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墨書 Inktalez
In the dead of night, Shen Tong returned to her small courtyard. She lit an oil lamp and sat by the bedside.
The night was quiet, but her heart was bustling. Finally, after her grandmother's passing, she was no longer alone; she had a group of like-minded friends.
That night in her dreams, the unsuspecting Shen Tong once again encountered the strange bird from before. This time, she stood alone on a desolate patch of grass, the sky overcast with dark clouds, and in the distance were vague mountain silhouettes, devoid of any anger.
A peculiar bird call echoed from afar, resembling both crows cawing and human speech. She looked up to see that enormous strange bird circling in the sky.
The creature swooped down, and this time Shen Tong saw it clearly. The wings of the bird indeed bore human faces; each feather seemed to be a visage displaying various emotions—some weeping, some laughing, some angry, and some fearful.
Its amber eyes locked onto Shen Tong's gaze. She wanted to retreat but found herself unable to move.
Suddenly, she jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat. That strange bird—she must have seen or heard it somewhere before.
Shen Tong rolled out of bed and pulled out two large boxes from under her bed; these were the two boxes of books and notes left to her by her grandmother. She had been sporadically organizing them but had only managed to read a small portion due to various strange cases occupying her time.
From inside, Shen Tong pulled out two thick black notebooks with cracked leather covers that smelled of aged wine. These were her grandmother's family notes, which she had never examined closely before.
Sitting under the lamp, as she opened the first page, she froze and instinctively covered her mouth—this page illustrated a strange bird that looked exactly like the one from her dream! Next to the bird was an old seal: [Contract Bird].
"Contract Bird..." Shen Tong whispered to herself, "this is said to be the legendary creature that can traverse between the realms of yin and yang—the Rakshasa Bird..."
In the autumn of the fifteenth year of the Republic, Spring City was shrouded in mist.
Lin Mingchang hurriedly crossed the street and turned down an alleyway when he heard a newsboy's cries from around the corner: "Extra! Extra! Another child has mysteriously gone missing! The police station is at a loss!"
Lin Mingchang paused in his tracks and pulled out a coin from his pocket to hand to the newsboy. He took the newspaper, where the front page boldly announced: "Spring City Shocked by Mysterious Cases—Five Children Missing in Two Weeks."
He quickly folded the newspaper and stuffed it into his pocket as he quickened his pace.
The atmosphere in the police station was tense as Lin Mingchang walked straight into the Police Chief's office. The Police Chief, nearing fifty with graying hair at his temples, had long lost the sharpness he once had and increasingly acted like a bureaucrat.
"Look! This is this morning's newspaper," the Police Chief tossed a copy of the morning paper onto the desk. "In just half a month, five children have mysteriously gone missing! The public is in an uproar, and these newspapers have painted our police station as a bunch of incompetents! We've already received three calls from higher-ups demanding answers!"
Lin Mingchang remained expressionless as he watched the Police Chief pace back and forth behind his desk. Suddenly, the Police Chief stopped, leaning over the desk to glare at Lin Mingchang. "Lin Mingchang, I can only rely on you now! I'm assigning this case to you; it must be solved quickly, or we'll have no face left for this police station!"
"I understand," Lin Mingchang replied.
The Police Chief picked up an envelope from the desk and handed it to Lin Mingchang. "This contains the latest information on the missing child. The child's name is Zhang Rui, ten years old, who mysteriously disappeared from home last night. Just like the previous cases, there are no signs of struggle, no witnesses, and no clues at all... Lin Mingchang, don't hold back; investigate boldly. If you need any assistance or support, just let me know!"
Lin Mingchang took the case file and said, "Please rest assured, Police Chief. I will do my utmost."
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