Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Over the following day, they traveled at an unhurried pace, and Qingshui could feel her body recovering rapidly. The slower pace also eased the strain on everyone else’s faces.

After confirming once again that those warped figures dogging their every step had not appeared behind them, the group entered a rocky area halfway up the mountain, formed by piles of enormous weathered boulders.

All seven of them squeezed into a cramped stone hollow, their bodies almost pressed against one another. They could clearly hear each other’s restrained breathing and the soft rustle of clothing.

Leaning against the rock wall, Wen Lianfeng did not immediately rest. She carefully pulled a folded paper map from her pocket.

The map had yellowed with age. When unfolded, it revealed a dense web of routes and markings drawn in lines of varying thickness. Some areas had even grown smudged from repeated handling and sweat.

Seated nearby, Qingshui happened to glance at the map, and a pang of nostalgia rose within her.

In her previous life, this was the kind of map they had used most often.

Wen Lianfeng did not notice Qingshui’s brief distraction. Her full attention was fixed on the map.

She took out a short pencil stub and slowly traced a winding line with her finger, stopping at a spot circled in red and labeled “Jingkou River.”

She picked up the pencil and crossed out the section of the route they had just covered. The pencil scratched softly across the paper.

“We’re about twenty kilometers from Jingkou River,” she said.

She raised her head and swept her gaze over every face around her, her eyes glinting faintly behind her lenses.

“As long as we can get into the flood discharge culvert at Jingkou River,” she continued after a pause, a note of certainty entering her voice, “we can follow the culvert system from there. Once we do that… we’ll have succeeded more than halfway.”

The words “succeeded more than halfway” sent a faint ripple through the group.

They had survived. Against all odds, they were still alive.

The tension in everyone’s expression eased almost imperceptibly. Even the perpetually taciturn Quan Lin seemed to twitch his brows.

Some of the lines on Guan Yuzhen’s weathered face appeared to relax. She reached down and patted her knees, which ached terribly after their long trek, and spoke with a lightness that had been absent for far too long.

“That’s good news. Once we’re in the underground pipes, we won’t have to keep watching the sky with our hearts in our throats. If we’re lucky, we might be able to follow them all the way to the outskirts of Yixiang City, and then…” She paused. “…go straight into the shelter.”

The shelter?

Qingshui, who had remained silent, and the dazed Song Yunqing both froze slightly at the word.

Leaning against the opposite rock wall, Chu Jingchu merely tugged at the corner of her mouth. Her tone was flat, making it impossible to tell whether she was hopeful or mocking.

“Hah. Let’s hope so.”

She seemed instinctively suspicious of any prospect that sounded too good.

“However,” Wen Lianfeng said, abruptly changing tack. The faint encouragement in her voice vanished, replaced once more by cold detachment.

She tapped their position on the map with her pencil. “It’s been almost two days since we last used the binoculars to confirm they weren’t following us.”

“According to the… ‘pattern’ we’ve observed,” she continued, lightly adjusting her glasses as she stared unblinkingly at the others, “they’ll show up behind us again tomorrow, or the day after at the latest. And there will probably be more of them than last time.”

The sliver of hope that had just arisen was instantly diluted.

Wen Lianfeng’s gaze slowly passed over each person before settling on her own palm, as though she were steeling herself for a decision.

Her tone was utterly calm, but what she said made everyone hold their breath.

“I propose that we strike first, before they catch up to us again. We’ll use the terrain ahead to set an ambush and try to kill the Madman leading them.”

Strike first?!

Shock was written across every face. Even Wu Wujie, who rarely spoke, felt his pupils contract involuntarily.

Under Wen Lianfeng’s leadership, they had grown accustomed to avoiding danger and searching for a path to survival. It had never occurred to them to turn back of their own accord and confront the horde of Madmen spreading like a plague.

“You’ve lost your mind!”

Chu Jingchu was the first to react. The objection burst from her almost reflexively, her voice rising with agitation and disbelief.

The moment the words left her mouth, however, she realized her tone had been too harsh. She quickly steadied her breathing and tried to regain her composure, but the disapproval and concern in her eyes remained plain to see. “That’s not what I meant… Sister Wen, you know I’m not questioning your judgment. But…”

She took a deep breath, struggling to put her thoughts into words. “Those aren’t ordinary Madmen! They’re organized, they know how to track us, and they might even be ‘evolving.'”

“You want us to turn around and pick a fight with them? What if… What if we’re surrounded, or there are far more of them than we estimated, or the one leading them isn’t nearly as easy to kill as we think? Wouldn’t that mean all our effort and every sacrifice we’ve made would have been for nothing?”
She trusted Wen Lianfeng. She trusted her judgment and her determination to survive.

But at this moment, Wen Lianfeng’s proposal struck her as a gamble bordering on madness.

Wen Lianfeng seemed to have anticipated Chu Jingchu’s reaction. Her expression remained unchanged as she listened calmly. Only after Chu Jingchu had finished did she speak again. “Every plan carries risks. If we sit back and wait for them to catch up, the risk will be just as great, if not even harder to control.”

“My idea is to use the sharp switchbacks on the mountain road ahead, along with the steep slopes and dense woods on either side, to set up an ambush.”

She briefly laid out her plan. It wasn’t entirely far-fetched. She had accounted for the terrain and overlapping fields of fire, and had even worked out an escape route.

Listening silently, Qingshui gave the plan her mental seal of approval.

She agreed with Wen Lianfeng’s judgment, but said nothing. For now, all she needed to do was think of herself as a weapon and quietly await orders.

A weapon had no right to speak.

“You’ve all seen Qingshui’s marksmanship.”

Wen Lianfeng’s smile was so wild it bordered on savage. “My gut tells me we might actually pull this off.”

Chu Jingchu took two deep breaths and clutched at the hair by her temples without saying a word. She appeared to be trying to calm herself down.

Wen Lianfeng swept her gaze over the others again. “Wu Wujie, Sister Guan, Quan Lin. What do you think?”

The three of them remained silent.

Wu Wujie was the first to speak. “Sister Wen, the plan sounds like… it could work. But…”

He sighed. “We really don’t have much ammunition left. Fewer than fifty rifle rounds, and even fewer handgun rounds. Even if the ambush goes smoothly, it’ll probably use up most of what we have, won’t it? There may be fewer Madmen in the underground pipes, but who knows what other trouble might be waiting down there?”

He paused and looked at Wen Lianfeng. “What I’m saying is… we should keep moving. Conserve our strength and reach the culvert first.”

Guan Yuzhen slowly shook her head as well. “Lianfeng, I know you want to make sure none of us have to keep looking over our shoulders. But, child, we’re almost… truly, we’re almost within reach of hope. Is it really worth turning back and risking our lives now? What if something goes wrong? I think we should take the safer path.”

Wen Lianfeng said nothing. Her gaze shifted to Quan Lin.

Quan Lin had always spoken the least in their small group, but he was the most observant, and his judgments were often the calmest and most objective.

Wen Lianfeng believed he was the only one who would understand, perhaps even support, her “aggressive” proposal. After all, he also understood the psychological strain of being relentlessly hunted.

Quan Lin met her gaze and remained silent even longer.

He rubbed the grip of the handgun in his hand, his expression conflicted as he glanced at the pale-faced Qingshui, then at Song Yunqing, who seemed lost in her own world. Finally, he slowly shook his head.

“I disagree.”

A trace of surprise flickered through Wen Lianfeng’s eyes.

“Sister Wen, even if Chen Qingshui never misses…” he said quietly, “her mental state is too unstable. An ambush demands intense concentration, close coordination, and the ability to operate under extreme pressure… I don’t think she’s currently capable of handling that.”

“And it isn’t just her. None of us… can handle it anymore.”

“So my vote is to stick to the current plan and pick up the pace toward the Jingkou River Culvert.”

Three votes against.

Wen Lianfeng looked at them, a flicker of helplessness passing through her eyes. She knew she couldn’t persuade them, nor could she force through such a high-risk plan when the group was so sharply divided.

A leader’s authority was ultimately built on consensus and trust.

She shrugged regretfully, deliberately injecting a touch of nonchalance into the gesture.

“All right,” she said with feigned ease, putting away her pen. “The majority wins. We’ll… keep moving, then. Get as much rest as you can. We leave in twenty minutes, and we’ll cover more ground today.”

The atmosphere within the group seemed to relax somewhat after she backed down.

Wen Lianfeng, however, let out a deep sigh inwardly. She looked up at the sky, the unease in her heart growing stronger.

After a brief silence, Qingshui, who had been quietly listening to their discussion and processing the flood of information, finally spoke.

“This… shelter you keep talking about… what is it?”

Everyone’s attention turned to her again.

This time, Quan Lin answered. Without looking at the map, he raised his right hand, pointed vaguely through the air with his index finger, then brought it down on the map with perfect accuracy.

“A Psychiatric Hospital.”

“A Psychiatric Hospital with high walls, in the northwestern outskirts of Yixiang City.”

His fingertip came to a stop.

Qingshui followed his finger with her gaze.

The spot beneath Quan Lin’s fingertip lay on the far side of the city.