To live is not terrifying; one can endure any hardship.
To die is also not terrifying; it is merely annihilation.
According to their accounts, there is still a chance for reincarnation.
The most dreadful thing for a person, perhaps, is to be half-alive and half-dead.
Wanting to live but unable to move, wanting to die but unable to cease.
Wrapped within such a bundle of paper, with zero freedom, it was utterly suffocating.
If I were in their shoes, I doubt I could endure it, let alone four hundred years, or even forty, or four, but merely four days.
So pitiful.
Yet, on the other hand, were the over one hundred "ye bu shou" who died saving her not also worthy of pity?
Whether it was self-inflicted or like moths to a flame, these were, after all, over one hundred living souls…
As I was contemplating this, the doorbell rang.
No, how could Zheng Bingbing be this fast? It's only been a few minutes; not even enough time to cook noodles.
I didn't respond, stealthily approaching the door and peeking through the peephole.
Indeed, it wasn't Zheng Bingbing, but a strange man. It couldn't be the landlord either; though I hadn't met the landlord, Bingbing had said the landlord was a middle-aged woman.
I didn't open the door. However, the man seemed to sense the change in light from the peephole (as I had moved closer), and after confirming someone was inside, he left the building. I noticed his steps were unusually light, very much like Zheng Bingbing's walking style. He was either a professional athlete or involved in such a profession; definitely not an ordinary citizen.
After his figure disappeared, I went to the window, parted the curtains slightly, and looked out. I saw the man walk to a nearby community pavilion, sit on a stone bench, and begin to stare intently at our building's entrance, seemingly staking it out.
Could my whereabouts have been exposed?
There was no reason for it. This is an old neighborhood; there aren't even surveillance cameras. That Mitsubishi Pajero was also hidden behind a disused factory. By what clue was he tracking me?
Regardless, I felt an immediate need to relocate, but without Zheng Bingbing's help, it would be difficult.
I immediately sent Bingbing a WeChat message, telling her not to buy food anymore and not to return from the south entrance. Instead, she was to go around to the north side of the building, and I would help her in from the window.
Bingbing replied: "Two servings of fried rice are ready, do you still want them?"
Of course, I did. Humans are iron, and food is steel. How could I duangduangduang without being full?
About three minutes later, Bingbing messaged me, saying she was downstairs on the north side.
I looked out the window again at the mysterious man. He was still in the pavilion, seemingly let down his guard, and was looking down at his phone.
I went to the north window, carefully opened it, and Zheng Bingbing climbed in. I closed the window and asked her what was wrong.
I led her to the south side to look at the man.
"Ah! I've seen him!" Bingbing exclaimed.
"When?" I asked.
"When I went to get the keys from the landlord, I passed by the town police station and saw him and a plainclothes officer driving out of the main gate. They almost hit me! And he cursed at me for not watching where I was going. But for my safety, I didn't curse back. Thinking about it now still makes me angry!" Zheng Bingbing said indignantly.
I understood. He was a police officer, a plainclothes officer. He must have seen photos of us two "fugitives" and recognized Zheng Bingbing.
It seemed Shen Xingyue had already involved official forces. The reason the plainclothes officer hadn't acted rashly was likely that he was waiting for reinforcements. After all, police presence in townships is quite weak. For lawbreakers like us, who dared to "steal wood" from a sheer cliff and escape successfully, they might not dare to confront us head-on.
"We need to move immediately," I said.
"Where else can we move to?" Zheng Bingbing said, clutching her rumbling stomach and complaining bitterly.
I looked at the map on my phone. Further north of this residential complex was the boundary of the Hualou Town residential area. There were no markings on the map, just large expanses of empty land, likely farmland.
At this time of year, crops in the north would be growing vigorously, making it a good place to hide.
If it were a sorghum field, perhaps I could even take this opportunity to sleep under the stars and earth, recreating a classic scene from "Red Sorghum"…