"Don't touch her."
Shen Feng didn't shout this time—his voice was calm, almost quiet—but it was enough to stop the two black-clad men in their tracks.
The bearded man turned at the sound, glanced over, and didn't say anything.
He just waved a hand to signal the two men to stay alert nearby, then looked at Shen Feng with an expression that said, whatever, do as you like.
Shen Feng ignored everyone else and quietly walked over to the blanket-wrapped Xiao Xue.
He crouched down and gently straightened the slightly disheveled sheet, then placed his trembling hand on what was likely the area covering her face.
He stared intently at his hand resting on her, lost in thought.
After a long pause, he finally pulled his hand back and carefully lifted the entire bundle—blanket and all—off the ground.
Maybe it was the emotional weight or exhaustion, but he seemed unsteady, staggering several steps as he tried to hold her.
The two black-clad men stepped forward to steady him.
Shen Feng didn't react much—he simply looked back once at the shelter's entrance, then turned and quietly carried Xiao Xue forward.
Xu Shu and I exchanged a glance, then quickly followed behind him.
Chen Pu and Jun Di joined us too.
For Xiao Xue's final journey, we had to see her off.
Just as we reached the area between Buildings 3 and 4, a man in camo-clad suddenly burst out of Building 3.
He was running fast, with a sniper rifle strapped across his back.
I couldn't help but glance back at him a couple more times and saw that he quickly ran over to Fatty and whispered something in his ear.
After hearing him, Fatty turned and asked him something seriously.
We were a bit too far away to hear their conversation clearly, but I could see the man with the sniper rifle nodding and shaking his head repeatedly.
Then I saw Fatty pause for a moment in thought before turning back toward the bearded man and shouting something.
I only caught a few scattered words—"outside," "three," "young"—and as we continued walking farther away, it became even harder to hear how the bearded man responded.
In any case, the next time I looked back, I saw Fatty leading a whole group of people charging in our direction.
I quickly tugged at Xu Shu's arm, signaling her to look.
She turned around, noticed Fatty and his men running toward us, and let out a confused "Huh?"
Then she looked at me and asked, "What are they doing now?"
I shook my head. "No idea. Just now, someone from Building 4 ran over and said something to Fatty—next thing I knew, he was coming after us with a group."
Xu Shu paused, then said, "Let's wait and see. We're only going out to bury Xiao Xue—we shouldn't be getting in their way or anything."
Before I could respond, Fatty and his group had already caught up, and he shouted at us, "You all, hold on—don't go out just yet."
The two black-clad men helping Shen Feng carry the blanket-wrapped body turned their heads at the shout.
Their expressions instantly tensed, and they instinctively reached for their guns.
I quickly gave them a subtle signal with my eyes, telling them not to act rashly.
Thankfully, having followed Suo Tian for a long time, these men were sharp and quick to understand.
They paused for a moment, then returned to supporting the blanket.
However, their eyes were now clearly alert, carefully sizing up Fatty and his group, who had already run up beside us.
Seeing that Shen Feng still seemed oblivious to what was going on around him, keeping his head down as he walked forward, I had no choice but to speed up and approach Fatty.
"Captain Niu, what's this about...? We're just trying to bury our own sister. Is that against your rules?"
Fatty's tone wasn't as friendly as before—probably because he realized I had lied to him earlier.
When he heard me, he just let out a snort through his nose before replying coldly, "You lot have broken plenty of rules already. One more won't make a difference."
"Then why stop us now?"
"There are some outsiders who just arrived. I'm taking people to check it out. You all wait in the courtyard for now," he said.
Then he glanced at Shen Feng, who was still walking forward without pause, and his brow furrowed even more, his face visibly displeased.
Just as he turned to signal his men, I quickly stepped in front of him to stop him.
"Captain Niu, please calm down. That girl who died—she was his sister. He's out of it right now, not hearing anything anyone says. Let me talk to him—we'll wait right here."
Hearing that, Fatty finally turned to look at me seriously.
He sized me up, then jerked his chin toward Shen Feng, signaling me to go stop him.
I acknowledged with a quick nod and sped up to catch up with Shen Feng.
I wasn't sure if his mind was clear or clouded—he'd looked completely unresponsive while I was talking to Fatty, as if he hadn't heard a word.
But just as I reached his side, he suddenly stopped walking.
Before I could say anything, he turned to me and quietly said, "We can't just lay Xiao Xue on the ground."
I didn't quite understand what he meant at first, but Xu Shu immediately picked up on his words and responded, "We won't lay her on the ground again. Isn't there a security booth ahead? Let's wait there with Xiao Xue."
Only after she said that did I realize what Shen Feng had meant.
In many places, there's an old tradition—or maybe just a local custom—whose origins can't be verified, but people still strictly follow and believe in it: once a deceased person is lifted off the ground, they must not be placed back down before burial. It's considered a great sign of disrespect to the dead.
I looked at Shen Feng, and my heart ached again.
He was even clinging to these kinds of superstitions now.
But I knew why—he was completely powerless in the face of Xiao Xue's death, utterly helpless to save her.
Overwhelmed by guilt and grief, the only way he could feel like he was doing something was by clinging to these rituals for a sense of redemption.
Fatty didn't object to us bringing Xiao Xue's body into the booth.
He just told us we'd need Old Man Zheng's permission first.
After that, he led his group and rushed toward the front gate.
Shen Feng stood there in a daze for quite a while, lost in thought.
I stepped forward and gently pushed his back, and only then did he slowly come to his senses.
With a tired expression, he stared blankly at me for a couple of seconds before finally turning his head and walking forward again.
Old Man Zheng must've been informed when Fatty passed by the guard post, because by the time we arrived, he was already standing at the door waiting for us.
When he spotted Xiao Xue in Shen Feng's arms from a distance, I noticed him let out a faint sigh.
A look of sorrow and pity briefly crossed his face.
That small gesture warmed my heart, and my opinion of the old man immediately rose a great deal.
When we reached the guard post, none of us said a word.
Old Man Zheng looked over our group, then stepped aside and motioned to Shen Feng.
"Child, bring her inside and lay her on the bed."
In our country, people have always held deep beliefs in spirits and the supernatural—especially the older generations.
In many places, when someone dies at home, even neighbors refuse to let the body into their house.
But here, Old Man Zheng didn't object at all.
He calmly and decisively told us to place Xiao Xue on the very bed he sleeps on.
Shen Feng didn't say anything.
He simply followed the old man's gesture, stiffly carrying Xiao Xue inside.
As I passed by Old Man Zheng, I stopped and looked at this elderly man whose hair and beard had turned white and whose face was etched with deep lines.
From the bottom of my heart, I said, "Thank you."
Old Man Zheng simply waved his hand and said nothing.
This place was just a guard booth to begin with—space was very limited.
After placing a small bed inside, all that was left was a single table and a chair.
The table sat next to the window by the door, with a computer on top—likely used to monitor the neighborhood's surveillance feeds before.
With so many of us crammed into such a tiny room, it was getting uncomfortably crowded.
Looking at Xiao Xue lying on the bed, and at Shen Feng's devastated expression as he stood by her side, I felt the air grow heavier and heavier.
There was no helping it—I had to step outside on my own.
Outside, right by the wall of the booth, Old Man Zheng was squatting down, puffing on a crumpled old cigarette.
His eyes were fixed on something in the distance, seemingly lost in thought.
He turned his head when he heard my footsteps approaching.
I tried to force a smile at him, but after a few moments of effort, I just couldn't manage it and gave up.
Instead, I walked over and said, "You're out here alone?"
Old Man Zheng took another deep drag from his cigarette, but didn't respond right away.
I thought maybe I hadn't made myself clear, so I quickly added, "You probably have other family members living in the shelter too, right?"
"No," he said as he flicked the spent cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it underfoot.
Then he added, "It's just this old geezer left. The others… all got bitten."
I wasn't sure if it was because elderly people are better at hiding their emotions, or if he had truly come to terms with it all—but I noticed that when it came to tragedies like this, his attitude was almost the same as Uncle Gazi's.
They both seemed like they weren't completely devastated.
At least, not outwardly.
While I was trying to think of what to say next, a few crisp, high-pitched barks suddenly came from just outside the slightly ajar black iron gate not far from us.
Woof woof woof… woof woof…
I immediately turned my head to look at the gate, which was just wide enough to block the view of what was happening beyond it.
My heart suddenly skipped a beat and then started pounding harder.
Zheng Yiyi?
----------------
Exclusive access on patreon to Ch 140
Join now : p@treon*com/DeCakraWnloverz