I glanced at Uncle Gazi, then at Wang Tingyun.
After a pause, I couldn't help but sigh.
After everything that happened with Rongrong, I found myself feeling a deeper sense of sorrow and worry whenever I looked at children.
They were so small, so fragile, completely unaware of what was going on.
Take Tingyun, for example—I figured she didn't even truly understand what the word "walker" meant.
She was probably just following the adults' reactions, believing those things were something to be afraid of.
"For now, let's set aside whether we're leaving or not," Jun Di spoke up.
"We still haven't resolved the issue with Rongrong."
The middle-aged man thought for a moment, then looked at Suo Tian and asked, "Boss? What's your take on it?"
Suo Tian pondered briefly before replying, "If she's still like this when we leave, she'll come with me."
Hearing that, I couldn't help but feel a wave of relief inside.
The fact that he said this meant he had no intention of abandoning Rongrong—at least for now.
So for the time being, she was relatively safe.
The middle-aged man frowned slightly upon hearing that, seeming somewhat disapproving of Suo Tian's decision.
But after thinking it over for a moment, he didn't say anything in opposition.
I still couldn't stop thinking about the word "headquarters" that the middle-aged man had mentioned earlier.
I was curious about what it meant exactly—but with so many people present, I decided not to bring it up.
It wasn't because I didn't trust everyone, but because Suo Tian's reaction earlier suggested that he didn't want us to know about it.
Now that we had more or less settled the general direction of our journey, everyone chatted a bit more and then dispersed.
Just as we were wrapping up, Han Xue came back from a walk with Zhou Wen and Taozi.
Seeing our big group gathered together, she immediately came over enthusiastically and asked with a face full of curiosity, "What are you guys talking about? Come on, let me in on it!"
Yangyang had already gotten to know her and Zhou Wen and Taozi over the past few days—they had been hiding together for a while—so they were familiar with each other.
Seeing Han Xue chirping away like that, Yangyang's face—which had been stiff ever since seeing Rongrong—finally softened a bit: "You wanna join everything. No wonder Zhou Wen and Taozi always try to avoid you."
Han Xue wrinkled her nose and replied, "You little brat, why do you care so much about me? Zhou Wen and Taozi are just jealous of how cheerful and lively I am. And speaking of them—who do those two sulky introverts actually like? The only one they care about is Mr. Soap."
When Han Xue finished, both Xu Shu and I burst out laughing.
The others, who weren't familiar with Zhou Wen and Taozi's situation, looked at us in confusion.
I exchanged a knowing look with Xu Shu, still laughing, then turned to look at Han Xue draped over the back of the sofa, and quietly gave her a thumbs-up in my heart.
This girl… really has some guts!
After everyone left, Suo Tian didn't go out with the bearded man and the others.
Instead, he leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest.
I closed the door and stared at him for a while, feeling like there were some things I really needed to ask.
After thinking it over, I walked straight over to the sofa and smacked him on the arm. "Hey, wake up."
Suo Tian opened his eyes and looked at me.
Two seconds later, he slowly asked, "What do you want to ask?"
Since he had already seen through me, I decided not to beat around the bush anymore.
After thinking for a few seconds, I looked up at him and asked directly, "What does 'headquarters' mean?"
Suo Tian seemed to have already guessed I'd ask that.
His expression didn't change much.
After a pause, he said, "It's where we're going."
I was stunned—I hadn't expected him to answer so straightforwardly.
"And where exactly is this place we're going?"
"Headquarters."
"…"
I gave Suo Tian a helpless look, then cleared my throat and decided to change my approach: "Who exactly are you guys? What do you do? I've been trying to figure it out for a long time, but I just can't. I've never seen those black uniforms of yours anywhere before."
This time, unlike before, Suo Tian didn't answer right away.
Instead, he stayed silent for a long moment.
Then, without warning, he reached out and pulled me into his arms.
Just when I thought he wasn't going to say anything else, he softly said something that left me completely puzzled: "There are some things… that aren't about whether you want to do them or not."
I turned my head to look at him, only to find that for the first time, his usually calm and composed face was filled with confusion.
I had never seen that look on Suo Tian before.
He had always given me the impression that nothing could faze him.
Even if he couldn't resolve something directly, he would always find a way around it.
Deep down, I had come to see him as someone who could handle anything—a pillar of stability.
Without realizing it, I had started to rely on him as the anchor of our group.
I never imagined there could be anything that would make him feel lost.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Hearing that, Suo Tian looked at me.
The confusion on his face gradually faded, replaced once again by his usual calm.
He tightened his arms around me slightly, then leaned his head against mine, his mouth close to my ear as he asked softly, "Chen Yang, do you believe in ghosts?"
His sudden intimacy sent my heart into a frenzy, and I completely forgot about the question he'd just asked.
If I'd been paying more attention, I would have realized—this was the second time Suo Tian had asked me this question.
And he was not the type of person to repeat himself lightly.
.............
There are many things in this world that seem like they can be expressed in rich, vivid language—but when those things actually happen, all words suddenly feel pale and powerless to those who've truly experienced them.
After shutting himself in his room for two full days, Shen Feng had completely worn out our patience.
When Xu Shu and I finally forced the door open, we found Shen Feng already unconscious, lying on the bedroom floor—no one knew how long he'd been like that.
The moment we saw him, chaos erupted.
Everyone scrambled to lift him onto the bed, and someone was immediately sent to call Suo Tian—who, at this point, was the only one among us who could barely be considered a doctor.
After a brief examination, Suo Tian gave us a diagnosis I found hard to accept: excessive grief.
All of us… we had left Shen Feng alone in that room to face the pain of losing his sister—his family—completely by himself.
Back then, we said we'd give him some time alone to process things, but in truth, we were all just trying to avoid him… and avoid the grief.
Seeing him reminded us of Shen Xue, and none of us wanted to carry that sorrow around constantly.
From the moment Xiao Xue was bitten until now, Shen Feng hadn't eaten a single bite.
Suo Tian found a bottle of glucose and fed it to him, then told us to prepare something warm for when he woke up, so he could eat a little.
While we were waiting for Shen Feng to regain consciousness, Yangyang asked me for a rough rundown of everything that had happened lately.
When he learned that Uncle Gazi had taken in Suo Tian and me, he sighed and said, "Kind-hearted people really do seem to survive longer."
After that, he glanced over at Shen Feng lying on the bed.
Probably reminded of Shen Xue's early death, he sighed again and added, "Heaven treated Sister Shen Xue unfairly."
I patted him on the shoulder and said, "That's just fate. Xiao Xue was the one it landed on. If you want to talk about unfairness, then aren't all those walkers out there even more pitiful?"
Han Xue, who had followed us over, overheard my conversation with Yangyang and leaned in to add, "They really are pretty pitiful, though. All rotted like that—can't die even if they want to, and can't really live either. I wonder if they're still conscious. If they are, seeing their own bodies decay like that… what must that feel like?"
Yangyang gave her a helpless look and said, "Sis Han Xue, could you not be so innocent and sentimental all of a sudden? You're usually so pervy and shameless—how come the moment we talk about walkers, you instantly turn into some tragic, melancholic goddess?"
"Yangyang!" I shot him a glare.
"Watch your mouth—Han Xue is older than you, don't you know that?!"
Hearing that, Han Xue waved her hand dismissively and said, "I'm not going to fuss with a brat like him. Besides, he's not wrong. It's a bad habit, really. Those walkers, when they come gnawing at me, aren't going to care one bit whether I was worried about their rotting bodies hurting or not."
After a short pause, she grinned at me and added, "Hehe, my thoughts sometimes just get away from me. But hey—don't go thinking I'm crazy or anything."
I smiled back at her and said, "How could a crazy person be this pretty?"
"How could there not be? Before Yangyang came back, he used to tell me all the time how cute, lovable, well-behaved, and pretty Rongrong was. And now? She's gone crazy too, hasn't she? She's locked up, with someone watching her—I saw it myself yesterday."
Han Xue had always been the blunt type.
It took me a while to snap out of it after hearing her words.
I mumbled a couple of dry responses, then turned my head to look at Yangyang.
He used to treasure Rongrong like she was a precious gem.
But just a few days ago, the way he looked at her was filled with nothing but disgust and cold scrutiny—any trace of affection or fondness was completely gone.
And honestly… it made sense.
The fact that Rongrong had caused Xiao Xue's death was undeniable.
Whether or not there were other factors involved, the wound she inflicted was certainly the main cause.
That alone was more than enough for many people to condemn her in their hearts.
I glanced at Suo Tian, and only then did the tightness in my chest ease slightly.
Fortunately, he was still here—so Rongrong still had a chance to live.
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