I walked toward the group without rushing, my steps steady across the uneven ground of the abandoned village, and as I got closer, I could clearly hear that they were already deep in discussion about something, though the moment I appeared, their voices gradually faded until the entire space fell into an unusual kind of silence.
Zhang Lei was the first to notice me, and almost instantly the others followed his gaze, their conversation cutting off mid-sentence as every single person slowly turned in my direction, as if whatever they had been talking about no longer mattered the moment I entered their line of sight.
"What are you all discussing?" I asked calmly as I stopped a few steps away from them, my eyes moving across each of their faces in turn.
No one answered immediately.
Not because they did not hear me, but because they seemed distracted by something else entirely, something I could not immediately understand from their reactions alone.
