Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 21 Day of the Dead

Over the next few days, under Emma's supervision, Milo basically didn't go out and stayed at home every day looking at documents and files.

Enid would also come over to join in the fun when she didn't have classes.

To be fair, she has a very solid grasp of the basics, and the materials she compiled for Milo were quite comprehensive.

However, Emma and Enid were right. It was simply a pipe dream for a complete novice like Milo to master the knowledge that others had accumulated over several years in just half a month.

Basic science knowledge wasn't a big problem for Milo; the key issue was the unheard-of laws and regulations, which were completely new versions that Milo had never encountered before.

Five days later, after the agonizing days of memorizing, came the annual Day of the Dead in Nanwei City.

This is an important festival in the southern region of the country, which can be traced back to a commemorative sacrificial activity of the indigenous people hundreds of years ago.

On the Day of the Dead, people traditionally visit cemeteries to pay their respects, bringing flowers, sweets, and the deceased's favorite foods.

People also build altars and light bonfires to create a relatively joyful atmosphere, because in traditional beliefs, the Day of the Dead is the day when the deceased return. The Nanwei people believe that they can grieve for their lost loved ones at any time, but only on the Day of the Dead, the day when the deceased return, do they have to create a warm and beautiful carnival for their returning relatives and loved ones.

The people of Nanwei have a unique and unconventional understanding of death.

The people here believe that death is a reflection of life; if death is meaningless, then life must have been meaningless as well.

Therefore, death is, to some extent, a supplement to the highest meaning of life, and the significance of the Day of the Dead lies in recognizing the past life of the deceased.

On this day, the families of the deceased will not only not grieve, but will even sing and dance all night long.

……

However, for the city's public security system, this is not a happy day.

The Day of the Dead is almost the most tiring day of the year for law enforcers and city guards.

Street parades, parties, and other folk activities turn the city into chaos. Unruly children, still possessed by their wild nature, will unleash their most mischievous side, causing as much trouble as possible. On the other hand, pickpockets and thieves will also be out in force, finding it easier to steal the more chaotic the scene.

It's not just the city center that's in chaos; for those working in the public security system, the suburbs are the truly challenging areas.

The vast majority of cemeteries are located in the mountainous areas on the outskirts of the city. In addition to public cemeteries, there are also many private graves that are widely distributed. On the night of the Day of the Dead, countless fires will be lit in the mountainous areas on the outskirts of the city, and bonfires will be scattered throughout the wilderness.

Last year, a wildfire broke out during the Day of the Dead, burning down much of the vegetation in a mountainous area on the southern outskirts of the city and killing or injuring over a hundred people.

Therefore, on the Day of the Dead, even those on leave like Milo had to obey orders to go out on duty.

……

On the night of the Day of the Dead, law enforcement officers take full control of security in the city, while the various departments of the city guard are responsible for supervising the suburban areas.

This means that Milo, Yan, and others will be on duty overnight in the suburbs.

……

"Brother, look at me!"

Little Finn was jumping around excitedly in the living room.

Emma painted Finn's face black with paint, and then used fluorescent white paint to outline a skull on his face. Finn was so happy that he ran around the living room like he was on steroids, baring his teeth and making what he thought were scary "howls".

Kang was busy preparing the items needed for the sacrificial ceremony, muttering to himself:

"Wear more clothes, it gets very cold on the mountain at night... Oops, where did I put my tent? It was just here a moment ago."

Kang was busy making preparations in the corner.

Milo waited quietly to the side.

According to the customs of the Day of the Dead, there are lively parades in the city during the first half of the night, and every street is packed with shops. In the second half of the night, the suburbs become the main battleground, since the main part of the Day of the Dead is the worship of the dead. People set up bonfires and altars at the graves of their loved ones and stay there until dawn.

The Valrocan family was no exception.

They were going to meet Emma and Finn's biological mother, who was also Kang's deceased wife.

Milo knew nothing about the deceased woman, because she was already gone when he met the Kang family.

When the great plague forced the Kang family to seek refuge in Nanwei City, the urn containing his wife's ashes that Kang always carried with him was his wife's.

After the family settled in Nanwei City, Kang buried his deceased wife's ashes in the suburbs. For the next five years, the family would go to pay their respects every year on the Day of the Dead.

……

As is customary, Kang would first go alone to the suburban cemetery to make preparations, as setting up tents and campsites was quite a tedious task. Once there, he would also have to work with the families of several neighboring graves to build a campfire altar. Meanwhile, Milo would lead Finn and Emma on a two-way tour around the city.

After all, this was one of the few lively festivals in the lifeless city of Nanwei throughout the year. Little Finn was at an age where he was active and playful, and he couldn't possibly sit still. However, Emma was physically weak, so it was impossible for her and her brother to travel alone.

So, after Kang left with his tools and other things, Milo, Emma, ​​and Finn, the three siblings, also went out.

"Why don't you dress up as a female ghost or something?"

Milo glanced at Emma as he looked at the various strangely dressed passersby coming and going along the street.

She wasn't dressed up in any special way; her delicate face only had a light layer of makeup, the only noticeable difference being her eye makeup. As for her clothing, it remained her usual minimalist style. However, under the warm glow of the city lights, Emma's face had a bit more color than usual, and she no longer looked so haggard.

"Don't I look like a ghost?" Emma glanced at Milo.

Perhaps it was because the streets and alleys were filled with laughter and joy that even this usually stern and unsmiling beauty had a slight upward curve at the corners of her mouth.

Milo, who was used to Emma's deadpan expression, was stunned by her stunning smile.

Emma seemed to notice Milo's dazed gaze, and she frowned slightly: "What are you looking at?"

Milo poked Emma's side and behind with his finger: "I'm looking, there seem to be some naked people among the people parading over there."

Looking in the direction Milo pointed, sure enough, among the parade crowd were men and women wearing masks and covered in colorful paintings, but completely naked...

"Tsk tsk tsk, that's really something, putting on a mask is like taking it off." Milo narrowed his eyes.

"Where? Where? Where?"

Little Finn kept jumping up and down in the crowd, but Emma slapped him back down: "What are you looking at, kid?"

In the middle of the street, a slow-moving procession carried people dressed as southern aboriginals, people on stilts dressed as various ghosts and monsters, and of course, there were also hot-dressed dancers.

Not only the procession in the middle of the street, but also the people on the sidewalks on both sides of the road were dressed in all sorts of outlandish costumes, some dressed as evil spirits from medieval horror legends, and others as succubi in revealing nun's clothes...

"Is it pretty?" Emma's question forcibly pulled Milo's gaze away from the row of succubi's shapely buttocks.

Milo licked his lips without any attempt to hide it, then reached out and took two lollipops from the candy vendor next to him, flicking two coins into the vendor's hand.

“It’s the same old tricks every year, it’s so boring. I’m really looking forward to seeing you do one for me.” Milo opened the package and waved the candy in front of Emma: “Come on, open your mouth.”

Milo's habitual flirting gestures usually only earn him a glare in return from Emma.

Milo knew, of course, that Emma wouldn't eat what he offered, but he just enjoyed teasing her like that.

He then shoved the candy into Finn's mouth.

Emma glanced down at Finn, the little skeleton monster munching on candy, at her feet, then turned to look at the bustling street and said casually, "Only kids pretend to be ghosts."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Milo, who had just opened the wrapper for the second candy, had a furry head snatch the lollipop away in one bite.

Immediately afterwards, a very familiar girl's voice entered Milo's ears.

"Who says only children dress up as ghosts?"

Standing before the three siblings was a petite girl. She wore cat ears, had colorful makeup on her face, a playful cat nose, and a few whiskers on her cheeks. Her small tiger teeth were quite noticeable. She was dressed as a little black cat, and a fluffy black tail hung from the back of her slender waist.

"Huh?" Milo was stunned for three seconds before he realized that this was Emma's classmate and his tutor, Enid.

Her outfit perfectly matched Milo's first impression of her, truly embodying the image of a wildcat.

This outfit would definitely send blood pressure soaring in the eyes of some adult men with particular fetishes.

Of course, some people don't think so.

"Hahaha, bro, she looks like a dog!" Little Finn suddenly pointed at Enid and laughed, looking like a fool.

"Dog? You're not a dog at all! You're the dog, your whole family are dogs, you little skeleton!" Enid said coquettishly, wrapping one arm around Finn's belly and lifting him up, pretending to spank him.

These past few days, Enid has been coming over whenever she has free time, and she's been having a blast with Finn. They seem more like siblings than real siblings.

And so, Milo led Emma and the little wildcat, with a bouncy little skeleton monster trailing behind, and they wandered around the city for a long time, playing until the wee hours of the morning.

As time went by, the streets became less crowded, as most people went to the outskirts of the city, where the main activities of the traditional Day of the Dead took place.

The three Milo siblings bid farewell to the little wildcat Enid and turned to head towards the cemetery outside the city.

(End of this chapter)