The Vanishing Bag

"Come in."

The door of a spacious apartment in a residential complex slowly swung open as the mechanical female voice sounded.

An Shiyu's footsteps were light and unhurried. After turning on the light, she walked over to the sofa and sat down.

She slowly extended her hand, her fingertips barely detecting any pulse.

An Shiyu: "..."

From the shadows nearby, someone stood with their arms crossed. "What did you do today?"

"Before dying, I did something naughty with an old man."

"Eh, I don’t believe you," the other person lazily replied.

An Shiyu didn’t bother explaining further. She lay back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. At this point, she had no energy left to say more. The relentless fatigue in her body made her want to close her eyes and sleep at every moment.

But even An Shiyu herself didn’t know whether, once her eyes shut,

they would ever open again...

The sofa dipped slightly as someone sat beside her, and then she felt a slight prickling sensation in her palm. The girl opened her eyes slightly to find a blister pack of pills in her hand.

Inside the silver packaging, a single pill sat quietly in place.

"There’s good news and bad news."

An Shiyu didn’t look up. She stared at the pill in her hand, a few strands of hair falling over her forehead. "What’s the good news?"

"The good news... the medicine has been developed. It’s the one in your hand," the other person said slowly.

"And the bad news?"

"It’s a prototype."

An Shiyu remained calm, as if this outcome didn’t surprise her at all. She had long grown accustomed to not hoping for anything, so disappointment never came.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel a faint pang of loss deep down.

Ah, well. Used to it.

"Can I take it?" she asked.

"Seems to have a slight effect. It can temporarily restore you... but you can only take it once. As for how long it lasts..." The other person shrugged.

"Once." An Shiyu pinched the pill between her fingers, as if playing with it.

"That’s enough... for the last time."

The other person looked at An Shiyu. "Are you really not reconsidering?"

"At this point, do you even need to ask?" The girl slowly stood up and walked toward her room.

Her steps paused for a moment, and she added, as if joking,

"Oh, and when I die, don’t show up at my funeral. You’ll scare the guests."

"..."

"Idiot..."

...

The next day, Yinshan Academy.

"Alright, mark time—march!"

"One-two-one, one-two-one."

"There’ll be a military boxing demonstration later. If anyone’s interested, you can sign up to learn."

The final day of military training proceeded as usual. Ye Shuang directed the students but noticed that An Shiyu hadn’t come today.

Not only that—she hadn’t shown up at the infirmary either.

"..." Ye Shuang couldn’t help but wonder. Even when he messaged her, there was no response, just like the last time she had disappeared for a month without a trace.

"Alright, take a break for now."

When rest time came, Ye Shuang sat on the steps and took a casual sip of mineral water.

His gaze drifted toward Bai Yuyou and noticed that the two girls seemed about to approach him. But the next second, he spotted a figure sneaking closer, looking like she wanted to come near but didn’t dare.

"Hmm?" Ye Shuang found the girl somewhat familiar, which surprised him.

Meanwhile, over by Bai Yuyou—

The two girls had been about to go chat with Ye Shuang, but Bai Yuyou seemed to notice something. She glanced sideways and saw a petite girl approaching, hesitating as if afraid to get closer.

"Ah, it’s that girl from yesterday," Tang Keke said, following Bai Yuyou’s gaze to Tao Xiaotao.

Realizing she’d been spotted, Tao Xiaotao finally walked over, nervously wringing her hands as if unsure what to say.

"What’s wrong?" Bai Yuyou asked.

"I-I... I didn’t mean anything, I just..." Tao Xiaotao stammered, her face flushing with embarrassment.

"Stuttering is okay... Take your time and it’ll get better," Bai Yuyou said, as if understanding perfectly.

Tao Xiaotao froze for a moment.

Perhaps because of Bai Yuyou’s interruption, she relaxed slightly. "Um, the bag I had yesterday... I think I left it here."

"Did... did you see it?"

"Oh?" Tang Keke suddenly remembered. "You mean that green bag? The one with all the bottles and stuff?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Don’t worry, we threw it in the trash for you," Tang Keke said cheerfully. "Since you forgot it, we figured we’d toss it."

Tao Xiaotao’s voice rose slightly. "The trash?!"

"Yeah, wasn’t it supposed to go there anyway?" Tang Keke said. "It was just garbage."

Tao Xiaotao: "..."

"Yeah... it was supposed to go in the trash," she muttered dejectedly, turning away. "Just like me."

The background around Tao Xiaotao seemed to fade into grayscale as she crouched down, hugging her knees, completely devoid of hope.

Tang Keke and Bai Yuyou exchanged glances, confused by her reaction.

Bai Yuyou then asked, "Were the bottles important to you?"

"Yeah."

Tao Xiaotao stood up listlessly, shuffling back to her spot like a zombie.

"Did... did I do something wrong? Was there something personal in there?" Tang Keke watched her lifeless retreating figure and murmured, "Should I go dig the bag out?!"

"The bag... was taken by the cleaning lady," Bai Yuyou said. "She looked really happy."

"Ah..."

Time passed quickly, and soon it was lunch break.

Ye Shuang was about to take Bai Yuyou and Tang Keke to the cafeteria—

"Let’s eat." Bai Yuyou was about to follow when she noticed someone heading in the opposite direction.

It was Tao Xiaotao.

Tiny, like a little kitten.

"What’s up, Yuyou?"

"That girl..."

Tang Keke also noticed Tao Xiaotao leaving and tilted her head. "Isn’t she going to the cafeteria? If she’s eating off-campus, it’s pretty far. She should take the shuttle or ride a bike."

Bai Yuyou whispered, "I want to follow her."

"Huh?" Tang Keke seemed to understand. After exchanging a glance, the two girls immediately sneaked off, leaving Ye Shuang with just a quick,

"Brother, can you grab us some food? We’ll be right back!"

Ye Shuang watched the two girls skulking around and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"What are these two up to, tailing a classmate?"

Just then, his phone rang.