restrained.

Maybe the only person you don't want to see when you come back is him, right?

The old and funny old man always wears a little red hat that looks a little funny.

When he was in the orphanage, the only color that could make people feel warm.

After all, he will patiently tell himself some knowledge, tell himself some things about the outside world, and talk to himself about how a person should learn to listen to his own heart, decide what he wants to do, and how to control his anger...

Maybe I don't want to see him because I am different now from before?

Or maybe, she hated him a little in her heart because he didn't show up when she and Xiao Qiqi needed him most.

Later, Xiao Qiqi and the others died...

Scenes of memories emerged in his heart, and the expression on Wei Wei's face slowly disappeared.

He even regretted it after asking.

I don’t know what I should say after meeting Father An, whether I should continue to smile or straighten my face.

I don't even know if it's time to put the gun away now.

…

…

"What...what Father An?"

But unexpectedly, the old nun hesitated slightly after hearing Wei Wei's words.

Wei Wei was startled for a moment and said, "That Father An who can play the piano in the church is no longer here?"

Several people on the opposite side were also stunned, looking at each other with confused expressions.

"In the church..."

The old nun was frightened, but she still had the courage to answer: "There is no priest named An in the church..."

"Um?"

Wei Wei turned to look at the old nun.

Some don't understand why she would tell such a lie.

Father An was obviously the only male cleric in the Faceless Man Church.

I still clearly remember how he sometimes walked up to the front desk to preach to the few believers. I also remember that he always held a book with a red cover and sat quietly on the steps of the yard, looking at it with gentle eyes. Children playing around.

Why would she say no?

Sensing Wei Wei's frown, the old nun was a little frightened.

"Really not..."

She tried her best to explain: "Our place is small, and we have never had a priest come here..."

…

…

Wei Wei's pupils suddenly shrank.

He realized that the old nun didn't seem to be lying.

A vague premonition came to his mind, and he suddenly turned around and walked toward the side door without saying a word.

He strode through the side door and arrived at the courtyard of the orphanage. Without enough time to look at the vivid impressions in his memory, he pushed open the door of the orphanage and entered a room with bunk beds. Here, breathing is slightly heavy.

On the bed, the few children were woken up and stood up to look at him who broke in.

Wei Wei took a deep breath and stuffed the gun back into his pouch.

He didn't speak, but glanced quickly and saw an old photo posted on the wall.

Above is one of the few photos taken of the children in the orphanage.

…

…

But when his eyes flicked to the photo, his expression couldn't help but turn slightly astonished.

Everything in the photo is the same as in my memory at that time, including the positions of the children.

He even saw vests, sweet potatoes, matches, and Xiao Qiqi with two pigtails on his head in the photo.

Feeling a sharp sting in his heart, he pursed his lips and scanned the photo.

He saw himself, who was always angry at that time, standing next to the photo, with the honest and fat cook next to him.

However, Father An is not in the photo.

I was clearly standing next to Father An at that time, but he was not in the photo.

The person standing next to me was the fat cook, but I remembered clearly at the time that the fat cook was in charge of taking pictures...