Ninggu City.
East of the city.
Wang the Elder Sister, fast asleep, was awakened by the faint sound of gunfire in the distance.
"What happened?"
She got out of bed groggily.
She reached out instinctively and felt around beside her, but touched nothing.
"Hm?"
"Jiaojiao?"
Wang the Elder Sister jolted awake, her drowsiness receding like a tide. She hurriedly got up and shouted, "Jiaojiao? Where did you go?"
No one answered.
Jiaojiao was her daughter, seven years old this year.
Her husband worked as a coachman for a wealthy family in the city. The household had been busy lately, so he had not had time to come home. There were only her and her daughter at home.
The city was not peaceful.
And she was just a woman.
As soon as night fell, she had locked the doors and windows from the inside and gone to sleep with her child.
"Jiaojiao, where are you?"
"Say something!"
Wang the Elder Sister called out several more times, but still received no reply.
Where had she gone?
She was somewhat bewildered.
The house was small, consisting of three tile-roofed rooms. The main room was just outside the bedroom, and beyond the house was an empty yard. The kitchen stood beside it.
It was a very common layout.
Calling her daughter's name, Wang the Elder Sister left the bedroom. To her surprise, she found that the main entrance had somehow been opened.
She clearly remembered locking it from the inside before going to bed!
"What happened?"
"Why did that girl run outside in the middle of the night?!"
Wang the Elder Sister was truly frantic now.
She could not understand it.
Why would her usually obedient and well-behaved daughter get up and run out of the house in the middle of the night?
Ninggu