Episode 4 Chapter 035: Escape
I couldn't open my eyes because of the flashlight, and I just felt a large group of people running towards me. Until Shi Hu spoke to me, I still felt a little dazed and hadn't come back to my senses. My mind was still full of the paper figures in the room. I just vaguely heard Shi Hu asking me where I came from. They searched the area for a long time but didn't see anyone , and there was no one around, so it was impossible for me to hide somewhere without being discovered.
I just felt that I answered Shi Hu in a daze, but I had no recollection of what I answered him. I looked around uneasily, and my head was in a mess. Maybe Shi Hu saw that I was also a little dazed, so he took me back to the police car and sat me down, and gave me a glass of water.
After drinking some water, I felt a little better and more sober. Then I realized there was another person in the police car. I had seen this person before. He was the one who was with Shi Hu when Director Gao asked me to go to the funeral home for the first time. This person never showed up again after that. I heard from Shi Hu that they were responsible for different jobs.
Shi Hu told me that we should have met before, and told me that his name was Shan Lanjin, and that he had no other choice today, so he asked him to come with him to find me, and they ended up finding me here. I greeted Shan Lanjin, who seemed a little cold and didn't like to talk much, so I didn't pay much attention to him. I asked Shi Hu where I was, and Shi Hu said it was in the wasteland on the outskirts of the city. He said he was also puzzled as to how I ended up in such a desolate place.
As for how I got here, I had no recollection of it at all. So I told them about finding the CD under the desk, the real-time monitoring on the computer, and finally waking up in a room full of paper people. Shi Hu and Shan Lanjin listened carefully without interrupting me from beginning to end. Only after I finished speaking did he say that my computer was on the sofa, and he had checked and looked at it, but did not find any files about the real-time monitoring I mentioned, and the CD was not in the computer, as if it had been taken away.
As for the paper man I mentioned, Shi Hu said that he only found a pile of ashes in the living room. If things went as expected, I must have burned the paper man without knowing it, and the CD was probably hidden by myself.
I just looked at Shi Hu in disbelief, but I really have no recollection of what I did after that. This is the most terrifying thing. It feels like I am no longer myself, but a completely different person.
Then Shi Hu asked me and I couldn't remember where I came out from. They had been looking for me in this area for a long time, and they had just searched the place where I came out. I just found Shi Hu's words difficult to understand, so I told him that I was in the abandoned house at the end of the path. That place seemed to be a place specially used for making paper people. The house was full of paper people. I was also scared when I woke up.
But the more I talked, and the more detailed I described the place, the uglier Shi Hu's expression became. I also noticed that while I was describing the place, Shan Ranjin was looking at me without blinking. I realized that something was wrong with them, so I asked them what was wrong.
Then Shi Hu told me, not to mention the place where I came out, there was not a single house within one or two kilometers around, let alone the small courtyard I mentioned. I said that was not right. Although I didn't see it clearly, there was clearly a row of them there. When Shi Hu heard me say this, he got out of the police car with me. Dan Lanjin did not get out and was still sitting in the car.
Shi Hu took me to the place where he found me, and then asked me to lead him in. So I walked in based on my memory, but after walking about ten steps, I felt that I couldn't go on, because the path that I clearly remembered leading out of was gone. There was no road at all. I looked forward again. Although it was night, I could still see an empty space. There was no house that I mentioned.
It was not until I saw it with my own eyes that I looked at Shi Hu, and asked in horror and confusion what was going on. But I still didn't give up, and walked in. After entering, I found that it was indeed a wasteland. Not to mention a courtyard, even the brick wall was gone. I just said to myself, I was clearly here just now.
Shi Hu didn't respond to me, nor did he say anything else. He just said that we should go back. I returned to the roadside with doubts and a little unwillingness. Shi Hu then said to me that now I should finally believe it. They had searched here thoroughly and there was no trace of me at all. Otherwise, how could they not find me?
Shi Hu's implication was very clear, as if he was saying that I just appeared out of thin air. But when I said that, he just said that he was not sure and that he had to investigate this place and this matter in detail before he could know the truth. For the time being, he did not dare to make any further judgment.
After that, since I had found him, Shi Hu withdrew his team and went back. He drove a car, I sat in the passenger seat, and Shan Lanjin sat in the back. Except for one sentence from Shan Lanjin when we were introduced, I never heard him speak again. Shi Hu also didn't talk to him. I was not familiar with him, so naturally I would not take the initiative to talk to him. Besides, someone as cold as him would only make you embarrassed if you talked to him. What if he ignored you?
Halfway through the journey, Shi Hu received a call. I heard Shi Hu say that he had found me and was on his way back. After Shi Hu hung up the phone, he told me that Master Nan was still at my house, so we should go back to my house first and sort out the things at hand.
When we arrived at the gate of the community, Shi Hu and I got out of the car. Dan Lanjin had other things to do, so he drove away and Shi Hu and I walked in. When we passed the guard, I noticed that the guard's eyes changed when he looked at me. I asked Shi Hu if I had done something that surprised them without realizing it?
Shi Hu answered me that this was not the case, but in order to find me they had to use the surveillance from the property, otherwise how could they have found such a far place. Shi Hu said that in order to find me they mobilized almost all their forces, and finally found out from the surveillance that I took bus No. 247, and then they followed the clues to that wasteland. Shi Hu skipped all the twists and turns along the way. He just said that they were afraid that something might happen to me, and they searched for me as quickly as possible when it was almost dark. When they found me, they had almost given up on that piece of wasteland and were looking for me somewhere else.
I casually asked, since they had already searched to the front, why did I find them coming towards me when I came out, as if it was premeditated. Shi Hu said that it was because they seemed to hear someone calling his name, and the voice sounded a bit like mine, so they followed the voice to find me. At this point, I was confused again and said that I didn't call them.
Shi Hu said that we should not care about these things for the time being, and the community is not a place to talk, so we did not discuss these things anymore. We went upstairs and returned home. Master Nan was still waiting, and the situation in the house seemed to have not been touched. I saw a pile of ashes in the middle of the room, which was obviously the paper man that Master Nan mentioned. The computer had been placed on the coffee table, and it should have been moved by Shi Hu and others. There was no change in the rest of the room.
After coming back, Shi Hu asked Master Nan if he had seen anything. Master Nan nodded and stared at me for a while. I felt a little awkward and asked Master Nan what he was looking at. Master Nan told me not to talk. Then I saw some changes in his eyes. His gaze, which was originally on me, gradually moved back. Finally, I felt that Master Nan's eyes were no longer on me, but somewhere behind me.
I saw that Master Nan's eyes started to look strange, and then he walked towards me, but when he got to my side, he didn't stop at all, but kept walking towards the door. I looked at Shi Hu, and Shi Hu waved at me, signaling me not to disturb Master Nan. Finally, I saw Master Nan came to the door and stood about three steps away from the door, and then he asked, "Who are you!"
