Chapter 2: You really fell in love with a dead person

  His eyes dimmed and he let go of me, taking a step back to create some distance between us. In a cold tone, he asked: "Who are you? Why are you here?"

  My eyes stared straight at him, and my whole head was frozen, unable to think about what he was saying. He also looked at me like that, and time seemed to freeze at this moment.

  "Fourth Sister! Is that you?" Came Kaka's voice from over there, I quickly turned my head to look over. Over there was a faint light flickering, it seemed they should be quite far away from me.

  "I'm over here!" I hastily replied, shining my flashlight in their direction to give them a clear bearing. They quickly adjusted their course and the beam of light was now heading straight for me.

  It was just a few seconds, and when I shone the light back in that direction, there was no one to be seen.

  He disappeared! Disappeared without making a sound!

  I let out a silent sigh, holding the flashlight against my chest, pressing down on my wildly racing heart that seemed to be about to jump out.

  I lowered my voice and called out: "Hey! Are you still there?" There was no sound around me, which was just right. Earlier must have been my hallucination. How could someone who's already dead possibly appear again?

  Kakashi and Boss finally arrived in front of me. Kakashi asked anxiously, "Yon-sama, are you okay? Are you hurt? What's wrong with your foot?"

  One of my feet is tiptoeing, and it's not hard for him to find out that my foot is injured. What I care more about is the boss. The boss, however, has a cold face and doesn't say a word. He should also be concerned about me, even if he's not worried as a girlfriend, at least as his student. Now he must be anxious for his girlfriend in his heart, so he ignores me.

  "Kakashi, give me a boost, I'll be fine with just one kick."

  Kakaxi quickly supported me: "Sister 41, why didn't you follow us just now? If I hadn't found out and come back to look for you, you would have been wandering around here alone tonight."

  "Alright, boss, let's wait till dawn and look again." My feet kicked a few times and felt much better. After some exercise, it was fine.

  The boss hesitated for a while before walking out, without saying a word, but it was clear that he had agreed to my proposal.

  I followed behind him with Kakashi, I didn't speak and neither did the boss, only Kakashi was talkative.

  "Si Yijie, don't mind it, the boss is also in a bad mood and that's why he didn't respond to you." "What did you just shout? We also heard your scream and came over." "When you're alone, are you scared?" "Si Yijie, did you see under the ruins earlier? There are corpses, all still down there. I think we were the first batch of people to come in after setting the fire. It's strange, why didn't any military troops come in? Didn't they lose a medical team and a small squad?"

  "After he had been talking for so long, I said in a low voice: 'Maybe they're dead, maybe they're not.'"

  "What did you say?"

  "Huh? Nothing." My heart still concealed what happened earlier, always feeling that it was just an illusion of mine, and speaking out would make it real.

  Left the village, the boss chose a slightly flat place to make a fire. We didn't bring a tent out. Because when we came, it was thought that this place was an inhabited village, and finding a place to live wouldn't be difficult. But reality often isn't like what you think.

  Fortunately, the weather is not very cold now, and we are also wearing more clothes. Even if it's cold at night, we won't catch a cold. Kakashi is still playing with his tablet, and I took out my phone to look at the signal, saying in a low voice: "Why does my phone only have one bar of signal, but yours can access the internet?"

  "Sister, this device is not some cheap phone you get for free when you top up your phone bill."

  I reluctantly put away my cheap phone, which was many times cheaper than his solar charger. I quietly took out a cookie and handed it to the boss. The firelight reflected off his straight nose, this man I've liked for so long, yet he's heartbroken over another woman and won't even glance at me.

  I could only awkwardly take back the cookie. Kakashi casually snatched away my cookie, and with empty hands, I also casually picked up his tablet.

  On the tablet, it's a desktop with green leaves shining through the sunlight. But what appears in my mind is that soldier's face. His eyebrows and eyes have left too deep an impression on me. Not just on the tablet, but also when my flashlight shone on him, the light reflected from his eyes. His sturdy and powerful arms, his chest without a heartbeat.

  "Kakaxi," I handed over the tablet, "Stop eating, bring out that dead Ah Beng's information again."

  Kakaxi took the tablet and said while operating it, "You really like him? Liking him is useless, he's dead in that village. Why don't you go dig through those wooden boards tomorrow, maybe you can see his corpse."

  "Can't you just stop talking nonsense?" If Kakashi didn't have his skilled side, with that mouth of his, who knows how many people he would have offended and been beaten to death by now.

  He handed me the tablet and continued eating his cookies and drinking water. Tonight can only be spent like this.

  I looked at the photo on the tablet, and that face had just appeared in front of me an hour ago. I was sure it was him! And my hand had even touched his. My cheek could still feel the sensation of his palm slapping against it.

  Is he dead or alive?

  I pulled down the page and looked at his information. He was in charge of this operation, a scout by origin, named Su Haicheng.

  I went back and forth looking at that page for a full seven times, until Kakashi took back his tablet, spitting out cookie crumbs as he said: "Really taken a liking to him? A dead person? But if your other half is a dead person, it's quite interesting too."

  If it were in the past, I would have argued with him a few words, but now I feel like all my energy has been sucked out of me. I just curled up my legs, hugged them with my hands, and put my head on my knees, looking at the boss on the other side of the firelight, telling myself in my heart that the person I like is the boss. Even if he already has a wife, I still like him. But those eyebrows and eyes keep appearing in my mind, making me feel scared.

  The night is so long, especially on a sleepless night like this. Kakashi has already fallen asleep with his backpack. I shift uncomfortably, drink some water, and think I'll go pee. The situation is really not suitable, but I have no choice.

  I slowly stood up, originally thinking that the boss would ask where I was going, but his posture and gaze didn't change at all. I reckon now his heart and eyes only have that missing girlfriend of his.

  I walked towards a big tree not far away, swinging the flashlight and humming a tune to myself. After finding a suitable place under the tree to take care of my business, I tidied up my clothes, but the light from the flashlight fell on those military boots.

  "Ah!" My cry hadn't even escaped my lips when a force pinned me against the thick tree trunk. A hand covered my mouth and nose, and I could clearly smell the scent of gunpowder between his fingers.

  His body was pressing against mine, rendering me immobile. In desperation, I waved the flashlight and shone it in the direction of the boss. Maybe he would notice me.

  The man quickly saw through my intentions and grabbed my wrist with his other hand, not allowing me to swing the flashlight. His face was almost against mine as he whispered in my ear, "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you, I'm an active-duty soldier. Answer my questions: first, who are you people, second, why are you here? I'll let you go now."

  He slowly relaxed his grip, but his hand was still in front of my mouth and nose, as if to say that if I made a sound, he would suffocate me.

  My heart was racing violently, my chest pressed against his, and I could clearly feel that his chest didn't rise or fall at all. Moreover, with this posture of his now, his mouth was almost stuck to my ear, yet I couldn't feel his breathing.

  "I am Chen Siyi, a student of D University."

  "What about them?"

  "My boss, no, I mean my teacher and classmates. My teacher's girlfriend's family lives here, they suddenly lost contact with her, so we came in to take a look."