Herе, Вауunуe kicked оvеr the monstеr that had роunсеd оn Qi Zi, рulling him up just in time. Вefore they cоuld stеadу themsеlvеs, twо mоre mоnstеrs slаmmеd intо them, thrоwing them off balаnсe. Diаo Zhuo rushed оver, using his bodу to shovе thе mоnstеrs аsidе, аllowing the twо tо supроrt еaсh othеr аnd avoid fаlling. Тhe thrеe lookеd up to find the mоnstеrs hаd alrеady formеd а tight сirclе, surrоunding thеm соmрletеlу.
"Damn it, wе're finishеd!" Baуunyе swаllоwed hаrd аs Diао Zhuo stepрed in front of her, shielding hеr with his body.
Bаyunyе reсаlled whаt Diao Zhuo had said to her earlier—If we really get into trouble, I can die for you, but I hope that after I die, you can live.
"I'm pissed!" Bayunye flared up. "I'm fighting these bastards to the death!"
"Get down!!" someone outside the circle shouted.
Diao Zhuo pressed Bayunye and Qi Zi's heads down, and the three dropped flat to the ground. They heard a man's roar from outside the circle, followed by a tree trunk as thick as a waist being thrust forward and swept around several times, knocking over a dozen monsters. Reacting quickly, they scrambled to their feet and ran, only to see Ah Shui and Old Sun jointly carrying the trunk like a cannon barrel, ramming into monsters and breaking apart several encirclements they had formed.
However, this kind of struggle was still not a solution. More and more monsters were gathering, and looking around, they had already formed a large outer circle. Once they closed in, no one would be able to escape.
Diao Zhuo took a moment to glance at the tattooed snake man—he was still unharmed.
"Cover me!" he shouted to Ah Shui and ran alone toward the tattooed snake man. He was convinced that this was the turning point.
The ground shook again, and everyone noticed the monsters' circle rapidly closing in. They seemed to go berserk, charging toward the group at a sprinting speed. Ah Shui and Old Sun struggled to swing the large trunk, sweeping away monsters lunging at Diao Zhuo, while Diao Zhuo himself kept shoving aside the monsters in his path. But on their left and right, nearly a hundred monsters were charging toward them madly.
Diao Zhuo was getting closer and closer to the groaning tattooed snake man—ten meters, five meters... But Ah Shui and Old Sun had exhausted their strength and could no longer hold back the horde of monsters. Behind Diao Zhuo, monsters in a fan-shaped formation spread their arms and leaped toward him.
At that moment, Bayunye thought, even if I die, I'll die with Diao Zhuo!
"Diao Zhuo!!" she shouted, sprinting toward him with the fastest speed she had ever mustered, disregarding everything else. Her entrenching tool transformed into a sharp sword as she fought off monsters along the way.
Diao Zhuo grabbed the tattooed snake man's convulsing hand with such force he nearly broke the man's bones. The tattooed snake man continued to groan, vomit dripping from the corner of his mouth. A monster pounced on Diao Zhuo, and he immediately felt as if a mountain were crushing him, the air in his chest being squeezed out bit by bit. Clutching the tattooed snake man's hand tightly, he strained to utter a few words: "Why... you... you..."
"It hurts... it hurts!" the tattooed snake man howled, his face deathly pale. "Help... help..."
Ah Shui and Old Sun were knocked down by the violently charging monsters and pinned under the trunk. Bayunye, rushing over, tripped over them, and the three tumbled together in a heap. They could only lift their legs, kicking away the monsters pouncing on them one by one. The movements were so intense that each of their hearts felt as if they were about to explode.In the chaos, Ah Shui's hat, sunglasses, and face mask were all knocked off.
Bayunye kicked another monster away and, with an unintentional glance, froze as if under a spell, staring dumbfounded at Ah Shui. Another monster lunged at her, but she sprang up like a carp leaping from water, knocked it down with two punches, and then pointed at Ah Shui, exclaiming, "Holy shit! Hippo!!"
"Behind you!" Hippo roared, pointing at Bayunye.
Bayunye arched her back, swung her leg backward, and flung the monster behind her away. But as the monster on her left pounced, it firmly grabbed both her hands and dragged her toward the horde. Just as she struggled, another monster seized her other hand, and together, the two monsters pulled her away.
Hippo lunged forward, grabbing Bayunye's ankles and wrestling against the monsters' strength.
"Hippo..." Bayunye remembered how, back in Badanjilin, she had pulled Hippo from the brink of being swallowed by quicksand. He had said, "I never thought you'd value romance over friendship." She was confused—hadn't Hippo betrayed Brother Long and her? Why had he disguised himself and infiltrated the group? Was he good or bad? Why was he saving her now?
Hippo strained with all his might to hold her back, refusing to let the monsters drag her away. His face flushed red, his eyes bulging as if about to burst.
Bayunye's limbs ached from being pulled in three directions, and she couldn't help but think—was she going to be torn apart? She shouted, "Let go! I'll handle it myself!!"
Hippo released his grip, and due to inertia, Bayunye and the two monsters tumbled forward. Reacting faster, she leaped up and broke free from their grasp. Her mind was fixed on Diao Zhuo, and she paid no further attention to Hippo. But when she looked up, she saw at least five or six monsters piling on top of Diao Zhuo.
"No... no!!!" Bayunye was horrified. Stumbling, she scrambled toward Diao Zhuo on all fours. Before she could take more than a few steps, someone grabbed her from behind. Ignoring it, she kept pushing forward, only for a pair of rotting hands to wrap around her legs, sending her crashing to the ground. Still, she crawled desperately toward Diao Zhuo.
A monster pounced on her. "Diao Zhuo! Diao Zhuo!!" she screamed, rolling over. Diao Zhuo, who had resigned for her. Diao Zhuo, who had risked his life for her. Her beloved Diao Zhuo!! The weight of the monster crushed her, making it hard to breathe. A chilling numbness spread through her limbs, and fear, sorrow, and self-blame overwhelmed her in an instant, making her wish for death. Was this what it felt like to die?
"Diao Zhuo..." Tears welled up in her eyes, streaming hotly down her temples. She hadn't cried in a long time and wasn't used to expressing herself through tears, but at this moment, she was consumed by agony and despair!
What if she hadn't come looking for Brother Long? What if she hadn't sought the truth behind the three photos? What if she could forget Ba Xiye? Was all of this her fault? Was it because she was reckless, selfish, and blindly overconfident?
Look—Da Qin, Fat Monkey, Xiang An, and Tan Lin had all died one by one. Next, it would be Diao Zhuo, Ge Mingliang, Hippo, and perhaps everyone else.
They weren't like her—not orphans, not unwanted children. They had parents and families. The death of any one of them would bring immense grief to their loved ones.
Especially Diao Zhuo.
If she hadn't pursued him, or if he had never met her, none of this would have happened.
Even if he never learned the truth about his father's death, he could have lived a peaceful life, just as she had dreamed—driving a car, taking his wife and children for a leisurely ride.
Now, he was about to become a desiccated corpse.Though she would soon become a desiccated corpse herself, if she hadn’t pursued the truth, he wouldn’t have been so persistent either.
Wouldn’t it be better to live well?
Yes.
But everyone is dead.
It should have been me. Bayunye was pinned down by several monsters. Though she could hear Hippo calling her name while fighting, she felt everything had come to an end.
What grudges, what passions—they were nothing but fleeting clouds.
Diao Zhuo was dead, and she would not cling to life alone.
In fact, she should have died before Diao Zhuo. Otherwise, every extra second she lived would be a betrayal to him.
The light before Bayunye’s eyes gradually dimmed, and the last breath in her body dissipated along with the drying of her tears.
The tattooed snake man was still screaming in pain, while the monsters piled on top of Diao Zhuo had formed a small mountain.
“You…” The last trace of air in Diao Zhuo’s chest seemed to have been drained. The muscles in his fingertips felt as if they were clinging to his bones, his entire body stiff and rigid. The stench of decay seeped into him, slowly corroding every cell. Yet he remained convinced—this was not the end! Summoning his last ounce of strength, he grabbed the tattooed snake man’s hand and bit down hard.
“Ah—ah—” The tattooed snake man writhed violently like a shrimp just pulled from water, frantically striking Diao Zhuo’s head, trying to make him release his grip.
Diao Zhuo tasted the thick, metallic tang of blood in his mouth and, in that moment, understood the mystery behind it all.
The tattooed snake man could see him but not the monsters. Or rather, in the tattooed snake man’s vision, there were no monsters at all.
Because he couldn’t see the monsters, the monsters couldn’t find him either.
Why was that?
Why was this the only person who couldn’t see the monsters? Was it because mushroom poisoning had impaired his vision? But this person could see him—just look at how his punches were aimed precisely at the back of his head.
The tattooed snake man could see him because he was real. But were those monsters truly real?
Diao Zhuo made a bold assumption—what if there were no monsters at all? What if everything that defied logic simply didn’t exist… the Carnivorous Rabbits, Brother Long standing behind the tree trunk, the monsters made of rotting flesh…
Then what did exist? If these things didn’t exist, why did they appear to be there?
Diao Zhuo, you pride yourself on being clever, yet now you’ve trapped yourself? You’re nothing special after all. Waves of self-doubt washed over him, surrounded by frustration and helplessness, a sudden sense of desolation rising within him. It felt terrible, as if it were about to completely defeat him and drag him into hell.
Tired, so tired, an exhaustion that came from deep within. Should he give up? Accept his fate? Close his eyes, stop struggling, and let all of this consume him.
Kong Gan had refused to bring them into these mountains for a reason—he was wise. Sometimes, caution and fear could save lives. In a few days, when he heard the news that the Rescue Team had been wiped out, would he laugh mockingly? Diao Zhuo, hanging by a thread, suddenly recalled a few things Kong Gan had once said—
“When we were young, the elders warned us—if you lose control and let those sinister things lead you by the nose, you’re bound to die…”
“A group of young people went in, and only one came back. He was wearing tattered Japanese soldier’s clothes, but he himself wasn’t seriously injured. He was just mad and terrified of people, screaming whenever anyone got close, saying things like ‘It stinks! Don’t eat me, don’t eat me!’”"Later, he never recovered, just turned into a madman, constantly calling out the names of a few people—the ones who went into the mountains with him..."
"Then he died on the burial hill, his head buried in the ground before he died, as if trying to dig his way down."
"On the burial hill, there are grave mounds one after another, none with tombstones."
Like the "madman" Kong Gan described, they too had fallen into such a state—truly a complete loss of face. Diao Zhuo mocked himself inwardly.
Wait.
"He himself wasn't seriously injured."—This sentence suddenly struck Diao Zhuo's mind. He forced his eyes open, though everything before him remained blurry. The voice that came from his chest didn't sound like his own, but he struggled to ask the tattooed man, who was already exhausted from fighting: "Look at me... my body... wounds..."
"Look at what?! What wounds?! Get lost!" the tattooed man roared, then began retching violently from the intense cramps and nausea in his stomach, even vomiting bile.
The pressure on Diao Zhuo's back persisted, his limbs stiffened, almost immobile, but he had begun to understand. The question now was how to break this deadlock...
When did these strange events start happening? Right, it must have been then...
He bit his tongue, the pain bringing some clarity back to his consciousness and his vision. The bandits' backpacks were scattered around, and the one closest to him seemed to belong to the tattooed man. The bandits had looted many things brought by the Rescue Team, and among them might be exactly what he needed. He bit down harder on the tip of his tongue, tasting blood, but the pressure on his body seemed to lessen slightly. Stretching out his hand, he clawed at the ground, struggling to drag himself forward. After much effort, he finally managed to grab the backpack's shoulder strap.
Holding his breath, he pulled the backpack over. Stiffly, Diao Zhuo tried to open the zipper, but his joints felt as if they had rusted, requiring immense effort for every movement. Still, he couldn't give up. As long as there was a sliver of hope, he had to cling to it tightly.
With a rustle, the backpack was torn open, its contents spilling onto the ground. In Diao Zhuo's muddled vision, a flicker of clarity emerged—he saw what he needed:
A portable oxygen canister brought along to prevent altitude sickness.
Diao Zhuo grabbed it, snapped open the mask, covered his mouth and nose, and pressed the release. The cool sensation of pure oxygen filled his nostrils. He breathed deeply. The pressure on his back remained, but he forced himself upright and continued rummaging through the bag, finally finding several activated carbon filter masks. He lay down, breathing in the oxygen for a while. Gradually, the pressure on his body faded away. When he looked around again, he finally understood.
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