Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Zhang Lele came back to herself and saw Xiao Xu’s scarlet face. No wonder she had been so restless. She desperately needed to pee.

“Not really.” Seeing Xiao Xu on the verge of tears, Zhang Lele looked up at the high sun. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

Xiao Xu thanked her repeatedly. She had noticed the privy when they arrived the day before. It was nearby, just outside the alley to the right.

Nerves always made her need the restroom, so she had barely dared drink any water yesterday.

With a lantern today, she had not paid as much attention. There were still hours before they returned that night, and she could not possibly hold it that long.

“Yezi, we’re going to the restroom. Want to come?” Just before leaving, Zhang Lele pulled Xiao Xu back and asked Yezi, who was still weaving a frame.

Yezi was already furious with her clumsy work. The moment Zhang Lele spoke, she glared viciously at her. Zhang Lele gave an awkward smile and hurried away with Xiao Xu.

“Go and come straight back. Don’t waste time,” Lin Zhu reminded them. He had overheard their whispers but felt too awkward to interrupt. Now that they were leaving, he could not let them go without a warning.

“We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Xiao Xu liked this gentle younger man. She waved, lit the lantern she had been holding, linked arms with Zhang Lele, and left.

They held the lantern close. Its firelight fell across their faces, turning both bright red.

To distract themselves, they chatted about anything and everything. When the privy came into view, Xiao Xu asked, “Lele, could you come inside with me? I’ll be quick.”

Zhang Lele was also afraid to wait outside alone. She nodded and followed Xiao Xu inside.

The village privy was crude and dim. Two stones served as footholds over an open cesspit.

Zhang Lele covered her nose, turned her back, and held the lantern high enough to illuminate them both. “Hurry.”

“Mm-hmm.” Zhang Lele heard Xiao Xu undoing her pants. She found herself thinking about something Lin Zhu had told her: once she reached the Guesthouse level, she would be able to form a team. Having teammates to watch one another’s backs sounded nice.

Zhang Lele wanted to ask Xiao Xu. After surviving so much together, they could be considered friends who had faced death side by side. Perhaps Xiao Xu would be interested in forming a team.

The stench gave Zhang Lele a headache. “Are you done yet?”

As soon as she spoke, she felt Xiao Xu stand behind her and place a hand on her shoulder.

“If you’re done, let’s get out of here.” Zhang Lele raised the lantern ahead and started toward the exit. After two steps, she belatedly realized something was wrong. She had never heard any water.

Xiao Xu had been desperate to use the restroom, but after undoing her pants, she had made no other sound. How could she be finished already?

Sweat covered Zhang Lele’s forehead. She no longer noticed the stench. Lowering the hand that covered her nose, she gripped the lantern pole with both hands, trembling violently. “Xiao Xu?”

No one behind her answered. Zhang Lele’s entire body went rigid.

The hand on her shoulder grew colder and colder until half her body went numb.

That was not Xiao Xu’s hand.

Zhang Lele still remembered the first time she linked arms with Xiao Xu. Xiao Xu had complained that Zhang Lele’s hand was freezing.

At the time, Zhang Lele had envied how Xiao Xu’s hands stayed warm all year, unlike her own blocks of ice.

Then who was following her?

Where had Xiao Xu gone?

They were carrying a lantern, so why had something still happened?

Questions surged like a tide and drowned Zhang Lele’s thoughts. She clung to one final thread of reason, warning herself not to turn around.
Her body rigid as a machine, she shuffled outside one step at a time.

Sunlight flooded the area beyond the privy. The instant Zhang Lele emerged, the hand on her shoulder disappeared.

She released a long breath, feeling as though she had just walked past the gates of death.

When a person relaxed after unbearable tension, instinct often took over. Zhang Lele turned and looked back at the privy.

She found herself face-to-face with a woman whose face had no skin.

“Why aren’t they back yet? Did something happen?” Lin Zhu set down the lantern in his hands.

He had made six more, enough for tomorrow. He stored the four belonging to his team and Lian Ge’s lantern, then placed the remaining one at the old craftsman’s feet.

Lin Zhu decided to search for the two young women. For one thing, every additional death made their mission harder.

More importantly, if something had happened to them even while they carried a lantern, then the players’ entire theory might be wrong. Lin Zhu needed to find out.

“I’m going to look for them.” Yezi ignored him, so Lin Zhu scratched his head and added before leaving, “Don’t worry. When we come back, I’ll help make one for you.”

Watching Lin Zhu leave the courtyard, Yezi finally raised her head. An unreadable shadow flashed through her eyes.

Lin Zhu had noticed the privy too. After all, certain bodily needs could not be controlled.

It was nearby, and he arrived quickly.

The privy stood in an isolated spot because of the stench. With no one else around, Lin Zhu immediately spotted the two figures in the clearing.

Zhang Lele and Xiao Xu stood back-to-back. Their scalps and every patch of exposed skin had been sewn together, turning them into conjoined dolls.

Lin Zhu suppressed the urge to vomit and approached.

Both faces had been skinned, exposing red muscles and blood vessels in a horrifying sight.

Lin Zhu circled the corpses and discovered that their facial skin and the lantern had been torn to pieces and thrown onto the ground.

A grotesque, bloody theory surfaced in his mind, and cold raced up his spine. He did not examine the corpses any longer. He turned and ran.

Although he carried a lantern, Lin Zhu could still feel a chill following like a shadow, drawing closer by the second.

Do not turn around.

Run faster.

Fortunately, the privy really was close to the workshop. Lin Zhu sprinted desperately and hurled himself into the courtyard just before the chill touched his back.

The lantern hanging at the gate was more translucent and brighter than the one he carried.

Almost instantly, the terrifying cold vanished.

Lin Zhu did not lower his guard. Without turning his head even slightly, he continued into the courtyard. Only then did he realize Yezi was gone.

One crisis had barely ended before another began. Lin Zhu rushed to the old craftsman and questioned him for a long time before finally deciphering his elaborate gestures.

Yezi was fine. She had left of her own accord after a man came for her.

A man?

What man could convince Yezi to follow him? Lin Zhu ground his molars and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Yan Qi was alive. He had been hiding somewhere and surviving all this time.

With the courtyard empty, Yan Qi had come for Yezi, and the two had left together.

Still panting, Lin Zhu looked up at the lantern tassel swaying over the gate. Insight struck him. The two veteran players had joined forces and chosen a path opposed to the other players.