The person who came was a severely hunchbacked, stiff old woman. In these years, you can see people everywhere running around in order to survive. From time to time, strangers pass by in the homeless settlement, and Maurice is not too wary: "Yes, old man, you wait a minute." ”

Next to it was a bonfire, and on the fire was the cauldron used by the soup mother-in-law. Maurice put down the baby and scooped up a bowl of water from the boiling cauldron with a broken bowl: "We have filtered this water, you drink it slowly, be careful of the scalding." ”

The old woman took the broken bowl tremblingly, and looked at her short, heavily hunched figure, and for some reason, Maurice always felt as if he had seen it somewhere.

Just as he was thinking, another cry came from the baby recliner, interrupting Maurice's memories. He had to hurry over and pick up the baby to comfort him.

The old woman's cloudy eyes stared at the baby, straight to the ground, and when Maurice turned around, she quickly withdrew her gaze, as if she was afraid of being discovered.

After coaxing for a while, the baby still cried. The old woman finally found an opportunity to interject: "This kid ...... I guess I'm hungry, right? ”

"I guess so, but I don't have anything for him to eat right now." Maurice said helplessly: "Usually he can cook some broth for him to drink, but now that the meat is finished, he can't eat canned food...... Alas......"

"Soup?" The old woman was stunned for a moment, looked at the cauldron of boiling water, and suddenly smiled on her wrinkled face: "Or, I'll help you, right?" I also cook soup, which I can cook if I have canned food. ”

"Really?" Mauriston was pleasantly surprised, but soon hesitated: "But...... The soup made in a can is very untasty, I tried it before, but he didn't eat it at all. ”

Probably because it has survived for too long, basically, all the meat in cans is very dry, and it is bland and tasteless, and the taste is even more indescribable when thrown into water and boiled into soup. Maurice tried to make soup in cans and feed it to babies, but each time he was vomited.

The old lady smiled confidently: "Leave it to me, do you have cans?" ”

Maurice hesitated, but took out two cans and handed them to the old woman.

The old woman opened the can and used a thin iron spoon to crush the meat inside and pour it into the pot. Then he took out a small bottle from his wide sleeve, like a medicine bottle; In the other hand, he took out a small paper bag, and inside was a yellowish square.

"What's this?" Maurice's face was full of curiosity.

The old woman pulled the cork from the bottle, and a fragrance wafted from it, like magic, which aroused Mauris's appetite at once.

"Old man, what is this? It smells so good! ”

Maurice had never smelled the scent. The old woman smiled and explained, "This is oil; The other is not a stone, this one is called salt; Many years ago, when I was younger, people at that time would put these two things in their food; With them, things can be delicious. ”

That block is a condensed salt crystal; The other is cooking oil. In the old days, it was a common condiment, but now it is a rarity, and powerful people like Saito still have the opportunity to enjoy it, while many poor people like Maurice, who barely survive on canned food and biscuits, have never even seen it.

The two things were thrown into the pot, and as soon as the iron spoon was stirred, the pot of boiling water, full of minced meat, finally took on the appearance of soup, and the color became attractive, and there were bursts of fragrance.

"Wow-"

Looking at the pot of soup, stars appeared in Maurice's eyes. The scent wafted through the settlement, and the yellow-toothed guys, the fat men, and many nomads came to watch the pot of soup like a pack of wild dogs waiting to be fed.

Even the baby, in Maurice's arms, stretched out his hands to the cauldron, babbling as if he could not wait.

"Haha, don't worry, don't worry, I'll have to cook it for a while." The old woman smiled, picked up the lid and was about to close it.

The moment before the lid of the pot was closed, the old woman's hand holding the iron spoon shook, and two pills of unknown nature fell out of her sleeve and also fell into the soup.

The old woman completed all this very quickly, and no one noticed.

Although the lid was closed, the fragrance continued to permeate, and the eyes of the homeless people lit up around the pot.

The scent also woke up Jiaming, who was tied up in the distance, and he opened his misty eyes and swept around suspiciously.

When he saw the old woman, for some reason, his eyes became extremely angry, and his body writhed and struggled, as if he wanted to break free from the restraints and rush over; The mouth that was gagged by the wooden bar also made a 'whine' sound, as if he was cursing something.

Jiaming's movement also made the old woman finally notice the dark corner. When she saw Jiaming's face clearly, she unconsciously had a look of surprise on her face.

Maurice noticed that the old woman was looking at Jiaming: "Old man, do you know him?" ”

The old woman seemed to have been stepped on the horse's feet, and she was a little panicked in an instant. But she quickly pressed it down again, shaking her head and pulling the topic away: "No, I haven't seen it." It's just curious, how did he get tied up? ”

"He?" The yellow-toothed guy glanced at Jiaming, and said nonchalantly: "It's okay, don't worry about him, it's just crazy, tie it up so that he doesn't run around and hurt people." When will I be able to drink this soup? ”

Maurice also glanced at Jiaming: "Uh...... He doesn't seem to have eaten today? The boss shouted and looked at him, if you want to divide the soup......"

"it." The yellow-toothed guy pouted and said, "Your boss is not here now, what are you afraid of?" Besides, the soup is just like that, so many of us don't have enough points, so it's nothing to let him eat less. Besides, you see that he has convulsions again, and you are not afraid that he will bite you when you feed him something? ”

Maurice's face was tangled, the baby was still thrashing in his arms, crying out "Ahhh

Maurice looked at the fragrant cauldron again, and swallowed: "Forget it, let's wait for the boss to come back, he hasn't taken medicine now, in case I bite and no one will take care of this child." ”

Maurice's words seem to be said to himself. But no one in the room paid any attention to him.

The old woman still looked friendly: "It should be fine, everyone is hungry, right?" Come on, come on, drink it. ”

As she spoke, the old woman lifted the lid of the pot. As soon as I picked it up, I suddenly cried out in pain for no reason: "Ahhh What bites me? ”

Maurice was also startled, and when he looked down, it was the little orange cat that jumped out of nowhere and bit the old woman's trouser legs.

"Hope? What are you doing? ”

Maurice picked up the little orange cat with one hand and apologized to the old woman again and again: "I'm sorry old man, are you okay!" ”

For some reason, the little orange cat Hope seemed to be hostile to the old woman, and even arched her back and exploded her fur, hissing and baring her teeth.

The old woman didn't care: "It's okay, it's okay." Let's all drink soup, the children are hungry too, right? ”

The homeless people around the campfire flocked to the pot and poured their bowls into the pot. The old woman did not forget to scoop out a bowl and put it in Maurice's hands.

Watching Maurice scoop up the soup with a spoon over and over again, blow it cold and feed it to the baby, the old woman did not forget to remind: "You must remember to drink it yourself, don't go hungry." ”

"Uh-huh, I will, old man, you can drink some too." Maurice nodded, not without gratitude.

A group of homeless people were gobbling up, but Jiaming was still tied to a stool, trying to make a sound, and shaking his head, as if trying to stop everyone from drinking the soup.

However, no one noticed him. There is less and less soup in that big pot.

The old woman watched the homeless people scramble to scoop the soup, and she kept smiling on her face, and she didn't bother to pay attention to the kitten who was still frying herself.

"Drink more, everyone drink more, you're welcome......"

……

In the second half of the night, Rayson returned to the city with a bloody breath. In the middle of the night, he sneaked out of the city again through the sewers, set up an ambush in the place where he had fought with the old woman and the old man, and intercepted and killed three groups of slave traders who had come to participate in the auction.

Disappointingly, the three slave traders were all first-time visitors and had no idea what had happened to the last auction. Rayson didn't talk nonsense with them, slaughtered them all, and let the slaves go.

It's just that when Rayson was fighting with the second group, the third group of slave traders happened to appear, and the two groups besieged Rayson alone, which caused a lot of pressure on Rayson at that time; As a last resort, Rayson used a few more shoulder guns to get them all done.

Once the shoulder cannon is used, the exoskeleton's power will be rapidly depleted, and now less than half of the power is left.

Rayson thought to himself, he had to pay attention in the future, he would not use the exoskeleton unless necessary; After all, he doesn't know where to charge the exoskeleton in the city, and the shoulder cannon is his biggest firepower now, and if he can't use it at a critical time, he may have to capsize in the gutter.

As soon as I approached the settlement, I heard a noise coming from inside. This time I was more flustered than last time, and it was late at night, so it stands to reason that the homeless people should be sleeping.

Rayson couldn't help but be suspicious, and hurriedly rushed into the settlement. As soon as he entered, he heard Maurice crying and crying, and the little orange cat jumped up and down, rubbing Maurice with his body from time to time, as if trying to comfort him and stop his crying.

"What's going on?"

Hearing that Rayson was back, Maurice immediately ran over with a roll, and when he came to him, he tripped and knelt in front of Rayson.

"Old! Top dog! You must help me! Maurice burst into tears, hugging Rayson's thigh and crying, "Please! Help me find him! He's gone! He's gone! ”

"What's wrong? You make it clear, who's missing? ”

The yellow-toothed guy also ran over, his face solemn: "Yes...... Granny Soup's grandson ......"

Rayson was startled, and his face sank.

Maurice was crying, and could only get the yellowtooth to explain what had happened. Only then did Rayson know that a strange old lady appeared in the settlement and cooked a pot of soup, and after the homeless people rushed to drink the soup, they all became sleepy and fell asleep unconsciously.

When everyone woke up again, the old lady who was cooking the soup was gone, and Maurice found that the baby who was supposed to sleep peacefully in his arms was gone.

It is impossible for such a small child to run away on his own, needless to say, it must have been the old lady who took the baby away.

Rayson was shocked, in these years, there is still a matter of abduction and trafficking of children? You know, even if it's a slave trader, the target is basically a woman or a man with some strength, or at least he can be sold to be a female slave or coolie. But what can such a small, infant child do?

Rayson asked the yellow-toothed guy again, "What are the characteristics of that old woman?" ”

"Features?" The yellow-toothed guy thought for a long time: "Except for being a little shorter and having a very hunched back, there is nothing." ”

Short? Hunchback? Rayson immediately thought of the rickety old woman with whom he had fought fiercely.

It turned out to be her?

"Hmm! Hmmm! ”

At this time, Jiaming, who was tied in the corner, made a sound with all his might, and finally caught Rayson's attention.

Realizing that Jiaming had most likely seen something, Rayson hurried over and removed the wooden strip from his mouth.

"Yes...... It's the old woman...... Took the kid away...... Also...... It's also her...... On that night...... Took Yan Na ......"

Speaking of this, Jiaming suddenly began to roll his eyes again, and his body twitched.

Rayson saw that Jiaming was having another seizure, and quickly took out an alprazolam and fed it to him. Jiaming was forcibly fed medicine, and soon after, his eyes became sluggish again, and he became a stunned state.

It seems that after the Ranger camp was attacked at night, Yan Na's disappearance was inseparable from the rickety old woman.

But Rayson was even more confused. Why did the rickety old woman do this? Isn't she a member of the Church of Saints? Is it a coincidence that the night attack of the royal army and her kidnapping of Yan Na? Or is there a real connection?

The top priority is to find the rickety old woman first and save the baby.

Rayson went over and pulled Mauris up: "Don't cry! Do you remember what that man looked like? ”

Maurice wiped a handful of tears and nodded in annoyance: "I remember! I remembered it too. Boss, on the day you were injured, the person in the black robe who ran away must be her. ”

Maurice also remembered why he felt a little familiar when he first saw the old woman. The two black-robed men who fought fiercely that night in Rayson, the one who picked up a life and ran away, were exactly the same as the rickety old woman.

Because of this, Maurice blamed himself even more, beat his head and cried again: "Blame me and blame me!" If I had remembered earlier, I wouldn't have ......."

"That's it! The priority is to solve the problem, not to let the problem solve you. Rayson stopped Mauris's incompetent complaint and said earnestly: "You go at once, and mobilize all the people you know, and go out to find them." She has a child with her, and she must be conspicuous wherever she goes. Those abandoned houses and roadside tents, go and take a look. Don't let go of any place where you can treat people! ”

"Good! I'll go. ”

Maurice felt his way and rushed out of the settlement on crutches. Huang Mao hesitated for a moment, and then chased Maurice and left, presumably to help.

The two left, and Rayson was thinking about something, when suddenly there was an exclamation behind him.

"Ahh

The fat man didn't know if he missed the taste of the soup, so he went to open the lid again, but was so frightened by the contents that he sat down on the ground.

Rayson looked over and saw that there was no soup in the pot, but there were two more fingers!

Human fingers!

Rayson's eyes narrowed slightly, two fingers? Two fingers?

Suddenly, Rayson realized something and rushed out of the colony at a faster pace.

But his direction is to the east of the city.

Those two severed fingers reminded Rayson of the gambler known as the two-fingered one, and also made Rayson realize a serious problem.

When she was with Erzhi at the time, the old woman was probably nearby and found herself. She left two fingers to tell herself, and taking away the baby was, in a sense, a provocation to herself.

Ask yourself, such a young child, Rayson doesn't want him to have an accident, and the old woman is very likely to be a member of the Saints' Church; Whether it's to rescue the baby or find Su Ling, Rayson has to go and arrest the old woman.

But first, you have to find the owner of the two severed fingers, the gambler's two fingers.

The two severed fingers are still very fresh, and they should have been cut off recently, which means that after separating from themselves, the two fingers will definitely have some contact with the old woman.

Rayson ran at full speed, coupled with the power of the exoskeleton, this time it only took forty minutes to reach the east of the city, at this time, the sky was not yet dawn.

There was no trace of two fingers under the bridge, and Rayson had a foreboding feeling in his heart. The devil sent the gods to the earth, and he thought of another place.

Soon, Rayson found himself in front of a warehouse that appeared to be abandoned. This warehouse is where the living experiment base came out, and Rayson was also here and Erzhi at the time.

I don't know who pulled the roller shutter down, but it didn't end it, it was just hidden. Rayson pulled out his flashlight, pulled up the roller shutter and walked inside.

As soon as the flashlight was on, I saw a man sitting on a stool in the center of the warehouse; Strapped to a stool to be exact. It was a dead two finger.

At this time, the two fingers, limbs and neck were tied to the stool with wire, and the fingers of the right hand were gone, leaving only the bare palm. He would never have imagined that the last two fingers of his right hand would appear in the pot where the soup was boiling.

The two-fingered corpse had its mouth wide open, and its last expression was full of horror; His upper and lower eyelids were cut off, and he was forced to die, and the nails of the five fingers of his left hand were all ripped off alive and thrown on the ground with shredded flesh; Not far away, there was a bloody hammer, and the soles of the feet and knees of the two fingers had been obviously smashed and had rotted into flesh.

Obviously, Erzhi had been subjected to inhuman torture before his death, and the old woman probably forced out the residence of Rayson and Maurice from his mouth before she could appear in the homeless settlement.

Lei Sen was helpless, Erzhi had already been tortured to death by the old woman, and his tracking of the old woman was almost pronounced death.

In his frustration, Rayson suddenly heard a strange waiting sound, as if some kind of switch had been activated.

What followed was a countdown-like electronic sound.

"Drip, Drip, Drip......"