Chapter Thirteen: Going to Find Those Dead People

  "Boss, Sakura has come out, calm down first!" I shouted. Kakashi also rubbed his forehead, which had already grown a big bump, and said: "Boss, you don't have to be so fierce. If we really release some dead people, isn't that the zombie apocalypse?"

  Su Haicheng loosened his grip at the same time, and pushed Boss towards the bed, letting him fall onto my bed. "Thanks for the lead, but I think you're too agitated now, not suitable for investigating this matter. You can leave."

  The boss glared at Su Haicheng, and I looked at them with difficulty, but didn't know what to say. The boss stood up, looking at Su Haicheng, and said: "It's okay, I'll investigate myself, I will definitely find out what happened to Sakura, and I will bring her back."

  The boss let out a cold snort and walked away, Kakashi quickly followed. I hesitated for a moment, then said: "I'll see them off, I'll be right back." Following the boss and Kakashi out of the house, the boss asked: "This Su Haicheng, is he your boyfriend?"

  "Huh? No..." I said nervously, not knowing what to say next, and could only fidget with my hands. I liked him, and had confessed to him a year ago. But at that time, he told me he already had a girlfriend. However, his girlfriend never appeared in front of us again. I even suspected that when he said he had a girlfriend, it was just an excuse to reject me. It wasn't until he lost contact with her and went to the dead zone to look for her that I confirmed she really existed.

  The boss patted me on the shoulder: "I understand. You can go back now."

  The boss went downstairs, and Kakaxi approached me and said: "That dead man is really powerful, one move and I was knocked down."

  "That's because you're too weak yourself."

  "Hiss, how can you talk like that. You'd better be careful, or he'll get angry and hit you too when he gets back. My sister married a veteran, my brother-in-law beats his wife every other day." Kakashi said as he quickly went downstairs. I was left standing alone in the dark staircase without any streetlights, feeling very confused.

  The boss is a likable man, Kakashi is my best classmate in the Academy. Suddenly, they both changed their attitude towards me. I don't want to go home, don't want to face Suigetsu at this time. He's just a sudden dead person, but he messed up my life.

  I don't know how long I stood in the corridor, until a door nearby opened and the living room light shone over, Su Haicheng leaned against the door frame and said: "Am I making things difficult for you? If so, I'll leave."

  "Where can you go without an ID? Even finding a place to stay is a problem." I said weakly, "Actually, my boss just wanted to find his girlfriend. Kakashi was just curious about you, they didn't have any malicious intentions."

  "If I go back to that village, I don't need an ID."

  His words made me raise my head in surprise, and I was completely stunned. In my understanding, he had barely crawled out of those piles of dead bodies, and now he wanted to go back again? This is simply an impossible thing to do. I pulled him into the living room, closed the door, let him sit on the sofa, and then very solemnly asked him: "Are you really going back? Where there's nothing left, what can you do by going back?"

  "I can find the cause of my death. There are too many suspicious points in this matter. Just like our entire squad died inside, why didn't the military go in, but instead let you guys go in first? Also, I know that when I left that dead village, there were still no soldiers entering. I am one of more than 20 brothers who cannot die unjustly like this."

  "But... Are you going to look for those dead people?"

  "What your boss's girlfriend said sounds more like a legend or feudal superstition. We are scientific, I don't think it's some kind of ghostly thing, but rather some unexplained phenomena. Since someone left the key and also left this story, even leaving behind the village chief's family to guard this matter, I think there is someone operating behind the scenes, watching over it. If someone is indeed watching over it, then when the whole village had an accident and our small team died inside, he must have known. Since he knew, why didn't he appear? Tomorrow, I'll be leaving, if you're willing to help me find my mom again, ask her about what the military said about my death. Then give me a call." After finishing speaking, he walked into the room and closed the door.

  Wait, wasn't it agreed upon that the room is mine and he sleeps on the sofa?

  A sleepless night, my mind is in a mess. Do I want to help him or not? Once he's gone, I can make my choice. At that time, I'll be able to go back to my ordinary life.

  In my impression, I was sitting on the sofa and fell asleep. I didn't even know when I fell asleep. Anyway, when I woke up, it was already bright outside, and the quilt that was originally on the bed was covering me. Su Haicheng had left.

  I'm certain because I saw the note he left on the small table in front of the sofa.

  "Chen Siyi, I'm leaving first. If you're willing to help, remember to ask my mom about it. If not, then forget it."

  He didn't even apologize for the trouble he brought me, which is really his style. We've only been together for two days, at most three days if you count that previous time, but when I saw this note of his, my mind still involuntarily recalled all the details of our interactions.

  He was behind the big tree, hugging me and speaking in my ear. He pulled my hand to touch the wounds on his body and told me that he had a wound on his butt too. His smile, which might not even be called a smile at all.

  I let out a long sigh and put down the note. Judging from the boss's current situation, he should still be on leave. Since he's on leave, we don't have much to do, so I'll go find him... Grandpa is better after all. His grandfather seems more approachable. Almost as soon as I saw the note, I had already decided to help him with this matter.

  I didn't tell anyone, not even Kakashi, and set off to City A. This time I went alone, so I could take the intercity train. The car told me it was a four-hour drive, but by intercity train it only took over 40 minutes. I arrived in City A at 10:10 in the morning. Instead of taking a taxi all the way to the military district's compound like he did, I took the bus to the terminal and then took a taxi from there, so the distance wasn't that far and I could save quite a bit on taxi fare.

  It's just a day apart, and I'm back here again. This time, my mind isn't as tense as it was last time. Isn't it just about telling lies? With the experience from last time, my heart will still beat faster, but at least my palms won't be completely sweaty.

  Standing in front of the Su family's door, I took a deep breath, tidied up my hair, and mentally prayed that it wouldn't be Mrs. Su who answered the door. If it was her, I might not even make it past the entrance. Today, I had deliberately worn a loose-fitting tracksuit and flat shoes to make myself look more like a pregnant woman. For the sake of the child, his grandfather shouldn't hurt me.

  It was the little soldier next to the old man who opened the door for me. He saw me, very surprised, and smiled at me after a few seconds; "It's you. Uh, wait a minute, I need to ask General Laodao first before letting you in."

  I nodded, and he nodded back at me, indicating his gratitude. The door closed again, and I shut my eyes, letting out a long sigh. Maybe with the old man's help, I could complete my task after all. That night, Su Haicheng had mentioned some suspicious points to me, but to be honest, I couldn't remember many of them. I knew I didn't have his meticulous thinking or his intelligence, and I couldn't recall that much, but I knew that as long as I asked the old man about Su Haicheng's death, it would be enough.

  The door opened again, and the little soldier smiled and said: "Come in, girl, the old general is waiting for you in the study."

  "Thank you," I said, walking inside. The living room on the first floor was still the same as last time. Following Xiao Bing upstairs, my eyes didn't dare to look around randomly. After stopping in my tracks, I looked up and saw that in front of the traditional Chinese lattice window, Old General was leaning on his cane with one hand, holding a photo frame of Su Haicheng's military uniform with the other, his face filled with worry.