Chapter 15 Red Nose (5) "You dropped something."...
Xie Tan was led onto the stage by the clown.
The stage was simply a wooden platform erected above a hidden door, with a circular turntable set up on it.
The clown flipped the wheel, revealing a chubby doll with a mustache, tall and fat, strapped to it.
Xie Tan noticed that several children subconsciously showed expressions of fear.
The clown pushed out a row of torture instruments from behind the curtains, inviting Xie Tan to choose one.
Xie Tan slowly looked over, but the wall was no longer making any noise. He already knew what had happened.
The clown kidnaps a child, but the person he wants to kill is a high-ranking official in the foundation.
The foundation, under the guise of charity, put on performances for welfare homes, but in reality, they abuse children for their own amusement.
For the final benefit performance, they invited a clown who accidentally discovered a secret and was beheaded in the basement.
Looking back now, the child who ran away from home was afraid of the color red, not because he was afraid of the clown's red nose, but because he was afraid of the color of blood from being abused and beaten.
This is a performance of revenge.
As an uninvolved bystander, he doesn't need to get involved.
But since his goal is to get the clown to help him unlock the door, there's no need to disrupt the performance. It's better to go along with the clown's expectations and let the show proceed smoothly.
So he picked out a soft whip, not heavy, so that even a child could swing it. Under everyone's gaze, he walked off the stage and squatted down in front of the child whose expression was the most afraid of the doll.
From this distance, he could see the whip marks under the child's sleeve.
He said nothing and calmly handed over the whip.
Inside the tent, the fat man ran around, his suit and hair in disarray, his mustache trembling, frantically pounding on the exit door.
A piece of floral cloth used by actors fell from the wire and covered him, and the person banging on the door disappeared on the spot.
Screams erupted on the stage, and the audience crowded at the door looked on in horror to see the fat man tied to a rotating platform on the stage.
The clown has swapped his head back and is showing the audience his empty hands, which he then conjure into a soft whip as he crosses them.
The whip fell, stopping abruptly at the clown's thigh, before hesitantly lashing out at the man on the spinning wheel amidst the clown's encouraging applause.
A scream rang out, and the clown, dissatisfied with the audience's silence, walked to the edge of the stage and waved his hands vigorously, signaling the audience to applaud.
The crowd fell silent. The clown's expression darkened, his irises, like beads of ink, darted about in the whites of his eyes. He stomped his feet and clapped his hands, gesturing for them to applaud with even greater force.
Scattered applause broke out, but soon it grew into a continuous burst.
The audience forced smiles and clapped loudly, more enthusiastically than any applause before.
Lu Jinchao also clapped, but his smile was the most natural, just like his expression when watching the first half of the performance—genuine cheers, enjoying the moment.
The applause encouraged the whip to strike faster and harder. The clown changed props several times, with the instruments of torture hanging in the air at different heights, but the way he lashed the man was joyful.
The clown was satisfied.
The screams and pleas for mercy continued for a long time until the man fainted from the pain.
The clown shook his head in disgust, conjured up his props, flipped the wheel, and the man's head fell to the ground.
It spun back to the blank turntable, its terrifying eyes fixed on the last-ranked foundation executive.
The man surrendered with his hands clasped, weeping bitterly: "I know, I know I have committed an unforgivable sin. Trash like me doesn't deserve to live. This is the end I deserve. If this can atone for my mistakes, please end my life!"
He made everyone move aside, took the initiative to go on stage, and confessed to the Joker with every step. But the moment he reached the turntable, he picked up the broadsword on the ground, swung it, cut off the Joker's head, and then turned around and rushed out from backstage.
The clown's head was a step too slow and rolled out of the backstage area as well.
Welfare home, children's living quarters.
The doll lay tattered on the ground.
As the last child left the stage, the clown suddenly paused, and the curtains fell, blocking the stage.
But the lights didn't go out, and you could see the clown's shadow behind the curtains.
It made a head-tilting sleeping gesture, and the lights went out the moment its head fell down.
The children understood what the clown meant and obediently went back to their beds to sleep.
After Xie Tan slipped behind the curtains, the clown was gone, and only the headless corpse of a fat man remained on the ground.
"Is he dead?" A clear child's voice rang out behind him.
The oldest boy present didn't go to sleep; he timidly hid behind Xie Tan, gazing at the corpse.
Xie Tan hummed in agreement.
The boy was a little scared, but more confused: "What is death? The headmaster said it's going to a very far place and never coming back. The teacher said it's flowers withering and leaves falling. Nini said it's becoming a star in the sky. The book says it's the heart stopping beating and breathing stopping. The clown said it's the most exciting part of a performance. I still don't understand, brother, what exactly is death?"
Xie Tan was silent for a moment, then said, "The water has overflowed."
Death should be about shrinking and weakening, but when Xie Tan talks about death, he always thinks of a glass of water that is full.
The water, contained in a glass, rose in a small, full arc, quietly and peacefully.
Then at some point, the water silently overflowed.
He suddenly realized that his interpretation of death was his mother, and his interpretation of his mother was death.
The boy looked confused: "Brother, what you're saying is even harder to understand than what they're saying..."
Xie Tan gently nudged the boy's shoulder: "Go to sleep."
The boy nodded obediently and returned to his bed. Xie Tan went out, and heavy, frantic running sounds could be heard in the corridor. Another set of footsteps was hidden among them, cheerful and carefree, as if toying with prey.
The sound went underground.
Xie Tan did not go with them. He went first to the room behind the children's room, the place where the applause from the tent was coming from.
The door opened, and the clown's head rolled out, hitting him precisely at his feet, face up, and remained motionless.
Xie Tan looked down and met the clown's bright smile.
But given its appearance, the more dazzling it is, the more terrifying it becomes.
But he calmly picked up the clown's head and walked towards the basement.
basement.
The man glanced back in horror, bewildered as to why he found himself in that damned orphanage the moment he stepped outside! It was practically haunted!
But it seems that because the clown's head was cut off, he couldn't see the road and couldn't catch up.
He felt smug, but was quickly overwhelmed by fear and ran haphazardly into the basement.
The clown's footsteps suddenly drew closer, and before he could even process it, he had already slipped into the box.
The box was narrow, like a coffin, and seemed to have hidden compartments. He lay down in the lower compartment and tried to lock the hidden compartment, but because of its complex structure, his trembling hands made it difficult to lock it several times. Had there ever been such a toy in the basement? What a piece of junk!
The clown's footsteps reached the door, and the man's mind immediately went blank; he broke out in a cold sweat.
He heard the clown slowly moving around in the basement; it was looking for him!
The footsteps stopped beside the cabinet. He didn't dare to breathe, and just as he was about to burst, the footsteps slowly faded away.
He had barely caught his breath when the clown suddenly turned around, ripped open the lid, and clapped his hands as if to say, "Surprised?"
He held his breath until he felt dizzy, but he endured it, hiding in the interlayer without moving or making a sound.
Silence, a devastating silence, as the clown's hand reached into the box and groped around it little by little. The man leaned back as much as possible until the hand left empty-handed.
The clown closed the box, lingered in the basement for a moment, then opened the door and left.
The man waited cautiously for a long time, and once he was sure the clown was really gone, he immediately started breathing heavily.
The cramped space made his bones feel unbearably uncomfortable. He desperately wanted to leave, but found that he couldn't open the lock no matter what he did!
"This damn lock!" the man exclaimed in fury. As he struggled, he discovered that the panel above his head had come loose.
He was overjoyed—there was a backup door! He immediately crawled forward, as if through a tunnel, and pushed open the barrier above his head.
Seeing the light again, and with no sign of the clown ahead, he almost wept with joy as he peered out.
Crack—
Before the man could react, he felt his vision rapidly tilt downwards, tumble halfway through the air, and fall into a basket.
Looking up, he faces his own body, headless, blood splattered everywhere. The headless clown stands beside the magic cabinet, holding a knife, his body swaying back and forth.
Where is his head?
Ah... that's the head that was cut off.
The clown looked thoughtful, as if deep in thought about something. He strangely understood... It was thinking about what the clown had said last when it climbed out of the box and had its head chopped off.
The clown suddenly realized something, clapped his hands, and then placed his hands together again, diagonally under his non-existent cheek, making a "sleeping" gesture.
Oh... goodnight, sir.
In the final moments of his life, all he saw was the clown laughing silently.
The most exciting part was over, and he went to his eternal silence.
The clown lifted the man's head, pressed it against his own empty neck, and stood in front of the mirror, admiring himself from head to toe.
It skipped and hopped happily toward the door, but stopped abruptly when it opened it.
The beautiful young man stood at the door, his expression as still as a deep pool. His inhuman beauty was like a demon, twisting and dancing chaotically underwater, captivating the soul.
He ignored the corpses and blood in the room, calmly handing over the clown's head: "You dropped your things."
The clown's head, held in his hand, blinked. The clown immediately made a "wait a moment" gesture, took the head with one hand, hid it behind his back, and flipped the collar with the other hand, turning the dead man's head into his own.
It happily showed Xie Tan its empty hands. When Xie Tan looked at them, it flipped its hands and produced a rose, which it then gave to Xie Tan.
"No need for flowers." Xie Tan didn't take the flowers. "I want to ask you for a favor."
The clown felt a little aggrieved when he saw that the man didn't want the money, but when he heard that the man had a request, he immediately regained his energy.
Its hand circled in the air a few times, making an exaggerated salute, and then it reached out to Xie Tan.
Xie Tan remained silent for a moment, then stopped refusing and took its hand.
The clown led him to the door of the children's room, but didn't go inside, waving to him instead.
Xie Tan stepped through the door and in the blink of an eye, he was back in the circus tent. Just as he saw the terrible state of the stage, a young man rushed over and grabbed his shoulder.
Lu Jinzhao looked at him intently with her amber eyes: "You're not hurt, are you?"
The safe distance was breached. Xie Tan frowned slightly and shifted his shoulder uncomfortably, but did not break free.
Lu Jinzhao realized what was happening and immediately let go: "I'm sorry... I was very worried about you."
He lowered his beautiful eyes and looked at him pitifully.
"..." Xie Tan lowered his eyes, "I'm lost."
"It's good that you're alright!" Lu Jinzhao breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "I didn't expect something like this to happen. I might be going back a little later. Shall we go to the police station to give a statement first?"
Xie Tan, who was about to leave, stopped. His expression remained unchanged, but he was somewhat shocked.
Do the police in horror comic book worlds actually get things done?
In previous installments, there were indeed a few police officers who appeared frequently, but they seemed to have really bad luck.
Number 7 appeared, sat on his shoulder, and rubbed his face: "It should be over soon, meow."
As it turned out, the cat was right. It was a very blatant performance of massacre, and the audience were all innocent victims. After asking a few simple questions, they were let go.
The main focus is on investigating the Oasis Charitable Foundation.
Before leaving, they overheard some audience members who had come from out of town to see the show asking the police if the clown killer had been caught. The police gave them a perfunctory answer, saying they would do their best.
An experienced veteran policeman muttered casually, "It's probably another cold case."
Xie Tan: "..."
Your city, Dichu.
Lu Jinzhao had a night shift tonight and was in a hurry, so he called his boss to explain that he would be a little late. Then he smiled and said to Xie Tan, "Let's go, I'll take you home. It's too late, it's not safe for you to be alone."
Xie Tan glanced at him, hailed a taxi, and turned to leave: "Instead of wasting time, why don't you go visit the orphanage? Your classmates and neighbors are all there."
"Okay, be careful on the road and get some rest! I'll go see it, thank you!"
Lu Jinzhao got into the taxi and glanced out the window again. The tall, slender figure of the boy easily blended into the night and soon disappeared from sight.
"Young man, where are you going?"
The convenience store address slipped through his fingers, and Lu Jinzhao tilted his head slightly before briskly giving the address of the orphanage.
A note from the author:
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