641 Found
Lily's POV:
I didn't know how far the screening had gone, but from the looks of it, Yarin didn't find all the criminals. Otherwise, things would have ended long ago.
This carpet search made it seem like the matter was far from over.
I hid in the alley and watched the police car roar past.
There were a lot of sparrows today. In just a short while, four gray birds were already resting on my head. I wasn't sure if I could recognize them. Perhaps the same sparrow thought my hair was suitable for a nest?
I was a little hungry. There was nothing in the bakery except leavened dough. I couldn't even eat if I wanted to. I couldn't go to the store to buy it either, because there was already a 'missing person notice' on the street. I was lost or kidnapped by a criminal, and I had to pay a high price to collect clues from the public.
Compared to a few dollars of bread, the shop owner must want to exchange me for his entire year's income.
I was used to being hungry when I wandered, so it was nothing to me.
What troubled me even more, was the increasing number of sparrows. When I wasn't paying attention, the walls of this alley were already filled with sparrows. To be honest, it looked a little scary. It was as if all the sparrows in the city were crowded here.
I thought this was not a good sign, and I should leave. The alley was not very conspicuous at first, but it was not so after hundreds of sparrows had gathered.
Before the police noticed, I quietly ran away.
But good times didn't last long. I soon found that the sparrows were inseparable from me no matter where I went. At first, they just stood far away from me, but later they got closer and closer, standing on the telephone poles or branches beside me, on my shoulders, and even on my head and feet.
If I appeared on the streets like this, the police would have to be blind not to notice me!
"Hey! Hey! Go away, birds, leave me alone!"
I tried to scare them away, but they ignored me and stubbornly followed me.
After the panic, I started to feel strange.
These timid birds usually wouldn't get this close to humans. I was not a gentle and kind princess who attracted small animals. Why were they so close to me?
So I began to observe them. Gradually, I realized that there were always one or two familiar birds in the group. Although I couldn't tell the specific difference between them, I was sure I had seen them more than once.
These sparrows didn't seem to stay around. They would always be more on one side and less on the other, or stand in a line, as if... Was he pointing me in the right direction?
The sparrows wanted me to follow them?
Where to?
Don't blame me for being paranoid, but if there were a group of terrorists in your city who had ulterior motives and acted absurdly, you would also be suspicious of a group of sparrows.
"I don't think I can go with you," I said to the sparrow, looking as if I were talking to myself. "Who sent you? I can't trust you without seeing your master, so go little ones."
After saying that, I ignored them and considered the possibility of going to the hospital to look for her.
'Heller should still be there. Does he know where Yarin is?' However, I was curious if my mother could guess my whereabouts. There might be an ambush at the hospital. This time, I decided not to go back. I couldn't walk right into a trap.
As I hesitated, I suddenly felt a slight pain on my scalp. A familiar sparrow was holding a strand of hair in its mouth.
It saw that I ignored it for a long time and used this method to force me to respond to it.
I was really a little angry, but what was the point of arguing with a bird?
The consecutive accidents made me feel even more upset. I made up my mind to get rid of these little annoying people.
However, before I could take a step, the sparrow grabbed the corner of my clothes and pulled in a direction. I wanted to see what they were going to do.
Therefore, I followed their momentum and walked to the side of the road.
There was a bus stop by the roadside, and the billboard at the bus stop was playing a mobile advertisement. Now, it stopped at the poster for the Moonlight Festival. It was aimed at children, and images of candies were pasted all over the picture.
In the middle of the poster was a candy silhouette that took up one-third of the space. Undoubtedly, this was the limited edition moon fudge that would only appear on the festival day.
The sparrow led me to stop in front of the poster. Facing my confusion, it suddenly rushed toward the poster.
I was shocked. That was a glass made of tempered plastic. It would splatter into pieces on the billboard!
I grabbed it quickly, almost hitting it. But I saw speechlessness and anxiety in its small eyes for some reason.
Did I see emotions in a bird's eyes?
I was stunned for a moment. This gave the sparrow an opportunity. It immediately flew out of my hand, its round and cute beak pecking at the candy silhouette in the center of the poster.
... Limited edition moon fudge? Was this what the sparrow wanted to tell me?
Was Heller controlling it?
I asked tentatively, and the little sparrow immediately flew happily. n(-O//v.-e(-l//b-.I)(n