"What are you doing? Let go of me."
The captured gold panner shook off the young man's hand.
The young man, who looked like a beggar, anxiously shouted, "Don't go to Yi Town! Don't go!"
"They kill people! They treat everyone as sacrifices! Don't go—you'll die!"
Several gold panners frowned and hurried away.
"Where did this lunatic come from?"
"Forget it. Don't bother with him. Let's hurry."
"What rotten luck, first thing in the morning."
Watching the gold panners leave, the young man seemed unwilling to give up. He grabbed a heavily bearded man who happened to be passing nearby.
"Big brother, let me tell you. Something's wrong with Empress Hong Shang of Yi Town. She uses living people in sacrifices to Heaven—living people!"
"You nutcase, let go of me!"
The bearded man punched the young man, who finally released him. But then he rushed toward a woman.
Not long afterward.
The young man was captured by the Enforcement Team at the base.
The captain of the Enforcement Team heard that they had caught a lunatic. After arriving at the office, he went to the temporary detention room.
Inside, a young man in his twenties hugged his head and curled up in a corner.
The captain tapped the bars with a rubber baton. "What's your name?"
Hearing the voice, the young man raised his head. His eyes were vacant. After a while, he whispered, "My name is Liu Jinhuo. Everyone in the village calls me Huo Wa."
The captain slipped the rubber baton behind his neck and scratched him a few times as if it were a backscratcher. "Where are you from?"
"Yi Town."
"Yi Town?"
"Are there still people there?" the captain asked again. "Why were you acting crazy this morning? Do you know you frightened people?"
Liu Jinhuo