All those windows are black, and it’s clear they’re made of wood, though now they’re all charred.
It seems that there really was a fire here, and not a small one at that. You can see that every house caught fire, and then even the two maple trees in the yard were ignited. The flas leapt onto a section of the wall—it’s the blackened part they saw from outside.
This was obvious, so Guan Tiezhu and Luo Yongsheng remained silent, as Jiang Xiao must have seen it too.
"Is anyone here?"
Jiang Xiao raised her voice and shouted.
The sound carried out, echoing emptily and dispersing.
There was no response.
"Xiao Chiang, let’s split up and look around."
Said Guan Tiezhu.
"Okay," Jiang Xiao’s voice was sowhat hoarse.
The three split up to search, and a few minutes later gathered back together.
Guan Tiezhu and Luo Yongsheng exchanged a glance.
"We couldn’t see anyone anywhere, and there’s a lot of dust. It looks like this place has been empty for at least two years."
Jiang Xiao had also looked around, and ca to the sa conclusion herself.
Everywhere there are traces of charring; imagining how severe that fire must have been back then.
And indeed, thick layers of dust cover everything, with many cobwebs in the corners of the room. Clearly, no one has been here for at least two or three years.
However, there should have been people here four years ago.
Because the date on Qingshuang’s painting is from four years ago.
Was she too late?
"We need to go into town to ask around," Luo Yongsheng suggested.
They initially thought they wouldn’t need to go into town, that coming straight here might lead them to soone. Even if the person they were searching for wasn’t here, surely soone could tell them where Qingshuang went.
But they hadn’t expected Luofeng Institute to be like this.
Not a single person.
Nothing left behind to search for any clues.
Now they truly worried they might not get any information from town either.
At this point, Jiang Xiao’s search had reached another dead end.
Their hearts were all in their throats.
Jiang Xiao silently got into the car, and they drove off towards the town.
Is it perhaps because such cars seldom appear in this town that they drew so much attention? A group of kids excitedly circled around their car, and even honking couldn’t drive them away, forcing them to slow down.
Jiang Xiao noticed a few elderly people sitting on a stone slab and imdiately asked Guan Tiezhu to stop the car.
In town matters, asking the elders is the easiest way to gather information.
However, for such a small town, if there was indeed such a big fire, surely everyone knew about it, right?
As Jiang Xiao got out of the car, many people turned to look at her.
"What a pretty girl!"
"That sister is really beautiful!"
Jiang Xiao approached the elderly group, smiling as she asked, "Gentlen, I’m from the Capital, and I’d like to ask you sothing."
"The girl is from the Capital?"
"What do you want to ask?"
"Are you here to find relatives?"
Jiang Xiao nodded, "Yes, I’m here looking for soone. The person I am seeking was likely at Luofeng Institute back then, but I’ve found there’s no one there now. Did a fire occur there before?"
"Oh, there?"
At this question, a look of realization appeared on the elders’ faces.
"Indeed, there was quite a big fire; everything burned to the ground and a few people died. That’s why there’s no one there now."
User Comments
0 comments from readers