(October 3) countdown to the 88th day

Yao Xiaoshuang pressed his throbbing chest and carefully looked at the skeleton remaining.

The corpse belonged to an adult, male or female, with the skull attached to the ground, the vertebrae naturally curved into an arch shape, and the thigh and lower leg bones scattered on the ground at acute angles. A pillow-height wooden block supports the skeleton in the abdomen, so that the entire corpse still retains the posture of the deceased. The corpse looked at the secret door, and from a distance, it looked like it was prostrating itself to the person who was about to come in.

What happened to the owner of the corpse during his lifetime? Was it suicide or homicide? What does this strange prostration represent? What does it have to do with the owner of the wooden building?

Judging from the degree of decay of the corpses, even Yao Xiaoyi, who does not have professional knowledge, can judge that the time of death is ten years. Yao Xiaoyi mustered up the courage to pass through the gap that was just right for a person to drill through, carefully bypassing the corpse and entering the internal space.

It is a well-designed secret room, which makes clever use of the space left by the rotation of the handrail staircase, sandwiched between the back of the oil painting and the outer wall of the wooden building, with a width of less than 1 meter, and the visual disguise of the oil painting, making it difficult for people to find.

The chamber is 0.5 wide and 1 meter long in shape. In the middle, against the outer wall, there is a small table and a chair. There is a square box made of copper on the small table. Since the chamber was closed and dry, the box had not yet corroded, as if it were new. There was a copper lock on the box, and the key was missing. There was an envelope on the top of the box, and when the envelope was opened, a blank piece of paper was simply written with a line of words: the key is in the secret room, and it can be found if there is a fate.

Destined? How can it be considered fate? That's not what you said.

The copper box was not heavy, Yao Xiaoyi gently lifted it, found no key, and then checked the drawers, chairs and under the table, and then checked the floor, walls and the top of the secret room, almost turned over this small space, but still found nothing.

Glancing at the corpse again, she boldly approached, groping underneath the corpse one by one, and continued to find nothing.

"It seems that I am not destined to be a person anymore."

She muttered to herself, exited the chamber, touched the eyes of the figure with both hands, and as expected, the oil painting split in two slowly closed, and the door of the chamber closed with it, and then disappeared as if out of thin air.

Not long after, she walked into the restaurant again, still picking the spot near the window where she had sat yesterday.

"Yesterday you gave more than 20 yuan, today you are less than a dish, you have recently come here to eat for the third time." The restaurant owner personally delivered the menu.

"Three times?"

"You forgot it yourself? A few days ago, it was around the 20th of last month, didn't you come here too? Still sitting in this position, it's the same as yesterday, and I ran away before I finished eating, and I'm worried that the food is not to your taste. ”

Yao Xiaoyi immediately understood that her sister must have eaten here, and the boss regarded her as a sister. It is said that sisters are connected, it seems that it really makes sense, and in this strange town, the restaurants and seats are exactly the same. What's even more amazing is still to come, Yao Xiaoyi finished ordering, and the boss also said, "Order the same dish three times, or I'll give you one for free today." ”

Yao Xiaoyi secretly said, it would be nice if my sister was still there. She caressed the table and chair, as if she wanted to save a trace of her sister's last temperature in the world, so as to help herself continue to survive in this cold world.

Thinking of my sister's grievances, tears almost rolled out again, and I deliberately swept my eyes out the window, as if to drive away my sadness. Then, she noticed the teahouse diagonally across the street.

As yesterday, an old man was talking about something, and the loyal listeners were scattered around and listened with relish. She was about to withdraw her gaze, but she saw a familiar face, and tried to remember, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it.

This was her first time in Mizuki, and she hadn't had any contact with anyone except the restaurateur, and she didn't know herself or anyone she knew.

She withdrew her gaze without a trace, took out the makeup mirror to touch up her makeup, and then adjusted the mirror to the right angle, and secretly observed through the mirror. After a while, she confirmed that an old man was also pretending to be looking at her casually.

Your whereabouts exposed? She thought back to her journey from City C to the town, and thought she was cautious enough not to leave any clues that could trace her. And who is this similar face on the other side?

She glanced at the diner, convinced that they couldn't see the place inside. She raised her voice and beckoned the boss to come over, asked the boss to add another dish, and asked where the bathroom was. Looking in the direction her boss pointed out, she nodded her head sharply to make sure they knew at a glance what they were talking to their boss. Not long after the boss left, she pressed the money under the plate and went into the bathroom in the direction pointed by the boss.

Ten minutes later, she changed into a man's appearance and swaggered out of the restaurant. Back in the study of the wooden building, she monitored the movements around the wooden building while quickly changing her makeup again, this time, she turned herself into an elderly man.

After changing her makeup, she quickly appeared at the restaurant just now, chose a seat adjacent to the position she had just taken, sat down, and beckoned the boss to order a few dishes.

After ordering, the boss glanced at the position where she had just sat and loudly beckoned a waitress to go to the bathroom to have a look, saying that the guests at this table had been going to the bathroom for a long time, and there would be something wrong. The waiter hadn't gone far, and he was immediately called back, saying that there was no need to go, the guest must have left, "No, the food money is under the plate." ”

"Are the guests at that table gone?"

As soon as the boss's words fell, an old man's voice came from behind Yao Xiao. When I turned my head, I saw that it was the suspicious face that had just been in the teahouse.

"Gone. I didn't say hello or say hello, I left the money and left. Well, three times in a row, it's weird. The boss shook his head as he spoke, "Fortunately, the money is left." That...... Do you know that woman? ”

"Does she live in a wooden building at the west end of town?" The old man who had just come in didn't answer the boss's words, but asked rhetorically.

Yao Xiaoyi was secretly surprised when she heard this, this person knew that he lived in a wooden building, and his whereabouts were really exposed? Who the hell is he?

"Who knows. Stir-fry two dishes for you? ”

"Nope." The old man quickly withdrew from the restaurant.