Bloody Kyoto

After the boy finished crying and came to his senses, he saw a terrifying scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

The aunt who saved Lu was actually digging into the killer's head with a knife.

He covered his mouth, trying his best to keep quiet so as not to disturb her, and then he cracked open her head as well.

A short while later, the woman pulled the knife out of the head, along with a strange object.

The woman picked up the object and put it away. Then she wiped her hands and looked over.

The boy flinched slightly, then forced himself to remain calm and looked at the woman, "Thank you, Auntie, for saving my life."

The woman nodded slightly, then walked towards the dead woman, bent down, grabbed one of the woman's arms, and with a forceful movement, hoisted her onto her back.

Upon seeing this, the boy disregarded his fear and ran forward, stretching out his hands to stop him.

"Auntie, where are you taking my mother?"

"Bury him." The woman glanced at him and walked past him. "Take your bundle and follow."

Before the boy could recover from the words "buried," he heard "take your bundle and follow." He hurriedly picked up the blood-soaked bundle and staggered after them.

After hastily burying the woman, she took the boy to a nearby water source to wash herself.

After washing up, the woman looked at the boy and asked, "Do you know who's chasing you?"

The little boy nodded silently, "He's from my father's clan."

"Why did I kill you and your child? Where is your father?"

“My father died, leaving behind a lot of money. The clansmen bullied my mother and me, trying to seize the family fortune. Later, my mother found out and secretly sold the family property to go to the capital to seek refuge with my maternal grandparents.”

The boy spoke with hatred in his eyes, and tears streamed down his face as he thought of his mother's tragic death.

The woman's gaze fell on the bloodstained bundle. The boy noticed and immediately opened the bundle, taking out a stack of silver notes and handing them to her.

"Auntie saved the boy's life, here you go."

The woman picked it up and counted it, muttering to herself, "This is a lot of money? It's only a little over two thousand taels."

She returned the silver note to the boy.

"What's your name?"

The boy was extremely surprised when he saw the returned silver note. She didn't want it?

"What's your name?" the woman asked again when she saw him staring blankly.

"Ah..." The boy looked up in a panic, "My name is Zhang Xiaohai."

The woman then asked, "Your maternal grandparents' family is from the capital. Who else is in your family?"

"There are only my maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother in my maternal family, no one else."

The woman picked up her bundle, stood up, and said to Xiao Hai, "I'll take you to your maternal grandparents' house."

*

Capital

At the entrance of the alley on North Street, there was a makeshift shed where a middle-aged couple was busy working.

One person was cooking wontons in front of a large, steaming pot, while the other was wiping the table.

Both of them had smiles on their faces. Some time ago, their daughter, who had married out of the city, wrote to say that she wanted to bring her grandson back to the capital to live with the elderly couple.

Judging by the days, it should be around the next day or two.

We originally planned to close our shop for two days to pick up the mother and child at the city gate, but the residents in the alley were just too enthusiastic.

They said they felt uncomfortable if they didn't eat their wontons for a day and wouldn't allow them to close down.

I figured my daughter knew the way home anyway, so even if I didn't pick her up, she could find her way back.

The couple never stopped talking, which prompted other customers eating wontons to tease them.

"Old Yu, you have a happy occasion in your family, so you'd better make more wontons than usual."

"Yes, put out a few more, so that we neighbors can be happy too."

Old Yu poked his head out of the mist, grinning broadly. "Okay, add half a bowl more, let's all enjoy it together."

People were unhappy with what he said.

"Old Yu, don't do that. Just add two more bowls. Adding half a bowl will make you lose a lot of money, and that will make us uneasy."

"Yes, yes, we can't lose too much, Aunt Yu is still taking medicine every day."

The words of the others warmed the hearts of the elderly couple, and Aunt Yu turned away to secretly wipe away her tears.

Since their daughter got married, the couple felt lonely, but fortunately they had this group of neighbors.

With their enthusiasm and various forms of help, the couple gradually emerged from their loneliness.

The pockmarked middle-aged woman was Li Nanle. She led Xiao Hai to the entrance of a small alley according to the address. Xiao Hai's eyes lit up immediately, and he pointed to the wonton shop at the entrance of the alley with surprise.

“My mother once said that my maternal grandparents used to sell wontons at a stall, so that stall must be the one.”

Li Nanle looked at the stall and found it a bit strange at first glance. Why was everything white?

The little overseas grandfather had a white cloth tied around his head, just like he was wearing mourning clothes.

The little overseas grandmother was wearing a linen garment, but also had a white cloth tied around her arm.

There were also white things hanging everywhere on the stalls' awnings.

In addition, three other customers eating wontons also had white bandages on their wrists or white sewn onto their shoes.

Li Nanle couldn't figure out the reason for this, so she simply stopped thinking about it.

She gently nudged Xiao Hai, "Go!"

Xiao Hai was a little uneasy as he held the bundle. Li Nanle said again, "I will leave after you confirm that they are your maternal grandfather and grandmother."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hai's face lit up with joy. He bowed to her and then ran to the wonton stall.

Suddenly, someone rushed into the stall, and many people looked curiously at the little boy who was panting heavily.

As she was wiping the table, Yu's mother stepped forward and asked, "Little one, do you want to eat wontons?"

Looking at the kind-faced old woman, Xiao Hai burst into tears, "Grandma, it's me, Xiao Hai."

Upon hearing this, Yu's mother dropped the rag in her hand to the ground, and Yu's father, who was cooking wontons in front of the large pot, also dropped the strainer into the pot.

When Yu's mother saw the blood-stained bundle in his arms, she looked around but couldn't see her daughter, and a bad feeling crept into her heart.

She knelt down and hugged the crying Xiao Hai into her arms, asking in a trembling voice, "Where is your mother?"

Old Man Yu also came over, and the customers eating wontons at the stall all stopped eating.

"Woooo..."

"My mother has been murdered."

Yu's mother was jolted, her body swayed, and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Old Man Yu wasn't in much better shape; he was swaying unsteadily, but fortunately someone caught him in time.

Because Xiao Hai's maternal grandparents were not in good condition, Li Nanle did not leave immediately, but kept watching them until they finally arrived at the Yu family's house.

Someone spotted Li Nanle, and a woman stepped forward to ask, "Young lady, who are you looking for?"

"My aunt is my savior."