When Qin Wenyu left the Town club, it was already very late.

He took out his mobile phone and took a look. It's half past eight, past meal time, and I don't know if Ms. Ibuki is waiting for me.

Qin Wenyu looked up at the sky, the snow was still falling.

Falling on the dark mountain, falling on the withered tree, falling in the lonely village...

His thoughts seemed to have traveled through time, returning to the place Ninomiya Jiro talked about twenty years ago.

At that time, Dazang Township was just a remote mountain village, and all the people in this mountain village had strange colors of yellow-green and yellow-green on their tiger's mouth and fingertips.

The land around Dazang Township is barren, but farming cannot meet the basic needs of survival.

Therefore, people in the whole town are doing one thing - weaving tatami.

Use a grass seed called rush.

Jiro Ninomiya will also make up, as will his older sister, Kazuha Ninomiya.

Earn 500 yen per square meter.

Over the years, the hands of people in Dazang Township will always retain the color of grass juice, which can no longer be washed clean.

Ninomiya Jiro's biggest dream is to go to the city and work in the city.

At the age of thirteen, he and his sister Nigong and Ye climbed into the van and sneaked into the city.

That year, Ninomiya Jiro saw a robot toy for the first time.

Ninomiya and Ye also saw the dress for the first time.

But... what can a thirteen-year-old boy and a fifteen-year-old girl do in the city?

They tried many jobs, but were rejected because of their age, and later learned to hide their age, but they still couldn't learn a slightly more complicated procedure.

The rice balls brought out from home have long been eaten up, and the residence has also changed from one park to another.

People in the city are in a hurry, who cares about two dirty country children sleeping on the side of the road?

But... occasionally someone notices and leaves a few coins behind.

The two seem to have discovered a way to make money, so one is in the park, the other is in the square, the other is in the south of the city, and the other is in the north of the city.

It seems easier to get money from pity than to weave days of rush!

Until... winter came.

It's snowing in town.

Snow, which once seemed monotonous, seems to be different when it arrives in the city.

Ninomiya Jiro caught a cold, and his face was red all day long.

Nigong and Ye decided to change their place of residence. heard that it would be warmer by the water in winter?

So she picked a place near the river.

To get to the new home, you need to climb up a steep, snow-covered slope, and then go down.

Therefore, the taller girl always climbed up first, squatted on it and stretched out her hand to Jiro Ninomiya, and pulled him up as well.

The two snuggled up beside the embankment, listening to the sound of ice falling to the ground and winter snow melting.

Although winter is hard, it is almost over after all.

Under the frozen river, last year's decaying colors are about to turn into gorgeous spring cherry blossoms.

It's almost spring, and there are already some early cherry blossoms on the ground, which occasionally blow away with a snowstorm and float into the city.

That's how Ninomiya Jiro's cold got better.

People in the mountains never take medicine, they have their own methods, and all the ailments can be overcome.

However, there are also diseases that can never be overcome.

That day, Ninomiya Jiro bought a cake with the money he got from begging for a day, and rushed back to his home by the river embankment happily.

Today is my sister's birthday. Although she didn't say it, he knew that she had been looking forward to it.

But... When we got to the embankment, there was no one there.

The cake hit the ground and rolled into the river with a sound of sticky grass and mud.

Jiro Ninomiya frantically searched all over the city. He searched for a long time, but he couldn't find the whereabouts of Ninomiya and Ye.

It wasn't until a kind passer-by pointed him to the police for help that the country boy didn't know that the police would do such things as helping find people.

They first asked Ninomiya Jiro some questions.

Such as name, age, where you live and so on.

Then he called up the surveillance in the nearby area, and finally, Jiro Ninomiya saw her on a screen.

Sister, Ninomiya Kazuha.

She was held down by several people and taken away.

He knew those people, all of them.

They're from Dazang Township, the damn place.

By the way... Today is January 26th, and tomorrow is January 27th, the day when the Snow Festival begins.

Snow Festival.

Ninomiya Jiro didn't know what kind of strange festival it was.

Every year from January to January, all the people in the village will gather together, presided over by an old man who walks tremblingly, draw lots to select a sacrifice, and send it to the deepest cave behind the village.

Everyone who comes out of the cave becomes very strange.

It's strange that can't explain it, often stare at one place and laugh weirdly, don't like cooked food, like to eat flesh and blood.

He once saw a person who was chosen as a sacrifice came out, killed a neighbor's chicken alive, and then ate it like this.

Although Jiro Ninomiya is very young, he can feel that being chosen as a sacrifice is not a good thing.

Could it be that... my sister was selected this year?

Realizing this, Jiro Ninomiya knelt on the ground and begged the police to send him back to Dazang Township.

The police agreed, but it was timed for the next day.

Ninomiya Jiro restlessly slept at the police station all night, and on January 27, the police drove him to Dazang Township.

As soon as he got out of the car, he rolled and ran towards his house.

Fortunately, my sister is still at home.

Ninomiya Jiro rushed forward in surprise and hugged Ninomiya and Ye.

However, the weird smiles on Er Gong and Ye's faces gave him goosebumps all over his body.

"Jiro..."

She shouted like this, and her deep eyes flashed with light, like a fish frozen to death under the ice in winter...

No...she's not a sister!

Jiro Ninomiya struggled to break free from her embrace and fled the house in fear.

He vented his anger at the villagers, smashing doors and windows, destroying the few crops, and even trying to set fire to their houses.

Until one day, the old village chief pulled him and stared at him and said:

"If you don't make sacrifices, the entire Dazang Township will become like your sister!"

"Then why the sacrifice is my sister, not you!" Ninomiya Jiro roared angrily.

The old village chief looked at him quietly, and put his hand on his head, as if performing some kind of ceremony: "It will be my turn... This is the fate of Dazang Township."

"Have you been to the outside world?"

"Is it rich and beautiful?"

The old village chief seemed to be asking and mumbling to himself.

"If...if this curse can be solved forever, our Dazang Township will surely be as beautiful..."

————

Qin Wenyu sighed, rubbed his hands, and changed his shoes at the hotel entrance.

To be honest, Jiro Ninomiya's storytelling level is not that good.

However, Qin Wenyu knew his mental journey.

The current village head of Dazang Township has expanded the people who draw lots to offer sacrifices from the scope of Dazang Township to all those who come to Dazang Township.

Could it be that he thinks he is protecting Dazang Township? Protect his villagers?

"What a ridiculous and hypocritical human being..." Qin Wenyu muttered.

"Qin...Mr. Qin...welcome back!" As soon as he arrived in front of the house, he saw Ibuki Yuxian with red cheeks sitting on the ground in the opposite room.

And the meal that had cooled in front of her.

"Ah... I'm sorry! I'm going to heat it up now!"

Watching her back hurriedly trotting away.

Qin Wenyu's heart seemed to be stabbed by something, which made him frown slightly.

After a long while, he withdrew his gaze and went to sit down at the low table in Ibuki's room with strings.

Humans are really contradictory creatures.

Maybe there will be truly kind people?

maybe……