Translator: Yuzu

“Damn, there are too many bugs in the mountains!” The woman was wearing high heels, both her legs were a little soft, and she kept complaining along the way, unable to resist cursing out.

Except for Xiao Chen, who didn’t ask questions, the other five people were a bit impatient with her.

“What kind of shabby village is this! There’s not even a vehicle! There’s still no signal in the mountains! What the hell!” The woman cursed and was dressed in gold and silver, but she couldn’t hide her vulgarity.

She was the woman who had first spoken in front of the old man, the daughter of Zhang Daniu.

“I think the situation is a bit urgent now. We can’t just sit around and wait anymore!” Ma Chenggong quickly steadied himself, rubbing both of his hands against his trouser legs, “There must be no available transportation in the village! There’s no electricity here either, not to mention there’s no signal on our phones. In a little while, they’ll run out of battery and just shut down! When that happens, we’ll really be in a dead-end!”

Everyone’s complexion was a bit ugly, and even if Ma Chenggong didn’t say anything, everyone had actually guessed this level.

“So, I’ll just say it!” Ma Chenggong raised his head with a hidden agenda, swept these people’s faces, and said, “While it’s still noon, it’s not too late for us to walk straight down the mountain! Otherwise, if we keep delaying, there will be no food here, and as soon as we finish the food we brought, we’ll starve to death sooner or later in this godforsaken place!”

Ma Chenggong tensed the muscles on his face.

Before, they were the ones who had repeatedly procrastinated time and time again. As a result, they had fallen into a situation where they had no food, no electricity, and no clean water. Before Tan Jun came to their door, they had already started killing each other.

Ma Hang was the first to step forward and unconditionally supported his brother, saying, “I agree!”

Ma Chenggong looked at him with complicated eyes. The resentment couldn’t stop coming up and was repeatedly pushed down.

The woman, Zhang Xiaoxian, tossed her long wavy hair, pulled out a card from her wallet, and said, “In that case, I won’t follow you. This is a deposit, there’s a hundred thousand in it, and as long as you go down the mountain and shout for someone to come up and take me down, the payment will be ten times this.”

Everyone looked at each other, seemingly disapproving of her actions.

Ma Chenggong sneered for a moment, he was a bit angry and dissatisfied, but he did not argue back.

Xiao Chen’s face was pale, and his eyes were downcast. He stood there sullenly, not participating in the crowd’s discussion from beginning to end.

It was only when everything had been decided that he spoke indifferently, “I’m not leaving.”

Everyone was a little surprised, but they were dissatisfied more than that, thinking that he had to do the same with money as Zhang Xiaoxian.

When Jin Hong heard Xiao Chen say that, she immediately wanted to hold his hand, intending to say something to him.

“You don’t have to bother with me.” Xiao Chen directly dodged Jin Hong’s hand and frowned lightly. His appearance was as calm as ever. Both of his hands were stuffed in his pockets, and he walked out the door without looking back.

Tan Jun is still here! How could he leave! He came back here for Tan Jun!

Xiao Chen touched the pendant on his neck.

It seemed that someone suddenly let out a soft laugh, this laugh was so weak that it could be ignored by everyone, but this laugh contained a thousand spoils(pampering) as well as helplessness.

Ma Chenggong looked at Xiao Chen’s back and cursed that he was sick.

Forget it! Who cares!

Ma Chenggong continued to play his role as a core leader and said, “Everyone, get ready, we’re going down now!”

When Xiao Chen walked out of the door, he paused at the entrance. He began to walk purposefully in a particular direction as if he was looking for something.

His hand involuntarily rubbed the pendant around his neck. He had only been walking for a short time, but cold sweat already couldn’t stop coming out of his forehead. His vision was even blurred, and his stomach began to contract, pumping hard and painfully.

But for some reason, he seemed to be stubborn, and even though his legs were starting to weaken a little, he still pushed himself forward.

He rounded several corners and entered a few alleys before he finally stopped in front of a house.

The house looked like it had been abandoned for ten years, withered and barren as if it had been washed away by heavy rains and had collapsed in half because it couldn’t hold up. Even the tiles on the ground had become fragile due to weathering.

Xiao Chen was so pale that his sickly face looked utterly bloodless.

With both knees directly on the ground, he opened his mouth but did not make a sound, his right hand tightly gripping the pendant.

‘I’m here.’ Tan Jun’s voice came from the bottom of his heart.

Xiao Chen’s entire body looked weak, there was little flesh on his face, arms, and legs, but when he heard Tan Jun’s voice, there was a throbbing pain in his heart. He asked out, “Are you hurt?”

Tan Jun knew what he was asking.

‘It doesn’t hurt.’

Xiao Chen swallowed his voice to hold back his tears. Not knowing what came to mind, he shuddered a little, “Why can’t you just blame me?”

The man chuckled softly, ‘Unwilling to let go.’

Tan Jun leaned his head on Xiao Chen’s neck and crouched down on the ground, circling Xiao Chen’s entire body with his hands, as if he was holding him in his arms.

But Xiao Chen couldn’t see him.

Tan Jun’s eyes were dark, with undisguised possessiveness.

Wait a little longer, and I’ll let you see me again!

Even if my body is destroyed, my soul remains forever. My love for you is like a specimen soaked in formalin, never decaying, but with absolute madness and paranoia, and even death cannot separate you from me.

“Knock knock.” Outside the door was a soft knock.

Zhang Xiaoxian huffed out a breath, tidied her hair again, and was not in a hurry to open the door.

It was a bit strange how these people left not long ago and then came back again!

Suddenly, she thought of Xiao Chen, who hadn’t left like her and snickered.

It should be him.

“Knock knock!” This sound was harder than the one before it.

“Coming! Coming! What’s the rush!” Zhang Xiaoxian frowned impatiently, but in her hand, she leisurely took nail polish to paint her nails, her favorite red color.

“Knock knock!” The knocking outside the door did not stop because of Zhang Xiaoxian’s response. The sound was getting louder and louder. It sounded like the person knocking on the door was manic and felt like he could break in the next second.

Zhang Xiaoxian cursed a couple of times, unable to hold back, and rushed out, intending to teach him a lesson.

“There’s something wrong with you!” Zhang Xiaoxian fiercely opened the door, intending to point at the other party’s nose and scold him, but when she got a thorough look at him, her entire body froze in place.

There was an old man who looked to be in his sixties standing in the doorway. The old man was thin and haggard, with deep wrinkles on his neck. His eyes were somewhat white with sunken eye sockets. His skin was also dark, and the corners of his mouth unintentionally turned upward, revealing a curve.

“Are you hungry, little girl?” The old man’s voice was hoarse, and his eyes were fixed on Zhang Xiaoxian’s leg, even looking up and down at Zhang Xiaoxian’s body, looking sort of friendly.

Of course, the premise was that the old man didn’t have a knife in his hand.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!” Zhang Xiaoxian was pale and ran back like a madman. Her entire pace was chaotic and erratic!

While running, she even lost one of the slippers from her feet and then ran to her room.

“Help! Help!!!”

The old man laughed, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth, and didn’t look the least bit disturbed by Zhang Xiaoxian’s reaction.

“How disobedient, and still trying to play peek-a-boo with me! Oh!”

I’m going to have another good meal today!

–

yuzu: Do you remember Ma Chenggong saying that Xiao Chen was the first to die out of the seven? This obviously doesn’t seem to be the case anymore heh ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ