The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 256 Beginning and Ending
Everyone turned around at Zhong Kui's voice. She was observing one of the mannequins placed at the door with great interest. Its arm was outstretched, as if pointing to a certain place.

“This arm isn’t its, is it?” Zhong Kui said, lifting the model’s sleeve to reveal the connection between the arm and torso. Sure enough, it was forcibly attached, and the joint was cracked from being roughly inserted.

What's even more unsettling is that the color of the clothes the model was wearing was exactly the "watermelon red" that Zhao Hongda had described.

Zhao Hongda was the first to reach the mannequin. Just as he was about to speak, Zhong Kui interrupted him, saying, "Don't tell me this mannequin isn't dressed up like you?"

Zhao Hongda nodded blankly, puzzled, "I didn't even notice, when did this thing get arranged like this?"

"You do not know?"

"I don't know, I used to hang these clothes there to sell." Zhao Hongda pointed to the wall, and sure enough, there was an empty space for hanging clothes.

Perhaps if it weren't for Zhao Hongda's recollection of the woman in the red sweater, no one would have paid attention to this mannequin casually placed at the door.

But at this moment, the model's chipped and broken fingertips pointed forward. Qi Fei looked in the direction they were pointing and saw an inconspicuous path leading to the other end of the block.

Zhong Kui seemed to have seen something again. She pulled open the collar of the mannequin's watermelon-red dress and saw Xi He's signature monster graffiti painted on its chest. She suddenly burst out laughing: "He really knows how to play. Looks like this is the reward for finding Zhao Hongda."

As the sun began to set, golden sunlight reflected off the glass facade of the shopping mall, making it difficult to open one's eyes. It was almost time to go home, and the streets, which had been mostly deserted due to the heat, gradually became bustling again.

The alley the model pointed to was across the street, across the pedestrian crossing, as if they were the puppets on strings, walking step by step toward an unknown destination.

Qi Fei's breathing quickened, partly from the heat and partly from nervousness. He vaguely heard a little boy's voice reciting that familiar nursery rhyme:
"The marble rolls, rolls into the hole,

One, two, three, count clearly,

Four, five, six, chasing quickly,
Seven, eight, nine, win it!"

He thought he was hallucinating until a marble rolled to his feet. He had just squatted down to pick it up when, accompanied by a light and hurried sound of footsteps, a little boy chased after the marble and came up to him.

"Uncle, can you give me back my marbles?" the little boy asked in his childish voice, holding out his small hand.

Qi Fei knew that the appearance of the marbles was no accident. He squatted down, placed the marbles in the boy's palm, and asked softly, "Who taught you this nursery rhyme?"

"He's also an uncle."

"Besides teaching you nursery rhymes, what else did he say to you?"

He said he had a friend who was just like me, but his friend stopped playing with him, and he was very sad.

"anything else?"

The little boy looked at Qi Fei innocently and suddenly asked, "Are you that uncle's friend?" Qi Fei didn't know how to answer for a moment, but finally replied, "Yes, we used to be very good friends."

Upon hearing this, the little boy suddenly handed the marble back to Qi Fei: "That uncle said that this marble belongs to his friend, and if you meet his friend, you should return the marble to him."

Qi Fei stood up, looking at the marble in his hand, which shone dazzlingly in the sunlight. He knew that this was the clue that Xi He had left in the alley, but what exactly did this clue mean?

"He always seems to want to give you the marbles," Zhong Kui said casually from the side.

Her words made Qi Fei thoughtful. He recalled that late night when he first saw Xi He's image while reviewing the surveillance footage. He took out a marble and pointed it at the surveillance camera, which was also pointing at Xi He, as if he were talking to him.

"Marble..." he murmured, staring at the one in his hand.

"What do Xihe and marbles mean to you?" Zhong Kui's clear voice came, causing Qi Fei to fall into deep thought, completely unaware of Jiang Tianyi's worried eyes beside him.

“I think…” Jiang Tianyi was about to speak when Zhong Kui stood between him and Qi Fei, looking at him with a threatening gaze: “Senior brother, you also hope that Qi Dongjun will return safely, right? Then don’t disturb Qi Fei’s memories.”

Jiang Tian hesitated, then ultimately fell silent.

Qi Fei stood still, seemingly having passed through the narrow path before him, leading to a place that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him. The nursery rhyme rang out again, and the marbles rolled on the ground, entering the hole one by one.

There's only one empty spot, the "King's Cave." Whoever's marble falls into the King's Cave first wins.

"I know what he's implying!" Qi Fei suddenly seemed to snap out of his reverie, excitedly grabbing Zhong Kui's arms with both hands and saying, "I know what he wants to say." He repeated.

Zhong Kui remained calm, her light-colored eyes fixed on Qi Fei, seemingly trying to help him concentrate and prevent him from falling into the abyss of memories.

"That pinball game, I remember now!" Qi Fei was still very excited, an excitement that far exceeded the joy of progress in the investigation, making Jiang Tianyi, who was standing next to him, even more uneasy.

However, Qi Fei was completely oblivious. He continued, "This is a game that only my mom, Xi He, and I know how to play. I guess one of them invented the rules. There are nine holes in a row on the ground. Xi He and I each guard four holes, alternating. Whoever rolls all four marbles into the other's holes first wins. But there's an extra rule: the first hole, which is the starting point, is the 'King Hole.' Once the other side has taken three holes, if the weaker side can throw a marble into the 'King Hole,' they can reverse the situation and win directly. The starting point, Zhong Kui, do you understand? The starting point is the finish line."

For some reason, Zhong Kui didn't share Qi Fei's excitement upon hearing this. She simply asked calmly, "What was the starting point of everything?"

At this moment, Qi Fei's gaze towards Zhong Kui became complicated, and he gripped her arms even tighter, as if he couldn't bring himself to say what was coming: "Zhong Kui, there's something I've always wanted to know. How did you connect the body found in the garden of the Little White Building that day to the Feng family of Sanwu Town?"

“I’m just guessing, after all, only potters would have that kind of hand,” Zhong Kui replied.

"But there are so many craftsmen, why are you so sure it's Feng Yongshou?"

At this moment, Zhong Kui finally couldn't help but smile.

She lowered her head slightly, her eyes fixed on Qi Fei: "What is Xi He implying to you? You'd rather believe that murderer than me?"