Facing Long Lan Xiang's remains, Pang Dun still seemed reluctant. He reached out to pick up the bones, lamenting, "Fate is envious of beauty, why can't such a beautiful woman live a little longer?"
"I'm speechless," I said to Pang Dun. "Do you know a saying? When something is destroyed at its most beautiful, that beauty will be permanently remembered. If Long Lan Xiang were still alive, by now she would have aged, so don't keep dwelling on her, she's just a dead person."
I was somewhat worried that Pang Dun might have developed a necrophilic tendency. Fortunately, after I said this, Pang Dun nodded understandingly, then said, "Yes, being destroyed at the most beautiful moment can preserve beauty forever."
As he spoke, Pang Dun even recited a poem:
"It is said that all flaws come from the pursuit of perfection.
Like the sparse morning sunlight,
Shining through dense bamboo and fir trees,
Devotedly sprinkling onto moss-covered rock faces,
As if there is some residual dew from the night,
Carefully cherishing the remaining admonishments and breaths..."
Pang Dun stopped and took a deep breath, saying, "I now realize how beautiful this poem about 'imperfect beauty' by Zhang Xi is."
Hearing this, I felt helpless and didn't want to deal with Pang Dun anymore, so I started scanning the room. Besides Long Lan Xiang's body and the chair, there was nothing else in the room, just a layer of dust on the ground, not even a cobweb.
After looking around for a while, I turned to look outside. Just then, I was stunned, as there was suddenly a person standing silently at the door.
Seeing this scene, I furrowed my brows and felt a slight unease in my heart. Upon closer inspection, I was even more puzzled. Because the person standing at the door was a complete surprise. It was the old man Li who was the security guard at our school. The same person who ran away when I asked him about Long Lan Xiang.
At this moment, he was gazing sadly at Long Lan Xiang's white bones.
"After nine years of nightmares, she has finally seen the light of day, but the woman has already turned to dust," Li said with a touch of sadness in his gaze.
I looked at Li in confusion and asked, "Uncle Li, why are you here in the middle of the night?"
Li didn't look back, and simply said, "I haven't done anything, I just wanted to take one last look at Xiang Xiang and see her off."
"Hehe." I suddenly couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that Mr. Li is very familiar with Long Lanxiang. I wonder what the relationship between Mr. Li and Long Lanxiang is?"
"It's none of my business," Mr. Li sighed deeply. "I'm just an unnamed pursuer who watched Xiangxiang die tragically, killed by evildoers. Nine years ago..."
As he spoke, Old Li choked up and covered his face with his hands.
"Okay," I nodded, "Mr. Li, don't be sad. When people die, it's like putting out a candle. But I want to know what happened to Long Lanxiang nine years ago? How about you tell us in front of her remains, I'm listening."
Mr. Li's face showed a hesitant expression, but in an instant, it became determined: "Forget it, forget it, it's a thing of the past, it's time to speak out."
"Tragic," Old Li's face was filled with sorrow, lost in thought. "Tragic, just one word, tragic. Nine years ago, Long Lanxiang was a newly recruited history teacher at the school. Although she was a new teacher, her performance at the school was good. At that time, Long Lanxiang had just graduated from college, still a young lady, only a few years older than high school students, and really charming."
"Unfortunately, the saying goes, beauty brings disaster. Just because she was charming, she ended up in a big disaster."
Mr. Li sighed deeply. "Because she was charming, she naturally had many pursuers. Not long after she came to the school, Long Lanxiang found an excellent boyfriend, they fell in love at first sight. But at that time, there were too many people who coveted Long Lanxiang. When they found out that Long Lanxiang had a boyfriend, a wave of hatred arose among those who coveted her. Especially, one person among them."
"And then, after a few days, Long Lanxiang's boyfriend was falsely accused and expelled from the school. A few days later, it was heard that Long Lanxiang's boyfriend was severely beaten by a group of people outside, almost beaten to death."
Listening to this, I nodded, "The one who did it was Nie Wei, right?"
Mr. Li continued, "Then, Long Lanxiang was frustrated everywhere at the school, and was eventually forced into a corner, so she finally decided to resign. But at this time, Long Lanxiang received a threat, if she dared to resign, her boyfriend would immediately lose a hand. Then Long Lanxiang immediately tore up the resignation letter and ran back to the dorm crying."
"Okay," I nodded quietly. "I didn't expect that Nie Wei would resort to such cruel means for Long Lanxiang."
"I don't understand either," Mr. Li shook his head. "Actually, Nie Wei used to be a very gentle and kind person. Even as a vice principal, Nie Wei always behaved modestly and never did anything evil. But when he met Long Lanxiang, Nie Wei seemed to have gone crazy and had a drastic change in character."
"Okay," my heart sank. "What's going on again? Did Nie Wei completely change his character just because of Long Lanxiang's beauty? Also, how did Long Lanxiang die in the end?"
"I don't know about that," Mr. Li fell into deep thought again. "Later, something unexpected happened to Long Lanxiang. Her boyfriend, the one who was beaten half to death, perhaps unable to stand it, actually betrayed her and left her. And on that very night, Long Lanxiang died in despair and chose to commit suicide by jumping into the river."
At this point, Mr. Li suddenly turned around and said, "Alright, that's all about Long Lanxiang. I won't go to bury her remains. Thank you for doing so much for Xiangxiang."
I nodded in response, and Mr. Li left the room directly and walked away. Watching Mr. Li's back in silence, I couldn't help but shake my head.
At this time, Pang Dun also walked up beside me, looking at Mr. Li's back with some confusion, "This old man is really strange. By the way, how did he know that Long Lanxiang's body is here?"
"Hmm?" When I heard this, I couldn't help but be stunned, then shook my head and said, "He looks very familiar with the place, he probably knew about Long Lanxiang's remains for a long time. Perhaps, as he said, he was a pursuer of Long Lanxiang, and he paid close attention to Long Lanxiang even after her death, so he found his way here."
"Damn disgusting," Pang Dun said, "At such an old age, he's still pursuing young girls."
"Okay," I nodded. "Let's go, we'll find a place to bury the remains on the way."
With that, Pang Dun and I left the room one after the other. But just a few steps away, Pang Dun, not paying attention, suddenly fell to the ground, and Long Lanxiang's remains in his hand were scattered all over the place.
"What are you doing?" I couldn't help but look at Pang Dun harshly, and he also looked a bit aggrieved, quickly got up and picked up Long Lanxiang's remains.
I looked silently at Pang Dun, feeling helpless. After this fall, Pang Dun became more brisk in his movements, quickly picking up most of the remains, leaving only a few pieces of bones on the ground. My gaze followed Pang Dun's hand, randomly moving among these bones.
Suddenly, when Pang Dun's hand moved to the skull of Long Lanxiang, my eyes suddenly lit up: "Wait."
"What's wrong?" Fat Dun asked in confusion.
I suddenly reached out and took the skull, carefully examining it. To my surprise, I found some tiny grooves on the skull. The grooves crisscrossed and covered the entire skull.
"It's a bone-eating insect," I said, furrowing my brow.
"Bone-eating insect?" Fat Dun looked puzzled. "What's that?"
I gently put down the skull and said slowly, "The bone-eating insect is a type of Gu insect used by practitioners of the Dao to place inside their own bodies. It means..."
I was shocked, "Is Long Lanxiang a practitioner of the Dao?"