Chapter 38
Chapter 38
“Good. At least no one’s there…” Fang Shuyao murmured. At least they had another escape route.
An Xiaolin, however, seemed distracted. Instead, she brought up something else. “Do you… remember what Miss Fang said about that woman who came to us for help with a baby in her arms?”
“I remember. What about it?” Li Wei’an replied.
“Miss Fang said that, thinking back on it carefully, she realized there was something awkward about the way that woman was holding the baby. Any child held like that would definitely have cried.”
Lin Hao had a terrible feeling. “So?”
Fang Shuyao said, “The baby might have been dead. That woman was lying. She wasn’t being coerced at all. She… might even be the one behind all of this.”
Everyone fell silent.
“They definitely want our food.” Chen Yuhui sat in the corner of the couch. She raised her head and swept her gaze over the others. “If they use the opportunity to climb in…”
She didn’t finish, but everyone understood what she meant.
Silence hung over the living room for several seconds.
“Then we’ll deal with them before that happens.” Qingshui’s voice rang out, her tone as calm as if she were commenting on the pleasant weather.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“Deal with them?” An Xiaolin repeated, something complicated in her voice. “You mean…”
“Kill them,” Qingshui said.
She turned, fixing her gaze on Ji Feifan and Li Wei’an. “Tonight. You two will scout the place today. Don’t get close. Observe from a distance.”
Ji Feifan and Li Wei’an exchanged a glance, then nodded in unison.
“As for the rest of you…” Qingshui looked around at the others. “Get ready. Sooner or later, we’re going to clash with that group. It’s inevitable. I’m sure you all understand that.”
“We understand.”
An Xiaolin, Zhou Shaocheng, and Fang Shuyao all voiced their agreement. Chen Yuhui said nothing, clutching the knife in her hand. Qingshui didn’t press her and went to stand watch.
Ji Feifan and Li Wei’an quickly packed some basic gear: daggers, a crossbow, and a little food. They left through the villa’s back door and headed toward the guesthouse.
Chen Yuhui returned to her room alone and sat by the window. Watching Li Wei’an and Ji Feifan disappear into the distance, her heart grew heavier by the second.
Killing someone…
Can I really do it?
Lin Hao watched Chen Yuhui leave. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he lowered his head.
…………
Ji Feifan and Li Wei’an moved one behind the other, silently approaching the villa that had been converted into a guesthouse.
The villa was larger than they had expected. The building itself looked to be in decent condition, but many of its windows had been barricaded from the inside with planks or furniture.
The two crouched on a rise at the edge of the woods, which gave them a clear view of the entire guesthouse. Li Wei’an raised her phone.
“There are people guarding the front entrance,” Li Wei’an whispered. “Two of them. They’re sitting on the steps and look completely listless. They’re holding… what look like steel pipes?”
Ji Feifan adjusted the camera’s zoom. “There are two more in the side yard.”
They observed in silence for half an hour. Just as they were preparing to move closer, Li Wei’an suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
The same few people had remained on her screen the whole time, but they weren’t acting like guards.
They seemed more like decoys meant to keep the two of them occupied.
Those people slumped on the steps looked nothing like alert sentries. Even the steel pipes in their hands seemed like mere props.
She grabbed Ji Feifan, her voice grave. “We need to get back now. They spotted us a long time ago!”
Ji Feifan’s heart sank as he instantly understood what she meant. “Go!”
They jumped to their feet and raced back the way they had come, but it was already too late.
They had run less than fifty meters when five or six people suddenly appeared ahead of them. At the front stood a woman holding a machete.
“Fuck.”
Li Wei’an skidded to a halt and tried to turn back, only to hear footsteps behind them as well. They were surrounded.
A steel pipe smashed viciously into the back of her neck.
Her world went black.
Machete Woman waved a hand, and the others immediately dragged Li Wei’an and Ji Feifan back into the villa.
The main hall.
When Xiao’er, the Machete Woman, and several others entered, dragging the unconscious Li Wei’an and Ji Feifan behind them, the people scattered around the corners immediately crowded closer.
“They actually came?”
“Two of them! They’re from that villa the other day!”
“That woman… I don’t think she’s the one who attacked us…”
“Who cares? They’re in our hands now!”
“What will Sister Li do with them? Kill them? Or…”
The buzz of conversation echoed through the cavernous hall. Excitement gleamed in some people’s eyes, while others looked uneasy. Most simply watched with numb expressions.
Gao Yizhou and He Qianxue huddled in a corner at the very back of the crowd.
He Qianxue clutched Gao Yizhou’s sleeve so tightly that her nails nearly dug into the flesh of his arm. Gao Yizhou’s face was deathly pale as he stared at the two unconscious figures on the floor.
Could these people… end up being dealt with by Sister Li too?
“Yizhou…” He Qianxue’s voice trembled violently.
Gao Yizhou squeezed her hand, signaling her not to speak. His gaze shifted toward the balcony overlooking the main hall.
Sister Li stood there, seemingly observing the villa halfway up the opposite hillside. Hearing the commotion, she turned around. Her calm gaze swept over Li Wei’an and Ji Feifan’s faces before she smiled faintly.
The smile was barely there, yet the murmuring in the hall instantly died down.
“Interesting.” Sister Li’s voice was cloyingly soft, her gaze indifferent. “How should we play this next?”
An idea came to her. Her eyes narrowed as she thought of the perfect game. “Drag them into that little room in the back. Tie them up tight. Don’t let them escape. Xiao Yi, Xiao’er, keep an eye on them.”
Xiao Yi nodded, bent down, and grabbed Ji Feifan by the collar before dragging him toward the back of the hall. Xiao’er picked up Li Wei’an with just as little mercy.
The two captives disappeared into the corridor beside the hall.
Sister Li settled back against the sofa, lifted her glass, and took another sip of water. Her gaze passed over the various expressions around the hall before finally landing on the Bespectacled Man. “Tell me. Other than those two, was there anyone else?”
The Bespectacled Man hurriedly shook his head. “N-No! Just the two of them! We kept a close watch. There definitely wasn’t a third person following them!”
Sister Li nodded. She seemed to be smiling, yet also appeared lost in thought. The hall fell completely silent as everyone waited for her to continue.
“There should be another six or seven people in that villa,” Sister Li said slowly. “At least three of them drove back that night. Add these two and the woman who killed Li Jianping… My guess is that their group is small, and even fewer of them can fight. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent two people to scout today. They would’ve come straight here to attack us.”
Her explanation was simple and direct, yet she had deduced the general situation of Qingshui’s group almost instantly. As Gao Yizhou listened, a chill spread through him. This woman’s powers of observation and judgment were terrifyingly calm.
“Then…” A middle-aged man in the crowd spoke tentatively. “What do we do next? Use these two as hostages and force them to hand over their food?”
Sister Li glanced at him, a trace of mockery in her eyes. “Do you really think the woman who killed Li Jianping cares whether these two live or die?”
The middle-aged man was left speechless.
“She does care,” Sister Li continued, abruptly changing tack. Her tone was certain. “Just not enough to hand over all their food. She’ll weigh her options, calculate the risks, and look for another solution.”
She looked toward the villa.
Then she turned, sweeping her gaze over the crowd. “So there’s no rush. Let them get desperate first. Once they can’t stand it any longer and have to come out looking for food… we’ll have a proper little ‘talk’ with them.”
“B-But won’t we starve to death? What if they have so much food that they just keep hiding in there and never come out?” someone finally questioned.
“Didn’t two people just show up?”
“Y-You want us to eat people?”
“Then go find them. Go join them and eat their food,” she shot back, utterly bored. Then she added, “Tell the lookouts to keep a closer watch from today onward. I want to know whenever someone leaves that villa, how many come out, and which direction they go.”
“Yes!” several people hurriedly replied.
Sister Li sat back down on the sofa and closed her eyes, apparently intending to rest. The people in the hall exchanged glances before dispersing to their respective corners.
Only Gao Yizhou and He Qianxue remained where they were.
He Qianxue’s hand was still trembling. Gao Yizhou gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her toward their room.
“Yizhou,” He Qianxue whispered, speaking so softly her words were little more than breath, “…what’s going to happen to them?”
Gao Yizhou was silent for a few seconds before shaking his head. “I don’t know.”
But deep down, he knew. Anyone who fell into Sister Li’s hands would either become a tool or a disposable pawn. And once a tool had served its purpose, it too would ultimately be discarded.
He lay down and closed his eyes, but sleep would not come. The same was true for He Qianxue.
That group had managed to bring food back from the residential district, which meant they were capable and had established a certain degree of trust among themselves.
If Gao Yizhou and He Qianxue truly wanted to escape this place, that group was their best option. They were also the only ones capable of taking down Sister Li.
If they simply let those two captives die… would they ever have another chance to escape Sister Li?
“We should save them.”
“We should save them.”
Their voices rang out in unison, breaking the silence. He Qianxue and Gao Yizhou stared at each other for two seconds before identical smiles tugged at their lips.