Liar

Lu Yuan knew Shuangqiao Town. While undercover in the cult, he had a companion named Xu Wenbin, who came from Shuangqiao Town Middle School.

During their long confinement, the two had talked about many things through the ventilation window. Though most of the time, Xu Wenbin talked and Lu Yuan listened.

After the Holy Descent Ceremony, Xu Wenbin was completely brainwashed by the cult and became its most fanatical believer. After that, Lu Yuan never spoke with him again.

In the end, Xu Wenbin had madly detonated the bomb on his body, leaving not a bone of himself behind and nearly killing Lu Yuan as well.

Looking back on it now, Lu Yuan couldn't help feeling wistful. Perhaps Xu Wenbin could still have been saved, but Lu Yuan had barely been able to protect himself at the time.

After it was over, neither the cult nor the Internal Affairs Bureau would have cared about an unknown middle school student like him. He had died like a weed, with no one left to remember him.

Except Lu Yuan.

In his previous life, he too had died just as meaninglessly.

The students of Shuangqiao Town Middle School left in twos and threes. Lu Yuan walked over and stopped a few boys. "Excuse me, do you know Xu Wenbin?"

"Xu Wenbin? Who's that? Don't know him." The tall boy in a basketball jersey turned and asked, "Do you guys know him?"

"No."

"Never heard of him."

The boy spread his hands at Lu Yuan and left.

Lu Yuan went on to ask several more people. By the time almost everyone from Shuangqiao Town Middle School had left, he still hadn't found anyone who knew Xu Wenbin.

Could I have remembered wrong? Lu Yuan thought.

Just then, a delicate-looking girl walked over hesitantly.

"Excuse me, are you Xu Wenbin's friend?"

"I guess so. And you are?" Lu Yuan asked.

"I'm Zhou Wenwen. I used to be Xu Wenbin's neighbor. He's been gone for a long time. Do you know where he went?"

Zhou Wenwen, Wenwen... Something stirred in Lu Yuan's heart. He watched several hundred people from Guanghua School pour into the testing building and figured he would have to wait quite a while longer, so he suggested:

"Let's find somewhere to talk."

"Okay."

The two walked over near the wall, where there were fewer people.

According to Zhou Wenwen, Xu Wenbin had been in the worst class at Shuangqiao Town Middle School, and no one in it had applied to Cultivation University. Besides, Xu Wenbin had rarely come to school since his second year of high school, so it was no surprise that Lu Yuan hadn't found anyone who knew him.

Zhou Wenwen and Xu Wenbin had been neighbors, so they knew each other fairly well and had stayed in touch. She said Xu Wenbin came from a single-parent family. His father drank every day, and whenever he drank, he would go on a rampage, hitting people and smashing things. Xu Wenbin was always getting beaten, and even Zhou Wenwen herself had been hit.

Because of that, Zhou Wenwen's family had moved away to get clear of that plague god.

"He was actually a pretty good person. He just couldn't get his grades up. I wanted to teach him, but he never wanted to learn. He spent all day on the streets with the local punks."

"More than a month ago, Xu Wenbin came to see me on my way home from school. He told me he was going to do something big. When he came back, he said, I'd see him in a whole new light."

"But I never saw him again after that."

"Lu Yuan, do you know where he went?"

Zhou Wenwen looked at Lu Yuan expectantly.

Lu Yuan clenched his hand. When he opened it, he spoke:

"That's exactly why I came, but this is a military secret. After I tell you, I hope you'll keep it to yourself and not mention it to anyone."

Zhou Wenwen already had an ominous feeling, but she quickly nodded all the same. Lu Yuan continued:

"More than a month ago, Xu Wenbin and I were assigned by the Internal Affairs Bureau to investigate a cult organization in Jiangzhou City and gather intelligence."

"He and I were... comrades who fought side by side. He was a very brave and upright person."

"He sacrificed his life."

Hearing the words "sacrificed his life," the girl lowered her head. Tears fell onto her shoes, one drop after another.

"Before he died, Xu Wenbin told me he wanted to go home and that he missed a girl named Wenwen. I think that must be you."

The girl raised her head, her face covered in tears.

"It was me!" Her voice choked with sobs as she nodded over and over. "It was me!"

"I'm sorry for your loss. He asked me to tell you he hoped you'd live well."

The girl threw her arms around Lu Yuan and burst into tears:

"I will!"

Her tears soaked the clothes over Lu Yuan's chest, faintly warm.

After crying for a long time, Zhou Wenwen wiped away her tears, thanked Lu Yuan, and left.

Lu Yuan watched her retreating figure disappear into the distance before turning to leave.

Clearly, Lu Yuan had lied to Zhou Wenwen, but for no reason he could name, he felt this was the best ending, both for the dead and for the living.

Let the truth rot forever in my heart.