Ran Jingjing frowned, “You followed me?”
Bai Lixin stood in the grove, his gaze sweeping over Ran Jingjing’s face and then at the solid, gray-brown ground.
The small tree in front of Ran Jingjing was much thicker than the surrounding ones, either due to its genetics or because it had received more nutrients than the others.
Seeing Bai Lixin approach her, the woman’s pupils trembled. She tried to do something, but upon seeing the look in Bai Lixin’s eyes, the smart woman realized that any action was futile.
It was unknown where the young man got his tools from, but when he reached Ran Jingjing’s side, he started prying at the ground.
Ran Jingjing’s expression was complex, as if she wanted to speak but held back.
Bai Lixin held a flat, black, rectangular metal tool that was engraved with uneven beast totems on its surface.
Rather than a shovel, it resembled a spindle shaped black shield.
The black shield didn’t need a handle. It just kept shoveling soil and with each dig, half the ground disappeared.
Ran Jingjing rubbed her eyes, and after confirming she wasn’t mistaken, she looked at the young man beside her with a complicated expression.
The young man’s features were strikingly beautiful in the night, devoid of any aggressive expression. Yet Ran Jingjing suddenly felt an inexplicable fear.
With each shovelful, the pile of soil beside them grew higher and higher.
Until they heard a “thud”. The shield seemed to have struck something hard beneath the surface.
Ran Jingjing suddenly became anxious. She stepped in to stop Bai Lixin’s actions. “Don’t touch it. Let me take it out myself.”
The woman bent down and carefully extracted something about the size of a chest from the ground.
The outer layer was covered in muddy soil. Ran Jingjing brushed away the dirt and began to unwrap the tattered cloth strips layer by layer.
The cloth was tightly wrapped. She sat on the ground, her expression serious, eyes fixed intently on the box in front of her, her movements very gentle.
When all the cloth was removed, a locked iron box was revealed.
It was clear that this item had been buried for years. Even though it was wrapped in multiple layers of cloth, the iron box inside had not escaped corrosion.
Through the rusted surface, some beautiful patterns could still be vaguely seen carved on the box.
Bai Lixin leaned in for a closer look. Blurry lines extended and connected, forming patterns resembling small flowers.
Ran Jingjing stared at the box for a while, then pulled out a necklace from her chest with a somewhat lonely look.
The pendant on the necklace was a key. Ran Jingjing inserted the key into the lock and twisted it hard several times. The rusty lock made a harsh “click” friction sound, like the sound of a rodent grinding its teeth after a hearty meal.
The box slowly opened.
A human head was lying quietly in the square iron box.
Strangely, while the outer iron box was rusted, the head inside looked vivid and lifelike, still fresh.
It was the head of a young girl.
She had long, jet-black hair. The black hair spread out at the bottom of the box, resembling a huge black bellflower.
The girl’s eyes were slightly closed, a sweet smile still hanging on her face, as if she were only sleeping.
Moonlight fell on her face, making her skin appear as smooth and delicate as water.
Her thick, long eyelashes cast a shadow over her eyes, and as the moonlight shifted, the shadows changed. For a moment, it seemed like her eyelashes were trembling lightly, as if she were about to wake up from a sweet dream.
Bai Lixin recognized this girl, yet he also felt that she was somewhat unfamiliar.
He knew her because she had the same face as Su Xiaohua.
But she felt unfamiliar because this girl now seemed too perfect, like the moon hanging in the sky, completely different from the somewhat timid Su Xiaohua in the photos.
Ran Jingjing’s fingertips trembled. She carefully wiped her hands clean with a wet tissue, not leaving a speck of dirt even from under her fingernails. Then, she gently and cautiously stroked the girl’s hair in the box, her eyes full of deep affection. “Yes, she’s Su Xiaohua, the Su Xiaohua you’ve been looking for.”
[Ding!] The system notification that had been silent for a long time, suddenly rang out. [Congratulations to the player for finding Su Xiaohua (one of them). Completion of the task: 20%.]
[You’re really amazing! Please keep it up. You’re now 80% away from completing the task.]
Bai Lixin: “…”
Ran Jingjing lifted her chin. “I know what you want to ask.”
“You want to ask why Su Xiaohua is here, and why there’s only a head left, right?”
“I don’t know what happened either.”
Suddenly, lightning flashed across the sky.
A bright blue light split the sky in half, accompanied by a rumbling thunder.
At the end of the night, it seemed like something was beginning to stir.
Bai Lixin glanced at the sky. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”
Ran Jingjing looked at the box in her hand. “What about Xiaohua…”
Bai Lixin: “Can we take her with us?”
Ran Jingjing: “Okay.”
While Ran Jingjing carefully packed the box containing Su Xiaohua’s skull, Bai Lixin had already used the shield to restore the soil to its original state.
Above them, dense clouds began to gather gradually. With lightning and thunder, it seemed like a torrential rain was about to pour down any moment.
Ran Jingjing held the box tightly to her chest, frowning at the sky.
The two of them walked out of the crematorium, one after the other. In the distance, they saw the driver scratching his head with a look of worry, and he was pointing the flashlight of his phone around.
“You’re out?!” The driver exclaimed in surprise. “Hurry up and get in the car. Let’s go quickly. It looks like it’s going to rain soon.”
He glanced at the sky, shook his head and muttered as he walked away, “Strange, the weather forecast didn’t say there’d be rain today.”
The three of them sat down, and the driver skillfully changed direction to leave the crematorium.
Ran Jingjing sat alone in the back, and she became very quiet.
She still held the box tightly in her arms, not caring that the clean clothes on her body were dirtied by the dirt on it.
The driver looked at the old square box in her arms through the rearview mirror, and then remembered that she went in empty-handed.
They had just come from a crematorium…A strange thought suddenly struck him. He opened his mouth but stopped himself after seeing Ran Jingjing’s lost eyes. He instead pursed his lips, deciding to focus on driving seriously.
After driving for a while, the driver glanced at the rearview mirror with a more puzzled expression.
“Why do I feel… that this thunder and lightning seems to be following us?”
Then the driver chuckled at himself, “How is that possible? Could it be that this thunder and lightning is alive and wants to race with me?”
Ran Jingjing: “…”
“Then step on the gas,” Bai Lixin said, “Just in case.”
Driver: “???”
Ahead was an intersection, and the driver made a turn.
Then he found that the lightning and thunder behind them also made a turn.
The driver instantly floored the gas pedal. “??!”
‘Fuck, is it really chasing us?
Please don’t come over!’
While the driver was busy playing a game of chase with the thunder and lightning chasing after them, Ran Jingjing, who had been silent all along, slowly spoke up, “Ten years ago, I received a call from Xiaohua.”
“I lied.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
Ran Jingjing fell into reminiscence.
“That day, I got a call from Xiaohua, saying she was trapped by Cao Ji’an in an abandoned factory. Her voice was already very weak, and I used the mobile phone’s positioning to find the factory’s location.”
“But it was already too late when I got there, and I saw Cao Ji’an filling a pit.”
“At that time, Cao Ji’an had a shovel in his hand, and I had nothing beside me. His expression was terrifying, his eyes bloodshot, like a wild beast. Fear and reason told me I wasn’t his match, so I hid out of fear.”
“It wasn’t until that monster Cao Ji’an left that I ran to the freshly buried pit.”
“I dug hard, praying all the while that it was just my imagination and it couldn’t be true. This couldn’t be Xiaohua.”
“But fantasies are just fantasies.”
“I saw Xiaohua inside. She was pale and covered in blood.”
“She lay quietly in the mud, as if she were just sleeping peacefully.”
“I dragged her out desperately, performed CPR, and called her name.”
“Just when I was trying hard to revive Xiaohua, I lost consciousness.”
Bai Lixin: “Someone attacked you?”
Ran Jingjing looked puzzled. “I don’t know either. At that time, all my thoughts were on Xiaohua, and I didn’t notice anything else. I also want to know why I lost consciousness.”
“Anyway, when I woke up, I was still in that abandoned factory.”
Ran Jingjing paused and continued slowly. “Only Xiaohua’s head was left in my arms.”
The car suddenly turned sharply. The driver’s face was pale and his voice was trembling. “You, you continue, just, just, just pretend I’m a tool, pretend I don’t exist.”
Ran Jingjing was silent for two seconds, then continued.
“And her body was nowhere to be found.”
“I was covered in blood, and holding a machete that matched the wound on Xiaohua’s neck.”
Ran Jingjing closed her eyes in pain. “I don’t know what happened back then.”
“For so many years, I’ve been searching for the truth of that year.”
“Did I have a mental breakdown? Did I dismember Xiaohua a second time and dispose of her body?”
“Or was I attacked from behind by someone?”
“All the clues at the time were against me, so I couldn’t call the police. So I chose to handle everything. I buried Xiaohua’s head and left the scene.”
“After that, I joined a law firm and participated in many lawsuits for free, all to find an opportunity to investigate the truth of that year. People related to Xiaohua, Cao Jian’an, Su Hong, Shen Shukuang, Li Chongming… I investigated everyone thoroughly.”
“In the process of investigation, I found that many of us had similar habits and characteristics…”
“Although it was difficult, I had to confirm that maybe we are really Xiaohua’s personalities.”
“If we are just personalities of Xiaohua, then who are we? Where are we? This place can’t even be called a real world.”
“Bai Lixin.” Ran Jingjing looked up, her eyes full of confusion. “Tell me, what is true and what is false? What is the meaning of our existence?”
“If I am Xiaohua’s personality, then I should exist for Xiaohua. But where is Xiaohua now?”
“She is reduced to just a head in my hands, a vivid head, just an ornament.”
“Who killed Xiaohua?”
Bai Lixin pondered for a moment. “Ran Jingjing, when you woke up back then, what was the condition of Su Xiaohua’s head?”
Ran Jinjing struggled out of her grief. Perhaps the scene at that time was too profound, she almost didn’t think deeply before she replied, “Just about the same as now.”
She caressed the box in her hands. “Quiet and peaceful, as if just taking a nap in the afternoon.”
Bai Lixin: “…”
