Duoduo looked up, revealing a big smile.
"Thank you, uncle." She spoke politely.
The young man with a fierce face was slightly stunned by Duoduo’s innocent smile.
"Where are you going?" the young man asked.
"I’m going to find my brother." Duoduo struggled to hold her umbrella open.
"Your brother, is he at West City Primary School?" the young man said.
"Wow, how did you know?" Duoduo’s face filled with surprise.
"I guessed. It’s raining so heavily, let me take you there."
"No need, I have an umbrella, and I know the way."
By then, Duoduo had already opened her umbrella and stepped under it.
Holding her umbrella, Duoduo looked at the road and walked towards West City Primary School. She really did know the way.
But as she walked, Duoduo suddenly felt something was wrong and turned to look behind her.
She saw two green trouser legs and a pair of army green work shoes. The rain had wet the shoes and trouser legs. Duoduo recognized them, so she turned around, tilted the umbrella back, and straining her neck to look up, indeed it was the same uncle.
"Why are you following me?" Duoduo asked.
Recalling the bad people her parents had told her about, she became somewhat cautious.
"I’m not following you, I’m also going to West City Primary School to pick someone up." the young man said.
"Pick up whom?" The naive Duoduo instantly let go of her caution.
"My... my younger brother."
"Oh, your brother and my brother go to the same school." Duoduo said with a bit of surprise.
"Oh, yes, you have a brother, and I have a brother..." the young man said hauntingly.
He seemed to say something more, but his voice was so low and the rain so loud that Duoduo couldn’t hear it clearly.
She didn’t pay further attention, holding her umbrella, she walked towards a narrow alley. Exiting the alley, right across was the West City Primary School where her brother studied.
But as soon as she entered the alley, she felt someone grab her from behind.
"I can walk by myself, you don’t need to hold me."
At that moment, Duoduo still naively thought the person wanted to carry her.
But immediately afterward, even this foolish child started to feel something was amiss.
The person didn’t speak and marched forward, splashing large sprays of water with his shoes.
The umbrella Duoduo was holding nearly fell to the ground. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚·𝔫𝔢𝔱
"Put me down, I want to walk by myself, let me down..."
Duoduo struggled, her short legs kicking chaotically, the kaleidoscope she was holding fell to the ground.
Seeing her struggle fiercely, the young man turned his head, trapped the umbrella handle, freed his hand, and clutched Duoduo’s neck.
"Don’t make a noise, otherwise I will kill you."
The young man’s face showed a fierce expression. His features became even more terrifying, but Duoduo, facing the ground, couldn’t see it.
She was now being choked, struggling to pry his hands apart, but she was too small, her soft little hands couldn’t have any effect.
A suffocating sensation spread from her throat to her whole body, as if a dulled knife had pierced her, seeming as if steel needles were pricking into her lungs. Soon her eyes bulged, her complexion turned cyanotic, her hands weakly struggled, and her whole body slumped.
This painful memory similarly resonated within Shen Siyuan, who was watching this memory, making him empathize deeply.
Then suddenly everything went dark, the memory broke off there, and when he regained consciousness, he found himself in a dilapidated house.
Duoduo sat up, fearfully looking around.
This is a residential house with red wooden windows that have been mottled due to the wind and rain. The window edges are covered with cobwebs, and there is not a single intact piece of glass.
The house is filled with clutter, newspapers, bricks, wood, and a coal stove, and a wooden door that is tightly shut and locked from the outside.
Duoduo wants to get up and look through the window but realizes she is completely weak and has no strength at all. Her damp clothes and hair make her feel very uncomfortable.
"Dad, Mom..." Duoduo calls out softly, sobbing.
But no one responds, and she looks around fearfully, then realizes her umbrella is set aside, but the "telescope" is nowhere to be seen.
She quickly crawls over and hugs the umbrella, trying to find some comfort in it.
But soon, completely soaked, she feels cold and pain, particularly around her throat, which is bruised purple, even breathing hurts.
This is also why she dares not cry too loudly because it is too painful.
"Dad, Mom, brother..."
She sobs quietly, feeling utterly helpless. She reaches out her small hand, touches her neck, and immediately retracts it.
"Duoduo hurts, Duoduo feels uncomfortable, I want to go home, wuu..."
"Duoduo will be obedient in the future, won’t run around anymore, wuu..."
Perhaps exhausted from crying, and feeling sleepy; compounded by the rain and the shock, Duoduo starts to develop a high fever, her cheeks flush, and her body subconsciously curls up.
Yet, she holds the umbrella tightly in her arms, which now seems to be her only comfort.
After an unknown period of time, Duoduo is awakened by the sound of the door opening.
She struggles to open her eyes but feels sore all over, limp, without any strength.
"Mom~" Duoduo murmurs.
But no one answers, so she calls out again, "Dad."
Still, no one responds, and her mind is muddled, as if she has forgotten she was kidnapped.
She feels someone approaching and strains her eyes to see who it is.
When she finally opens her eyes and sees the fierce and terrifying face, she realizes.
"Uncle..." she calls timidly.
This man is the same uncle who abducted her this afternoon, still holding a wood-chopping axe in his hand.
Duoduo’s originally fair little face is now dirty, with a touch of flush, and her blue and white striped dress is filthy, looking like a flower ravaged by a storm.
But the man looks on with a cold indifference, showing no sympathy.
"You have a brother, and I have a brother too," he squats down and looks at Duoduo lying on the ground.
"He and brother are at the same school," Duoduo remembers their previous conversation.
The man chuckles lightly but offers no explanations.
Then he raises the axe and chops directly at Duoduo’s neck.
"Don’t blame me, blame your dad..."
Duoduo shuts her eyes in fright, then feels a sharp pain in her neck, followed by a warm spread around her.
Duoduo opens her eyes, wanting to see what’s happening.
She sees her skirt stained red with blood, flowing onto the umbrella she clenches in her arms. The blood soaks the surface of the umbrella, and the handle seems to turn crimson too.
Duoduo, being young and with her consciousness almost lost, doesn’t sense anything wrong.
But Shen Siyuan, observing everything through a third-person view, notices an anomaly.
The oil paper umbrella must have been treated for waterproofing, otherwise, it wouldn’t shield from the rain.
But then why is Duoduo’s blood absorbed by the umbrella surface? And the handle as well.
Something is odd about this umbrella.
During this moment, the young man strikes down with the axe again. Duoduo’s bright and innocent eyes lose their sparkle, and her consciousness plunges into darkness.