Zhou Chunhua even stopped breathing.

His eyes were fixed on the tiny glimmer of light peeking through the weeds.

"What's wrong, Sister Zhou? Are you alright?"

Officer Kobayashi's voice rang in her ears, and Zhou Chunhua finally came to her senses.

She pointed tremblingly to the bushes ahead and said, "Can...can I go and take a look there?"

Officer Lin frowned and looked at Officer Chen, who was investigating the scene. Seeing Officer Chen nod, he said, "I'll go with you. We'll go around from this side."

Zhou Chunhua knew the scene was important, so she immediately turned around and walked in the direction Officer Lin pointed.

Perhaps it's because there's no one left in Ganxi Village, or perhaps... this place is too remote and no one has come here for a long time.

The grass ranged in height from ankle-deep to knee-high.

In addition, because it was already winter, the grass was withered and dry, and very prickly.

Many times, dry grass pierced her jeans and poked her skin, but she didn't care.

I kept praying in my heart: I hope I'm seeing things!

On the way here, she constantly hoped that she could find traces of yellow peaches on this trip.

But when she saw that thing, she even regretted the trip.

"Sister Zhou, this way," Officer Lin called to her.

In a daze, Zhou Chunhua quickly followed Officer Lin into the woods.

After walking for a short while, Officer Kobayashi suddenly stopped.

Zhou Chunhua took a few steps forward and peeked out.

Pupils constricted...

There are bones here!

Officer Kobayashi immediately turned and shouted towards the open space.

Officer Yao arrived shortly afterward.

Officer Kobayashi asked her to wait there for a while, and then he and Officer Yao carefully examined the area.

After a long silence, she heard Officer Yao say, "It looks like it was dragged over from over there by some kind of animal."

“There aren’t many animals that can drag an adult,” said Officer Kobayashi, who was squatting on the ground picking at the dead leaves.

"Hmm. Another possibility is that there are many of them, so they share them."

"The wreckage is scattered. Could it be wolves?"

"Judging from the gnaw marks on the skull over there in the open space, it looks very similar."

Upon hearing Officer Yao's words, Officer Lin immediately became nervous.

"If it really is a wolf, then we can't stay here any longer. Hurry up, we have to get back to Ganxi Village before dark."

After saying that, Officer Kobayashi led her around to the side.

After a while, they finally found their way out of the woods.

She followed the path Officer Kobayashi had taken and finally arrived at the clump of grass.

Trembling, I reached out and parted the grass, my vision instantly blurring.

Reality struck her like a bolt from the blue.

It really is a bracelet made of yellow peaches.

She clearly remembered Huang Tao saying that this bracelet was the first gift Tongtong had given her.

The quartz stone above was something Tongtong searched for a long time on the mountain before finally finding it.

Huang Tao said that Tongtong was still young then, only four or five years old.

Because she couldn't leave the village, little Tongtong would go up the mountain every day to bring her all sorts of things.

Sometimes it's wild fruit, sometimes wildflowers, sometimes birds and squirrels, but more often it's all sorts of small stones.

On the rocks, at the bottom of the stream, patterns of various colors and colors...

If there were any that weren't available in the village, Tongtong would pick them up and give them to her.

Huang Tao also said that she gave up all her chances to escape because of something Tongtong said at the time.

At the time, she curiously asked Huang Tao what Tongtong had said.

Huang Tao smiled happily and said, "He was so small, but he hugged me tightly and said, 'Mom, don't be sad. You can't leave the village, so Tongtong will find all the good-looking, fun, and delicious things to give to Mom.'"

Tongtong is too young to protect her mother. But when Tongtong grows up, no one can stop her from taking her mother away from here to see the outside world.

Huang Tao said that from that moment on, she felt that her messed-up life had finally gained some meaning.

As a mother myself, I know that you must not lose the bracelet made of yellow peaches!

Zhou Chunhua bent down to pick up the bracelet.

As soon as he reached out, his gaze settled on a bone that looked like a finger.

Right beneath the bracelet, in the soil, there was a small section of something that looked like a bone, its lower half buried in the ground.

She hurriedly withdrew her hand, her voice trembling as she asked, "Officer Kobayashi, look... is this... a bone?"

Officer Kobayashi walked over, saw the direction she was pointing, and then parted the grass and squatted down.

With gloved hands, they dug away the soil on the ground.

Zhou Chunhua then realized that it was indeed a human finger bone.

Because beneath it, there are even more bones of various sizes buried.

The finger bone she saw was actually only half a finger bone.

It looks like something that was bitten off by an animal.

At this moment, Zhou Chunhua could no longer hold back the tears that had been welling up in her eyes.

"Can... I pick it up?" she asked, pointing to the bracelet.

Officer Kobayashi, his brow furrowed, hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Zhou Chunhua then reached out and picked up the simple bracelet.

The quartz stone, about the size of a thumb, was covered in dirt.

She gently wiped it with her fingers, only to discover that what lay beneath the surface of the soil was not mud at all, but... dried, blackened bloodstains!

Although she told herself countless times that there might still be hope, that Huang Tao might still be alive.

But the blood-stained quartz stone before her was like an unchangeable answer, giving her the ending she least wanted.

Huang Tao had said she would try her best to live.

She said she wouldn't abandon Tongtong and would definitely come to pick her up.

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