Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?-Chapter 1100 - 1096: Memories That Cannot Be Let Go

Chapter 1100: Chapter 1096: Memories That Cannot Be Let Go

The unknown is always the source of fear, and Taozi was feeling just that.

When she couldn’t see the woman, there was a vague sense of unease in her heart. But once she saw her appearance, the fear vanished without a trace, replaced entirely by curiosity.

She just couldn’t understand why the other woman would stay in this desolate parking lot.

If they hadn’t spontaneously decided to practice driving today, this place might not see a soul for three to five months.

"We can all see you."

Shen Siyuan’s voice broke the silence. He looked at the woman in the floral dress with a gentle gaze, his tone probing, "Can you tell us why you’re staying here?"

The woman heard this, and her fingers, hanging by her side, curled slightly. Her expression immediately turned desolate: "Because I have nowhere to go."

This sounded like a reason, but upon closer thought, it didn’t hold up.

Though ghosts prefer solitude, they wouldn’t choose such a godforsaken spot.

Even someone as naive as Dou Dou knew to run home.

As expected, the woman paused, then spoke slowly, "Also... my body is buried here."

She raised her hand, her slender fingertips pointing to a patch of concrete in the corner of the parking lot.

"Ah?"

Taozi exclaimed softly in surprise, instinctively snuggling closer to Shen Siyuan, her heart pounding.

Judging by the style of the woman’s floral dress, which was trendy and not old, she certainly hadn’t died long ago.

If it were an ordinary burial, the skeletons would have been dug up by the construction team when the parking lot was being built.

This suggests she was buried here after the parking lot was constructed.

Who would specifically bury someone under freshly laid concrete? The answer was almost glaringly obvious.

But Taozi didn’t make the connection. She blinked her wide eyes and asked naively, "Was this place originally a cemetery?"

As she spoke, she curiously glanced around at the overgrown grass surrounding the scene.

Shen Siyuan found her look amusing, but he didn’t offer an explanation.

Because the woman in the floral dress gently shook her head, providing the answer for him.

"I was killed and then buried here."

Her voice was soft, without much resentment, carrying instead a faint touch of melancholy.

"Uh..." Taozi was instantly at a loss for words, her face full of embarrassment, yet she felt a wave of regret in her heart.

The woman before them looked barely in her twenties, with delicate features and should have been in the prime of her life. How did she end up as such?

"Was she buried in the concrete?" Shen Siyuan picked up on the crucial detail.

The woman in the floral dress nodded gently, her long lashes falling to cover the emotions in her eyes.

"Do you remember what the killer looked like? Tell me, I’ll help you report it to the police."

"Of course, I remember."

The woman lifted her eyes to look at him, a glimmer of light flashed in her eyes before dimming, and she said softly, "Thank you for your kindness, but if you report it, wouldn’t it be hard to explain?"

She actually turned around to worry about Shen Siyuan, which surprised him somewhat.

What she said was indeed true.

Her remains buried deep beneath the concrete left no trace.

If Shen Siyuan rashly went to report it, he wouldn’t be able to explain how he came by this knowledge.

In the end, not only would he not be able to help her, but he might also bring trouble upon himself, even possibly being considered a suspect by the police.

"You don’t have to worry about that, I have my ways."

Shen Siyuan waved his hand, his tone confident, showing no signs of being daunted by the matter, "You should go ahead and tell us your story."

Seeing Shen Siyuan’s persistence, a flicker of gratitude appeared in the woman’s eyes. She didn’t refuse further and began to narrate her story.

Her name was Jiang Haiyan, and her family lived where the unfinished buildings now stand not far away.

That place was originally a village called Haiyan Village. She was born and raised there but moved with her family when the ancestral home was relocated due to demolition.

"Haiyan, do you want to go shopping tonight?"

A colleague saw Jiang Haiyan packing her bag and approached her cheerfully with a casual invitation.

Jiang Haiyan paused her movements, looked up, and smiled softly, "No, I have something to do tonight."

"Going back to Haiyan Village again?"

The colleague immediately guessed her destination, teasingly saying, "That place has long been torn apart and now just a construction site. You’re really nostalgic."

"Not entirely,"

Jiang Haiyan gently shook her head, her fingers absentmindedly rubbing the bag strap. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Although Haiyan Village has been demolished, there are still many places around that haven’t been touched yet. I just want to walk around and take a look."

"Something’s off, very off."

The colleague immediately squinted her eyes, with a look of "I’ve seen through you," lowering her voice to gossip, "Being nostalgic is not unusual, but going to the construction site once or twice a week is quite rare. Tell me honestly, are you going there because someone you like is there?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Haiyan’s cheeks flushed slightly. She did not outright deny it, only covering her shyness with a subtle smile, her eyes holding a warmth that was hard to perceive.

This only confirmed the colleague’s speculation.

"Wow, really?"

The colleague’s eyes lit up, leaning closer with curiosity, "Who is it? Someone you’ve kept thinking about so much that you run back there every week?"

"Really, no."

Jiang Haiyan felt a bit embarrassed by the question, lightly pushing the colleague’s arm, "I just simply want to go back and walk around, find those childhood feelings."

Ultimately, she still didn’t accept her colleague’s shopping invitation and headed toward Haiyan Village with her bag as originally planned.

On the way, Jiang Haiyan stopped by a small noodle shop at a street corner and quickly had a bowl of noodles.

By the time she arrived at Haiyan Village, it was nearly seven in the evening.

The sky was already dark. Although several temporary lights were set up at the construction site, the dim and yellow rays barely dispelled some of the darkness, making the entire area feel even more vast and quiet, with very few people around.

From a distance, faint lights flickered from some simple shacks, occasionally accompanied by sporadic bursts of noise from drinking games and toasts. These sounds stood out sharply in the silent night, soon dissipating into the evening breeze.

Given the season’s daytime heat, many construction sites often work at night, so there should be more workers than during the day.

But Jiang Haiyan didn’t spend much time considering these things. She kept moving, stepping onto the rut-filled dirt road within the construction site. Her shoes crunched over the gravel, producing soft, scattered sounds.

The reason she told others was nostalgia, an inability to part with her homeland, not being able to let go of those memories of climbing trees for bird nests and chasing fireflies in the sunlit fields. These were all true but not entirely the truth.

What truly compelled her to revisit this barren construction site time and again was a secret buried in her heart for many years.

Haiyan Village was part of the first phase of demolition; not far away, Mengbei Village was the second phase. Reportedly, due to financing issues, only Haiyan Village was demolished first, and Mengbei Village still retained its original state, occupied by its original residents.

Jiang Haiyan’s real longing was for a young man from Mengbei Village.

They were genuine childhood sweethearts, attending the same school from primary to high school, with desks not far apart, often walking the same road home after school.

The infatuation of youth was naive and pure; neither had pierced that thin veil, yet they both silently acknowledged the other as the person with whom they could spend their whole lives.

Unfortunately, after the college entrance examination, fate played a small joke. She was admitted to a university in another province, while he, having failed the exam, went to work elsewhere with fellow villagers.

Separated by mountains and busy lives, they gradually lost touch. The once-familiar affection and understanding slowly settled into regret in their hearts.

Later, when Haiyan Village was demolished, Jiang Haiyan moved away from the land where she had grown up with her family. Yet, the figure in her heart couldn’t be set aside.

So, whenever she had the chance, she’d come back for a walk.

It was both to find a sense of childhood in familiar alleys and street corners and to hold on to a faint hope that someday she might accidentally run into the one she had been thinking about for many years under the village entrance tree or along the path beside the construction site.

The sea breeze, with its salty and damp scent, subtly fluttered Jiang Haiyan’s dress.

She looked up toward the direction of Mengbei Village...