Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 24 Villains
Down the hillside, a bonfire burned, and people were scattered around it. In the firelight, strangers sat together, humming songs that had been sung in Nanwei City for many years.

The pitch and volume of the singing were not uniform, but it did not sound noisy or chaotic; at least the atmosphere was right.

There were bonfires like these on almost every hilltop in the suburbs, making the suburbs even more lively than the city center.

Milo quickly found Kang and Finn sitting by the campfire.

Kang sat cross-legged on the grass. After a busy day, he could finally sit down and have a sip of strong liquor.

He gazed calmly at the firelight on the altar; no one knew what he was thinking.

Little Finn ran around in circles around him, and the little rascal didn't seem tired at all, bouncing around all day.

……

Upon seeing Milo, Kang handed the bottle of liquor in his hand to Milo.

Milo didn't stand on ceremony, took the bottle, took a swig, and sat down next to him.

He could tell that Kang was somewhat out of place with the atmosphere of the festival, perhaps because he was not a native of the South and could not integrate into the almost carnival-like atmosphere of the Day of the Dead.

Not just this year, but he has remained silent during the Day of the Dead for the past few years.

Kang was a rough and uncultured man. On the Day of the Dead, he would quietly prepare all the necessary items, and then go up the mountain in advance to chop firewood, clear weeds, and build an altar.

He never sang the songs of Nanwei City, and he couldn't even hum a tune.

But every year he would make a berry pie and place it in front of the altar, then drink alone while looking at the berry pie.

After daybreak, I took my children home.

……

Kang gazed at the campfire: "I can hardly remember what she looks like anymore."

Milo gulped down two more mouthfuls, handed the bottle back to Kang, and muttered, "She must be very pretty."

Milo had never heard Kang talk about his deceased wife.

“It’s beautiful, I’m not lying.” Kang shook the wine bottle in his hand.

“I know,” Milo shrugged.

In his mind, the fact that he could have a child with Emma's looks after marrying a bald, rough man like Kang speaks volumes about how strong Kang's wife's genes were.

Kang sensed the teasing in Milo's tone, but he didn't care at all. He simply tilted his head back, took a swig of his drink, and muttered:
“When she left, I felt like the sky had fallen. Finn had only been born a short time ago… If Emma’s cries hadn’t woken me up, I might have gone crazy…”

Milo glanced unconsciously at Robben's grave on the hillside behind him and touched his nose.

He has never been a father, but in a way, he has just experienced it.

For a moment, Milo could even sense Robben's emotions as he broke down.

It was an indescribable, extreme sorrow, a sorrow powerful enough to shatter one's spirit.

Milo sat quietly to the side.

Listening to Robben recount some disjointed stories from the past in fits and starts.

For example, how lovable Emma was as a child, how much her wife loves berry pie, etc...

Kang spoke in fragments, talking about whatever came to mind, but they were mostly ordinary yet heartwarming memories.

Milo found it very pleasant to listen to.

Compared to the father on the hillside, the man in front of them had a completely different and happy life; at least he had Emma and little Finn.

Milo didn't know if, one day, something happened to Emma and Finn, Kang might also turn into a madman like Robben.

……

“I’ve always been grateful to you.” Kang handed the bottle of wine to Milo.

"Is this wine very strong today? You don't usually talk like this." Milo looked at the label on the bottle by the firelight.

“I’m serious.” Kang grinned, then shook his head. “Back then, there were dead people everywhere. The three of us escaped from the town and walked for half a month. Finn was almost starving to death, and we were only two miles away from entering Nanwei City… To be honest, when I broke my leg, I was truly desperate. I kept telling Emma to take Finn and run, keep running, and we had to reach Nanwei City before dark, otherwise there would be no way to survive after the city was sealed off. If I hadn’t met you back then…”

“I’ll drag your whole family two miles, and then eat at your house for five years, that’s fine.” Milo waved his hand.

After drinking, Kang became very talkative, as if a floodgate had been opened.

He spoke as he gulped down his drink:
"To be honest, at first you were like a stray dog, doing nothing but drinking. I really didn't trust you back then."

"Hehe, I know, I know," Milo chuckled sheepishly.

Kang continued to ramble on:

"Hey, don't interrupt, let me finish... But later I found out you're pretty good, you learn quickly, and you're quite clever, especially... When was that? Uh, I can't quite remember, it was that Sherman family mess, Emma told me later, she said you were planning to kill that Sherman kid back then. I don't care about killing him or not, anyway, he tried to hurt my precious daughter, and if it were me, I would have killed him too. So, you protected my daughter, and I owe you a huge favor. From that moment on, I've recognized you as my Valrokan, I've recognized you as my son. You're not a coward..."

"Look at what you're saying." Milo rolled his eyes.

So what, you owe me a favor, and after this I'll really become your son, huh?

“If all else fails, you can be my brother, but it’s a bit of a hassle with the archives. After all, I told them you were my son when I was trying to sneak into Nanwei City… But it’s okay, I can get Emma and Finn to call you uncle.” Kang Yue’s words were getting more and more outrageous. As he spoke, he reached out to ask Milo to hand the bottle back to him.

"Don't you dare." Milo felt that heart-pounding feeling from before surge up again, and he pulled the bottle back with his hand and smiled bitterly, "If you drink any more, you'll end up throwing your boots into the fire again, just like last year."

"Give it to me! I can hold my liquor well. I only drink once a year, and it's with my wife, not with you." Kang tried to snatch the bottle from Milo, but when he realized he couldn't, he seemed to remember something, pulled another bottle out of his coat, bit off the cap, and continued drinking.

After gulping down a few mouthfuls, he turned his head and looked at Milo with bleary, drunken eyes:

"Let me tell you, my only wish in this life is for Emma and Finn. As long as they are safe and sound, I'll do anything. You can believe me."

“I believe you, I believe you.” Milo nodded. “But Emma’s illness is driving me crazy.” Kang rubbed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Her mother also died from this strange illness. I really can’t bear to see my daughter suffer the same way… my dear daughter… the most important thing to me in this world is my family. I would really go crazy if Emma were gone.”

Milo looked at Kang with a complicated expression.

The images he had seen from Robben's perspective flashed through his mind once again...

He didn't know what to say either.

……

Kang then tilted his head back and took a few more gulps, swallowed them, and looked blankly at Milo.
Where was I?

“Uh… speaking of family.” Milo realized he had drunk a little too much earlier, and his face was starting to feel hot.

Kang slapped his forehead. Although he was still sitting in the same spot, he was swaying slightly from side to side.

"Oh, family? Right, I don't think I've ever heard you mention yourself before. You've never said where you're from either. Don't you have any family?"

"Are you polite?"

Milo gave Kang the middle finger.

"Hey no, I'm serious, you've never mentioned this before, so why don't you tell me?"

Kang handed over the bottle and clinked it against the bottle in Milo's hand.

Milo shook his head: "Then you didn't bring enough alcohol today."

……

The two of them gulped down their drinks by the campfire.

After an unknown amount of time, Milo noticed that little Finn had fallen asleep peacefully on the grass.

The little guy finally got tired of jumping around, with some pastry crumbs still stuck to his face. Although the lawn was covered in dew in the middle of the night, he was still sleeping soundly.

Milo stood up, looked around, and waved to Yan, who was with his family not far away.

Yan quickly ran over.

"What do you say?"

Milo pointed to Kang, who was sitting on the ground: "Keep an eye on him for me. I'm going to take Finn back to the tent to sleep."

As he spoke, he reached out and lifted Finn up.

"I might as well carry Uncle Kang back with me," Yan said, glancing at the tipsy Kang.

“No, he won’t go back to sleep. Let him sit here until dawn.” Milo stopped Yan. He knew that on the Day of the Dead, Kang would stay by the campfire until dawn no matter what, because he felt that his wife was sitting by the campfire and he had to keep her company.

At this point, no amount of persuasion to go back to sleep will work; it might even provoke him to anger.

“Alright then.” Yan nodded, sat down beside him, and picked up the bottle that Milo had drunk from earlier: “Uncle Kang! I’ll drink with you. Hey, you even made a berry pie here, it looks pretty delicious…”

"Don't touch that pie if you don't want to be thrown into the fire," Milo reminded him from behind.

"Alright, this pie is so beautifully made, let's just leave it there for now." Yan reluctantly withdrew his hand that was already outstretched in mid-air.

……

Milo carried little Finn up the hillside.

The tent was pitched not far from the grave.

Emma couldn't stand being roasted by the campfire, so as in previous years, she stayed alone in her tent to rest.

She should be asleep by this time... right?

Thinking this, Milo walked up the hillside, and the more he walked, the more uneasy he felt.

"wrong……"

There seemed to be several shadowy figures lurking around the tent ahead. Despite the lack of wiring and thick fog in the mountains at night, Milo still managed to spot those moving shadows in the otherwise static environment...

He slapped Finn twice on the bottom to wake him up, then pointed towards the campfire: "Go on, your dad's calling you for roast chicken."

Little Finn, who had been woken up, rubbed his eyes groggily and staggered back to the campfire.

Milo, on the other hand, rushed straight towards Emma's tent.

……

After passing through the dense fog.

Several hidden figures quickly surrounded them; they seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

At this point, the tent had already been torn open.

A slightly familiar voice reached Milo's ears:

"Finally here, okay... hold him down, I want him to watch me do his sister, hahaha."

……

Emma knelt on the ground, her arms tied behind her back.

A gleaming dagger was scraping against her snow-white neck.

The man with the knife stood behind her, covering Emma's mouth with one hand to prevent her from making a sound, staring at Milo with a ferocious look.

(End of this chapter)