Kaleidoscope of Death

CHAPTER 55: THE MISSING CHILDREN

All fourteen people who entered this door gathered in the plaza of the small town.

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Qiushi had been observing the surroundings the entire time. This small town seemed to be rather run down; a good half of the shops along the street were closed. During the few times a breeze swept past, it'd lift the dust off the sides of the street making the small town seem even more desolated.

They were near a notice board at the side of the plaza. Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu, having walked over to take a look, discovered that missing posters of children around seven to eight years old were tacked on it. They were both males and females, and these posters have only just been put up recently.

Having seen these posters, Lin Qiushi straight away thought of the slenderman mentioned in the hint. Although the slenderman also targeted adults, its primary target was usually children. It seems that the disappearance of these children were more or less caused by the slenderman.

As the group of people were discussing spiritedly, an imposing middle aged man approached them from the end of the plaza. He gave a simple self-introduction to the group of people, claiming to be the mayor of the town. He then gave them the identity they were assigned within this door.

"I hope that you are able to help us find the missing children," the mayor said. "These children all disappeared within the span of a week. We've searched everywhere within the town, but we couldn't find them. I hope that you all are able to complete this task that we entrust to you and find the missing children."

This was the clue the door gave.

After the mayor finished speaking, he brought them to the inn they were to be lodged at.

The appearance of the inn and the small town matched well; they were both very dilapidated. At the front of the inn sat an old man who was dozing off. At the sight of the mayor bringing people over, he didn't even open his eyes to greet them but casually took out a bundle of keys on a ring and then closed his eyes to go back to sleep.

The mayor was clearly accustomed to this and said, "We rarely receive visitors and because we've lost some children, people have become quite wary and self-conscious. Please be considerate when you are inquiring for information."

The inn only had two-person rooms and the group quickly found a person to share a room with.

Without mishap, Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu ended up in the same room. Because he was playing the role of a mute girl, he was silent the entire time. When somebody looked at him, he pretended not to notice.

That Wang Tianxin seemed to still be interested in him, but he hid it well. Only, Lin Qiushi would occasionally feel his gaze on him.

Lin Qiushi acted as though he did not notice.

Once the matter of rooming was sorted, the mayor told them some facts about the small town.

This town was once a fishing village. After a dam was built, the fish population decreased and the economy began to deteriorate. There weren't any other industries in the small town other than a fish cannery at the very west of the town. At the east end was the town cemetery, and the mayor told them to avoid going there if they could help it.

The group quietly listened; some of them even took notes. The key NPCs usually supply the most important information, and it would be these information that lead to the key.

After they'd dallied for some time, everyone was a little hungry. And so, they went downstairs to eat something light.

The food here tasted terrible. The bread was so hard and dry that it pained their teeth to chew. Other than the bred, there was only another sauteed fish that looked unappetizing. Lin Qiushi didn't dare eat after a single look at the wide-eyed corpse of the fish. Would he get some sort of food poisoning if he ate it?