Chapter 256: Beginning and End

Everyone followed Zhong Kui's voice and looked back. She was observing one of the models placed at the door with interest. Its arm was forward, as if pointing to a certain place.

"This arm isn't its own, right?" Zhong Kui said, lifting the model's sleeve. The model revealed the place where the arm and the torso were connected. Sure enough, it was hard-connected, and the interface was already cracked because it was stuffed in violently.

What made people even more uneasy was that the clothes worn by this model were exactly the "watermelon red" color Zhao Hongda mentioned.

Zhao Hongda was the first to arrive at the model. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Zhong Kui snatched in front of him and said: "Don't tell me this model wasn't dressed up by you like this?"

Zhao Hongda nodded blankly, puzzled: "I didn't even notice. When was this thing placed like this?"

"You don't know?"

"I don't know. I originally hung these clothes there to sell," Zhao Hongda pointed to the wall, and sure enough, a place where clothes were hung was empty.

Perhaps if it weren't for Zhao Hongda's recollection of the woman in the red sweater just now, no one would have cared about this model placed randomly at the door.

But at this moment, the model's broken fingertips, which had been chipped, pointed forward. Qi Fei looked in the direction it pointed, and it was an inconspicuous small alley leading to the other end of the block.

Zhong Kui seemed to see something again, pulled open the collar of the model's watermelon red clothes, and saw Xi He's iconic monster graffiti painted on its chest. She suddenly laughed loudly: "He really knows how to play. It seems this is the reward for finding Zhao Hongda."

The sun was setting in the west. The golden sunlight reflected from the glass curtain wall of the mall, making people unable to open their eyes. It was almost time to go home, and the road, which was originally sparsely populated because of the heat, gradually became lively.

The small alley pointed to by the model was across the road. They walked through the pedestrian crossing, as if they were the puppets who had been pulled by the strings, walking step by step toward the unknown end.

Qi Fei couldn't help but breathe rapidly, half because of the heat, half because of the tension. The voice of a little boy rang in his ears, reciting that familiar nursery rhyme:

"Marbles roll, roll into the hole,

One, two, three, count them clearly,

Four, five, six, chase them urgently,

Seven, eight, nine, win them to hand!"

He thought he had auditory hallucinations, until a marble rolled to his feet. He squatted down and picked up the marble, and accompanied by a light and rapid footsteps, a little boy chased the marble to his front.

"Uncle, can you return the marble to me?" The little boy said in a childish voice, stretching out his small palm.

Qi Fei knew that the marble appearing at this time was not accidental. He squatted down and put the marble in the boy's palm, asking softly: "Who taught you this nursery rhyme?"

"It was also an uncle."

"Besides teaching you the nursery rhyme, did he say anything else to you?"

"He said he had a friend like me, but his friend wouldn't play with him, and he was very sad."

"Anything else?"

The little boy looked at Qi Fei innocently and suddenly asked back: "Are you that uncle's friend?"

This question made Qi Fei not know how to answer for a while, but finally answered: "Hmm, we were once very good friends."

The little boy listened and suddenly returned the marble to Qi Fei's hand: "That uncle said this marble is his friend's. If you meet his friend, return this marble to him."

Qi Fei stood up, looking at the marble in his hand, shining with dazzling light in the sun. He knew this was the clue Xi He left in the alley, but what on earth did this clue mean?

"Marble..." he muttered, staring at the one in his hand.

"It seems he always wants to give the marble to you," Zhong Kui said leisurely on the side.

Her words made Qi Fei thoughtful. He remembered that night, when he first saw Xi He's image while checking the surveillance footage, he took out a marble, facing the surveillance camera, and also facing him, as if he were saying something to him.

"Marble..." he muttered, staring at this one.

"In your memory, what do Xi He and the marble mean?" Zhong Kui's clear voice came, making Qi Fei fall into deep thought, without noticing Jiang Tianyi's worried gaze on the side at all.

"I see..." Jiang Tianyi was about to speak, but Zhong Kui had already blocked between him and Qi Fei, looking at him with threatening eyes: "Senior brother, you also hope Qi Dongjun will return safely, right? Then don't disturb Qi Fei's memory."

Jiang Tianyi stopped talking and finally returned to silence.

And Qi Fei stood in place, and seemed to pass through this long and narrow alley, leading all the way to a place he was familiar with yet strange. The nursery rhyme rang again, the marble rolled on the ground, entering the hole in turn.

Only one place was still empty, that was the "King Hole." Whoever's marble fell into the King Hole first would win.

"I know what he is hinting at!" Qi Fei suddenly woke up from his memory, excitedly grabbing Zhong Kui's arm with both hands and saying: "I know what he wants to say." He repeated.

Zhong Kui was very calm. Her light-colored eyes stared at Qi Fei, as if helping him concentrate so he wouldn't slip into the abyss of memory.

"That marble game, I remembered it!" Qi Fei was still very excited. This excitement far exceeded the joy of progress in the investigation, making Jiang Tianyi on the side even more uneasy.

However, Qi Fei didn't notice it at all. He continued: "This is a game that only my mother, Xi He, and I would play. I guess it's a game rule created by one of them. There will be nine holes in a row on the ground. Xi He and I each guard four holes. Whoever gets four marbles into the other's hole first wins, but there is an extra rule, that is, the first hole as the starting point, that is a 'King Hole.' When the other party has already taken three holes, if the weaker side can throw the marble into the 'King Hole,' they can achieve a reversal and win directly. Starting point, Zhong Kui, do you understand? The starting point is the end point."

For some reason, Zhong Kui, who heard this, was not as excited as Qi Fei, just asked faintly: "What is the starting point of everything?"

At this moment, Qi Fei looked at Zhong Kui with complicated eyes, his hands grabbing her arms even harder, as if the next words were difficult to say: "Zhong Kui, there is one thing I have always wanted to know. How did you associate the corpse found in the garden of the small white building that day with the Feng family in Sanwu Town?"

"I was just guessing. After all, that palm is something only a craftsman who makes pottery would have," Zhong Kui replied.

"But there are so many craftsmen, why did you determine it was Feng Yongshou?"

At this moment, Zhong Kui's mouth finally couldn't help but lift.