My Eyes

The clouds of light covering the entire dome gradually darkened that day.

According to the explanation Feng Zi had given Li Wei, the great scientists at the Atmospheric Research Institute believed that Sun City, the underground city, had reached the ideal time for the rainy season.

For the next two months, one rainy day would follow another.

Sure enough, on the afternoon of the very same day Feng Zi gave her explanation, torrential rain poured down, carrying the haze unique to Yuguang's air and washing over the filthy ground.

On this rainy evening, Nanny Cheng called over the five people who had been rewarded two days earlier with the chance to attend the Twilight Blessing after their training session ended.

"There's a missionary priest giving a sermon on doctrine tonight. If you're all free, you can come along and listen."

Her voice sounded strange. Her tone was as cool and calm as ever, yet if you listened closely, it seemed to tremble.

Of course, Li Wei and the others had no reason to refuse. After all, The Bishop had said that day that they should learn more about the doctrines of Twilight.

After dinner, Nanny Cheng led them to a small, separate prayer hall near the church's back hill.

The prayer hall had only five rows of benches. A stove sat in the middle, heating water. The glow and warmth of the burning coals chased away the cold and damp brought by the rain, making the room noticeably comfortable.

But when Li Wei and the others arrived, there was no one inside.

"The priests are still eating. Wait here for a little while. You won't have to wait long."

With that, Nanny Cheng turned and left the prayer hall, leaving the five Choir children behind.

Feng Zi sat beside Li Wei, resting her cheek on her hand as she stared blankly at the rain outside the window, lost in thought.

Li Wei kept one hand hidden in the wide sleeve of his church uniform, gripping a cold, hard object.

The other three children sat around the stove. They all knew that Li Wei and Feng Zi were a little group of their own. The two always kept to themselves, and the others seemed out of place around them, unable to fit in.

About ten minutes passed. The rain outside seemed to be getting heavier, but still no one came to the prayer hall.

The three children by the stove seemed happy enough with that. They chatted among themselves, their silence and the silence between Li Wei and Feng Zi clearly divided.

Feng Zi was still staring blankly into space. Her brow furrowed, as if she had thought of some terrible problem.

In fact, anyone who knew her well enough could have guessed that she was probably thinking about some troublesome experiment again, or fretting over having lost two coins at some point.

But Li Wei suddenly stood up from the bench.

Feng Zi noticed and snapped out of her daze.

"What's wrong?"

"Did you hear something?"

Their exchange caught the attention of the other three children, and the prayer hall fell completely silent.

But aside from the dense patter of raindrops against the roof, none of them heard anything unusual.

Li Wei's brow furrowed deeply.

No one else had heard it, but he could make it out with startling clarity. Between the clamor of the rain, there was a faint, desperate, sorrowful sob!

"Did you hear wrong? There's no sound."

One of the children said it with open annoyance. He thought Li Wei was making a fuss over nothing, deliberately drawing everyone's attention.

Just as he was about to return to the conversation the three of them had been having, Li Wei had already reached the prayer hall door.

He pushed against it, but it wouldn't budge.

Someone had locked it from the outside!

Feng Zi's expression had turned grave as soon as Li Wei mentioned hearing something.

She had always trusted Li Wei without question. Even in front of Feng Yanyi, an elder she was close to, she always took Li Wei's side.

So if Li Wei said something was wrong, then something was definitely wrong.

They were both at the door now. Feng Zi took a deep breath. Her heart had inexplicably begun to race. Though she hadn't heard anything, she still had a bad feeling.

"What do we do now?"

"They chose tonight to make their move?" Li Wei asked calmly.

"Who?" Feng Zi looked utterly confused.

"Either the murderer from the torture-murder case, or the person who stole every body from the cemetery. Of course, it could be that the same group did both."

Feng Zi's eyes widened.

"How do you know?"

Li Wei didn't explain how he knew.

He couldn't very well tell her that this was a game, that he was the only player in it, and that every incident they'd encountered here would inevitably end up involving the player. He couldn't explain that this was how he'd worked it out.

Instead, he pulled Feng Zi back a step, then suddenly kicked the door, which had been locked from the outside, open!

Bang!

The noise of the door bursting open startled the three children, who had returned to the stove, thinking Li Wei was making things up.

"What are you doing? Nanny Cheng told us to wait here and behave!"

Li Wei didn't bother answering them. He touched the object hidden in his sleeve, then stepped out into the rainy night.

The rain was pouring down. Apart from the prayer hall where they stood, not a single light was on in the church's back courtyard.

The whole world was pitch-black, so dark they couldn't see a hand in front of their faces.

Li Wei didn't need his eyes. He simply listened for the source of the sobbing and followed it.

It wasn't that he wanted to meddle. The situation was obvious: they had become the targets of the people behind everything that had happened lately.

Feng Zi gripped the hem of his clothes and followed close behind.

The rain soaked through their Choir uniforms. The cold drops struck their faces, stinging like blows.

After only a few minutes, a small hut with a dim yellow light appeared in view.

It stood in the church's northwestern corner. Other than an abandoned shed, there was nothing there. Even the officers investigating the Empty Grave Case within the church never came to a place like this.

When Li Wei saw the abandoned shed, he slowed his pace. But someone inside seemed to have heard them coming, and a dark figure suddenly dashed out!

She was incredibly fast, far faster than an ordinary person. Even Li Wei could barely make out her face in the darkness.

The figure seemed to panic completely when she was discovered. She could think only of escaping and had no intention of stopping!

With Li Wei's reflexes and physical strength, he had a chance of catching her with his bare hands. But just as he was about to reach out, a familiar voice made his body freeze.

". M-my eyes..."

In the second he hesitated, the dark figure had already darted away and vanished into the rainy night.

Li Wei didn't go after the person who had escaped. Instead, he slowly entered the drafty, ramshackle shed.

Beneath the kerosene lamp swaying in the wind, a boy lay facedown on the blood-soaked floor, sobbing. Where his eyes should have been, there were only two bloody, hollow sockets!

". Eyes... Great-auntie... my eyes..."