32: C32

C32

I gently placed the little girl on the ground beside me, but she could barely sit up, her hands gripping my arms. Obviously, she was scared and didn't want me to leave her alone on the ground. I gave her another encouraging look. I believe my face in the moonlight is peaceful and gentle. When my hand patted her back, she relaxed and stood quietly on the cobblestones by the stream. I walked over to the car and gently pulled out the two middle-aged men who had lost their signs of life and laid them on the ground. The girl seemed to already know something, kneeling down next to the two and only crying. Her tears could not be stopped, but she said nothing. I knew how she felt, and I didn't try to dissuade her. I continued to search the car for clues.1

Unfortunately, there were no written clues about the three of them. There was only some water and food in the car, all homemade. I took them all out. I had always had a question in my mind, because even though I had clearly heard those two middle-aged men speak Japanese, I was unable to find any clues regarding what they were talking about. I put the food and water on the ground and felt around the two middle-aged men. They also didn't have identification cards or passports. I asked the little girl in both Chinese and Japanese, "Who are you?" and "What are you doing?" But the little girl didn't seem to hear me, she just sobbed. I didn't want to ask, so I continued to search the back of the car. Strangely enough, there were many plants in the back of the car, as well as some seeds. I know most of these things, and they are all unique, precious species of plants and trees in our mountain.

I looked at the middle-aged man and woman who had lost their signs of life and wondered again: What do they want these things for? Are they plant scientists?

With a series of questions, I walked quietly to the side, found a fir tree on a small hill not far away, and with a single swipe of my hand broke it. Then I went to the car, stuck some gas in the tank, stepped back, and lit the fir pole with a lighter I'd found in the car.

In the moonlight and the firelight, I found a shovel in the palanquin and dug into the drier slope nearby. The shovel was light, sharp, and I was strong. It took me a while to dig two deep holes. He put the shovel aside and walked over to the little girl. He lightly patted her shoulder twice, signaling her to stand up. The little girl was obviously very smart. She understood my intention and immediately stood up. I picked up the middle-aged man and woman, who had already turned cold, and placed them side by side in one of the pits. The girl stopped crying and just knelt on the side of the pit, watching me.

I buried the couple, ignoring the little girl, went back to the car, removed all the plant samples from the trunk, carried them to another pit, threw all the seeds into the pit, and buried them in the earth. As for the other seedlings, they fell onto the top of the pit. When I took a basin from the car and poured water on the seedlings, the little girl finally stood up and continued to stare at me.

I went back and forth three times to get water, and after watering all of these precious and unique seedlings once, I sent the basin to the car. When I turned around, the little girl had already arrived by my side, bowing deeply to me!

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