"Night of the Wolf"

[Chapter 1: Xu Wen]

I've been in the hospital for eleven days because of the head injury.

Today is the twelfth day.

In the morning, the doctor on the ward was happy to tell me that the wound on the back of my head was healing well, and that I would be discharged in three to five days at the earliest.

I put on a "this is great news" look and thanked the doctor.

But honestly, if I could make the final say, I wouldn't want to spend a day in the hospital – but unfortunately there was no "if".

Since I was "honorably wounded", Shen Tangzhi has covered all my hospitalization expenses, and Lao Dao and Li Yi have all been bribed by Shen Tangzhi, and they forcibly let me live in a hospital ward on the grounds of "eliminating sequelae" - until the doctor issues a discharge permit.

Hey, aside from that little trauma, which is just a minor concussion, I'm not so delicate, am I?

Shen Tangzhi insisted that I continue to be hospitalized for various reasons, this time saying that the concussion could cause "permanent intellectual damage", and I must pay attention to it. The old knife Li Yi and the two guys nodded solemnly to me with a sneering expression, expressing their agreement with Shen Tangzhi's opinion, damn, when Lao Tzu was really knocked into a mentally retarded person, this is simply a serious nonsense, okay!

Without saying a word, I directly smashed the pillow under me at Li Yi, blasting all these unreliable guys out of the room.

Although I understand that they have good intentions, since I can't investigate the case now, I should be left alone.

I walked out of the room, through the fire escape, and often the top floor before climbing the stairs.

Actually, one of the things I care about is that since Shen Tangzhi appeared, those friends around me, including myself, have become more and more influenced by Shen Tangzhi in all aspects, and this woman seems to have a strong desire to control, although most of the time, she is very restrained and does not like to express her thoughts too obviously.

Well, whatever.

I put aside the cranky thoughts in my mind and pushed open the normally closed fire door on the top floor, the sun shining down from the eastern sky, and I reached out to block the light that was coming to my eyes, when I heard a voice.

"Brother Ji, good morning! The sun was shining brightly today, so I hurried up as soon as the rounds were over. ”

Hearing this voice, which was also full of sunshine, my spirits were also lifted, and I responded, "Morning, Xiaowen. It seems that today I set a new record - the second time in six consecutive days to reach the rooftop of the hospital. ”

The other party scratched his head, and a shy smile appeared on his somewhat pale face.

Xu Wen, a new friend I made during my hospitalization, is a little boy with a round face, seventeen years old, and is in his third year of high school.

The first time we met, it was on the rooftop.

He asked me if I had any strong smells in the hospital.

Of course I know what it smells like, and since I was a kid, I didn't like the smell of formalin in the hospital, but after a week in the hospital, I started to get used to it.

This is normal. It's like when we go to a coastal city, we all smell the sea breeze with a faint fishy smell, but if you stay in that city long enough, you will gradually lose the smell of the strangers - it makes no difference anywhere. I once had a client who was an animal rescue worker with 3 dogs and 8 cats in his house, and I told him that there was a strong smell of animals in his house, but he said he couldn't smell it.

I was a little surprised by Xu Wen's answer, "That's the taste of pain and death." He said, smiling at me, "So I go to the rooftop deck whenever I have time, because it doesn't smell suffocating." ”

I quickly understood why Xu Wen said that.

He has acute leukemia, and he overhears the conversation between doctors and his parents, and he may have only three months left to live — and now, he's been hospitalized for more than two months.

Regrettably, he is an only child and has no siblings, which means that there is no genetic bone marrow for transplantation.

"Any news?" After chatting a few words, I asked Xu Wen.

Xu Wen was slightly stunned, and then his expression darkened: "Not yet." ”

He knew that what I was asking was whether I had found a suitable bone marrow transplant, and he was a very bright young man.

"I asked a friend to help you find it. Rest assured, many medical institutions at home and abroad began to establish bone marrow banks more than ten years ago, and it is only a matter of time before they find the right bone marrow. ”

I did ask Shen Tangzhi for this matter, I only need to tell her Xu Wen's name, and other information is not difficult for Shen Tangzhi, but although Shen Tangzhi promised to help, she is conditional, and the condition is that I must stay in the hospital in peace until the doctor issues that damn discharge permit.

"Thank you, Brother Ji."

We looked at Jinguan City in the morning sun, fell silent for a while, and after a long while, Xu Wen spoke: "Brother Ji, do you know, my parents always pretend to be very relaxed in front of me, and they still tell me that I just have anemia. Well, I didn't tell the truth either, which is good, at least we can pretend that we don't get sick at all......"

I don't know how to answer, maybe Xu Wen didn't expect my response at all, he just wanted to find someone to talk to - not to mention a 17-year-old child, zoomed in to all mankind, there are not many people who really have the courage to face death, right? I wanted to say something encouraging to Xu Wen, but when I opened my mouth, I just said "um".

"My parents, they cried a lot when I couldn't see – I would sometimes sneak behind them, through the door of the doctor's office, and listen to them discuss my condition with the doctor. My dad is a very strong man, I remember very clearly, once when I was a child, my dad took me for a walk, and suddenly rushed over a mad dog, my dad directly blocked in front of me, the dog was very big, my dad killed the mad dog with his bare hands, and I was not hurt at all, and he himself, the whole body had more than 50 stitches...... Even then, my dad never cried...... However, I have seen my dad cry several times, just during the time I was hospitalized...... "Xu Wen turned his head slightly towards me, and I saw something crystal in his eyes, reflecting the sun, "Brother Ji, am I useless?" Why should I get sick when no one else is sick? ”

"......" I was speechless and could only gently pat him on the shoulder.

Xu Wen raised his face slightly in the sunlight and stretched out his arms forward, as if he was hugging the sunshine: "Several times, I want to jump from here...... I don't want to see my parents sad anymore, and I don't want to ...... Every night when I go to bed, I am afraid that I will not wake up again the next day. It's too hard, Brother Ji, it's too hard......"

Xu Wen said, his head lowered more and more, and finally, he bit his lip and sobbed quietly.

I pressed my hand his shoulder.

"I've thought about it, even if I want to die, it's up to me to decide." Xu Wen suddenly raised his head, "Brother Ji, you said that you are a spirit detective, right?" Have you ever heard that there is a special place in this city where a bus departs at a certain time every month? Hop on the bus and take part in a special contest where the winner gets a million prizes. ”

"How could this happen?" I really hadn't heard of it at all, and I couldn't help but mutter.

When I reacted, Xu Wen smiled and said, "I'm joking." When I was in school before, a classmate told me about this urban legend, but in fact, it was just like that, and no one had actually seen it. ”

Then, Xu Wen said that he had a CT scan to do in the morning, so he hurriedly said goodbye to me and left the rooftop.

I didn't take it too seriously, after all, death is the ultimate horror for everyone, and few people can remain calm when the death knell is heard.

To be honest, I admire Xu Wen very much, he is very strong - I have seen many people who are on the verge of death, their social status is much higher than Xu Wen, and they are much older than Xu Wen, but their performance can be described as "unbearable", and very few people can maintain their demeanor in the face of death.

But I regret that I didn't take Xu Wen's abnormal performance to heart at that time.

Because......

The next day, Xu Wen disappeared.