After being shoved by Shen Feng a couple of times, Suo Tian clearly lost his patience.
He reached out and grabbed the arm Shen Feng had used to push him, and with his other hand, swiftly reached toward Xiao Xue's neck to check her pulse.
In the meantime, the bearded man and the others looked like they were about to step in and help, but Suo Tian barked in a calm, commanding voice,
"Stay where you are!"
Immediately, they froze in place and didn't move another inch.
This was the first time I had seen Suo Tian lose his temper with these people.
No matter what had happened before—good or bad—he'd always maintained that detached attitude, as if nothing concerned him.
Most of the time, it was the bearded man and the middle-aged one calling the shots in the group.
But Shen Feng wasn't going to just sit back and accept being grabbed.
He kept twisting his arm, trying to pull it free.
Fortunately, he wasn't the kind of person to act out wildly.
Years of discipline and manners had become part of his nature—no amount of apocalypse could shake that.
Even now, with his face flushed red with fury, he still didn't utter a single curse word.
Xu Shu and Jun Di, worried the two of them might actually start fighting—and knowing Suo Tian had more people on his side and Shen Feng might get hurt—quickly stepped in to break it up.
Jun Di, who had known Suo Tian longer than Xu Shu, took one while Xu Shu tried to talk to the other.
Xu Shu reached out, trying to help support Xiao Xue's upper body, which was being held in one of Shen Feng's arms.
But before she could touch her, Shen Feng snapped,
"Don't touch her!"
Xu Shu had only meant well, but Shen Feng's sudden outburst stunned her.
Her expression froze as she stood there awkwardly, hand half-extended, not knowing whether to move or stay still.
When Chen Pu saw his sister being yelled at, he immediately became upset.
He stepped forward, pulled Xu Shu back, and said to Shen Feng,
"Brother Shen Feng, what are you doing? My sister was just trying to help. Why are you snapping at her? And besides, holding Sister Shen Xue so tightly like that—do you really think she's comfortable?"
But Shen Feng paid no attention to his words at all.
His bloodshot eyes remained locked on Suo Tian, glaring at him with unwavering intensity.
I stood nearby, keeping a close eye on Suo Tian's expression.
After Suo Tian had his hand on Xiao Xue's neck for about ten seconds, his face froze slightly.
His eyes flickered quickly, then he scanned Xiao Xue's entire body.
A moment later, he tilted his head subtly toward the middle-aged man standing diagonally behind him, as if signaling something.
Immediately after, I saw the middle-aged man raise a hand toward the black-clad men nearby.
They responded with a crisp click-clack as they loaded their guns and aimed them straight at Xiao Xue on the bed.
My brain froze completely.
I looked around at them, my steps faltering as I walked up beside Suo Tian.
I opened my mouth to say something—but the moment my lips moved, they started trembling uncontrollably.
I clenched my fists tightly and took several deep breaths before I finally managed to force out a somewhat steady voice:
"Xiao Xue... how is she?"
In truth, I had already guessed the answer the moment I saw Suo Tian's expression—but I simply couldn't accept it.
I refused to believe it.
So I asked him anyway, clinging to the tiny hope that maybe... just maybe... I was wrong.
After hearing my question, Suo Tian withdrew his hand from Shen Feng's arm and the one that had been checking Xiao Xue's neck.
He straightened up and stared at Shen Feng for a long moment before slowly turning his head to look at me.
His dark eyes remained calm and emotionless.
"She's dead."
I unconsciously took two steps back.
My body felt weak, and I instinctively tried to grab onto something to steady myself, but my brain could no longer properly send commands to my limbs.
One of the black-clad men standing behind me quickly stepped forward and caught me, keeping me from falling.
To be honest, I didn't even know how to form words to express what I was feeling in that moment.
Grief and shock create a strange sense of emptiness—one that makes everything feel unreal, like you've suddenly stepped into a dream.
That was exactly how I felt right then.
It was as if my consciousness had detached and was drifting somewhere, observing everything from a surreal distance.
None of it felt real.
It took a great deal of effort for me to shift my gaze to the others in the room.
Chen Pu, who had just been angrily defending his sister, froze the moment he heard Suo Tian's words.
He stared blankly at Xiao Xue on the bed, his face filled with disbelief.
Xu Shu, perhaps the most composed among us, wasn't as paralyzed as I was.
Although her face showed shock and disbelief, a deep sadness and sorrow had already begun to surface in her expression.
I stared blankly at Xu Shu for a while, and somewhere deep inside, I understood—I was supposed to be heartbroken right now.
But my mind felt like it had shut down, stuck somewhere it couldn't move from.
No emotion was rising from my chest.
My thoughts just kept floating aimlessly in that strange, detached void.
Jun Di looked around at everyone, his face filled with uncertainty.
After a pause, he forced a stiff smile and asked Suo Tian, "Brother Suo Tian... you're... joking, right?"
But by the time he got to the second half of the sentence, his voice had already begun to tremble with an unconscious sob—because deep down, he knew perfectly well that Suo Tian was not someone who would ever joke about something like this.
I didn't dare turn to see Shen Feng's expression.
Suo Tian stood by the bed for a moment longer, then turned and waved his hand at the black-clad men.
Immediately, several of them stepped forward, pulling Xu Shu, Chen Pu, and Jun Di—who were standing close—away to the side.
The one who had been supporting me earlier also reached out and pulled me back.
I wasn't prepared for it; the force of his grip caused me to stumble several steps backward before I managed to regain my balance.
As my unfocused gaze drifted around the room, it finally settled on Shen Feng's face...
Xiao Xue's face, pale as paper, rested against the side of Shen Feng's neck.
He held her in his arms, expressionless.
The anger that had previously burned in his eyes as he glared at Suo Tian was now gone—his face looked no different than usual.
But seeing that unnaturally calm look on Shen Feng's face suddenly yanked my drifting thoughts back into harsh reality.
All at once, a surge of sorrow and grief swelled in my chest.
My nose and throat tightened with that familiar sting.
My eyes ached.
A wave of heat followed, and hot tears quickly streamed down my face.
Soon they reached the corner of my mouth, slipping past my lips—and tasted bitter.
In that instant, my whole heart twisted into a painful knot.
I fixed my gaze on Xiao Xue's face.
The blood at the corner of her mouth hadn't been wiped clean by Shen Feng—some of it had dried on her cheek, leaving red stains.
Waves of sorrow kept crashing over me, slamming into my already fragile heart.
"Chen Yang? You're Chen Yang? Don't you remember me? Crybaby Shen Xue—that nickname was from you."
"Chen Yang, I'm telling you, that kid Zheng Rongrong really can't be left unchecked. I have to be the one to deal with her."
"Sunflower seeds, Chen Yang, I really want to eat sunflower seeds."
"Song Meijing! Why do you always have to target Chen Yang?"
"Chen Yang, does the wound hurt? It must hurt a lot, right? If it were me, I'd probably be crying."
"Chen Yang, can you be a bit more reliable? Stop making all of us worry about you."
…
When I was little, my grandma used to tell me many folktales.
One of them scared me for a long time.
She said that after a person dies, they retrace the path they walked in life—because along those roads, they've left behind footprints and memories.
They have to go back and gather them all before they can rest in peace.
After death, they'll also go see the people they wanted to see one last time—because they need to remember those people's scent, so that in the next life, they can find them again by following it.
I think, right now, that lazy girl Xiao Xue must have first walked through my mind, picking up all the footprints she left behind—otherwise, how could I recall every scene, every moment about her so vividly?
Tears wouldn't stop falling, constantly seeping into my mouth, and the waves of bitterness were almost enough to corrode my heart.
The middle-aged man stepped forward, intending to pull Shen Feng away, but was stopped by a wave of Suo Tian's hand.
"She's... probably going to..." The man glanced worriedly at Shen Feng, who still had Xiao Xue's head resting against his shoulder.
Suo Tian shook his head. "Let him be a while longer. With me here, it'll be fine."
The middle-aged man looked at Shen Feng again, sighed softly, and stepped back to the side.
The next few minutes were filled with deep silence.
No one said a word.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the pair of siblings lying on the bed.
I didn't know how many people in the room were truly heartbroken for the two of them.
Then, the younger Chen Pu probably couldn't hold it in any longer—he let out a soft sob, his small face already covered in tear stains.
He turned his head and buried his face in Xu Shu's arms, choking out, "Sis..."
Xu Shu gently wrapped her arms around Chen Pu.
Her eyes were red, and after glancing at Shen Feng and Xiao Xue, she tilted her head slightly upward and closed her eyes.
Grief spreads quickly—especially when you can feel someone else's pain as if it were your own.
Looking at the expressions on that brother and sister's faces, my tears flowed even faster.
My eyes could barely make out the people in front of me anymore; there was nothing but an endless blur of tears clouding my vision.
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