Chapter 6: The Corpse in the Bamboo Forest

It was dinner time, and within minutes, the restaurant was packed. Judging by the crowd, the food here must have been both delicious and affordable. "Xingye? Long time no see!" A man walked over enthusiastically, greeting Sun Xingye. Sun Xingye turned around, immediately standing up to shake hands with the man. "Brother Zhao! It really has been a long time! How have you been?" The man nodded. "Same as always, still in the bamboo purchasing business. I heard about your sister… any news?" Sun Xingye's face darkened. "Still nothing. The police have been searching for over a month, but there's no sign of her—dead or alive. My parents are worrying themselves sick every day." Brother Zhao patted Sun Xingye's shoulder. "Don't stress too much. Since it's happened, all you can do is wait. But you can't collapse now—your family is counting on you." I was listening to their conversation from the side, and when I heard that this man was in the bamboo business, I nudged Sun Xingye, signaling for an introduction. He immediately understood my hint. "Brother Zhao, this is my friend Zhang Jinbao." Then he turned to me, adding, "Jinbao, Brother Zhao is an old friend of mine." I quickly reached out my hand. "Nice to meet you, Brother Zhao." "You're from the north, judging by your accent. Alright, since you're Xingye's friend, you're my friend too!" Brother Zhao said heartily. We all smiled and sat down together. Sun Xingye even asked the waiter for an extra set of utensils and another bottle of beer. "Brother Zhao, since you deal with bamboo, I have something to ask you," I said, getting straight to the point. Brother Zhao took a bite of food. "Go ahead. If I know anything, I'll tell you." I exchanged a glance with Sun Xingye before asking, "Do you know anyone who writes words on bamboo?" "Words?" Brother Zhao pondered for a moment. "I've seen some markings on bamboo, usually made to indicate which stalks are ready for harvesting. But actual words? That's a first." I felt a wave of disappointment. Just when I thought we'd hit another dead end, Brother Zhao suddenly smacked his forehead. "Wait! Could you be talking about the character '卞'?" Sun Xingye and I exchanged confused looks. Seeing our bewilderment, Brother Zhao dipped his finger in his beer and wrote two characters on the table. "Look, this is '下' (xià), and this is '卞' (biàn)." At that moment, I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. He was right! It wasn't the character "下" I had seen—it was "卞"! Since Sun Xingmei had been barely conscious at the time, her vision had been blurred, which made me misinterpret the character. Realizing this, I excitedly grabbed Brother Zhao's hand. "Brother Zhao! Do you know whose bamboo forest has this character written on it?" Brother Zhao looked puzzled by our excitement, but he still answered, "Yeah! That would be Bian Hailiang's bamboo forest. It's quite far from here, but I know the way…" That night, the moon was exceptionally large and bright. The news had reported it was a "supermoon," a rare event that happens only once in decades. But neither Sun Xingye nor I had the time to admire it. In the eerie, ghostly bamboo forest, all we could think about was finding Sun Xingmei. Since Sun Xingye was a local, he immediately recognized the place Brother Zhao described. But just as Zhao had said, it was far. Sun Xingye drove his pickup truck for over an hour before we finally arrived. According to Sun Xingye, this region was known as the "Rain City" due to its frequent downpours during this season. But tonight, the sky was completely clear, and the massive supermoon illuminated everything around us. I couldn't help but wonder—was Sun Xingmei, from the afterlife, hoping we would find her? The truck could only go so far, so we had to walk the rest of the way. To be honest, I rarely walked in the dark. One reason was that I was naturally timid and had been afraid of the dark since childhood. The other reason was something my uncle had told me: "Your birth chart is unique. If you wander at night, you might attract unclean things." Because of this, I usually avoided going out after sunset. I had no idea how long we had been walking through the narrow forest path when we finally saw it—a thick bamboo stalk with the red-painted character "卞." The moment my eyes landed on the character, I recognized the place. This was the bamboo forest where Sun Xingmei had been murdered. I scanned the forest, then slowly closed my eyes, focusing on my senses… After a moment, I opened them and pointed in a direction. "Northwest." Sun Xingye nodded gratefully, and we took off running. We hadn't gone far when a pungent, rotten stench filled my nose. We were close. The closer we got to the body, the stronger the feeling became. I could feel everything Sun Xingmei had felt in her last moments—her overwhelming fear, her desperate cries for her brother to save her… But now, when her brother had finally found her, she was already an unrecognizable corpse. Sun Xingye was the first to see the body. He stood there, frozen. I knew he couldn't bring himself to move forward. He was afraid that if he got closer, he would have to accept the horrifying truth—that this decayed corpse was really his sister. The bamboo forest was damp, and Sun Xingmei's body had already decomposed beyond recognition—her flesh was blackened, resembling spoiled meat. The closer I got, the more unbearable the stench became. I had never seen a corpse in such an advanced state of decay before. To be honest, if it weren't for the hope in Sun Xingmei's parents' eyes, I wouldn't have had the courage to get closer either. "Is this Xingmei?" Sun Xingye finally asked after a long silence. I understood why he needed me to confirm it. If I were just a normal person, even if I had known Sun Xingmei when she was alive, I wouldn't have been able to recognize her now. But I knew this was her. As cruel as it was, I could only harden my heart and nod. Only the truth could finally bring their suffering to an end. Sun Xingye took deep, shaky breaths, struggling to keep himself composed. "Call the police… Yes, we have to call the police now!" But his trembling hands couldn't even operate his phone properly. In the end, I took out my own phone and dialed 110. But there was no signal. I tried again and again, but the call wouldn't go through. Helpless, I had no choice but to drag Sun Xingye out of the bamboo forest to find a spot with a better signal. We had found her, but the nightmare wasn't over yet.