"There's nothing wrong with his brain."
Several old poplar trees, lush and leafy, surrounded the Qiaoyan Town Police Station, revealing a glimpse of greenery through the windows. The midday sun filtered through the leaves, casting a bright and peaceful light upon the three of them.
A serious-looking male police officer told Old Yang and the pretty girl, "I checked. He's a freshman at Heping Medical College this year, majoring in forensic medicine. And don't let his age limit fool you; he started school late, skipping several grades. There's no way he has a mental problem."
Heping Medical College is the pride of Jiangqi City, the nation's top medical university, with an exceptionally high admission score. Qiaoyan Town might not even produce one in years.
Old Yang and the pretty girl looked at Xia Bai by the window across from them in surprise.
They knew he was 19, yet he looked like a middle schooler, his frame frail. He wore a green shirt and carried a small white crossbody bag, looking even more youthful than the foliage outside.
They knew he had a handsome face, which had led the pretty girl to believe he was being harassed. But his eyes, well, didn't look bright. His words, too, weren't quite right.
Old Yang: "What? Heping Medical College? He's the only one who's
studying forensic medicine?" "I think he's a good fit for forensic medicine." The pretty sister had a different opinion.
"Why?" Old Yang was puzzled. How could someone who kept calling out "the God of Joy" be suitable for forensic medicine?
The pretty sister said, "Isn't he related to corpse drivers? I heard corpse drivers have many ways of driving corpses, and one of them is dismembering and reassembling the body. I think that's on the right track."
Old Yang: "..."
The pretty sister added, "At least, at least he won't be afraid of the cadaver teacher anymore."
The male police officer asked, "Do you really believe what he said?"
Old Yang: "So he came to the police station looking for trouble because he had nothing better to do? Look how anxious he is. But it's unlikely that the God of Joy got lost on his own. He might have been stolen."
The male police officer was upright. "Even if what he said is true, five Gods of Joy? Then we have to consider the possibility that he stole the body."
Old Yang thought for a moment. "Let's go to his house and check."
Xia Bai lived in Minshi Village, Qiaoyan Town, on the very edge of the village, some distance away from the other villagers' homes, all at the foot of the mountain.
Once inside his yard, they understood why. The coffins buried there would surely scare the neighbors if they lived close by.
Old Yang asked, "Were these originally filled with corpses? How did your house end up with so many? Don't even mention being a corpse driver; how could you still do that in this day and age?"
"I'm not," Xia Bai answered truthfully. "My grandfather was a corpse driver when he was young. These five were homeless back then, so he took them in and gave them a home."
"…"
The three of them inspected the scene and checked the security footage.
This was what Xia Bai needed most: he wanted to see where his family's god of happiness had gone.
But he was disappointed. The surveillance footage only showed the road, not his yard, at most, toward his front door. The surveillance showed no five skeletons leaving his house.
Of course not; that was normal.
No suspicious people had entered or left his house. The most suspicious thing was that the lights were still on at one in the morning.
The three turned to look at Xia Bai behind them.
Xia Bai had already escaped.
He had been recaptured.
Standing at the door of the police station, Lao Yang asked him sternly: "Are you kidding us? Do you know the consequences?"
Xia Bai lowered his head and said softly: "Thank you for trusting me and helping me investigate seriously. I didn't kid you."
"Didn't lie to me?"
"No."
Lao Yang stared at him for a few seconds and asked him: "When will you report?"
The topic changed too quickly. Xia Bai took a moment to react and realized that he was talking about reporting for college admission. "The day after tomorrow."
Seeing that he was like an eggplant hit by frost, Lao Yang scolded him harshly: "What are you worried about here? If you have to worry, you should worry about meeting your God of Happiness, right?"
Xia Bai: "..."
Lao Yang lit a cigarette, but didn't smoke it. He held it in his hand and rubbed it, "Do you really want to find the God of Happiness? No matter what?"
Xia Bai only asked: "If you find it, will it still be our God of Happiness?"
"He must have turned into bones over the years. Who would want a skeleton?" Lao Yang said that he understood what Xia Bai was worried about.
Xia Bai opened his mouth to say something, but the words that came out of his mouth changed to, "I really want to find them."
"Okay." Lao Yang put out his cigarette. "This isn't under our jurisdiction, and there's nothing we can do about it. There are departments that can handle it, and I'll report it to them."
After taking a few steps, he turned back to Xia Bai and said, "Don't worry, that department is very capable. You should prepare well for school...why not buy some food?"
Xia Bai's mind suddenly flashed back to the photos he'd seen last night. By the time he came to his senses, Lao Yang had already walked away.
Xia Bai stood on tiptoe. "Thank you!"
Feeling a little relieved, he hopped on his electric scooter and headed to the town supermarket to buy food.
On the way, he could clearly sense the tension in the town, with pedestrians hurrying and car horns blaring. Fortunately, a basic sense of order still existed. He entered the nearest supermarket, which was quite crowded. As he picked up canned goods and other convenience foods, he listened to the gossip around him.
Quanguang City had indeed been sealed off today, citing a pollution source and no one outside was allowed to approach.
Many people carefully consider the origin of their food when choosing it, but no one bought anything from Quanguang City. Everything on sale was also from Quanguang City, very cheap, and Xia Bai snagged quite a few bargains.
He didn't buy much; it would have been inconvenient to bring to school, and of course, he didn't have the money.
By the time he got home, it was already dark.
Xia Bai sat on the threshold, staring at the empty coffins filling the yard. He had no appetite, no desire to eat.
He sat there for a long time, unable to sleep, his pillow alone, unable to fall asleep. It was
a lonely, melancholy night.
Xia Bai thought he wouldn't get any further information before school. Unexpectedly, the next morning, Lao Yang and his men knocked on the door.
Including Lao Yang, there were four of them: two men and one woman.
After a brief introduction, the woman paced the yard with a cell phone, seemingly testing something. Lao Yang and the two men examined the coffin, while Xia Bai went to the kitchen to make them some tea.
"He's probably right. There was definitely a body in the coffin before," the man in the red T-shirt said.
"It's a little unusual, but not up to standard," the woman said.
The man in the white shirt asked Lao Yang, "Are you sure he didn't steal corpses?"
"Yes," Lao Yang said, "I asked Xiao Lei to do a detailed investigation. He did often go to places like cemeteries and funeral homes, but he never stole corpses."
The woman was puzzled: "No, if he didn't steal corpses, why would he often go to cemeteries?"
Lao Yang was also a little confused, as if he couldn't believe what he said. "He should be taking a walk to digest his food. I heard from the villagers that he often went there for a walk after dinner."
"..."
"What about the funeral home?"
"The person who cremated the bodies said that he often went to the crematorium to see it, and every time he did, he looked sad and reluctant."
"..."
The four of them turned their heads to look at Xia Bai in unison. Xia Bai was in the kitchen, which was in the west corner of the yard. There was a big window. Xia Bai was standing by the window making tea for them. He might have felt their gazes, so he looked up at them with a blank look on his face.
He had a pair of beautiful big eyes, and his pupils were much lighter than those of normal people. He looked clean and innocent, and his blank look was very simple.
"He is so weird, there might be something wrong with him." said the man in the red T-shirt.
Xia Bai looked away from the man in the red T-shirt, brought some chrysanthemum tea for reducing internal heat, and placed it on the wooden table outside.
The four of them came over, not minding the coffins all over the yard. After expressing their gratitude, they picked up the tea and drank it slowly.
The woman asked, "Classmate Xia Bai, you said that the God of Happiness you lost was taken in by your grandfather when he was young and driving corpses?"
Xia Bai nodded, "Yes."
"That must have been a while ago. Now there is only a skeleton left at most. If you are not lying, five skeletons will definitely cause a big commotion after they are released, but so far there has been no relevant news in the whole town."
Xia Bai opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Lao Yang: "Speak, don't be secretive."
"Actually, they are not skeletons." Xia Bai had to tell the truth, "If you look at them from a distance at night, they look quite like living people."
"How is that possible! People who have been dead for decades, you say they look quite like living people?" The man in the red t-shirt was full of disbelief, "Are you kidding us? The idea that the God of Happiness is missing is a lie, right?"
The man in the white shirt lowered his eyes to look at Xia Bai. He looked gentle, clean and refreshed. He asked, "How do you know they look like living people?"
For the first time, Xia Bai showed a guilty expression in front of them. The man in the red t-shirt thought he'd finally revealed his hand, when he heard him say, "I secretly dug them out."
"..." It wasn't hard to understand; after all, he often visited the cemetery to help digest his food and mourned the cremation of the bodies.
The woman and the man in the red t-shirt were speechless, but the man in the white shirt pressed on, "Why did you dig them out?"
Xia Bai: "..."
Xia Bai fell silent, a blush etched beneath his thin face.
"..."
"There's definitely something wrong with him! Let's take him back and do..."
"Shut up!" The man in the red t-shirt was interrupted by the woman before he could finish.
The woman told Xia Bai, "We'll help you find him. Your situation is a bit complicated. For safety, we need someone to stay with you."
Xia Bai said, "I'm going to register for school tomorrow."
"Which school?"
"Peace Medical College."
The woman glanced at the man in the white shirt, who then looked at the man in the red t-shirt. The man in the red t-shirt resigned himself to his fate and said, "Do you mind if they come to your house while you're looking? I can accompany you to register?"
Xia Bai pursed his lips and nodded in agreement.
Before leaving, Lao Yang said to him, "Don't worry, he's mainly trying to keep you safe. He's very capable."
Xia Bai responded. He knew he was very capable, even though he was a bit noisy. The person in the photo he saw in the post the night before was covered in blood but with a calm look. It was him.
Lao Yang said his name was Hua Haoming.
Heping Medical College was in Jiangqi City. It was only an hour and forty minutes' drive from Xia Bai's home to the school. Hua Haoming gave Xia Bai time to pack his things and came after lunch.
Someone got there before him. When Hua Haoming arrived, a flashy red luxury car was parked in front of Xia Bai's simple courtyard.
Xia Bai's courtyard had been cleaned up after the inspection yesterday, and a boy had just entered. Seeing Hua Haoming coming, Xia Bai said to him, "This is my high school classmate Lin Xiang. He said he would come to take me to school."
Lin Xiang asked, "Xia Bai, who is this?"
Xia Bai raised his eyes to glance at Hua Haoming, who squeezed out four words, "Distant relative... friend."
"..."
Xia Bai said, "He was worried about me and took me to school too."
"Oh, oh, oh." Lin Xiang called Hua Haoming "brother" without any hesitation. He asked Xia Bai, "Do you have a cell phone?"
"Yeah," Xia Bai nodded, pulling out an old phone with a cracked screen. "Grandpa's."
Lin Xiang, about to pull his new phone from his pocket, shoved it back in his pocket. "Great! Now you have a phone, and we can keep in touch."
He pulled his own phone from another pocket. "Quick, quick, add me as a friend!" After
adding Xia Bai as a friend, he contentedly helped Xia Bai pick up the snakeskin bag. "Shall we leave now?"
Hua Haoming observed his small movements, but he was thinking, "Xia Bai hadn't used a phone to surf the internet before he was eighteen. No wonder he was so... weird.
" Of course, that didn't fully explain his strangeness.
Xia Bai had quite a lot of luggage, so Lin Xiang helped him carry a pink and white snakeskin bag and another blue and white one. Hua Haoming glanced at his frail frame, picked up the blue and white snakeskin bag, and headed out.
Xia Bai, carrying his schoolbag and a briefcase, followed behind him, saying thank you.
They both drove, and when they reached the door, Xia Bai didn't know which one to get into.
Hua Haoming said, "Let's go to his car. I'll leave mine here."
The three of them got into Lin Xiang's car, which drove them to Heping Medical College.
Lin Xiang was a chatterbox, and Hua Haoming wasn't quiet either. Besides, he was eager to learn more about Xia Bai, so it wasn't long before the two of them were chatting.
Hua Haoming asked, "Are you and Xia Bai very good friends?"
Lin Xiang nodded repeatedly. "Of course. At least I consider Xia Bai my best friend. Xia Bai is very nice."
Hua Haoming asked, "Because he's good-looking and a good student?"
Middle school students care most about their grades and appearance on campus.
"Of course," Lin Xiang said proudly. "But that's all superficial. The most important thing is that Xia Bai is sincere to me. Very sincere."
Hua Haoming looked at Xia Bai in the passenger seat. From his vantage point, he could only see Xia Bai turning his head to look out the window. The shadows of the aged ginkgo leaves shone against his fair chin in the sunlight.
Hua Haoming pulled down his baseball cap and smiled, "Oh?"
His jaw tightened slightly.
Lin Xiang was still very moved when he talked about that incident now, "I have been sleepwalking since I was a child. It was okay at home before, but during the military training outside in my first year of high school, I sleepwalked to the cemetery. I am really afraid of dead people and ghosts. If I woke up and found myself sleeping on a grave, I would be scared to death. It was Xia Bai who chased me all the way to the cemetery and carried me out. Although he kept saying that he didn't go to find me on purpose, I knew it was true. Is he going to the cemetery for a walk in the middle of the night?"
"..."
The car turned into a busy street. Maybe the other two were watching the excitement, and it was very quiet.
"When I woke up, I was lying on Xia Bai's back. The cemetery was behind me. I don't have any psychological trauma. I just remember that the moon was very bright that night."
"He was so thin, but he carried me out."
Lin Xiang chattered a lot along the way, Hua Haoming seemed quite happy to hear it, and Xia Bai didn't seem to have any objections. They
were in harmony all the way.
Finally, they arrived at Heping Medical College.
The next second after the car stopped, Xia Bai opened the door, lowered his head and got out of the car, patting his face lightly.
Just like when he got on the car, Lin Xiang and Hua Haoming each helped him carry a snakeskin bag, and he carried a schoolbag on his back and a file bag in his arms. Wearing
two big snakeskin bags, one pink and one blue, and red, yellow and green tops, the three of them stood in front of the gate of this century-old prestigious school.