Chapter 20 Su Haicheng's Ex-Girlfriend

He had already started a fire, and there was plenty of dry grass and twigs by the nearby woods. "You know all this?" he asked.

"My grandfather was an avid hiker. When I was a child, he took me a few times, just for fun. I also heard them talk about it. Like here, I guess there should be underground caves in these mountains that allow air to come in. This water should be groundwater seeping up, not entirely stagnant water. That's the only way to explain why the lake water here is so beautiful."

"Are you done talking?" He looked up at me. "Once you're done, make a bigger fire here. I'll go see if there's anything to eat. Don't leave this place; I'll be nearby where I can see you."

"Oh, okay." My unreliable stomach growled again.

I know how to start a fire. While tending to the fire, I surveyed the surrounding mountains, trying to find evidence of the underground caves I mentioned earlier. However, it was too dark, and I couldn't find any caves, but I did spot a signal tower standing on top of one of the peaks.

Ah! There's actually a signal tower! No wonder Kakashi's phone could get a signal here. I quickly took out my phone. Without the forest's interference, my phone had full bars of signal. This place wasn't as desolate as we thought.

I immediately called Kakashi.

"Hello, Kakashi."

"Siyi, did Orochimaru eat you, or did that dead guy eat you?"

"Can you speak nicely? Listen carefully. We're currently at the lake shown on the satellite map. You guys should come tomorrow. We suspect that someone stole those bodies from back then and brought them here."

"Are you sure the bodies were stolen? I heard from the boss that he personally saw those bodies walking by themselves."

My heart sank for a moment. I had initially assumed that the bodies were stolen and didn't consider the possibility of them walking on their own. The bodies we saw walking were all beneath the ruins. But these bodies were deeply buried. Could they really crawl out on their own? That would be much more difficult than standing up from beneath the ruins.

Did they truly crawl out of that pit one by one, covered in dust, all the way to this place? This place... this place... My hands weakly dropped down. Images of corpses walking past me filled my mind. I knew I was scaring myself, but I couldn't help but think that way.

I looked around and suddenly felt a chill, as if there were corpses moving beside me. I put down my phone, and all I heard from the receiver was Kakashi's voice, "Siyi? Siyi?" Then the call ended, leaving only a dial tone.

Just as I was catching my breath, fantasizing about corpses walking all around me, my shoulder was suddenly tapped. My first instinct was to scream and run.

But a large hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me into an embrace. "What's wrong? What's wrong?" Su Haicheng's anxious voice came through, and only then did I calm down and look up at him. It turned out he was the one who tapped me, pulled me, and now held me. Those corpses were just my imagination.

I really scared myself, scaring the life out of me.

"What's going on with you?" My head was still pressed against his chest, and whether it was an illusion or something else, I seemed to feel his heart skip a beat.

It must be an illusion. He's a dead person; he doesn't have a heartbeat. I pushed him away. "It's nothing, just scared myself with my own thoughts."

He paused for a moment, let out a cold snort, and let go of me. "You're the first person I've seen who scares themselves."

He crouched down, skillfully using a knife to dig a hole and bury sweet potatoes.

"Where did you get the sweet potatoes?"

"There's a patch over there, don't know if it's cultivated or wild, but it shouldn't be poisonous. There are bite marks from rats, though."

"Rat bites? Are we going to eat them then? Won't we get sick from eating rat saliva?"

He didn't say anything. Maybe he was speechless with me. Half an hour later, he and I sat by the campfire, watching the warm flames and eating roasted sweet potatoes. Of course, I ate the intact ones without any injuries. He ate the ones that had been bitten by animals. Of course, he discarded the dirty parts.

He held the warm and fragrant roasted sweet potato in his hands, and I smiled at him. "You're quite skilled at roasting sweet potatoes."

"Everyone in the military knows how to do it."

"Does that mean you can really eat raw earthworms and such to survive?"

"When you're on the verge of starving to death with no other options, you'll eat them too."

He took off his hat. His face looked handsome in the flickering firelight, especially his eyes, which seemed even more piercing. My face flushed. I quickly covered my face with my hands. What's wrong with me? Do I blush whenever I see a handsome guy? Am I that infatuated? But I like my boss!

"Tell me about your ex-girlfriend," I said. "If you're not comfortable seeing her, you can write a letter or something, and I can deliver it for you."

He paused and looked at me, and after a while, he said, "I never had a girlfriend before."

"Aren't we partners? You don't have to hide it from me. I can even be a carrier pigeon."

"Really, I didn't." Looking at him, it seemed like he had something else to say, but in the end, he didn't say it. That's just his personality—reserved!

I sighed and didn't want to expose him, but I still said, "When I went to see your grandfather, even his subordinate investigated you. They said you had several nights out and were even preparing a love report. As a soldier, do you really need to submit a report for dating?"

The hand that was peeling the sweet potato skin froze. After a while, he said, "It's true. I took leave for those nights and went out for drinks with some old comrades like Ah Tian. And I'm an officer, not a subordinate. Taking leave and not returning to the military camp is not a big deal. They misunderstood."

"What about the love report?" I pressed on. My tone wasn't too friendly; I felt like he was lying. Someone who had a love report ready, could they really not have a girlfriend?

"I'm twenty-nine already, always in the military camp, never really met any women. These days, there aren't many people who want to become military wives. The lady in our cafeteria said she wanted to introduce me to her niece, who's a primary school teacher. I thought I'd go take a look, and if she was suitable, I'd submit the report and get married within a reasonable time. We had arranged to meet on the weekend when I was supposed to be on a mission, but unfortunately, I died here that day."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said.

But he seemed like he didn't hear me halfway through, murmuring softly, "Fortunately, I didn't go on the blind date. Otherwise, I would have missed out."

"Not going on the blind date is missing out, isn't it? Forget about it, let's change the topic." I was in a good mood. I had initially thought I would starve until tomorrow before Kakashi came and brought us food, but now the roasted sweet potatoes smelled especially delicious.

Su Haicheng, however, stood up and walked towards the lakeside. Watching his figure, I felt like I shouldn't go over. He seemed quite melancholic. He died without ever having a girlfriend or experiencing the care and warmth of the opposite sex.

But, haha, it's also fine. Since he didn't have a girlfriend before, I don't have to worry about some woman showing up one day, pregnant and dragging me to face Su Haicheng's mom and grandpa.

I looked up at the sky. The sky here is really beautiful, much more so than the four-cornered sky in the city. And there's such a beautiful lake too. The lake water is beautiful, and the man standing by the lake is handsome too. The lighting there isn't great, but from this angle, his figure looks really good.

I took out my phone and switched it to night mode, capturing a shot of his back. No need for editing, it's a complete fresh and clean background image. His physique is really good, inverted triangle-shaped, broad shoulders and narrow waist. I've even seen his abs and V-line before. If only this man hadn't died.

Twenty-nine, a 29-year-old "shushu" (older brother figure), but it's not bad either. I heard that soldiers get married in their thirties or forties. I put down my phone, sighed, and even if he's great and handsome, he's not mine.

"Hey! Chen Siyi!" he shouted from over there. "You said this lake was formed by water from an underground river surging up?"

"Yes! According to the principles of feng shui, it should be like that."

He rushed back to my side and took out a telescope from his backpack.