"Do you want to play a game with me?"

Pan, who was in a daze, couldn't believe his eyes—the "big man" he always wanted to approach but dared not approach, Peter Rich, was standing in front of him at this moment.

Although he was carrying the light from the fire barrel, Pan could still see the smile with neat teeth on his face.

"Huh?" Peter tilted his head, "You can't talk?"

Pan quickly shook his head: "Yes... Yes, I can talk!"

Because I was a little excited, my voice was a little strangely high-pitched.

Pan cleared his throat and stood up—he was thin and short.

"I can talk," said the ugly kid in front of him, his face turned red, "I want to play games with you too..."

It seemed that because of inferiority, his voice lowered.

In the distance, Peter Barry's friends all turned their heads to look this way. They knew what Peter was like and wanted to learn from him, so they all restrained themselves from booing and laughing.

Hearing the other party's answer, Peter smiled more obviously: "Alright then. Let's play a game now."

Seeing Peter's gesture, Pan obediently stood up.

Peter took a few steps to the side, pointed at his own shadow at Pan's feet, and said, "This game is called shadow stepping.

"If you can step on my shadow, you can join our conversation." The young boy raised his eyebrows, "Would you like to have a try?"

Pan lowered his head and seemed to be still hesitating, but suddenly stepped on Peter's shadow.

The boy took a step aside, just avoiding Pan's feet wearing old leather shoes.

"Wow, undeclared war. Okay."

In order to be able to step on Peter Barry's shadow, in order to be able to join everyone's conversation, Pan began to try to step on Peter's shadow one foot after another.

The shy child suddenly seemed to liven up.

Seeing this scene, some of the partners watching from a distance also showed smiles on their faces.

Pan stepped on it with one foot, but Peter kept dodging deftly.

His shadow is like a smart deer, always able to avoid the hunter's tracking.

Until Pan was so tired that he was out of breath and supported his knees, he couldn't step on the opponent's shadow.

He raised his head, his dirty little face was full of frustration.

And Peter Barry was still smiling.

Pan thought that Peter was making fun of him, turned around and wanted to leave, but heard Peter's "ouch".

He looked down and saw that his leaving footsteps happened to step on Peter's shadow.

He turned around in surprise and saw the face with a "helpless" smile: "It seems that we can only let you join us."

After speaking, he pulled Pan and walked towards the fire barrel.

As if in a dream, Pan squeezed into a group of children who looked older than him.

With the light of the fire barrel, everyone could clearly see the face of the child who had been hiding in the distance.

After seeing Pan's face clearly, Mike Downs finally understood why the adults in the downtown area would alienate this child.

It can be said that Pan looks a bit ugly, even a bit strange.

He has dark brown curly hair, and his eyes are wider than ordinary people.

The pupils are also oddly shaped, like the eyes of a goat.

But at this moment, he had a smile on his face, slightly diluting some abnormalities in his facial features...

"Okay, according to the rules, you have to introduce yourself." Peter sat back in his seat, put his hands on his thighs, and said easily.

Under everyone's gaze, this shy child didn't dare to make eye contact with anyone, just lowered his head and spoke in a very low voice: "I don't remember..."

"What did you say?" Foley cupped his hands to his ears.

"I said I don't remember..." Pan looked as if he was about to run away, but he still said in a slightly louder voice, "I only remember that my name is Pan."

Peter looked at the child curiously: "Don't remember? Have you lost your memory?"

"Amnesia..." Pan raised his head, as if he only dared to look at Peter, "It should be due to amnesia."

"You don't even remember your parents' names?"

Pan shook his head vigorously...

After this question and answer, everyone gradually learned about Pan's current situation——

He lost a lot of memory inexplicably, and now he lives alone in a house without adults to take care of him, relying on the help of neighbors in the neighborhood, selling newspapers and picking up scraps with himself on the street...

Hearing Pan's life experience, all the children fell silent.

Some of them were always resentful about their parentage, but they had to admit now that the ugly child in front of them was in a much worse situation than they were.

At least, they can still have a full meal now.

But Pan has always been hungry and full.

In the constant questioning, Pan also gradually broke away from the initial shyness and was able to express himself a little more freely.

In the end, his words made everyone look at him with sympathy.

For some reason, at that moment, the light of the fire seemed to dim around him. Pan lowered his head and said with some depression: "Actually, everything is nothing...cold, hungry or dark, this can all be endured...

"What I'm most afraid of is actually being alone."

"Like a night that never dawns,

"This night seems to have lasted for a long time..."

As if expressing the fear hidden in everyone's heart, the children sitting by the fire fell silent.

"So..." Peter broke the silence, "You are sitting far away and want to join us?"

Pan nodded.

Peter's tone was a little more relaxed, as if he wanted to ease the overly depressed atmosphere: "Then, you are welcome to join."

Pan seemed to be in disbelief. He sat up straight, his eyes sparkling: "I, can I really play with you?"

Seeing Peter nod, the youngest child jumped up, cheering uncoordinatedly.

Almost everyone laughed, except for Mike Downs, who didn't have a smile on his face.

He quietly stared at Pan's flushed face from excitement...

For some reason, Mike didn't like Pan.

It's not because of his weird appearance, he just has an inexplicable sense of disgust...

However, Peter said he was welcome to join, and Mike could only keep silent and accept it.

He respects Peter's opinion. He decided to try to accept this strange child in the days to come.

It is also for this reason that Mike pays special attention to Pan - he often secretly observes this miserable child.

After paying more attention, Mike first confirmed that Pan did not lie about his background and living conditions.

In addition, he would often see Pan alone in a daze.

Sometimes facing the wall, sometimes facing the empty alley, sometimes standing in the corridor home.

Occasionally, when he was in a daze, there would be a very frightened expression on his face...

These weird behaviors made Mike guess~lightnovelpub.net~Pan really suffered from terrible amnesia.

Because of frequent actions together, and because of several positive performances by Pan, he finally got Peter's biscuit and joined their inner circle.

Confirming that Pan wasn't hiding or lying about his situation, Mike acquiesced to the arrangement, though the disgust didn't fade.

On the first night of joining the core group, Pan was taken to their "secret base" for a routine "ritual".

After lightly ascending to the roof, everyone was given a candle.

Holding lit candles in their hands, they followed Peter and walked towards an abandoned empty house on the rooftop.

At that time, there was a crescent moon in the sky, night cats were calling in the corridor, and the sound of drunkards singing came with the evening wind.

In the flickering candlelight, Pan opened his eyes wide, feeling extremely novel about what he was about to see next.