Chapter 5

Chapter 5

For one brief instant, terror seized me.

But I quickly calmed down.

I was born with a stubborn streak and a hot temper. The more dangerous things got, the less afraid I became.

I figured there was a good chance I was hallucinating from hypothermia.

If it had been anyone else, they might have panicked so badly they would have jumped straight out of the truck and run.

But I knew I couldn’t leave the cab.

If I got out, I would die even faster.

I reached under the seat and pulled out a bottle of baijiu. I’d bought it locally-the strongest grain liquor they sold.

The moment I pried the cap off, the stiff body in the passenger seat suddenly moved.

His neck turned rigidly, and a pair of bluish-white eyes looked at me.

I didn’t move. I just glared right back into those lifeless eyes and watched as he slowly raised a hand toward me.

I ignored the hand reaching over, tilted my head back, and poured the liquor straight into my mouth.

The burning liquid slid down my throat, stirring up a sharp, metallic sweetness.

I closed my eyes and took several swallows in a row, waiting until the alcohol kicked in and warmth surged through my body.

When I opened my eyes again, the cab had returned to normal.

That ice-cold corpse was gone, as if it had never existed at all…

I felt my own body. My temperature hadn’t dropped that low. Even the hot water bottle in my arms still held a trace of warmth.

I shouldn’t have been anywhere near hypothermia. So how had I hallucinated just now?

While I was still puzzling over it, the walkie-talkie crackled again.

This time, it was Wu Si. His voice was choked with sobs. “…Captain, my brother… what do we do… He still hasn’t come back…”

The channel instantly erupted.

None of us had expected Wu Da to actually get out of the truck on his own.

Xu Song was practically roaring as he demanded to know what the hell had happened. How long had Wu Da been gone? Hadn’t he told them no one was allowed to get out?

Wu Si had been scared into tears too. He stammered for a long time before he finally managed to explain.

At first, Wu Da hadn’t really planned to get out either. But the two of them had been freezing in the truck.

In the beginning, they could still get by talking to each other, but soon Wu Si’s mind started to go foggy.

Half-conscious, Wu Si seemed to hear Wu Da whispering in his ear that there were people outside the truck. Someone was calling them…

By the time Wu Si came back to his senses, Wu Da was already gone.

Wu Si waited for a while, thinking Wu Da would come back soon.

But when Wu Si finally thought to check the time, he realized in shock that almost half an hour had already passed.

Xu Song cursed up a storm over the walkie-talkie. The whole reason he hadn’t let us get out so easily was because, in weather like this, a person could lose all sense of direction outside.

But now that someone was missing, we couldn’t just leave him out there…