Sunflower's smiling face suddenly tore apart, and a dark shadow slowly crawled out of the fabric.
It is a pure shadow, with no color details except for the almost human-shaped outline, only the extremely long, sharp limbs like insect joints.
The shadow emerged from the torn fabric and straightened up its slender body, which was more than four meters tall from head to tail. When its blood-slit eyes looked down, the bright and sunny street suddenly became windy.
"Hello everyone," it said in a voice as soft as spider silk, "I am the director of the child care center. They usually call me Bendis."
Jing Huang looked up at him. "Are you a Nightmare?"
"As you can see."
"To put someone like you who is a professional child thief in charge of taking care of children, it's a shame that this old bastard can do it."
The lanky shadow who called himself Bendis bowed slightly. It only has an outline, but it still shows an extremely elegant manner.
"The Lord of the Gate City has sent me a letter." It said, "Following that Your Excellency's will, I will do my best to cooperate with your investigation. At the same time, I need to remind you that as the director of the depository, I The safety of the children in the center will be closely monitored."
It retreated like a ghost and picked up the boy Qiqi with its long and strange arms. The scene was truly horrifying, but the boy hugged its neck with great attachment and looked at Jing Huang with fearful eyes.
Luo Binhan felt very sad when he saw it. He poked at Jing Huang and said, "Look, this kid likes monsters more than you. In the end, is he a monster and you are a monster? Think about it for yourself!"
Jing Huangli ignored him. He stared at Bendis and said, "Lend me the one in your arms."
"This is depositary property."
Jing Huang picked up the little girl who was kicking the roots of the tree: "I'll trade this with you."
Bendis looked at him quietly. Its eyes were obviously just two streaks of blood, but for some reason Luo Binhan could read strong resistance and struggle in them.
Finally, it said slowly: "I will cooperate with your investigation within reasonable limits."
"What's unreasonable?" Jing Huang shook the little girl's collar and said, "If someone else kills his mother, I'll help him kill others. Such a simple thing has to be ridiculous. I want to take this kid to the scene. Go around and see if he can still remember some details. If you are worried, just follow him."
The little girl he was holding in the air gave him a sinister look.
Bendis said nothing, his dark figure showing extreme reluctance. Until the boy in its arms moved slightly and whispered in its ear.
"...Okay," it said, "I will go with you to look after the depositary's two important assets."
It stretched out its other slender arm and grabbed the little girl Jing Huang was carrying into its arms.
Jing Huang turned around nonchalantly and kicked the pine tree a few times. "Vilamodudika," he read, "Viladorulaka."
The pine tree that had been motionless for a long time began to sway violently, growing from an ordinary adult tree to a towering giant tree in the blink of an eye. The original cavity at the root of the tree also expanded and turned into a deep and spacious tree cave.
He took the lead and got in. The entrance to the tree cave is very short, but it is enough for adults to enter and exit. Only the tall Yaleriga encountered a little trouble. She had to pad her horns with her hands to avoid scratching the edge of the tree hole.
Luo Binhan followed her. The moment he entered the tree cave, he had a feeling similar to when he passed through the sky wall. The cave is cool and humid, and you can faintly hear the chirping of cicadas and birds outside.
He climbed about ten steps and finally emerged from under a large piece of ivy. The surrounding pine trees are deep and green, and it seems to be a wilderness.
Luo Binhan looked up at the sky. The heavy tree crowns were shrouded like giant umbrellas, making the surrounding environment extremely dark. Only a little sunlight shined through the gaps between the leaves, proving that it was still daytime.
The vine waterfall behind him kept shaking, and Momolo and Bendis emerged from it one after another. Both children sat quietly in the latter's arms.
"Please follow me," Bendis said.
It dwarfed and burrowed deep into the pine forest. Its strange posture was not so much walking as it was crawling on its legs and arm joints. Luo Binhan was a little frightened when he saw it, so he quietly asked Momoluo: "What is the origin of this thing?"
"Mr. Bendis should be a night dire elf." Momolo said, "They like to hide under the beds of human children and feed on children's fears and nightmares. Although they look scary, they don't really hurt. Human lives. However, if parents abuse their children, they will sometimes steal the children from their homes and replace them with their own infants to cause disaster. Therefore, Mr. Luo must pay attention to family harmony in the future and prevent children from being abducted."
After hearing this, Luo Binhan felt heavy, pointed at Jing Huang and condemned: "Look, look, I would rather be with a human trafficker than with you!"
"It's none of my business," Jing Huang said.
The air in the forest was fresh and humid. They stepped through the thick rotten leaves and followed Bendis with some difficulty. The surrounding vegetation is prosperous, and the chirping of insects is undulating like fine waves. This pine forest is ethereal and quiet, without any scary atmosphere. Luo Binhan really couldn't imagine that an extremely cruel murder had happened here until he came to a small road with rope signs hanging on both sides.
A very inconspicuous forest path. It lies quietly under the cover of shrubs and weeds, and presumably only regulars know about it.
There are dots of dark spots left on the weeds, which look like a gathering of flies from a distance. It’s not until you take a closer look that you realize they are blood stains accumulated over time.
Luo Binhan couldn't help but slow down. The air was filled with a vague rancid smell, and he used reason to tell himself that it was just a psychological illusion.
Bendis stopped in front of the blood stain and gently put the two children down.
"This is it," it whispered.
The boy stared dully at the grass. He began to tremble all over, and in stark contrast to him was the little girl.
As comfortable and natural as returning home, she wandered around the large blood stains with a childlike and joyful smile on her face.
"It's so interesting here," she said. "My soul has been bitten to pieces. It must be very painful, right?"
Jing Huang frowned and looked at Bendis: "Hey, what's going on with this little girl?"
"She is an orphan of the Silent School." Bendis replied, "Since... that chaos, the believers took her out of Princess Mountain and kept her behind my door."
"Aren't you afraid of causing trouble by raising this little cultist with other children?"
Bendis rested his slender paws on the boy's head. "She is also a young child," it said, "but she has a different concept of death."
The ugly claws seemed to give the boy courage. Qiqi suddenly stood on tiptoes and whispered to Bendis. After a long time, Bendis picked him up again.
"That incident happened in the afternoon," Bendis said. "My mother took me for a walk by the lake. She said she wanted to teach me how to catch flying dragonflies. We travel to this planet every summer and take this road. . This is a scenic spot, and we have never encountered danger before. We passed this road that day, and my mother was walking on the side near the woods. She was telling me why my teeth hurt after eating sweets, and that thing ran out of the woods. It opened its mouth and bit the mother's face. The mother didn't make a sound, only the bones cracked. Then a lot of blood spattered. The mother's head was gone, she fell to the ground, and the thing ran into the woods again."
It deliberately imitates the tone of a boy's voice, and even the tone of his voice is exactly the same.
After Jing Huang listened to what it said, he walked to the center of the path and observed the blood on the ground.
"Kill the master and run away? You didn't even take the part below the head. It seems that it wasn't just to fill your stomach... Where did that thing escape from?"
Bendis raised a long finger and pointed it behind Jing Huang.
"There," it said. "Going straight there is a mountainous area."
