Fire to the Abyss

There is a cemetery surrounded by fir trees in the urban-rural fringe area outside the third ring road in Chengnan District, Chengzhou City.

Usually no one came here, except for an uncle who was the doorman, always wearing gray coarse linen, wandering around among the neatly arranged granite tombstones.Weeds are overgrown in the cemetery, and the uncle just does his routine inspections and doesn't bother to take care of them, so the weeds grow taller every year.

Although this place reveals a quiet atmosphere most of the time, and it is even a little creepy at night, there are also a few days every year when the business is booming, and there is a constant stream of pedestrians, such as the Spring Festival.

The nearby villagers are quite business-minded. At this time of year, they will set up a small stall at the entrance of the cemetery to sell white chrysanthemums and ever-burning lanterns to the worshiping crowd.

In fact, it’s only in recent years that this place has become lively. It was originally a police cemetery. Many old policemen in Chengzhou District were buried here. Later, the district government funded and built a luxurious new cemetery in the center of Chengzhou District. Many Everyone has "moved to a new house", and only a few people who have the mentality of going to the ground still leave their family members here.

Xia Yan is different. In order to save space, the new cemetery has been made into small cells. Xia Yan simply felt that the old man couldn't use it.In order not to waste space, the cemetery is also open to the public. Due to the conscientious price, it will soon be full.

Xia Yan patted the dust on the shoe surface, passed through a row of colorful stalls, and walked straight to the small house of the janitor.

The uncle was lying leisurely on a grand teacher's chair at the door, basking in the sun, with a contented expression of "Your uncle is still your uncle", he turned his head slightly when he heard footsteps.

Xia Yan smiled at the uncle: "I'm sorry, I didn't bring cigarettes today."

Hearing this, the uncle immediately put his head back to its original position, and stopped giving Xia Yan any attention.He stretched his arms and stretched his waist, closed his eyes and said, "If you don't bring a cigarette, don't stand here and delay me basking in the sun. Your brother has been away for a while, so get out."

"Thank you." Xia Yan nodded to the uncle, and walked towards the innermost part of the cemetery.The old man was also mean and unwilling, and every year he obediently helped Xia Yan keep an eye on his younger brother.

In the innermost part of the cemetery, a row of dwarf cedars separated a small cemetery. The old policemen who were sleeping here were all old policemen who hadn’t moved away.

Xia Yan picked up the weeds and found his father's tombstone. As expected, a bunch of fresh white chrysanthemums had been placed there, the surrounding weeds had also been cleared, and the tombstone was wiped clean.

Xia Yan took out a well-preserved white chrysanthemum from his pocket, knelt down and placed it gently in front of the grave.

"Father, you are very happy that my brother is so filial. Speaking of which, this child was obviously brought up by me, so why does he worship you so much and treat me so fiercely? If you are always alive, let him have a dream Be filial and filial to me. Also, I have some sad news to tell you, your girlfriend broke up, your eldest son may end up alone, and your younger son... well, let’s not talk about it, the Xia family is on the verge of breaking up Wandering..."

Xia Yan babbled a lot of words, and his legs were numb, so he patted the dust and stood up.

When he got up, he glanced casually, and suddenly saw a familiar name, Li Jianguo—the No.11 person killed by Eleven.

Xia Yan took a few steps to Li Jianguo's tomb, looking at his old and faded tombstone, he suddenly felt a little emotional.He was killed on New Year's Eve, which is both the Spring Festival and his death day, but his grave is deserted, and the vines on the tombstone are all dead and no one has cleaned it up. It seems that no one has come to see it for many years passed him.

He did one thing wrong, but the price was too heavy.

Xia Yan reached out and picked off the coiled dead branches on the tombstone. When he lowered his head, he saw a small piece of water stain on the corner of the incense stand, like a puddle of saliva.

"Tsk, who is so unqualified to spit anywhere in the cemetery?" Xia Yan took out a pack of tissues and wiped the incense stand with a frown.

Xia Yan cleaned up Li Jianguo's tomb a bit, and was about to say goodbye to his father and leave. As soon as he got close, he saw an extra cigarette next to his perfectly shaped white chrysanthemum.

Xia Yan picked it up and took a closer look, it was the brand that Dad often draws.

In the past, it was only the two of them who paid homage to Dad, but Xia Linming had always hated his father's smoking, so he probably wouldn't let Dad smoke, and he hadn't seen a cigarette for half a month, so he definitely didn't get it from him. fell out of it—who else would come to see Pop?

Xia Yan immediately got up and looked around, but there was no familiar figure among the few people around.Xia Yanzheng was confused, but suddenly saw a man wrapped in a black coat and a top hat not far in front of him. He looked a little strange. I know if my legs and feet are inflexible.

Xia Yan raised his heels unconsciously, and the closer he got, the more familiar the figure of that person became.

Suddenly, the man in front stepped on something, slipped one leg forward, and fell backwards.Xia Yan immediately stepped forward in three steps at a time, stretched out his hand to support him, and turned himself into a useful human crutch.

The man's back was supported by Xia Yan, and his head just rested on Xia Yan's shoulder. The black top hat fell off, revealing a slightly messy head of black hair.A strand of slightly curly hair crossed from the forehead through the eyebrows, and slanted across the face, looking quite soft.

Even though the man is wearing a mask, he can be recognized at a glance with his thick eyebrows.

Xia Yan said with a fake smile: "Oh, Lu Yuan, what a coincidence."

Lu Yuan looked up Xia Yan's neck with a pair of long and narrow eyes, and when he saw half of the familiar side face, he immediately closed his eyes and chose to escape from reality—why does this person think a little bit when he thinks about it day and night? You can't even see the shadow, but you can meet by chance when you don't want to see it?

It was rare for Xia Yan to look down at Lu Yuan from above, and he kept his human crutch posture and looked down at the person on his shoulder, with a playful tone: "Why didn't you wear perfume today? If you did, I would have recognized it earlier. "

Lu Yuan supported Xia Yan's shoulders and stood up straight, silently picked up the hat, patted the dust and put it on, and told Xia Yan with his eyes that he didn't want to discuss this issue.

Xia Yan looked him up and down carefully, and felt that there was something weird about Lu Yuan today, the most obvious point was the person who talked a lot, the two had met for more than a minute so far, He hasn't said a word yet, and his eyes seem to have a tendency to dodge.

"Lu Yuan, what are you doing here? Are there any relatives here?" Xia Yan pretended to hug Lu Yuan's shoulders affectionately, and pressed his fingers on his shoulders, the subtext of "don't leave until you understand" was ready to come out.

From the moment Lu Yuan saw his face, he knew that today was inevitable. He put his hand through the mask to cover his lips, and replied in a low voice, "Well, my teacher, you can be considered a relative."

Even if Xia Yan is as dull as Bai Wenbin, he can still realize that something is wrong with him. Did he think that if he covered his lips and lowered his voice a little, he wouldn't be able to hear the thick nasal sound?

Xia Yan was inexplicably irritated, and directly touched Lu Yuan's forehead. Although Lu Yuan hid quickly, with the agility that Team Xia was proud of, he still felt an unusual heat.

"Lu Yuan, you have a fever." Xia Yan withdrew his hand and continued speaking slowly, "Is it because you took care of me last time?"

"No, I caught a cold last night, and it has nothing to do with you." After speaking, Lu Yuan's eyes were bent, and the end of his eyes was slightly raised. Even though his lips could not be seen through the mask, he could probably guess that he was smiling.

This sentence was intended to reassure Xia Yan, but it backfired.The upturned corner of the eye seemed to ignite a small flame, and it was thrown into Xia Yan's heart full of weeds, where it became a prairie fire in an instant, the flames soared into the sky, and it was out of control.

Xia Yan almost roared: "You are lying!"

After finishing speaking, Xia Yan ignored the strange gazes from around him, he couldn't help but grab one of Lu Yuan's arms, and dragged him to the outside of the cemetery.

Xia Yan was very powerful, and his steps were wide open. Holding Lu Yuan, who had long arms and legs, was like pulling a kite.Lu Yuan was originally top-heavy, and his consciousness was not very clear. Being dragged by Xia Yan like this, he woke up a little bit, and had to pay extra attention to match his pace, otherwise, if he was not paying attention, he would either take off or fall to the ground.

Lu Yuan smiled wryly, wondering why this person was so sensitive at such a time.

Xia Yan was impatient, he didn't care whether Lu Yuan behind could take off, he hurriedly dragged him to the side of his small broken car, opened the passenger door, and pushed him in.

The co-pilot had been either Zhong Qing or Yang Ming, both of whom were petite and small, and their seats were adjusted forward.Most of Lu Yuan was stuffed inside, but his legs were still outside.

Lu Yuan pointed at his leg: "Captain Xia, I can't let go."

Xia Yan: "..."

Xia Yan glared at him angrily, then bent down to reach the pull ring under the seat.Xia Yan held the ring with one hand, pressed Lu Yuan's chest back with the other, and pushed him to the bottom.

Lu Yuan immediately coughed a few times, and said while coughing: "Captain Xia, heck, it's New Year's Eve, do you want to play tricks on me? I don't mind doing tricks. Can you pick a good day? I have to vote for it." Good tire."

Being poor means nothing is obviously not applicable to Lu Yuan, Xia Yan stared at the corners of Lu Yuan's raised eyes with an unfriendly expression, guessing that as long as this person can't die, he can laugh, and as long as he can still breathe, he will bring disaster to the country and the people to the end.

Xia Yan was not in the mood to fight with him, so he pulled the seat belt, put his hands beside the pillow, and bent down to buckle the seat belt.He leaned against Lu Yuan with his upper body, and the posture of the two was almost hugging.However, he moved quickly, and he only maintained this ambiguous posture for about a second, and he withdrew before it was enough for people to start a charming association.

"Where is Captain Xia taking me?"

"Go where you should go." After finishing speaking, Xia Yan closed the car door aggressively and walked towards the driver's seat.After Xia Yan got into the car, taking advantage of Lu Yuan's unavoidable evasion, he quickly reached out and touched his forehead. It was even hotter than expected. If his forehead was bigger, he might be able to spread eggs and fill pancakes.The scorching heat seemed to rush straight into his heart along his arms, causing Xia Yan to panic for a while, and he stepped on the gas pedal to the bottom.

It's Chinese New Year, the small roads in the countryside are crowded with people and cars, and the noise is abnormal, but the main road is deserted. Once in the car, Lu Yuan buzzed like a fly. Xia Yan ignored him and focused on stepping on the gas pedal.

"Captain Xia, what are you doing? Robbing civilian men? I know I'm pretty handsome, but there's a grandpa in front of me!"

"Captain Xia, you were only a millimeter away from the donkey cart next to you just now, do you want to eat donkey meat or something?"

"Captain Xia, the detachment is not in this direction either. Where are you taking me?"

"Captain Xia, I know your childhood dream was to be a pilot, but I don't want to take off on the first ring..."

……

No matter what Lu Yuan said, Xia Yan always acted as if he was reticent.Seeing that Xia Yan didn't answer, Lu Yuan stopped, leaned on the chair and closed his eyes, he didn't know if he didn't want to watch Xia Yan's dangerous car show or he was really tired.

Xia Yan drove a small broken car that was not far from being scrapped out of an F1 racing car, and it only took half the usual time to kill Chengzhou No. [-] Hospital.

When Lu Yuan got out of the car, he finally understood when he saw the red signboard of Yiyi Hospital, and he couldn't laugh or cry for a while.

"Captain Xia, I just have a little cold, aren't you cooking chicken with Niu Ding? I'll be fine after I go home and lie down for two days."

Xia Yan squinted at him and didn't speak.

"Captain Xia, you drove me to the hospital for more than an hour, why do you care so much about me all of a sudden?"

Although Lu Yuan spoke with a strong nasal voice, his tone was normal, but his body swayed and his eyes were not clear.Xia Yan finally couldn't bear it anymore, and dragged him in: "Shut up."

Lu Yuan didn't know when he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was lying on the hospital bed with water hanging on the back of his hand. There was no one in the ward, and it was dark outside the window.His head seemed to weigh a thousand catties, and he had no strength in his body. He had exhausted all his energy on the way here with Xia Yan.

Not long after, Xia Yan pushed open the door of the ward with his head down and came in dejectedly. He walked to the bed and looked up only to see Lu Yuan's eyes open. Without saying a word, he immediately turned around and went out to get a cup of hot water and came back.When he came back, Fanlian put on a mocking face like flipping through a book.

"Lu Yuan, you're really awesome. The doctors say you're awesome. After burning forty degrees, you're still alive and kicking. Follow this trend for another two days, and you'll become a fresh brain. When the time comes, I will hold your hand, and you will call me daddy in a childlike voice, and share the family happiness, how about it, are you happy or excited?"

Lu Yuan: "..."

Xia Yan: "Speak up, didn't you talk quite well just now?"

Lu Yuan carefully turned his head to look at Xia Yan, and was immediately ravaged by his sharp eyes.

Xia Yan adjusted the bed up, took two pillows and placed them behind Lu Yuan's back so that he could lean back, then stuffed the water he just poured into his hands, moved a chair and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at Lu Yuan. Yuan's eyes said: "Tell the truth."

When he was doing this series of actions, Lu Yuan had already compiled a set of rhetoric on the spot, but looking at Xia Yan's serious eyes, the compiled words and sentences disappeared in an instant, without leaving even a punctuation mark.

"When I came back from your house, I caught a cold. I just had a cough at the beginning. I didn't pay much attention to it. After one night, I started to have a headache again. I took cold medicine and lay down at home, thinking that it would be better in two days. , I didn't expect it to be this serious."

"So, didn't you have a meeting when I called you yesterday?"

"Well, my head hurt so much at that time, and I slept soundly, and I didn't hear the phone ring." After finishing speaking, Lu Yuan looked at Xia Yan's slightly heavy eyes, and added: "I didn't pay attention, and I didn't hear the phone ringing." It doesn't matter much to you, don't worry too much."

"Who cares about you anymore, don't be too sentimental!"

Team Xia suddenly raised his voice and yelled, startling both the patient and himself. After the yelling, he realized that he had lost his composure, stood up and slammed the door out angrily.

Lu Yuan looked at his back that looked like it was trying to cover up, and smiled silently.

The temperature of the water in the cup was just right, Lu Yuan held the cup for a long time before taking a sip.