"Sigh!" Xiao Shu let out a breath, the worry that had been lodged in her throat finally receding. She looked softly at Old He and asked, "You think it’s Li Xiaohao killing people and making zombies?"

"What else could it be? We witnessed his madness back in Silent Village," Old He spread his hands, an expression of exasperation on his face.

"But, we saw Wang Jue—no, Hua Jinlan—killing in Miao Village too!" Xiao Shu countered.

"Is there any difference between the two?" Old He frowned and shot back.

"Yes. The people Li Xiaoshu kills become zombies or restless spirits, but the people Hua Jinlan kills... nothing changes. And..." Xiao Shu paused, recalling the black-clad girl named Bing Yu from moments ago. "She absolutely has to kill ninety-nine people before she stops."

"Where did you hear that?" Old He pressed, sensing she held more information. Xiao Shu then recounted, word for word, her confrontation with the black-clad girl. She concluded with an afterthought, "I circled the city, and I haven't seen a single zombie. The police sent all the bodies to the crematorium. So, this disaster is almost certainly not connected to Xiaohao." She made a point of dropping the surname 'Li' before his name, as if trying to shield her kinsman from blame.

"Oh," Old He mused in silence for a long moment, stroking the two wisps of beard at the corners of his mouth. He asked curiously, "Weren't you out looking for Xiaoyu? Why come back here to brood over this?"

"I..." Old He’s question hit exactly where Xiao Shu's anxieties lay. She wanted to tell him her suspicion: that Xiaoyu had perhaps integrated himself into the ranks of the reanimated corpses, fulfilling the pact of ninety-nine souls somewhere in the city. Yet, the words caught in her throat. She didn't know how others would look at Xiaoyu once such an inference was made public, or how they would react to him. Wang Jue’s A-level wanted poster alone had been heartbreaking enough; must Xiaoyu also carry the stigma of a mass murderer, pursued everywhere? So, she shifted the topic. "I was just following your lead. There are many reanimated corpses walking the city; they need to kill ninety-nine people to gain new life. That’s the real reason so many people are turning up dead in the streets unexpectedly."

Having witnessed the slaughter at Silent Mountain and Miao Village, Old He wholeheartedly believed Xiao Shu. He understood that beneath ordinary life lay unseen worlds, and those worlds were currently breeding tragedy. However, Xiaoyu's whereabouts remained a gnawing worry. He didn't know how he would explain it to Xiaoyu’s sister or what he would say about his missing brother. He pushed further, "What about Xiaoyu? I’m worried he's in danger. All those who died unexpectedly were rushed to the crematorium, some before their families could even claim them. What if he's... If we keep running around like headless flies, we'll never find him. Perhaps we should..." Old He was cut off as Xiao Shu stepped in to finish his thought. "Don't worry, Xiaoyu shouldn't be at the crematorium. I'm certain he isn't in danger, but I must find him and pull him out of this quagmire." Old He listened, understanding some but not all of Xiao Shu's declaration. He wanted to ask more, but saw Xiao Shu preparing herself, gathering her resolve as if donning armor.

"You’re leaving again?" Old He asked instinctively.

"Yeah," Xiao Shu tightened the belt on her trousers, pulling everything out of her backpack to reorganize. "I have to find him. Just like we went after Wang Jue back then. Friends bound by life and death—you don't just give up on them that easily."

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