Translator: Yuzu
Hu Bing covered his mouth and nose as his eyes widened.
He heard that cold voice spreading from his mind. It sounded indifferent as if it didn’t care if he lived or died, ‘If you want to live, burn the whole place down.’
Hu Bing was horrified, his pupils contracted sharply, and his fingers clenched. As his body was still in the aftershocks of what he had just experienced, he asked with a trembling heart, ‘Who are you?’ Why should I believe you?’
The man sneered as if he had heard a funny joke of some sort. After a pause, his voice grew colder, and it was chilling, ‘You think you have another choice?’
Hu Bing was instantly silenced.
The answer was obvious.
No.
Hu Bing’s throat was dry as he forced himself to calm down.
He simply couldn’t trust someone who doesn’t know anything about the situation! And he doesn’t believe that there’s such a good thing that would come out of nowhere!
Nothing is ever without a demand!
Hu Bing breathed and calmly asked in his mind, ‘Do you have any conditions? I don’t believe you would help me for no reason!’
The man yawned, the sound seemed to be piercing, and it was very hard to bear.
Hu Bing heard the man say, ‘You’re smart.’
Hu Bing’s heart instantly tensed.
The man continued to speak, ‘I only need you to do one thing, and then you can leave here without any problems.’
Hu Bing’s veins popped, and he was a little stiff as he listened carefully to the man’s demand.
‘Take care of Xiao Chen.’ Five words, simple and straightforward.
The amazing thing was that when he mentioned Xiao Chen, his tone instantly changed. It carried an indescribable taste, like the return of spring after the ice had melted.
Hu Bing was shocked.
What?
Xiao Chen?
—
With sharp eyes, Jin Hong saw Hu Bing’s figure and immediately stood up from the ground.
Hu Bing’s face was pale and looked a bit strange. Once he returned, he couldn’t help but glance at Xiao Chen repeatedly, as if there were some questions he wanted to ask but didn’t dare to.
Jin Hong saw him like this and asked, “What’s wrong? Did you find something?”
Hu Bing stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, which were so dry that they were about to crack. He forced a smile and said with a ghastly face, “Someone there has murdered and is cooking.”
He paused, his expression somewhat weak, “The one that died was the old man who killed Zhang Xiaoxian.”
Ma Chenggong’s eyelids fluttered at the words.
“What should we do next?” When Jin Hong heard this, she became dazed. She was mumbling to himself, and her eyes began to empty as if her entire body had wilted.
Ma Hang was a little scared and grabbed his brother’s arm, and the latter showed a complicated expression.
The atmosphere was frozen.
Just as the situation reached a deadlock, Huang Ke, who was squatting on the side, suddenly stood up. He swept a glance at the crowd and coldly spoke, “In this world, everything is a cycle of cause and effect.”
Hu Bing opened his mouth and looked at him stiffly.
Huang Ke’s expression was bland, as if he was talking about a simple family matter. This expression matched the atmosphere and had an unexplainable sense of violation.
Huang Ke didn’t care much about the crowd’s gaze and said, “Nobody in this village is a good person! We don’t know how many people they’ve killed and how much evil they’ve done to survive, but as long as they keep eating people, there will only be two outcomes for these villagers.”
Saying this, Huang Ke paused slightly, narrowed his eyes, and said, “Either they continue to rely on cannibalism for survival or be eaten by others.”
He paused again, and a sarcastic smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, “Here, no one is clean! Want to live! Want to get out of here! Don’t you get it? Unless they’re all dead, unless this village disappears completely, we can’t get out of here at all! If our previous assumptions are true, these old people aren’t old at all. They’re obviously cursed! It’s all karma! It’s the dead ones who are taking revenge on them!!!”
Ma Chenggong and Hu Bing’s hearts pounded at the same time.
Ma Chenggong was shocked by what Huang Ke said about the curse theory, which corresponded with his thoughts. On the other hand, Hu Bing was already in a bit of a state of shock and then was directly pierced by his theory about the village disappearing.
“So, what do we do now?” Ma Hang looked a little shaken. He looked at Huang Ke in horror and asked with urgency.
This time, both Hu Bing and Ma Chenggong chose to remain silent.
Huang Ke squinted his eyes, seeming like he knew something, and only said one word, “Wait.”
Hu Bing looked at him somewhat strangely. The latter’s expression was indifferent and didn’t look like he wanted to explain.
Jin Hong’s heart was beating very fast; she stared at Huang Ke’s face, feeling like she didn’t know this boy in front of her. Obviously, he was the youngest one out of everyone. Her impression of him was still when he was about to cry after seeing the murder scene. However, this expression, this demeanor he had now, didn’t look like he didn’t know anything.
Jin Hong couldn’t help but mutter in her heart.
Does this Huang Ke know something?
There was another moment of silence, and the atmosphere was a bit stiff.
Huang Ke pursed his lips and glanced at the crowd. His gaze unconsciously lingered on Xiao Chen’s body for a moment longer, and his eyes had a complicated, unexplainable emotion.
Xiao Chen’s gaze met with Huang Ke’s, and the latter quickly avoided his look with a jolt.
Xiao Chen’s eyes narrowed, sensing that something was wrong.
It was a little strange.
Huang Ke’s eyes made him feel uncomfortable, but there was an inexplicably familiar feeling.
‘Do I know him?’ Xiao Chen asked Tan Jun.
Tan Jun was strangely silent for a few seconds, not knowing what to think about. He seemed to be deliberating over the words before saying an ambiguous sentence, ‘You don’t know him, but he knows you.’
Xiao Chen scowled, ‘What?’
‘Do you know who he is?’ Tan Jun asked him back.
Xiao Chen felt a little strange, not understanding why he was asking, ‘I don’t know.’
‘Then, do you know how old he is?’ Tan Jun’s hand rested on Xiao Chen’s shoulder.
Xiao Chen scanned Huang Ke’s entire body as he glanced at him and said, ‘Fifteen or sixteen years old.’
‘Heh,’ Tan Jun laughed, his voice was flat, ‘His surname is Huang, and he’s fifteen or sixteen years old, guess whose son he is.”
As Xiao Chen listened, his expression suddenly turned pale, and his fingers curled. On the other hand, Tan Jun’s fingers gently stroked the top of his head, trying to reassure him.
Surname Huang, fifteen or sixteen years old…
Is he that man’s son? The man who killed Tan Jun!
Xiao Chen’s pupils shook, his hands clenched, and his eyelashes quivered.
Tan Jun circled Xiao Chen gently in his arms, his eyes narrowed, and his gaze darted to Huang Ke. Huang Ke’s eyes glanced at Xiao Chen just in time, and as if he saw something, he stared sharply and lowered his head quickly.
Heh.
‘You like him?’
Huang Ke’s body was shaking a little, and he couldn’t stop the cold sweat from flowing down his forehead as he tried to hold back his panic and cover his chest.
‘I don’t dare.’ Huang Ke argued in his heart.
‘Heh, you don’t dare!’ Tan Jun’s deep voice penetrated straight through Huang Ke’s heart with a sneer, but he couldn’t conceal his possessiveness more than that.
Huang Ke tried to restrain the oppressive feeling, bracing his palms against the wall and sticking his fingers right into it.
‘Heh.’ The man let out a sneer and continued to speak, ‘You have all the memories of my past with him. From the time you were born into this world, your mission was to find him for me! I searched for him for sixteen years, and you loved him for sixteen years!”
Huang Ke’s lips turned white and began to tremble. Finally, he could no longer hold on, his legs weakened, and he knelt to the ground.
He heard the man coldly attached to his ear for a long time, fiercely saying, ‘This is my last warning to you!’
—
Worn and deserted.
The silence revealed something strange.
With only the wind rustling the dead leaves on the ground, there was a sudden rush of footsteps outside the door. The sound was a bit chaotic, and it didn’t sound like there was only one person.
“Bang, bang, bang!” There was a violent knock on the door.
Everyone looked at each other with more than a little caution.
“There’s someone.” Hu Bing made a deep voice and clenched his hand into a fist on his lips, deliberately suppressing his volume.
“So, do we open or not?” Ma Hang pursed his lips, and his eyes turned with an unconcealed fear.
The visitor was not good.
Ma Chenggong met Hu Bing’s eyes and shook his head firmly at the same time.
“Bang, bang, bang!!!” The knocking on the door grew louder by the second, rattling the ears.
Jin Hong frowned and covered her ears in fear.
Xiao Chen was alone in the corner, and when he heard the knocking, he only glanced at the door slightly. After a quick glance at the door, he withdrew his gaze and looked like he was somewhat unconcerned about the matter.
“Bang bang bang!!!” The knocking on the door became more frequent.
“Boom, boom, boom!!!” The next second, the sound turned directly to a heavy object’s sound, hitting the doorway as if it will be broken into.
Ma Hang’s body shook with fear. He grabbed Ma Chenggong’s arm and clutched his sleeve.
Jin Hong also couldn’t help but stand close to Hu Bing, giving herself a psychological comfort.
Only Huang Ke’s face remained unchanged, with a feeling of being out of the loop.
The sound of knocking and banging on the door lasted for about a minute or two. It might be because the person got tired and actually stopped.
The sound of footsteps slowly walking away could be heard inside the house.
Hu Bing and Jin Hong looked at each other, and Ma Hang couldn’t help but look at his brother.
Three minutes passed, and it seemed as if everything had returned to normal.
Ma Hang relaxed and said with some fear, “Is he gone?”
Hu Bing calmly said, “Not sure.”
Ma Hang stood up, intending to look through the glass to see what was going on outside. He was light on his feet and had taken a couple of steps before he looked back. He dared to go and make his way to the window after comforting his heart.
Ma Hang’s heartbeat sped up a bit from nervousness; he placed both his hands against the wall and put his head against the glass to see the scene outside.
It was one of those carved glass windows that had the visual effect of separating the house’s inside. If you don’t put your head against it, you won’t see what’s going on outside.
“Bang.”
The instant Ma Hang’s eyes pressed against the glass window, someone suddenly scuffled and attached itself to the window with a bang.
Ma Hang’s eyes positioned right up against those eyes! The eyes were bloodshot and were sunken inward. The centers of the eyes were still a little white, and the stare was terrifying.
“Ahhhh!” Ma Hang almost had a heart attack. He was so frightened that he took a step back, his legs weakened, and he dropped directly to his knees.
Ma Chenggong was quick to see; he immediately stood up and rushed to grab Ma Hang’s hand. He pulled him up and brought him towards his side.
At this instant, the knocking sound outside once again rang out. It was even more violently than before, as if countless hands were banging on the door.
There were many people at the door.
This was the first thought that flashed through everyone’s mind.
Everyone looked around and stood up. The group grabbed all the defensible things around them and grasped them in their arms.
Jin Hong panicked and picked up the long wooden bench she had just been sitting on. Hu Bing rushed to the corner and picked up the farm hoe that was sitting on the floor.
Huang Ke also pulled out a kitchen knife from somewhere in defense. After Ma Chenggong helped Ma Hang to his feet, he immediately picked up the thick iron stick from the side thrown on the ground at some point. Ma Hang looked around him and grabbed a broom that was not offensive in any way.
Xiao Chen tried to stand up from his stool, but his shoulders were pressed down, so he sat right back.
Tan Jun put himself in the right position and leaned his head on Xiao Chen’s right shoulder. His appearance carried a bit of dominance that Xiao Chen was all too familiar with.
Xiao Chen lowered his head and locked eyes with him.
At this moment, only he could see Tan Jun’s figure.
Tan Jun smiled and leaned into his ear, with a bit of coaxing in it, and his eyes twinkled, ‘Don’t be afraid, no one would dare to hurt you.’
‘Be a good boy and sit here with me, will you?’ There was a bit of a pleading tone in his voice.
Xiao Chen couldn’t stand this tone of his voice the most. With a bit of helplessness, he laughed and directly discarded his armor.
For some reason, it was the same when he was a child.
Obviously, he was much younger than Tan Jun, but Tan Jun was more like a child in front of him and always liked to cling and even be pampered by him.
“Boom, Boom! Boom, Boom!” There seemed to be some kind of sharp object hitting the entrance door, and each time the door was deformed by a few pounds.
This already dilapidated door couldn’t hold much force against it!
Everyone in the room couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat; almost everyone’s palms were sweaty from excessive stress.
“Boom!” The door was slammed entirely open!
“Gulp.” The crowd swallowed.
There were at least five old people outside the door!
Each old man had a hideous expression, their mouths cracked open to reveal their yellowed teeth, and their two eyes stared incredibly hard.
Each old man held a kitchen knife that had been sharpened, like a butcher who came to the pigpen to decide whether the pigs should live or die.
Ma Hang sucked in a breath, and his legs trembled.
The old people looked at each other and laughed heartily as they finally encountered food after being hungry for too long. They grabbed their knives and rushed up, slashing at everyone.
Jin Hong screamed and defended herself with a long wooden bench.
As if Hu Bing had made some mental preparation, he ruthlessly attacked, immediately turning defense into offense. He held the hoe, exposed the sharp part, and rushed forward towards the old man’s head, running in his direction.
The brains were smashed out, and the old man fell in response.
Hu Bing’s hands were shaking, and he still hadn’t recovered from the emotion of killing.
When he saw Jin Hong’s situation crisis, his eyes widened. He rushed over to help her defend herself with great urgency.
Huang Ke saw the old man rushing in, narrowed his eyes, grabbed another wooden bench next to him, and threw it at the man. He then grabbed a kitchen knife and made the first move, stabbing the old man in the neck without blinking!
The old man stiffened, the knife in his hand fell off, and blood spurted out directly onto Huang Ke’s face. He remained silent throughout, his face unchanged as if none of this could stir up emotions in him.
In comparison, Ma Chenggong and Ma Hang’s situation was even more critical. Two old men were surrounding and attacking them. Neither of them could turn passive into active at all. As their tools were not sharp, they could only defend passively.
“Brother!” Ma Hang screamed out.
Behind Ma Chenggong, an old man with a knife intended to swing at him. Ma Hang didn’t know what was happening, all the panic turned blank, and like a mad dog, he rushed up without hesitation. He held the broom in his hand and swung it at the old man’s head, but it didn’t do any harm at all. Instead, it angered the man.
The old man wanted to swing down at Ma Chenggong’s arm, but Ma Hang sucked in a breath and pushed Ma Chenggong away. He received the blow directly with his left hand. Except for his thumb, the other four fingers were all chopped off this instant, and his fingers fell instantly to the ground.
“Ahhhhh,” Ma Hang screamed out. It was so painful that his body began to tremble as blood flowed from his hand.
Ma Chenggong gaped as if he hadn’t recovered from the visual impact of the scene. Fortunately, Huang Ke and Hu Bing immediately reacted and simultaneously killed the two people who attacked Ma Hang and Ma Chenggong.
“Xiao Hang.” Ma Chenggong roared and rushed up to him, his eyes bloodshot.
Jin Hong immediately headed back to her room to get the medical tools she brought with her.
Xiao Chen opened his mouth, seemingly shaken by the scene in front of him.
Perhaps it was because he had seen several bloody incidents in the village, or maybe it was because he had Tan Jun with him. This time, his reaction wasn’t intense, and he didn’t even feel nauseous.
Tan Jun stared in Ma Chenggong and Ma Hang’s direction and squinted, not knowing what he was remembering.
In a place where everyone couldn’t notice, Ma Hang’s initial gush of blood was stopped. It may be because he had too much blood on his hands that no one saw it, and the only one who knew medical science, Jin Hong, wasn’t there, so no one knew about it at all.
However, Tan Jun’s approach was keenly noticed by Xiao Chen, sitting next to him. He met his eyes with Tan Jun’s retracted gaze.
Tan Jun saw the question in his mind, touched his hair, and smiled, but did not answer.
He merely saw his and Xiao Chen’s shadow in Ma Hang and Ma Chenggong’s body.
It was the same.
I’ll also protect you.
“Xiao Hang, I swear! Even if I die, I’ll make sure to get you out of here!” Ma Chenggong’s eyes reddened with anxiety, and he hugged Ma Hang in his arms. Both of them were sitting on the ground as Ma Chenggong reassured Ma Hang.