This once cozy neighborhood had many names. However, after the new cozy neighborhood appeared, no one called this ruins a cozy neighborhood anymore.
The reason for the destruction of the old Wenxin Street is no longer conclusive. That happened more than ten years ago. There are different opinions on the cause of the fire, and conspiracy theories are the most popular - after all, the fire spread to the entire long street, and the adjacent Black Cat Street, Han Kao
In the Gram Block, Theory Block and Martin Block, only part of the outer walls were blackened.
The fire that broke out late at night swallowed up the lives of hundreds of people. Except for a dozen poor people who were directly burned to death, most of the remaining victims were choked to death by the thick smoke billowing on the street.
The fire was put out in the afternoon of the next day, and the survivors were arranged by the municipal government to new residences to forget their grief and start a new life.
The Wenxin neighborhood is in a good location, and logically the reconstruction project should have started long ago. However, it seems that because the land involves some upper-class nobles, perhaps due to uneven distribution of the spoils or something else, the place has been shelved, and no one has cleaned it up or rebuilt it.
All these made up what Lu Li saw ahead: the charred ruins extending into the distance under the rain curtain.
"There is no soul or breath."
Anna whispered beside her.
Lu Li held an umbrella and stood in front of the dark bluestone road. Hearing Anna's voice, he took steps and walked into this abandoned neighborhood composed of dilapidated ruins.
The rain curtain blocked the view, blocking the overall view of the block and the scenery outside the block, making the surroundings look like a country composed of burned ruins.
Walking through the undulating ruins, half-collapsed houses, and charred wood standing crookedly, you can occasionally see relatively intact houses. Although the appearance is dilapidated and charred, the houses still maintain their original appearance.
Just as Qiaoqiao guessed, this neighborhood was not completely forgotten.
Under those relatively solid houses and half-collapsed houses, you can see scavengers wrapped in several layers of clothing hiding underneath, occasionally lighting up a fire to keep warm.
This somewhat dispelled some of the loneliness caused by the surrounding ruins.
They were either numb, curious or malicious as they stared at the figure walking on the charred stone road. This man with a slender figure and mysterious temperament often stopped in front of half-collapsed and relatively intact houses, taking a look at the house number from a distance.
There is a number plate, and then continue forward.
Lu Li was approaching Building 16, which was the address on the letter.
A few minutes later, Lu Li stopped in front of a three-story stone building.
Except for the blackened exterior walls and most of the missing windows, this building was the most intact house Lu Li had ever seen - it was surrounded by ruins.
There is even a door to this building, but it was burned to resemble charcoal.
A metal number plate was affixed to the wall next to the door, showing burn marks and the number 19.
The numbers 1 and 9 are not parallel. 9 is half shorter than 1, just like...
As Lu Li approached this dark building that felt inexplicably depressing, a lingering burning smell wafted out from behind the broken door.
Just as Lu Li thought, there was a mark of 6 on the number plate. He raised his hand and turned the number 9 to turn it into a 6. The mark on it was completely mixed and parallel to the number 1.
This is it.
Pushing the burned wooden door, the damaged wooden door rubbed against the ground, making a rough sound, revealing a dark corridor leading inside.
Anna emerged and protected Lu Li behind her.
"Is there a problem?"
Lu Li, who wanted to turn on the oil lamp, moved towards sequence 1.
"It just feels a bit eerie, like the smell..." Anna felt it quietly for a while, then shook her head and said, "I didn't notice it."
Lu Li continued to open the gas valve of the oil lamp, the flint flashed a few times, and a dim fire light came on in the lampshade.
Holding the oil lamp, Lu Li closed his umbrella and stepped into the dark corridor.
The charred floor was a little rough, as if it were paved with a layer of sand and gravel. There were traces of the high temperature of the flames on the walls, but as they walked into the corridor, these traces quickly disappeared.
The previous fire did not have much impact on this stone building.
There was no dust in the cold and damp corridor. Lu Li skipped the stairs leading to the second floor and another corridor. After finding No. 101, he continued forward and stopped in front of No. 103.
Stopping in front of the door, Lu Li did not open the door.
"Do you feel strange?" Anna asked in a low voice.
"That's right." Lu Li said.
"This is the only intact house we encountered. There is no reason for those scavengers hiding under the ruins to remain indifferent."
No matter how you look at it, this place is much safer than those ruined houses that are leaky and unsafe.
"Maybe the woman did something? She is an investigator after all."
"Maybe."
Lu Li put his hand on the door handle and applied slight pressure, but did not turn it.
The door was locked.
"I'll do it," Anna said, getting into the door and unlocking it from the inside.
The door opened a crack, and the smell of dust filled the air, and Anna muttered: "But it seems quite reasonable that she would live in a place like this."
Most people believe that dark people must live in dark places.
For example, the contrast occurred when I went to the warm neighborhood to find the wrong address.
The beak mask figure's residence is very simple, a bit like a detective agency, with no extraneous things except basic items, and even has only a living room, a bedroom and a kitchen.
This is one of the few houses with intact windows, and the windows that are constantly stained by water block the wind and rain from the outside world.
Amidst the faint sound of rain that was blocked, Lu Li stepped into the room and looked up at the chandelier.
The wires have long since been burned, and the lights are now just decorations.
It doesn't look like there's anything valuable here.
Anna walked around the living room and bedroom, and when she came back she held a framed picture in her hand and handed it to Lu Li: "Is she the crow masked woman we met in the cabin?"
Lu Li picked up the photo frame and brushed off a layer of dust, revealing an unclear group photo.
The faces of the two people in the black-and-white photo are unclear, and the youthfulness in their appearance can barely be seen. The two people are close to each other, like a couple, and the background is the front of the building.
"It's her." Lu Li said and handed the photo frame to Anna.
"How do you know, maybe it's her parents?" Anna took the photo frame with a strange expression and stared at the photo.
"Illumination technology just appeared more than ten years ago, and there are not many women over 1.7 meters tall."
Anna nodded as if she understood and put back the photo frame: "But I didn't find the basement."
Lu Li didn't say anything, but his eyes fell on the wooden door of the utility room next to the kitchen.
He stepped towards the utility room and raised his hand to open the door.
Rustling, rustling...
An ominous and cold breath rushed towards my face, and some kind of malicious whisper floated in the darkness under the steps——
Bang.
Lu Li closed the wooden door leading to the basement again.
