Noticing my gaze, Xu Shu also looked up toward the rooftop.
I tugged her arm and pointed at Shen Feng and the others, saying, "Let's go back over there first."
Xu Shu glanced at me, nodded, and followed me back to Shen Feng and the others.
The men digging the grave moved quickly—probably thanks to their regular training, their movements were clean and efficient.
In just a short time, they had already carved out the rough shape of the pit.
I stood behind Shen Feng, staring at his back for a while.
A wave of hard-to-express guilt welled up inside me.
If it hadn't been for my impatience and selfish insistence on having them go out with me to look for Yangyang, Xiao Xue wouldn't have been accidentally bitten by Rongrong, which ultimately led to…
At that thought, my mind became even more tangled.
We were both bitten once, yet why did Xiao Xue end up like this while I remained completely fine?
I turned back to glance at Building 6, hesitating in my heart.
Could it be that Rongrong was indeed infected?
But no—if she really had been infected, then based on how long it's been, she should have collapsed even earlier than Xiao Xue.
Why is she still fine now?
As I struggled with these thoughts, my mind kept replaying the scene from earlier that morning when we left.
Frame by frame flashed through my head, until suddenly I remembered something—
When we were on our way back after Xiao Xue was bitten, she had, in a moment of intense pain, tightly clutched her wound with her bare hands in the car.
My heart froze.
Could it be that Xiao Xue's infection wasn't actually caused by Rongrong, but because she accidentally pressed something contaminated—something carrying the infection—directly into her wound with her hands?
The scene pushed forward in my mind…
Before we entered that courtyard, we had indeed taken down a few walkers—could it be that some of their blood or brain matter had splattered onto Xiao Xue's hands, and she just hadn't noticed?
My breathing involuntarily quickened.
The more I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
But… if things truly happened the way I was now speculating, then Xiao Xue's death was incredibly unjust.
I vaguely recalled that before we got into the car, Xu Shu had even reminded Shen Feng to pay attention to Xiao Xue's hands.
If only we had all taken it more seriously back then… Xiao Xue might not have died.
I looked up at Shen Feng again and couldn't help letting out a deep sigh.
Forget it.
What's done is done—there's no point in dwelling on it anymore.
The pit was dug quickly.
After those men tamped down the soil inside with their shovels, they all stepped aside.
Shen Feng stood there, staring at the grave for a long, long time without making a move.
No one said a word to rush him.
Everyone stood quietly off to the side, as if in silent mourning.
After what felt like an eternity, Shen Feng finally moved.
He walked slowly toward the grave, with Yangyang and Jun Di following closely behind him, not daring to help, but clearly ready to catch him if he collapsed.
Shen Feng was strong.
Though his steps seemed unsteady, he kept his back straight the entire time—until the very moment he gently laid Xiao Xue into the earth.
The rest of us gathered around the grave, standing at its edge.
Everyone stared silently at the white blanket wrapped thickly around Xiao Xue.
I slowly closed my eyes and silently whispered in my heart, "Farewell, Xiao Xue."
Unlike the rest of us who had spent the entire day gradually coming to terms with the loss, Yangyang had only just learned about Xiao Xue's death—and now he had to face this moment directly.
Overwhelmed, he crouched down and cried into his hands.
I didn't go over to comfort him.
My heart ached bitterly too, but there was nothing that could be done.
Parting by death is one of those things humans can never control—especially in this absurd and chaotic world.
Just as Xu Shu had said: maybe Xiao Xue had only left a little earlier than the rest of us.
Shen Feng stood by the grave for a long time before finally stepping inside.
He bent down and gently kissed the place where Xiao Xue's head lay beneath the blanket.
Then he whispered something softly, stood up, climbed out of the grave, and stepped aside—silently signaling to the others that they could begin filling it in.
Standing off to the side, I finally couldn't hold back my tears any longer—they began to fall again.
The last thing Shen Feng had whispered in the grave to Xiao Xue was, "Xiao Xue, your brother loves you."
Yangyang had been pulled aside by Jun Di and Chen Pu.
The work of filling in the grave went quickly.
As I watched Xiao Xue gradually disappear beneath the yellow earth, my tears flowed even more uncontrollably.
Humans—this is what humanity is.
We think we're great, rulers of the Earth and all living things.
But once the eyes close, the breath stops, and the heart no longer beats… the body quickly fades away.
In the end, all we really need is a handful of dirt to cover up the decay.
As the grave gradually rose into a small mound, I wiped my tears and looked toward Shen Feng, who stood in a daze.
I silently hoped that he could eventually find his way out of this emotional collapse.
Shen Feng only stared at the mound for a moment or two before he turned and began walking back toward the shelter's heavy iron gate.
The rest of us exchanged glances, then quickly followed him.
As I stepped back through the gate, I glanced over my shoulder one last time at Xiao Xue's mound.
I don't know if it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, but in that split second, I thought I saw a girl in a white dress with long hair standing silently beside the grave, facing it.
My brain didn't process what I had seen right away.
When I turned back again to take another look, the mound before the grave was empty—there was nothing there.
I shook my head.
I must be seeing things from exhaustion.
I needed a proper rest soon, or my brain was going to completely break down.
When we got back to Building 6, Suo Tian was already standing in front of the lobby doors from afar.
He didn't react much when he saw us returning, only paused his gaze a few extra seconds on Shen Feng before stepping forward, patting him on the shoulder, and softly said, "It's over now."
Shen Feng didn't reply.
He simply stood there in a daze for a while, then gave Suo Tian a light pat back on the shoulder and turned to walk into the lobby.
Probably out of consideration for Shen Feng's emotional state, they arranged for him to stay alone in an empty room on the fifth floor.
Yangyang took his place and moved in with Chen Pu and Jun Di.
The girl who had been traveling with Yangyang was placed in the same room as Xu Shu.
She looked cute and youthful, but in truth, she was about the same age as me—just that at a glance, she appeared to be only around eighteen or nineteen.
Coincidentally, her name was Han Xue.
I couldn't tell if this was fate's doing or some strange alignment of coincidences, but the moment I heard her name, I felt an immediate fondness for this sweet, cheerful girl.
As for the two guys who came with her—one tall and one short—the shorter one went by the nickname Taozi, and the tall one was named Zhou Wen.
The two of them were given a room together and were also placed on the fifth floor with Shen Feng.
Uncle Gazi and Wang Tingyun were also brought back and were likewise assigned to rooms on the fifth floor.
Not long after, Zhang Hongsheng—whom we hadn't seen in several days—also entered Building 6 and was placed in a room on the fifth floor.
Originally, I had planned to ask Yangyang about what had happened while he was out these past few days—like why Rongrong had been placed inside that big box, and what had frightened her so badly.
But in the end, seeing how utterly dazed and broken he looked, I gave up on asking for now and decided to wait until he'd had some rest and try again the next day.
Yangyang is someone who gets very emotionally attached.
No matter who it is, as long as he's spent some time with them, once they part ways, he'll spend a long time quietly mourning.
For example, back when we escaped from the county town, even though he never said anything, it was clear from the distracted expression he wore for days afterward that he missed Shu Guang, Lili, and Wang Jun deeply.
Now that Xiao Xue—someone who had been with us almost since the beginning—had died, the blow to him must have been overwhelming.
Otherwise, knowing his personality, the first thing he would've done was raise a fuss about going to find Rongrong.
Seeing how mentally drained Yangyang was, I carried Yiyi back into my own room.
Suo Tian had once again gone out to discuss something with the bearded man and the middle-aged guy.
I played with Yiyi in the living room for a while, then fed her a little.
Not long after, a wave of crushing fatigue came crashing over me—within seconds, my mind had turned to mush.
I had no other choice but to place Yiyi on the floor.
Groggy with exhaustion, I slumped onto the couch, planning to take a short nap.
When a person is truly worn out, sleep comes heavily—and dreams often follow.
After falling asleep on the couch, I had an incredibly strange dream.
In the dream, the sky around me was shrouded in darkness.
I stood alone outside the shelter, in front of Xiao Xue's grave.
From time to time, the wind howled, mingling with distant growls from the walkers—but strangely, I couldn't feel a single breeze.
I looked around, taking in the eerie surroundings, and I clearly knew I was dreaming.
Yet, I wasn't the least bit surprised by anything I saw—at least not until I saw Xiao Xue appear on the other side of the grave, wearing a white dress and smiling as she called my name: "Chen Yang."
Even then, I still didn't feel shocked.
But the moment I saw her, a strong wave of sorrow surged in my chest.
I instinctively wanted to run to her, to reach out and grab her—but my body wouldn't move.
I was frozen in place, helplessly calling out, "Xiao Xue! Xiao Xue!"
She kept smiling.
After a while, she looked at me, her expression softening, and gently said, "Tell my brother not to be sad. I love him very much."
Her voice was airy and light, unreal—yet it carried a warmth that made me want to cry the moment I heard it.
"Xiao Xue, Xiao Xue," I kept calling her blankly.
"Chen Yang, don't be sad either," Xiao Xue's voice grew fainter and more distant, drifting like a breeze—I could barely hear her: "Love my brother for me."
That last sentence was nearly unintelligible, already dissolving into a blur.
Xiao Xue's figure was also fading more and more…
And just as she was about to vanish completely, I struggled awake from the dream.
The moment I woke, I suddenly cried out: "Xiao Xue!"
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