Under the moonlight

Chapter 129 Dirty Things

"What's going on?" Li Shuo looked at the two people in front of him with a blank expression.

"Don't you think there's something wrong with him?" Xu Ao asked Zhao Meng, arms crossed and staring at Li Shuo's face.

"Hmm, it seems so." Zhao Meng nodded seriously at Li Shuo.

Seeing the scrutinizing looks in their eyes, Li Shuo nervously said, "No, don't scare me! I... I don't think I... I haven't been... given... anything!" As he spoke, he turned his neck as if there really was something there.

"Your face looks off, Li Shuo. Did you wash your face this morning?" Zhao Meng asked him seriously.

"Of course I've washed it, so what? Brother, you're both my brothers, stop teasing me, okay?" Li Shuo was so nervous he was almost crying.

"It's nothing, it's just that your face, well, why don't you go look in the mirror yourself?" Xu Ao looked at the black handprint on his face and didn't know how to talk to him.

Li Shuo nervously watched the two of them, then rushed to the bathroom. He didn't dare to look directly into the mirror. After mentally preparing himself for several minutes, he gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Ah! Ah~ This is, um? I must have put these up here myself just now." Li Shuo looked at the handprints on his forehead. He was indeed extremely scared at first, but after looking at them for a while, he suddenly remembered that he had grabbed the pit wall with his hand when the two of them pulled him up.

"I did scratch my head, but even dirt shouldn't be black, right?" Li Shuo frowned as he looked at himself in the mirror.

Zhao Meng reached out and touched his forehead, then brought his fingers closer to examine them. "This is ash."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ao seemed to make a connection and rushed to Li Shuo, examining his forehead closely. "Indeed, it's ash formed after burning. If that's the case, Li Shuo, lift your foot."

Li Shuo instantly understood Xu Ao's meaning. He quickly lifted his foot, which had been bracing against the pit wall, and sure enough, there was black ash on the sole and toe of his shoe.

Xu Ao slowly straightened up, as if entering his own world. He didn't say anything, but simply walked to the table and placed his hands on it.

Seeing that he was deep in thought, Zhao Meng didn't disturb him.

After a long while, Xu Ao said to them in a hoarse voice, "Back then, when the plague first broke out, we speculated that maybe they would let the disease run rampant and then use it as an excuse to lock down the city, so that no other country would want to get involved in this mess, and they could do whatever they wanted to the city and its people."

“Moreover, according to our colleagues, the plague was caused by the accumulation of corpses. So the pit we just discovered is very likely the place they used to burn evidence.” Xu Ao finished speaking, his eyes red as he looked at the two men.

They seemed to still be processing Xu Ao's words when, after a few minutes, Li Shuo suddenly exclaimed, "So, these black ashes are very likely from the corpses they burned to cause the plague?!"

After Li Shuo finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Meng and Xu Ao. He wished they would shake their heads at him, but they looked at him with pity.

Seeing their reactions, Li Su understood what was going on. She didn't say anything, but silently turned on the tap and began to wash her face frantically.

Zhao Meng glanced at Li Shuo, then looked at Xu Ao, "So, they secretly put those rotting corpses that caused the plague behind your walls without your knowledge, and then burned them? That shouldn't be possible. The smell should be very pungent; surely they could have smelled it?"

"And why weren't the surrounding weeds burned?" Li Shuo asked, rubbing his face as he poked his head out.

Zhao Meng also looked at Xu Ao, his eyes filled with doubt.

"What we saw today was just the edge; we don't know what's inside yet."

"Yes, I understand. You mean they only left the outer ring. In that case, if we go inside to check, we need to determine the diameter of the pit first, so we don't fall in again." Zhao Meng finished speaking and looked at Li Shuo, his face flushed.

"Hmm, that makes sense." Xu Ao glanced at Li Shuo, who was still frantically washing his face, and agreed.