Chapter 167

Chapter 167

In the dim room, Cat sat nestled in the old leather chair, toying with a crimson glass bead he’d picked up from who knew where. Holding it between his thumb and forefinger, he raised it to eye level and studied it closely.

Light pierced the ruby-red bead, refracting and condensing deep within its crimson core into a tiny, distorted world.

In that scarlet world, a blurry figure smiled faintly, waving a greasy chicken leg in one hand. His indifferent gaze swept over Cat as if he were nothing more than a stray dog on the roadside, wagging its tail and begging for scraps.

…A dog.

He was not. A dog.

Cat’s fingers abruptly stilled, his knuckles turning deathly white from the pressure. The next second, the illusory figure magnified sharply through the glass bead, gradually… overlapping with reality.

Ji Feifan stood in the doorway. Backlit, his silhouette aligned perfectly with the phantom in the bead. He remained in the shadows without coming any closer, his voice slightly hoarse. “I didn’t catch them. The dogs… are all dead.”

Cat’s fingers paused. The glass bead rolled once between his fingertips before he finally looked up. “…Oh?”

“Those people were… very strong.” Ji Feifan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he hesitated. “There were only four of them, but they killed dozens of dogs.”

Cat slowly lowered the bead onto his knee. He tilted his face upward, his crimson eyes utterly devoid of emotion, containing only a bottomless, deathly silence. He stared at Ji Feifan as though inspecting an object.

Ji Feifan’s temple twitched uncontrollably. He didn’t dare look away. He knew Cat was watching his eyes, trying to gauge the depth of the fear in his pupils.

He could clearly sense the atmosphere in the room changing. The lake that had only just calmed down was beginning to boil again. Beneath its surface, something unknown–and far more terrifying-was churning.

One wrong look, and he would drown.

One wrong answer, and he would die.

“How many died?” Cat’s voice was airy and soft.

Ji Feifan gritted his teeth and repeated himself. “Dozens.”

“Dozens.” Cat seemed to savor the bloody taste of the word on his tongue. “They were strong?”

Ji Feifan nodded stiffly. “Very strong.”

“Interesting.”

Cat raised the glass bead to his eye again, holding it up to the light. A hint of amusement entered his voice. “You couldn’t beat them?”

Ji Feifan fell silent for a moment before finally lowering his head. “No.”

Cat’s smile deepened, revealing the slightest sliver of stark white teeth and making him look especially eerie. “I’ll go.” His tone was as casual as if he’d said he was going to check the weather.

Ji Feifan’s heart slammed against his ribs. He had been waiting for those words, but when they finally came from Cat’s mouth, a chill still crawled up his spine.

He lowered his eyes, not daring to let Cat see the emotions within them. “Those women are long gone.”

Cat slowly rose from the chair, unfolding his body. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You’ll find them, won’t you?”

“…”

At that moment, the wave reached its peak and hurled Ji Feifan high into the air. He felt starved of oxygen and terrified of the height. With nothing for his hands or feet to grasp, he could only let the immense pressure swallow him whole.
“I will,” he answered with difficulty.

In an instant, the raging waves went still.

“Do you still remember?” Cat suddenly asked.

Ji Feifan froze, then looked up blankly. “Remember what?”

“Nothing.” Cat seemed to lose interest. Ignoring him, he went back to playing with his glass marble as if everything that had just happened had been an illusion. “You can go.”

The lake… seemed to have calmed completely.

Ji Feifan turned and left without the slightest hesitation. When he stood outside once more, watching the heavy wooden door slowly swing shut, his heart was still pounding, yet he didn’t know why he was trembling.

Was it because he knew Cat was going? Because he knew that monster was about to hunt down Qingshui?

Or was it because he was relieved to have escaped with his life yet again?

He stood there with his palms slick with cold sweat and his mouth dry, left with nothing but an indescribable sense of emptiness.

He thought back to Cat’s question.

“Do you still remember?”

Remember what? What was he supposed to remember?

He didn’t want to remember anything. There was only one thing he cared to remember-to stay alive.

…………

Elsewhere.

Deep in the dense woods, four figures huddled beneath the roots of a huge tree, catching their breath under the cover of the vegetation.

Ye Que silently organized her backpack and checked their remaining supplies. Wu Wujie tipped his head back and drank from his canteen. An Xiaolin clutched the heavy axe and gun, her gaze unfocused. She was clearly still caught up in the slaughter they had just escaped.

Qingshui did not sit down. She first had the other three make separate circuits of the surrounding area. Then she crouched behind a patch of grass, gripping the binoculars tightly as she vigilantly swept her gaze over every tree and blade of grass once more. Only after confirming that the area was safe for the moment did she duck low and return to the others.

“Rest for twenty minutes, then we keep moving.” Her voice was calm and decisive.

Ye Que and Wu Wujie exchanged a glance, each seeing their own exhaustion reflected in the other’s eyes. They immediately closed their eyes, seizing this brief respite to recover their strength.

An Xiaolin took over Qingshui’s position and stood watch. Meanwhile, Qingshui knelt on one knee in the mud and began mapping out the route ahead.

Crouching on the ground, she used a fingertip to draw a winding line through the damp snow. It was their only path to survival-a rural back road running along the Wanhui-Jiangsu border.

Her mind raced as she analyzed their current situation.

According to Ye Que, they were now somewhere around Xuan City in Wanhui, already very close to the border. But the terrain here was complicated, alternating between mountains, forests, and plains. The villages they encountered from time to time offered both supplies and danger, slowing their progress considerably.

Still, as long as they kept heading northeast, she estimated they could reach the Jiangsu border within a week.

They might stray from the route slightly while evading pursuit, but overall, they were still on course.

Qingshui stared at the line she had drawn, her gaze gradually hardening with resolve.

The Madmen were terrifying, but as long as they still drew breath, they had no choice but to keep moving down this road.