Suo Tian, who was beside me, was startled awake by my sudden shout.
The moment I woke up, his eyes also flew open.
I lay there dazed for a while after opening my eyes, then looked around and realized that at some point, I had ended up lying on the bed in the bedroom.
Outside the window, the sky was already completely dark.
I turned my head to look at Suo Tian.
In the moonlight, his face made me feel a moment of disorientation.
I could still vividly recall the dream I just had—Xiao Xue's clear voice was still echoing in my ears.
"What's wrong?" After a long daze, Suo Tian reached out and wrapped his arms around me.
I shook my head and buried my face into his shoulder. "I had a dream… I dreamt of Xiao Xue."
Suo Tian didn't respond, probably waiting for me to continue.
"She was wearing a white dress, standing beside a grave mound, asking me to tell Shen Feng not to be sad anymore." I sniffled and buried my face even deeper.
Suo Tian still didn't say anything.
After a long while, I finally lifted my head to look at him, only to find him frowning as he stared out the window, seemingly lost in thought.
Maybe he noticed my gaze, because he withdrew his eyes from the window and turned to look at me.
After staring at me for two seconds, he slowly opened his mouth and said, "Chen Yang, do you believe in ghosts?"
I was stunned for a moment, not sure why he suddenly asked such a strange question.
After thinking it over for a bit, I replied, "I wouldn't say I believe or don't believe. These things are simply unexplainable. Or as the old saying goes—if you believe, it exists; if you don't, it doesn't."
After a pause, I met Suo Tian's pitch-black eyes and asked, "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
Suo Tian didn't answer.
He simply tightened his arms around me and turned his gaze back to the window.
Seeing that he didn't want to talk, I didn't press him.
The jolt I felt when I woke up earlier had already faded, and now my mind was starting to grow muddled again.
Drowsily, I ended up falling asleep once more not long after.
This time, I slept much more soundly—no dreams.
When I opened my eyes again, it was already broad daylight outside.
Sunlight poured through the window onto the bed.
I rubbed my eyes, already used to waking up and not seeing Suo Tian around.
Sometimes I really wonder if he ever sleeps at all.
No matter how early I wake up, he always seems to have already gotten up.
I sat on the bed in a daze for a while before finally getting up, putting on my coat, and walking toward the living room.
After a quick wash, and seeing that Suo Tian wasn't around, I grabbed a bit of food to eat and got ready to head up to the fifth floor to check on Shen Feng.
I also planned to visit Uncle Gazi and Tingyun, and take the chance to get to know the few new members who arrived yesterday a little better.
When I got to the fifth floor, I realized it was much livelier here than the sixth.
Xu Shu and Han Xue had arrived earlier than me, probably because Xu Shu had already told Han Xue about Xiao Xue last night.
The two of them were now standing in front of Shen Feng's door, frowning deeply, seemingly discussing something troubling.
I walked over and, out of curiosity, tapped them both on the shoulder and asked, "What are you talking about?"
They were so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't heard my footsteps, so when I suddenly patted them, they both jumped in surprise.
Realizing it was me, Xu Shu gave me a glare and said, "You scared me to death!"
I chuckled and asked again, "What were you talking about?"
Clutching her chest, Han Xue pointed to Shen Feng's door and said, "We were thinking of going in to talk to him. We're worried he might do something drastic if he stays alone—like commit suicide."
Hearing that, my expression froze for a moment as I looked at Han Xue, a bit helpless.
Girl, could you maybe not be so blunt when you speak?
Just as I was about to say something, the door to Uncle Gazi's room suddenly creaked open.
The three of us turned toward the sound and immediately saw Wang Tingyun, with her messy, fluffy hair, poking her little head out from behind the door, staring at us curiously.
I glanced through the crack in the door but didn't see any sign of Uncle Gazi.
Smiling, I walked over to Tingyun and asked, "Sweetie, where's Grandpa?"
Tingyun blinked her big eyes at me a couple of times, then grinned and opened the door a little wider, revealing her tiny body hiding behind it.
She then pressed her hands together, tilted her head to the side, and mimicked a sleeping pose.
Her cute gesture made me laugh.
I squatted down and patted her on the head. "Tingyun, you're way more hardworking than Grandpa—getting up so early all by yourself."
Xu Shu didn't seem to know who Tingyun was or how we knew her.
After watching for a bit, she asked, "Chen Yang, who's this?"
I turned to her and said, "The day after we got separated, Suo Tian and I were being chased by a horde of walkers, and this little one's grandpa took us in. We hid at their place for two days."
Before Xu Shu could respond, the door next to Uncle Gazi's suddenly creaked open too, and a delicate male voice from inside complained, "Damn mosquitoes! My back is killing me. Can't you be a little gentler? How many times have I told you? Next time you—"
The voice abruptly cut off when he noticed the few of us standing outside the door.
It was that rather slim guy from yesterday.
At the moment, he was being held in the arms of the tall Zhou Wen, wearing an expression far too girlish for a guy—completely frozen on his face.
I stood there stiffly, staring at the two of them, completely unsure of what was going on.
A man holding another man? Back pain? Embarrassed? Being too rough?
Dear god, what exactly have I just uncovered?
Beside me, Han Xue—who had been tagging along with the two of them—suddenly burst into a teasing laugh after a few seconds of stunned silence: "Taozi, could you maybe not throw such a nauseating scene at us first thing in the morning?"
The originally awkward-looking Taozi quickly shifted his expression at Han Xue's words, rolled his eyes with a dramatic "submissive" flair, and shot back, "You're just jealous, you old single lady."
As soon as he said that, before Han Xue could react, both Xu Shu and I simultaneously darkened our expressions.
"…Old?"
Zhou Wen, standing nearby, gave Taozi a light pat on the head and said dryly, "Sounds like your back isn't hurting at all—still got plenty of energy to argue."
Taozi shot Zhou Wen a sideways glare, then turned back to the rest of us.
Clearing his throat, he said, "Zhou Wen and I are going for a walk in the little park outside. Wanna come along?"
"But…" Han Xue pointed at Shen Feng's door.
Zhou Wen glanced over, gave it a quick look, and said, "Not everything can be comforted with words. Some things, you just have to endure on your own."
Han Xue still looked hesitant, but I stood up and patted her. "Shen Feng's not the same as before. Give him some time. Once he's had a chance to pull himself together, I'll introduce you properly. Then you can comfort him however you like."
Han Xue pouted at my words, thought it over for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. "Alright then."
Right after that, she turned to Zhou Wen and Taozi, marched over in a few quick steps, shoved herself in between them without any shame, hooked arms with both of them and said smugly, "Let's go! Time for a stroll."
Watching Zhou Wen's helpless expression and Taozi's endless eye-rolls, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
I had a strong feeling that these three goofballs were definitely going to bring a lot of laughs into our lives from now on.
Not long after the three of them went downstairs, Uncle Gazi finally woke up groggily, a bit late to the scene, and came out looking for his granddaughter.
When he saw Tingyun chatting with Xu Shu and me at the doorway, he immediately let out a hearty laugh and perked right up.
"Hey there, girls, what kind of early morning meeting are you having?"
Since Xu Shu wasn't familiar with Uncle Gazi, I gave a quick introduction, then responded to his joke with a grin, "Oh, we were just planning how to trick your granddaughter into yanking out your beard while you're asleep."
As soon as he heard that, Uncle Gazi burst into even louder laughter and instinctively reached up to stroke the white-and-gray beard on his chin.
The past couple of days had been incredibly heavy, with a constant cloud of gloom hanging over us.
But hearing Uncle Gazi's hearty, carefree laugh lifted my spirits more than I expected.
After chatting idly with him for a few more minutes, Tingyun started getting antsy and begged to go play in the park.
I had been planning to check on Rongrong soon anyway, so I simply pulled Xu Shu along and headed out first.
Just like Zhou Wen said, not everything can be comforted by others.
None of us could truly comfort Shen Feng.
As we were leaving the fifth floor, Xiao Xue's words from my dream last night suddenly echoed in my mind—"Tell brother not to be sad."
I let out a deep sigh and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
How could he not be sad?
Unless Xiao Xue somehow came back to life and lived like a normal person again, Shen Feng's sorrow would never truly go away.
When Xu Shu and I got to the second floor, we were suddenly shocked to see that the door to the room where Rongrong was being held was wide open.
Two armed black-clad men stood guard outside, and from inside the room, we could hear Rongrong sobbing from time to time.
Xu Shu and I exchanged a glance, then quickly stepped forward, intending to go in and see what was going on.
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