A month later, Hestad, who had completed her southern border inspection mission in District 3, learned of Liz's death. At that time, Rico and Turan had already launched an appeal against the Ulian Police Department in their own names - against the Ulian Police Department. Neither of them believed a word of the conclusion given by the police.
Not to mention that after entering bullet time, how could the mercury needle, whose audio and visual perception has been greatly enhanced, not even notice that there is an enemy nearby? What's more, this was none other than Liz. Even if she did not turn on bullet time, she would not be able to commit such a crime. An almost ridiculous mistake.
In the past four years, the radical changes that Liz has inspired in Wulian have shattered the comfortable lives of many people. Rather than an accident, they are more willing to believe that this is a deliberate murder against Liz. There must be an ulterior conspiracy.
After talking to the two of them on the phone and reading all the relevant documents sent by Turan and Rico word by word, Hesta sat alone at the table in a daze. She neither felt sad like most people nor did she feel like Tulan. Like Lan and Rico, they burst into great anger after experiencing heart-breaking grief.
She just felt dazed, her mind was sometimes light and sometimes heavy, as if she was in an unreal dream.
The morning she parted with Liz was still flashing back in her mind. She thought of the hug when they parted, of Liz's hearty laughter, of the dark and cool corridor outside Liz's office, and after opening the door, she was surrounded by her old friends. The moment their eyes met, there was joy in each other's eyes.
A month has passed. It is said that on the day of Liz's funeral, the flag of Ulian Province was flown at half-mast for her. Her story and the name Askia monopolized newspapers everywhere that week.
Now, all the ripples have subsided, and the entire world has emerged from the tragedy of a mercury needle being accidentally sacrificed in a habitable place, and the earthquake on Hesta's side has just begun.
She applied to go back to Wulian alone. She had missed Liz's funeral and she should at least go to her grave to take another look. The base approved her application and granted her a two-week leave. She did not have to return to Tanyi first. She could return directly to Ulian from the southern border to recuperate there.
Stepping out of Wulian Central Station again, it was still a rainy day in front of us.
Chiba held a black umbrella and waited for her in the empty station square.
The two took a car to the ahga apartment in the north of the old city. As soon as they stepped into the lobby, Hesta saw Calvin carrying his luggage and entering information at the front desk.
Seeing Qianye, Calvin stopped what he was doing and turned around to salute. Qianye waved his hand towards him, indicating that he didn't need to care.
Calvin's eyes fell on Hesta behind Qianye again, but Hesta did not raise her head from the beginning to the end. Half of her face was sunk under the brown brim, and she looked a little downcast.
"Why are you here? You have a mission?" Qianye asked casually.
"I'm on vacation these two days," Calvin replied, "It just so happened that Sean came here temporarily to attend a white hat breakfast meeting, so I came over to see him."
Chiba looked at Calvin's two large boxes - indeed, they looked like two people's luggage. She glanced around and saw no one else, Sean.
He probably discovered Hesta again, so he hid in advance.
"Which room are you staying in?"
"c507," Calvin showed the number plate he just got, "Where are you and Jane?"
"c514." Chiba replied, "It seems they are on the same floor."
After taking the key, Qianye took Hesta one step ahead. The moment he passed by Calvin, he looked at Jane and whispered "My condolences" in a low voice. Jane did not answer, but looked at Calvin's face. A slight nod in the direction.
The next morning, when the rain stopped, Chiba drove her to the Ulian Memorial Cemetery in the northern suburbs. Along the way, Hesta kept leaning against the car window, looking at the rapidly receding scenery on the roadside.
The wet and cold wind on the rainy day made her unable to open her eyes. She was wrapping the red velvet blanket that Liz had given her and thinking about the past in a hazy manner.
The memorial cemetery in Wulian mostly buries meritorious veterans and other public officials who died in the line of duty. As a posthumous honor, a small number of honorary citizens are also approved to be buried here after death.
The cemetery in the drizzle was silent and deserted. A pure white cat walked calmly among the blue-gray tombstones, stopping from time to time to stretch or lick its paws. At this time, it quietly raised its head and looked at them without hiding.
In its emerald eyes, two humans walked silently towards the center of the cemetery.
The surface of the newly built stone tablet is smooth and clean, with Liz's code name, her military rank and the dates of birth and death printed on it. The white marble in front of the tomb is filled with palm-sized commemorative slabs - this is the funeral tradition of the third district. The deceased will be engraved with some praises or heartfelt words on these stone slabs and left permanently next to the tombstone of the deceased until the wind and sand bury them together with the cemetery.
Hesta lowered her eyes and read each piece one by one. After a while, she bent down and knelt in front of a granite-textured commemorative stone slab, and saw what was written on it:
She died young,
Neither love nor anxiety,
Like golden stars falling
Rising like a flower that never fades
For a moment, a distant song was like a bolt of lightning. It penetrated time quickly and powerfully, taking Hestad back to a night four years ago.
That night, they talked about the golden age and the songs passed down from that time. Liz once hugged her accordion, smiled at herself and Turan and said: "My grandmother also taught me another song, Do you want to hear it?"
Tears much bigger than raindrops fell on the stone slab. Hesta's two hands tightly grasped the stone that was frozen cold in the rain. Her exposed hands soon lost their strength in the cold wind. After losing consciousness, the world on the ground is still so cold. How can Liz, who is lying underground, rely on to keep out the cold?
In this deserted cemetery, Hesta couldn't help crying. She knelt down in front of Liz's grave, her forehead pressed against Liz's monument, and she whispered Liz's name in an indistinct voice. , but the old friend in the grave can no longer respond. From now on, one of them will sleep underground for many years, and the others can only cherish her thoughts forever until the day when death allows them to reunite.
On the way back, Hesta kept his eyes closed, and his eyes and nose turned red from crying continuously. The car stopped at a traffic light at an intersection, and Hesta suddenly looked at Chiba who was nearby.
"Do you understand the truth about Liz's sacrifice?"
"I'm not sure," Qianye replied lightly, "but I think the report given by the Wulian Police Station is credible."
"This is impossible!" Hesta frowned in disbelief, her voice broken with excitement, "You clearly know Liz, you understand her, she can't possibly-"
"Yes, I understand. Liz is very good. A dying criminal cannot kill her with just a gun."
Chiba looked sideways at Hesta. She was thinking about the words, but she couldn't find a more euphemistic way of saying it.
The green light turned on, Chiba looked at the road ahead and stepped on the accelerator.
"...But when it happened, she was at the end of her conditioned time."
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