The Sleeping Corpse Path Deserves Death

Shen Qing pondered Zhou Ming's final words.

He did not know why he would say such things to them; perhaps he was out of options, or perhaps he had realized that their identities were far from ordinary.

"After the instructor dies, there will be no one to provide for her. The old woman is ill herself, but in this situation, she is eligible to apply for the Five Guarantees."

Chen Chen stood to the side, his expression equally complex.

He finally realized that this so-called extraordinary world was not what he had imagined.

After the three of them remained silent for a few seconds, Xie Chong suddenly spoke, "Well, shall we go take a look?"

Zhou Ming's hometown was a village near Binhai City.

Xie Chong drove, and the three of them arrived at the village an hour later, only finding the place after asking around for quite a while.

It was at the end of an alley.

It could not be called dilapidated, nor could it be called nice; it was just a standard rural layout.

In the small, modest courtyard stood a single-story house about three meters high, consisting of three rooms, with a few chickens roaming the yard.

A frail, elderly woman was holding a chipped iron basin, feeding the chickens a mixture of wheat bran and vegetable scraps.

"Are you Grandma Chen?"

Hearing the commotion at the entrance, the old woman straightened her back and scrutinized the three of them with confusion, "...Who are you?"

"Hello, Grandma. We are students of Mr. Zhou Ming."

Shen Qing maintained a calm demeanor and said, "We happened to be passing through the area, so we thought we would come to visit you."

The old woman froze for a moment, seemingly never having expected her son's students to pay a visit. "Mingming's students?"

She hurriedly gestured for Shen Qing and the others to come inside, her movements slow and clearly hindered by physical difficulty.

The room was not large; the entrance served as both a kitchen and a main hall, featuring a stove with a soot-blackened hearth.

Beyond that was a room that served as both bedroom and living area, containing a heated brick bed instead of a bed frame. The furniture was old and covered in plastic sheeting, and the television was even one of those bulky, old-fashioned models.

However, the room was very clean.

"Sit, sit, I'll go pour you some water." The old woman greeted them, turning toward the stove area.

"No need, Grandma, we can do it ourselves."

Shen Qing quickly stopped her and, following her instructions, took three patterned ceramic bowls from the stove cupboard.

It was evident that no one usually visited her.

There were no disposable paper cups, so they had to use bowls. Shen Qing and Chen Chen accepted this easily, but Xie Chong looked on with curiosity; it was his first time drinking water from a bowl.

"Grandma, is this your cup?"

Seeing the chipped tea mug on the windowsill and the old woman nodding, Shen Qing poured a cup of water and carefully handed it to her.

The group sat on the brick bed, and after a few seconds of silence, the old woman spoke first.

"I didn't expect Mingming to have students who would come visit. His temper... surely many of you students didn't like him very much?"

"The instructor's personality, it was indeed a bit..."

Chen Chen scratched his head, not knowing how to phrase it; he couldn't exactly tell her that he was mercenary.

The old woman smiled, not minding at all.

"You don't need to sugarcoat it for him. He's been like that since he was a child—he couldn't stand to be at a disadvantage, and he was always dreaming of reaching the top in a single bound. I was always worried he would end up on the wrong path one day."

She looked down at the tea mug in her hands, the steam blurring her eyes.

"The last time he came back, there was some trouble with his work at the school, right? We had an argument, and he slammed the door and left..."

As she spoke, the hand holding the mug tightened involuntarily. "I called several times, but no one answered... did something happen to him?"

Shen Qing forced a smile onto his face.

"Grandma, our class is about to graduate, and Mr. Zhou is in charge of our records—there are hundreds of us.

So he's been quite busy lately; he probably just didn't see the calls."

He simply could not bring himself to tell her that the man was gone.

"...Is that so?"

The old woman was silent for a moment, then sighed. "He's the type who, whenever he feels he isn't doing well out there, doesn't like to come home or answer his phone..."

The three of them remained silent, unable to do anything but keep drinking their water.

Over the next half hour, the old woman spoke intermittently about many things from Zhou Ming's childhood, and the three of them listened quietly.

When it was time to leave, the old woman insisted on seeing them off. Standing at the entrance of the alley, her figure looked even more frail and small.

"Goodbye, Grandma. Please go back inside; you don't need to see us off."

The car started and pulled away, moving further and further, yet the old woman remained standing in the alley, watching until Shen Qing and the others had completely vanished at the end of the street.

The corners of her eyes gradually grew moist.

The atmosphere in the car was somewhat stifling. As they reached the entrance of the village, the view opened up, with abandoned houses occasionally flashing past.

"I need a breather," Shen Qing suddenly spoke up.

Xie Chong pulled the car over to the side of the road and rummaged through all his pockets. "Damn it, I don't smoke, and now that I want one, I don't even have a lighter."

"Mm."

In the backseat, Chen Chen fished out a few milk candies from his pocket. "Grandma stuffed these into my hand earlier, though I feel like they've been sitting there for a long time."

He chewed on one and handed the remaining two over.

After the two of them took them, Shen Qing pushed the door open and stepped out. Looking out at the vast, empty fields, he still felt a heavy blockage in his chest.

To be honest, given Zhou Ming's usual demeanor, it wasn't as if he hadn't imagined what the old woman might be like.

If she had been as overbearing and mean-spirited as his sister-in-law's mother, he wouldn't have thought much of it; he might have even felt relieved.

But unlike Zhou Ming's mercenary nature, the old woman had been incredibly kind.

He suddenly closed his eyes, then opened them again and threw a fierce punch, causing the mud wall of the nearby ruin to collapse instantly.

Sleeping Corpse Path, damn them.

Even if Zhou Ming had issues, that was a matter for the Public Security Bureau, not for him to be tortured to death like that, or to be denied peace even after passing away.

Back at the base.

For some reason, Fang Shu was already waiting for them in the training room.

"I heard about today's mission. It wasn't easy, was it?"

The three of them remained silent.

"Don't dwell on it. Among the cases the Public Security Bureau handled in earlier years, there were situations far more severe than this in every aspect.

You all need to learn to accept these things, but don't let your growing strength lead to apathy."

Fang Shu shook his head. "Think it over carefully. Also, Shen Qing, the Chief asked me to remind you to file your leave request."

Shen Qing frowned and nodded.

He only felt a sense of irritation; he had to go file a leave request at a time like this.

After filling out the form and signing it in the office, he listened to the Chief's routine instructions.

"Alright, remember to come and file your leave request immediately next time."

"Also, your departure from the jurisdiction this afternoon will be counted as part of the mission, not as leaving early, but don't let it happen again.

Logistics personnel have already been sent to the old woman's place."

After leaving the office, Shen Qing's mood recovered slightly. He patted his cheeks; he would likely have to face his brother and sister-in-law's "interrogation" when he got back, and he couldn't let them worry too much.

He checked the time and clocked out.

An hour later, standing at his front door, Shen Qing took a deep breath, turned the handle, and opened the door.

Sure enough, the living room lights were on, and his older brother was sitting on the sofa, but... where was his sister-in-law?

Shen Qing scanned the living room, but didn't see her.

In the kitchen, Shen Qingtang suddenly poked her head out, holding a spatula. "You're back."

Then, his sister-in-law also walked out of the kitchen, her gaze landing on him.

At that single glance, Shen Qing couldn't help but shiver. How long had his brother and sister-in-law been here?

What had they asked the Heroine, and had the Heroine already let something slip?