13. Forgotten Past

Gu Song's story about Lop Nur was actually pretty captivating.

At least I listened with great interest. I was also curious—did they ever find that missing hiker who wandered off to relieve himself, and what exactly happened to them that night?

"When we got back to camp, the other group had already returned. They found the guy, but something was wrong with him. He looked dazed, wouldn't answer any questions, and his eyes had lost their usual spark. The Captain said he was probably possessed, that he must have run into something unclean. Oh, I haven't told you about our Captain yet. Every time we go hiking, we go in groups—sometimes four or five, sometimes a dozen or twenty. But no matter the size, we always pick a Captain. After all, group activities need someone to take the lead, someone to make the final call when opinions clash."

I nodded. I could understand that. More people meant more ideas—some wanting this, others wanting that. It was hard to reach a consensus, so having a leader was necessary.

"Our Captain was from the north, very sturdy and tall. He had a lot of experience, so when he said that, we all thought it made sense. But honestly, my wife and I had been on plenty of these hikes before, and this was the first time we'd encountered something like this. My wife doesn't really believe in ghosts or spirits, so she dismissed the Captain's talk of possession. She thought the guy must have been scared by something—clearly a case of extreme fright."

I didn't say anything. I wasn't there, so I didn't know what really happened. Without investigation, I had no right to speak.

"That night, the Captain stayed with the guy. They were close friends, old partners. As for the rest of us, the Captain told us to get a good rest. We offered to take turns watching him, but he said no, he'd handle it, and told us to sleep so we could hit the road early the next morning. Since he insisted, we didn't argue—after all, he had the best stamina out of all of us."

Gu Song paused and licked his lips. "Strange thing, though. Normally, when we sleep out in the wild, we're always on edge—any little sound wakes us up. But that night, we all slept straight through till dawn. When we woke up, it was almost nine. The Captain and that guy were still sound asleep. We didn't wake them right away; we waited until after ten. According to our plan, we had to walk ten miles to catch a ride, and the car was scheduled for noon. Even though the driver would wait, we didn't want to be late. When we finally woke them up, the guy was completely fine. But when we asked him what happened last night, he said he couldn't remember. I think he was lying, though. I'm a teacher—I can usually tell when a student is lying or telling the truth. Also, the Captain kept changing the subject, rambling about this and that, not letting us ask more questions. So we dropped it."

I didn't catch anything unusual from that.

But Duan Hongbin said to me, "Ask him if that guy's expression back then looked like his wife's when she'd zone out later."

I asked as instructed. Gu Song was taken aback, thought for a moment, then replied, "Now that you mention it, I never noticed before, but there is some resemblance. Only she wasn't as bad off as him—not as severe. At least she could still cry and laugh. That guy back then was like a dummy, even his facial expressions were stiff."

"How long after you got back did your wife start acting strange?"

"Exactly one week later. Yeah, one week. Xiao Bai, do you think my wife ending up like this has something to do with what happened that night at Lop Nur?"

I didn't answer. I just asked him to give me the contact info for those hikers. He hesitated but eventually wrote down a few numbers.

I glanced at Duan Hongbin. This was his idea too—he must have had suspicions about Gu Song and his wife's Lop Nur trip.

"Mr. Gu, I have to go back to my earlier question. What do you want me to do? What outcome are you hoping for?" I couldn't help asking again. At least I needed to know what he wanted, to see if I could help.

He replied, "I want to know the truth about her death. Also, why did I receive that message from her? If she was really murdered, the killer can't be allowed to get away."

"Mr. Gu, here's the deal. I'll look into this for you, but I can't make any promises. I can't even guarantee I'll find out how your wife died. But I'll do my best. Of course, you'll need to give me time. You know how difficult this kind of investigation is. Also..."

I trailed off. I was about to talk about money, but I felt it might be too tacky. Besides, I was now part of the Ninth Bureau, Fifth Division Special Ops—should I even be charging for this? Or was this already within my scope of investigation?

Blame Xie Yi for not explaining things clearly.

Gu Song was perceptive. Seeing me hesitate, he immediately pulled two stacks of hundred-yuan bills from his bag. "Here's twenty thousand. I know investigations cost money. If you really catch the murderer who killed my wife, there'll be a bigger reward."

I looked at the money, then said, "Alright. I'll go to your place tomorrow and take a look first."

That was also Duan Hongbin's idea. To figure out how Gu Song's wife died, we needed to know more about her.

Gu Song left. I didn't stop him, even though the smell of food was already drifting from the kitchen. I'm not a hypocrite, and I'm not good with people—especially strangers.

So I skipped even the basic pleasantries.

But I knew I had to slowly adapt to interacting with society, to dealing with all kinds of people.

With those dreams about the Little Ancestral Hall Entrance and Xie Yi's appearance, I already sensed that my life would no longer be calm. I couldn't keep living in my own world.

"What do you think?"

Duan Hongbin's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"I don't know. Honestly, I haven't gotten into the role yet. And I don't think I have the ability to solve this kind of problem." I shrugged, looking helpless.

Duan Hongbin stared at me, his gaze sharp. "You can do it. You just lack confidence."

I gave a bitter smile. I really wasn't confident. I had no reason to be.

"You created us. You have all our abilities. But you rely on us too much. I wonder—if one day you realized we don't actually exist, what would you do then?"

I fell silent. I had never thought about that. They were my closest friends, my brothers. How could they not exist?

"Time to eat."

Xu Qiuyan appeared in front of me without me noticing. I snapped back to reality.

"That guy left?" she asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh, wash your hands and eat." She didn't ask more.

During dinner, I told her about Gu Song's situation. Xie Yi had said we were partners now, so this involved her too.

She listened carefully, not interrupting.

Only after I finished did she speak. "What do you think?"

I was stumped. I really didn't have an opinion. I felt like Duan Hongbin should handle this—he was the expert, and I was nothing.

Seeing my expression, she smiled. "Don't rush. Take it slow. There's always a way. By the way, I want to take you to meet someone."

Her train of thought jumped to something else, but I was curious. Who did she want me to meet?

I believed it had to be someone I knew, or she wouldn't have wanted to bring me along.

It was past seven when we left. The city lights were just coming on.

She drove the car Xie Yi had left behind. I sat nervously beside her—it was my first time riding with her behind the wheel. She drove even more recklessly than Xie Yi, and I knew she didn't have a license.

"Slow down!" I warned.

She just smiled at me and floored the gas. The car shot forward even faster. I grabbed the handrail and shut my mouth, saying nothing more.

When had this girl become so wild? Was this still the same Xu Qiuyan from before?

Suddenly, I remembered what she'd told me—that she was like me. Could it be that this wasn't really her right now?