Kai-chan led the three police officers for another ten minutes, finally seeing his home standing in a spacious clearing. Kai-chan's house was a wooden cabin, a rare traditional gassho-zukuri style in the Island Nation's countryside.
"Uncle Fujibayashi, we've arrived." Kai-chan stopped at the intersection, looking at the familiar gassho-zukuri house in front of him, his heart filled with mixed emotions. For some reason, his feet were rooted to the spot like nails, not daring to take another step forward.
"Kai-chan, are you alright?" Uncle Fujibayashi noticed his unusual expression, patted his shoulder, and then looked at the wooden house not far away.
"Looks like he's scared..." Fujibayashi thought to himself. He stood in place to regain some strength, then looked at his two younger colleagues and said, "Let Kai-chan rest here for a bit. We'll go take a look."
"Alright." Tuandai and Yun looked at Kai-chan, nodded in agreement, and walked towards Kai-chan's house with their senior.
"Knock knock knock..." Fujibayashi, Tuandai, and Yun stood at the entrance of Kai-chan's house, gently knocking on the wooden door with their right hands. "Knock knock knock..." They knocked twice in a row, but there was no sound from inside the room. They couldn't help but exchange glances. "Did they go out?"
"Continue."
"Creak~" Just as they were about to knock for the third time, the door suddenly "creaked" open, and a middle-aged woman in an apron appeared at the doorway. The woman's expression was cold, her eyes hollow and dim.
"Morino... Yun Ying?" Fujibayashi's voice hesitated as he looked at the hollow-eyed middle-aged woman before him. He was a little surprised, as Morino Yun Ying was an old acquaintance of his.
The usual Morino Yun Ying gave off a gentle, virtuous aura; she was a woman who was good at managing a household. But the middle-aged woman in front of him felt like a complete stranger, completely lacking her usual gentle demeanor.
No wonder Kai-chan felt something was amiss. Recalling what Kai-chan told him last night, Fujibayashi's expression remained calm on the surface, but his heart secretly grew heavy.
"Cough... Sorry to disturb you so early." Fujibayashi coughed to conceal the abnormality in his tone. "We're from Qingyao Town Police Department. We have a few questions for you." Fujibayashi adopted a businesslike demeanor.
But Morino Yun Ying remained expressionless, merely looking at them coldly, silent. The atmosphere was subtly tense. Morino Yun Ying's cold gaze sent shivers down the spines of Fujibayashi, Tuandai, and Yun.
"It's not a lengthy investigation, just a few simple questions." Fujibayashi's eyelid twitched. He secretly took a deep breath, then smiled and said.
"Did something happen on the mountain?" At this moment, Morino Yun Ying, who had been silent, finally reacted. She blinked very robotically, a perfect arc forming at the corner of her lips, and said in a soft voice, "Or did someone go missing on the mountain?"
For some reason, looking at Morino Yun Ying's perfect smile, Fujibayashi felt a sliver of his guard drop. "Uh, yes, that's right."
"Between yesterday morning at 10 AM and yesterday evening at 9 PM, where were you?"
"I was at home, chopping firewood."
"We want to sell more charcoal before winter truly arrives so everyone can have a good New Year." Morino Yun Ying's tone was calm, her voice soft, and her answer was perfect. As she spoke, she turned her gaze towards the side of the wooden house.
Fujibayashi and the two young police officers followed her gaze. Indeed, outside the wooden house, there was a pile of chopped firewood. And each piece was perfectly split, almost as if cut by a machine tool.
"I never would have thought, Morino, that you have such excellent wood-chopping skills." Fujibayashi looked at the pile of firewood, his expression somewhat surprised, and chuckled.
Tuandai and Yun were equally astonished, their expressions showing extreme surprise as they looked at Morino Yun Ying. Chopping firewood, after all, was not just about brute strength; it was also a skilled task.
To chop it so perfectly required both strength and skill, which even strong young men like them couldn't achieve, yet a woman had done it. While surprised, they also felt a hint of admiration.
"Mr. Fujibayashi, you must be tired."
"It's so cold; come in and ask your questions. I'll pour you hot tea." Morino Yun Ying opened the door completely, stood to one side of the doorway, and invited the three police officers inside for water and rest.
"Uh, then thank you very much." Fujibayashi happened to feel a bit cold. His police uniform alone really couldn't withstand the low temperature on Qingyao Mountain, so he led his two colleagues inside.
The house's interior was in the traditional gassho-zukuri style, entirely constructed from wood, without a single nail used, similar to the tenon-and-mortise architecture of the Ozma Federation. The interior space was also quite spacious, though the sparse furniture made the room feel somewhat cold.
In the middle of the room sat a wooden table and four wooden chairs. On them sat a boy and a girl, both about ten years old, currently staring directly at them with cold expressions. This made them feel uneasy.
"Naru, Haina, long time no see. Did you miss Uncle Fujibayashi?" Fujibayashi took off his hat and walked towards the two children with a broad smile. But when he reached them, his steps halted.
"Mr. Fujibayashi?" Fujibayashi suddenly repeated Morino Yun Ying's address to him, frowning. He, Kai-chan, and the Morino Yun Ying couple had been acquaintances for many years, and he was also good friends with Kai-chan. They always addressed each other by name. When did they become so polite?
"Bang!" Suddenly, a loud bang came from the doorway. The other two police officers flinched and turned to look back, only to find that Morino Yun Ying had closed the door.
"Click click..." But strangely, after closing the door, Morino Yun Ying actually used a piece of wood to lock the door from the inside, as if guarding against something.
"Hey, there's no danger outside. Why are you locking the door?" Tuandai asked, feeling puzzled.
Meanwhile, outside, Kai-chan was hiding in the forest bushes, observing. "Why did they go in?" Kai-chan felt a bit anxious. He had clearly told Uncle Fujibayashi that his mother gave him a very dangerous feeling. But now, it seemed Uncle Fujibayashi hadn't taken it to heart at all.
Seeing his mother close the door, Kai-chan immediately rose from the bushes, stepping lightly towards the wooden house. As he approached the window, Kai-chan noticed a pile of firewood stacked on the open ground outside the window.
"When did I chop so much firewood?"
"The last batch of firewood should have been put in the woodshed." Kai-chan felt a bit confused, but he shook his head. Now was not the time to think about such things. He lightly stepped to the outside of the window and quietly peered into the house.
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