Winter Returns

Chapter 1 Unusual Deaths
Eight years later, Zhang Shutong returned to the island where he grew up.

—To attend the funeral of a junior high school classmate.

*
The funeral home is located in the southern part of the island, next to the newly built lakeside road.

Leaning against the roadside railing and gazing into the distance, on a clear day, the lake reflects the clear sky like a bright blue gem. When the wind blows, the clouds ripple, making one feel refreshed and relaxed.

Today, however, the lake surface is a dark, iron-blue color.

The sky was overcast, and as soon as Zhang Shutong stepped out of the funeral home, he immediately tightened his trench coat.

It was freezing cold. He had left in a hurry and forgot to put on an extra layer of clothing. It was warmer inside the building, but the funeral music was so loud it made him dizzy. He stayed there for a while, then decided to come out and freeze.

The matter is almost settled, but since we are classmates and have a special relationship, it's not appropriate to go back immediately.

While he was bored, he glanced at his phone. It was a little past two in the afternoon, and the funeral was still going on, with people still arriving from various places.

For example, right now, Zhang Shutong saw two old ladies passing by, muttering something to each other.

"What a pity, she was such a beautiful girl, I watched her grow up when she was little."

"Yes, why would someone so young do something like this? Now her family line is effectively wiped out."

"Who knows, her boyfriend, didn't he just call to break up with her the day before? He's a heartless bastard too..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shutong sighed softly and bit the soft flesh inside his mouth, a small gesture he made when he was speechless.

I've heard countless similar rumors today, to the point that I don't even feel like refuting them.

One of the two parties in the conversation is naturally the deceased classmate;
And the other one, that "inhuman little boyfriend," if I'm not mistaken, refers to myself.

That's why he didn't dare reveal his identity throughout the entire funeral, and kept to himself in the crowd; otherwise, even with ten mouths, he wouldn't have been able to explain himself.

The reason for this completely unrelated misunderstanding is actually quite convoluted.

It probably started a few days ago:

I received the obituary from that female classmate the day before yesterday afternoon.

The incident happened so suddenly that by the time he hurriedly booked his ticket and took several trains and boats from his city of residence to reach the island, it was already this morning.

But now that the funeral is almost over, my brain is still processing this information.

The shock outweighed the heaviness.

Zhang Shutong is 24 years old this year.

At this age, his interactions with his classmates might involve attending someone's wedding. If he happened to run into someone eager to celebrate, he might have a celebratory meal and exchange a few jokes.

But I never imagined that the first classmate activity I would attend after graduation would be a funeral.

Zhang Shutong has never been a nostalgic person, otherwise he wouldn't have gone eight years without returning to the island once.

Even so, a faint sense of regret still arose in my heart after learning of the girl's passing.

Actually, describing him as a "girl" isn't quite accurate, but his memories of junior high school are all from eight years ago;

Junior high school is a four-year program. When he was 13, he moved to the island with his parents due to their job transfer. After graduating, he moved to the neighboring provincial capital and left at the age of 16.

My impression of my peers is naturally that they are all young faces.

In my memory, she was a very beautiful girl. She had a cool and aloof personality, always wore her hair in a high ponytail, and was also a good student;
However, she is not the stereotypical image of a good girl.

The girl was quiet, preferred to be alone, and her whereabouts were unpredictable.

Their school was built on the outskirts of the island. There were two roads outside the school gate: one led to the town inside, and the other led to the mountains behind it.

The girl always takes the second route home from school.

It's unclear whether the road up the mountain leads to her home. All that's known is that even though she's going home to do her homework, she slings her backpack over her shoulder with a deft air, as if she's running off to save the world after school.

It was this air of mystery that made many boys in the class like her;
But she always had an aloof air about her, so it was hard to strike up a conversation with her, and she didn't even have any female friends.

In today's parlance, even if it wasn't the white moonlight in one's heart, it's at least something that, many years later, makes the memories of that dark and hazy youth brighter.

But what made her so memorable wasn't just her beauty, but also the fact that she was "special" compared to the other junior high students.

Just as every beloved girl has a legend behind her, the island called Yanlong Island is also full of ancient legends.

The island is surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains on the other.

There is a temple on the mountain called the Green Snake Temple, the origin of which is unknown. I only remember that the locals are very devout in their faith, and incense is burned there all year round.

He later learned that, besides being a student, the girl was also the temple keeper of the Green Snake Temple.

She and her grandmother lived alone in the temple. On major holidays, she would ask for leave from work, and her ponytail would grow into long hair that reached past her shoulders as she returned to the temple to help out for several days.

However, the term "temple keeper" is quite unfamiliar to modern life.

He and several close friends had argued about this several times:

Some say the temple keeper is a Taoist priest, some say a nun, and some even say a nun. Then some people start saying all sorts of nonsense, that nuns are something from abroad, and that they're clearly witches...

In short, for a long time, his impression of this female classmate was always that of a fairy with flowing clothes and loose black hair.

Once, she came to class without changing her clothes; she was wearing a long blue robe.

She didn't care about other people's opinions, sitting in the classroom like a girl who had just returned from cultivating immortality.

It wouldn't be called a crush, but if you put yourself in her shoes, it's probably many years later, someone will find her wedding photos on social media, and a group of people will lament about their lost youth.

But what Zhang Shutong saw was a black and white portrait of a deceased man.

There are no other memories besides these.

Perhaps there were other interactions back then, but time is enough to wash away many things that we thought were unforgettable, let alone classmates who were just nodding acquaintances.

Adults and children see things differently. Many problems that were incomprehensible in the past can now be understood with a sudden realization.

But this girl was the only one who kept popping into his mind these past few days. Like a mystery that was eight years overdue.

The two weren't particularly close, and what he couldn't understand wasn't the other person's death—

The real question is why she called him late at night three days before her death.

Zhang Shutong did not receive that phone call.

He was used to silencing his phone before going to bed, and when he woke up and found a missed call from someone whose contact name was "Lu Qinglian," he pondered it for quite a while.

Wrong call?
This is definitely the first thing most people would do.

Eight years have passed, and it's uncertain whether the other party even remembers him, but based on a good impression, he still called back, but couldn't get through.

I didn't dwell on it for long, until the afternoon of the next day;
Zhang Shutong received news of Lu Qinglian's death.

Actually, he doesn't go out much. To put it bluntly, someone with this kind of relationship wouldn't normally go; at most, he would ask a close classmate to bring him a gift.

But because of that phone call, something that was clearly unrelated suddenly became inextricably linked to him.

Especially yesterday, when he was questioned by the police, he learned that the other party hardly ever used a mobile phone.
She was a temple keeper girl living in the mountains. I used to think she was like a fairy. Perhaps after all these years, the girl has grown up and really lived like a fairy who doesn't eat the food of the mortal world.

She had stayed on that mountain all these years, and the only person she called the day before she passed away was Zhang Shutong.

To be honest, he really couldn't stand it; it was suffocating.

It's estimated that the police questioned the islanders about their relationship. Then, the news leaked out of nowhere, and rumors started flying everywhere:
Some say it was her boyfriend who called her, saying he was going to break up with her because he thought she was too cold-hearted and that her family wasn't well-off.
Some say it's a call for help;

Some say it was murder, and that she sensed something was wrong beforehand and revealed the killer's information to herself.

There are also those who talk about supernatural beings and ghosts.

Zhang Shutong had heard at least five versions of the story, but he didn't know much of the inside story. He only heard that the other party had accidentally fallen into the lake, which had been determined to be an accident.

Let's just consider it an accident for now.

In fact, Zhang Shutong didn't care much about the truth. He came here just to see if there was any possibility of salvaging the situation.

An accident that happened on the island eight years ago gave him this ability.

That's why, if it weren't for this funeral, he probably would never have come back in his life.

That's probably a story of Lord Ye who loved dragons but was terrified of them; unfortunately, the protagonist of the story is himself:
I remember it was during the summer vacation after the middle school entrance exam. Every year at this time, the Green Snake Temple would hold a festival.

That day, he and a few close friends went to join the fun, but the place was packed with people and they couldn't squeeze in.

The boy was wild by nature. He went around to the back of the temple and climbed over the wall, but he accidentally stepped on some loose stones and rolled down the mountain, losing consciousness.

When I woke up again, it was already dark, and I was lying on a bed in the clinic.

Later, I heard from a friend that he had been found unconscious halfway up the mountain behind the temple, and had broken his head. An old lady found him.

He was lucky; if he had been unlucky, who would have thought to look for him there?

The parents wanted to thank him, but the person who saved them simply disappeared.

This perilous experience granted him an extraordinary ability.

On this very day, his life trajectory was completely changed.

Zhang Shutong named this ability "Backtracking".

The specific triggering mechanism is that if something bad happens around him, he will return to the key point before the event occurred.

It's usually a few minutes or a few days ago.

It was as if someone was forcing me to stop that bad thing from happening;
Whether they like it or not, they will be forced into it.

If the problem remains unresolved, the backtracking process will be triggered again, creating a continuous loop.

If you ask him what he was thinking at the time, it was actually quite simple. He was just excited. After all, time reversal sounds like a superpower that can save the world, which is super cool.

"—I am unique."

No boy of that age could resist such thoughts.

Initially, Zhang Shutong did indeed do a lot of "good deeds" in the secular sense.

After entering high school, in his first year alone, he prevented several car accidents every day on his way to school by using his ability to rewind time.

That was probably in 2013, around the time "The Amazing Spider-Man" was released. He left the movie theater at midnight, the wind blowing against him, and walked home in one breath without feeling cold, as if he had received a great encouragement.

The Spider-Man neighbor may not be real, but at least in their neighborhood, he is.

Although he didn't encounter any villains that year, he successfully stopped two cases of domestic violence, one case of infidelity, and saved three marriages.

And a brand new high school life:
Some people couldn't accept being rejected after confessing their feelings;
Some students were so stressed about studying that they wanted to jump off a building.
And then there are all sorts of problems that arise at home...

He gradually became extremely busy, and the regression would often be triggered every few days.

It's certainly gratifying to be able to help others, even though he gets exhausted every time.

I had a crush on a senior student one summer. She was generally well-liked. Once we got to know each other better, we made plans to see a movie after the monthly exam. However, Zhang Shutong didn't show up that day.

It's not because I didn't take it to heart.

A young mother was sitting in the movie theater lobby. She was crying incessantly. A uniformed policeman surrounded the scene and learned from the whispers that a child was missing.

Before there was time to react further, the rewind was triggered.

He retraced his steps five times that day and finally found the abducted child. Afterwards, he collapsed at home, exhausted.

That summer date, however, seemed to be a reality that could never be reached.

On that same day, Zhang Shutong discovered a terrifying truth.

He can help people get rid of their painful past.

But those trapped in the past have become themselves.

The backtracking continues to trigger uncontrollably.

For anyone else, a week would be a week, but for him, it felt like a month.

Finally, in his senior year of high school, he almost collapsed from endless regression and was nearly diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder by doctors because his brain contained many non-existent "memories".

During the worst period, I stayed in my rented room alone, afraid to contact the outside world. I could only eat takeout every day, and I could only go out for some fresh air in the middle of the night.

Then he took a leave of absence from school and moved with his parents to a more distant city to seek medical treatment, where he transferred to a new school.

Something magical happened.

The frequency of backtracking has been significantly reduced.

Those trivial matters no longer allow him to return to the past.

But it was only a reduction, like an eternal nightmare. When he was 16, he unexpectedly gained the ability, which completely changed his life. He could no longer live as usual, so he had to keep going.

He eventually graduated from university, and because he had to reduce his contact with others, he moved out on his own and found a home-based job.

I've saved up some money over the years, enough to support myself, but sometimes in my quiet room, I think about the future.

Parents are getting old, people are getting married and having children... Where is the future? It's not visible for now.

He still doesn't like going out much these days, and his life isn't particularly good. But at least he's escaped the endless cycle of regressing.

Two days ago, in these seemingly endless days, he received the obituary of a junior high school classmate.

His experiences over the years have made him a person who hates trouble. He used to be forced into all sorts of events, which was extremely painful.

But only this time, Zhang Shutong took the initiative to use her abilities to listen to the contents of that phone call.

Therefore, after eight years, he returned to the island that had changed his life.

Two hours had passed since he landed on the island. He had gone to the funeral hall not long ago and stayed by the body for a long time, but the regression still hadn't occurred.

We shouldn't have had any hope in the first place.

Looking at the distant lake, Zhang Shutong sighed.

I had thought about this before I came, because the premise of retrospection must be something that happened around me.

Even though you weren't there when the person died, and you knew the chances were slim, you still wanted to try. But reality is always the same, and in the end, you couldn't salvage anything.

There was no wind or waves today, and the lake was a solidified, dark blue-green. He leaned against the railing and lit a cigarette, one that had been given out at the funeral.

He had quit smoking a long time ago, but he would light it subconsciously without actually smoking it. He would just hold it between his fingers and watch the smoke dissipate.

It's not exactly heavy; people always have to learn to reconcile with reality, something I've been used to for a long time.

Helplessness, despair, and self-abandonment—I've experienced all sorts of emotions before.

Eight years have passed in the blink of an eye. Now he returns to this lakeside and recalls the past. His emotions are not as turbulent as he had imagined. He just feels a faint sense of regret.

There was no reason for them to stay any longer.

Just as I was about to go to the funeral home to inform them, someone suddenly punched me on the shoulder.

He turned around, and the person who came was a young man with short hair and a smiling face. He was his best friend from junior high school.

My best friend's name is Du Kang. What can relieve my worries? Only Du Kang, the Du Kang in the name, has always been a carefree and easygoing person.

Over the years, he stayed in the area and took over his family's small restaurant. He was an expert on everything about the island, and it was he who informed Lu Qinglian of her death.

The other person had been helping out at the funeral and was now free for a while, so they came out to chat with me.

"So you actually know how to come back, kid?"

Childhood playmates, whom he hadn't seen for many years, still felt familiar, but Zhang Shutong didn't know how to respond to this, so he could only shrug and smile apologetically.

"I'll show you around in a bit. Qingyi isn't here, but Ruoping and the others are. Shall we have dinner together tonight?"

Zhang Shutong could only politely decline again.

He really wanted to go, but he really couldn't. He was afraid that someone might have had a few drinks and start talking about how unsatisfactory their life was... and then he probably wouldn't be able to go back.

"You're still the same as ever." Du Kang complained, his smile fading from his best friend's face after repeated rejections.

"Just like when we were in school, you didn't say a word for ages. Your clothes were always black. Oh, it's so cold, why are you wearing a trench coat? Trying to look cool with me, even though the girls thought it was just being aloof. I don't know why you and Qingyi were the most popular."

He thought it was a misunderstanding; he had simply left in a hurry, and all he had at home was black, so he wasn't trying to look cool at all.

And why do you have this impression? I don't even know myself.

"Don't be stubborn. We haven't seen each other for so long. You'll listen to me if I say a few words."

Just as Zhang Shutong was about to say something, he bit the soft flesh in his mouth and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The two stood by the roadside for a while. Du Kang rubbed his face, took out a cigarette, lit it, and after a long pause, said:

"Then let's talk about her?"

Zhang Shutong knew that "she" referred to Lu Qinglian.

Du Kang had always harbored a secret crush on this old classmate. It seems that once, because a girl had spoken ill of Lu Qinglian behind her back, he found out, threw that girl's backpack into the boys' restroom, and went home to stay for a few days.

He's very proactive and has even confessed his feelings before, but failed. I wonder if, after all these years, both of them have made any real progress on the island.

He sensed that Du Kang was upset, and was about to listen attentively, but the other man stared straight at the lake and suddenly said:

"She was murdered."

Zhang Shutong was taken aback.

“I said, someone killed Lu Qinglian! I’ve told several people this, but they don’t believe me at all.”

Du Kang took a deep drag on his cigarette.

“I saw her just last week. She was perfectly normal. She was busy repairing the statues in the temple. There was nothing wrong with her at all. Do you really believe that someone said she was in a bad mood and committed suicide?”

"And then there's the accidental fall into the water. She usually stays at the temple, sometimes she goes to the school to be with the kids, so why would she go to the lake? Especially in the middle of the night... Damn it, was she fishing or swimming in the middle of the night?"

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, and finally slammed his fist on the railing in front of him.

"Her body was found in the 'restricted area.' Shutong, you still remember the restricted area, right?"

After a moment's thought, Zhang Shutong remembered the meaning behind those two words.

Actually, these were code names they gave to several areas on the island during their teenage years.

"Temple", "base", "restricted area", etc.

The term "temple" is the easiest to understand; it refers to the Green Snake Temple in the mountains.

"Base" is an abandoned large drainage hole, which was used as a secret base because people often played there after school.

The "restricted area" refers to a section of water in the lake north of the island. Because of its low-lying location and lack of sunlight year-round, the area is always desolate, with sparse weeds and few fish, and almost no one goes there.

The reasons for it being called a forbidden zone are both complex and straightforward—

Because people have died in that body of water, and more than one.

Memories that had become hazy resurfaced in my mind.

Two things left a deep impression on Zhang Shutong:

One of them had already happened before he moved to the island.

To get to and from the island, you need to take a boat. The pier is open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

It is said that more than ten years ago, a group of college students came to stay on the island and spent the whole day having fun in the nearby town. When they finally arrived at the pier, it was already evening, and after waiting for a long time, there was still no sign of the ferry.

It was the dead of winter, and it was snowing heavily. Their noses were frozen, and they couldn't just wait on the bank all night. There were no more buses going back, and the group was frantically trying to figure out what to do when suddenly a fishing boat came along.

It turned out that the local fishermen were kind-hearted and, seeing their plight, offered them a ride.

The fishing boat was large, and a group of more than a dozen people set off. The first half of the journey was calm, but halfway there, it inexplicably sank.

It's strange, but when the group of people were discovered, the fishing boat was floating perfectly fine on the lake, neither capsized nor leaking, yet more than a dozen people drowned.

No one knows what happened along the way, and the location where the ship sank was the restricted area mentioned earlier. It is said that a special task force was set up, and the official investigation concluded that the snow was too heavy that night, which sank the ship, and the melted snow later floated to the surface.

Because her mother often used these stories to scare her when she was a child, Zhang Shutong has always remembered them.

As for the second thing, although the memory was hazy, the point was clearer: it happened in the fourth year of junior high, when a girl in his class went missing. But before he could recall more details, Du Kang interrupted him, saying:
Do you remember that murder case?

Yes, that murder case.

In their fourth year of junior high, a heinous incident occurred on the island, and the victim was a girl in their class.

Initially, it was because the girl didn't come to class. Back then, unlike now, there weren't various class groups for reporting, so there was a lack of communication between the school and parents, which led to neither side paying attention.

Ultimately, however, it was the irresponsible parents who caused this tragedy, only thinking to report their child missing a day later, thus delaying the search and rescue efforts.

By the time the girl was found, she had already been murdered.

The location where the body was found was also in a "restricted area".

The homeroom teacher at the time also resigned to take responsibility, and the school specially arranged for someone to provide psychological counseling. In addition, due to the adults' deliberate avoidance, many details became blurred.

All I remember is that she was the daughter of a wealthy family, with a pair of bright and beautiful eyes.

The voice was crisp and clear, with a hint of arrogance.

If Zhang Shutong had any deep impression of her, it would probably be that she always wore a red scarf. Even during class.

The reason I can remember this is because my deskmate told me she was "pretending";
Later, someone stepped on her scarf, and somehow she blamed him, staring at her with those eyes.

Also, not long before she disappeared, I think I saw her somewhere outside of school...

As he was frowning in thought, Du Kang suddenly said:
"Shutong, you may have forgotten, but I've always remembered one thing. Do you remember what day it was when that girl went missing?"

Immediately afterwards, Du Kang coldly announced a date:
It is December 10th.

"None of you remember, but that day happened to be my birthday, so one classmate didn't come. I remember it very clearly."

"Can you check what the date is today?"

As he spoke, Du Kang held the phone screen up to his face, and when he saw the date, his pupils contracted.

Today is February 12.

Doesn't that mean that two days ago was...?

"Could it be that the police are on the other side—" Zhang Shutong suddenly felt a chill.

"That's not the case. Qinglian didn't have any fatal wounds when she was found. Besides, the island has been equipped with surveillance cameras for a long time now, unlike back then, when she didn't see anyone else except herself."

Du Kang was discouraged, but still unwilling to give up, he said:
"But that's exactly what's making me feel so frustrated. If I really need evidence, I can't find any, but there's a coincidence out there. I won't feel at ease without a reasonable explanation."

“These past few days I keep dreaming about Qinglian, dreaming that she’s by the lake, just like before, not saying much… Let’s wait until tomorrow. After the funeral arrangements are settled, I’ll go to the town’s archives. Maybe we can find other details about that case from back then.”

He looked at his best friend's face, remained silent for a while, and finally apologized:

"Let me know if you find anything. Even if I can't be of much help, at least..."

"Let's not talk about this, Shutong. We've all had our own difficulties these past few years. It's not like we used to say we'd be best friends for life. Actually, whether I help you or not doesn't matter. This is something I want to do. It wouldn't be right to tie you down. I just..."

Du Kang paused, then stubbed out his cigarette.

"I'm just a little jealous of you."

"There are a few things I've been holding back, but I'll feel better once I say them. Why wasn't I the one who answered the phone?"

"It was only a little past 11 o'clock then. I went to bed much later than that, so I was sure I would get the call. Once I got the call, I would rush over no matter what happened, and she might not have died."

"But why call you, someone I haven't contacted in eight years? I know those rumors are false, but as for what boyfriend, I... I'm sorry."

His shoulders slumped:
"I have to go now, I'm busy with something. You might not know, but Qinglian is all alone in her family. She used to have a grandmother who depended on her, but she passed away a few years ago. So there's no one to help with the funeral arrangements, just me and Nuoping and a few others."

"Then I apologize for not being able to entertain you properly this time. Please come and visit often in the future."

As he said this, he forced a smile, the same kind he had when they met, but the smile looked rather awkward.

Zhang Shutong didn't reply, but simply patted him on the shoulder:

"I'll go help too."

In the end, they were unable to leave.

……

The plan was to take a boat off the island in the afternoon and catch the last high-speed train tonight, so he could get home tomorrow night. He had arranged everything in a rush, not because he had many urgent matters, but because he was worried about unforeseen circumstances that might trigger that damned ability.

But now the plan has gone a bit too far off track. By the time he finished, it was already dark. Du Kang booked a hotel for him and insisted that he didn't want any money.

Some people had originally planned to have dinner that night, but everyone was busy all day and not in a good mood, so they just ate a few bites of their boxed lunches and called it a day.

After dinner, we chatted about embarrassing things that happened back then, and unexpectedly, the conversation turned to our own experiences.

"Oh, my little boyfriend." The girl named Ruoping covered her mouth and chuckled.

Zhang Shutong knew she was doing it on purpose, taking advantage of their past good relationship to make fun of the rumors from earlier in the day.

"How come you all knew?" he said helplessly.

"It's been around for ages. Do you remember our homeroom teacher? He even asked me today where Zhang Shutong is. Now it's not a question of whether you know or not, it's about which version you believe."

"Actually, besides the boyfriend, the cry for help, and the information about the murderer, there's another version. Do you want to hear it?"

"What?" Ruoping's eyes widened immediately.

“She appeared to me in a dream,” Zhang Shutong recalled earnestly. “In the dream, she asked me, ‘Feng Ruoping has always been a gossip, why is she still like this now?’”

"Zhang Shutong, get out—"

Then a few classmates from out of town were revitalized and called out to go to bars and karaoke to relax, but then they realized that there were no such things on the island, neither before nor now.

This reminded Zhang Shutong of his long-forgotten memories of his student days. The island was called Yanlong Island. Although it was called an island, it was actually no different from a town surrounded by lakes. It wasn't exactly backward, just more isolated from the world.

When I first moved here, I wasn't happy because I thought there weren't enough things to do.

There are no shopping malls, cinemas, amusement parks, KFCs, or McDonald's on the island.

But they quickly integrated into the community, venturing into the mountains, fishing in the lake, and enjoying local specialties at temple fairs and festivals. Fried shrimp cakes and fish porridge had a unique flavor, and lotus seeds were very sweet in the summer.

In a sense, even if you want to be a bad kid, there's not much room for you to go astray.

Small islands, large lakes, deep mountains, temples and ancient legends, a group of young boys and girls...

Their school is built on the outskirts of the island. Climbing to the rooftop of the teaching building, you can enjoy the cool lake breeze and see the surrounding scenery.

If you want to go on a date with a girl you like, you need to take a boat to a nearby town, but be careful not to be late, because the ferry back home closes at six o'clock every night.

Because he had to attend classes during the day and no one paid attention to him on weekends, the idea of ​​"secretly taking a boat to see a movie with the girl he liked" became a thought that the boy longed for but never took any action on.

If we could do it all over again, perhaps we would have a different answer.

Sometimes I have this thought.

Deceased classmates, missing girls;

There is also a normal life.

As humans age, they increasingly realize how precious a "do-it-or-die" medicine is.

Zhang Shutong has many pills of regret, but he can't swallow a single one of them.

He can never go back to his past.

As darkness fell completely, although it was somewhat against custom, they bowed three more times before the portrait, parted ways in front of the funeral home, and said goodbye to each other.

Before parting, Du Kang had something to say:
“I just searched online. The murderer in that case has never been caught. There are some fishermen’s testimonies saying that they saw someone in the restricted area before the incident… I’ll check it again when I get home.”

On the way back to the hotel, Zhang Shutong would always think of this sentence.

...If only the murderer were the same person, but what a coincidence!

No, that's no longer a coincidence, but an outright horror story.

He took a shower first, then lay in bed, reflecting on what he had seen and heard that day.

In the end, all that remained was Du Kang's illogical guess.

Just because they happened on the same day and in the same place, it was determined to be a serial murder case. What was the motive?

Why would a murderer from back then dare to come back and kill people instead of living in anonymity for the rest of their life? Their audacity is truly boundless.

But if it really was murder, then what about Lu Qinglian's phone call...?

Zhang Shutong shook his head, realizing he was overthinking things.

After all, eight years have passed.

I glanced at my phone again; it was 8:34.

The wind picked up, and he couldn't fall asleep. He got dressed, buttoned his trench coat to the top, borrowed a flashlight from the hotel reception, and braved the cold wind to go out.

There were few vehicles coming and going, and the streetlights weren't very bright. Fortunately, the hotel that Du Kang had booked was very close to his destination.

Following his memories from years ago, he walked for more than ten minutes, crossed the fence of the lakeside road, and landed on the wild ground overgrown with weeds.

—Ahead lies a body of water designated as a restricted area.

There was no moonlight tonight. When I turned on my flashlight, the lake was a pale white. I couldn't hear any frogs or insects, and I could only smell the fishy stench emanating from the mud.

Looking around again, I could find traces of trampled grass, probably left by the police during their search a few days ago.

Zhang Shutong squatted by the lake, waiting for the night wind to stiffen his body.

It turns out that the temple keeper girl named Lu Qinglian ended her life here.

The reeds by the lake rustled, and he suddenly felt as if he were in another world.

But what can be done?

He laughed self-deprecatingly.

There was no evidence, no clues, and even the only thing we could rely on—backtracking—was useless.

Ultimately, unlike Du Kang, he didn't have the obsession that had accumulated over a decade of unrequited love. Since he couldn't go back to the point before his death, doing this was the best he could do within his capabilities.

But I'm still very sorry.

Zhang Shutong stared at the lake one last time, lost in thought.

I couldn't answer your call, nor could I find out the truth.

He apologized in his heart and slowly stood up, his body stiff.

It's getting late, I should head back.

When this thought came to mind, Zhang Shutong took out his phone.

The wind picked up, and the surrounding weeds suddenly began to rustle.

Then, a cold, sharp object pierced the back of his neck.

The phone fell to the ground.

In the last moment before his consciousness faded, he saw the time displayed on the screen.

2020 12 Month 12 Day.

At 8:59, it flashed and jumped to 9:00.

The backtracking was triggered.

(End of this chapter)