Chapter 81
Chapter 81
As they pressed onward, the beautiful scenery vanished in the blink of an eye. Darkness would soon descend once more.
Mindful of Chen Yuhui’s injury, Qingshui decided they needed to rest.
She surveyed their surroundings before fixing her gaze on the hill to their right. It had no dense woods, but it would be enough to conceal them for a while.
“Up there.”
Everyone began climbing with heavy, dragging steps.
The hill was steeper than expected. Qingshui was the first to reach a ledge. She tried pushing aside a cluster of withered shrubs, revealing a cramped hollow behind them.
It wasn’t large, but there was just enough room for all six of them to huddle inside.
One by one, they squeezed into the hollow.
“We’ll rest for two hours,” Qingshui said, assigning their duties. “Once we reach the forest, we’ll find somewhere to rest for longer. Lin Hao, you take the first watch. We’ll switch every half hour.”
Lin Hao nodded. He climbed to the edge of the hollow, where he had a better view, and concealed himself among the shadows of the dead branches.
Qingshui looked at Chen Yuhui. “Do you need help changing your dressing?”
“Thank you, but I’ll manage.” Chen Yuhui’s voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible. She lowered her gaze to the blood-soaked leg of her pants and forced an ugly smile. “This leg of mine… really is holding everyone back.”
Qingshui shook her head and patted her shoulder, then closed her eyes to conserve her strength and recover as quickly as possible.
Chen Yuhui leaned against the dirt wall and caught her breath before carefully changing her bandages again.
The moment she loosened one edge, the stuck fabric pulled at her wound, making her suck in a sharp breath. The old bandage had adhered to the newly formed flesh, practically growing into the injury.
After a week of rest, the wound had finally begun to heal. Pink granulation tissue had slowly spread outward from the center, and a thin scab had formed around the edges.
But more than a dozen hours of climbing mountain trails and moving at high speed had repeatedly torn the tender new flesh apart.
Now, as she peeled away the bandage, the fragile tissue curled back, oozing blood and pale yellow fluid. It had become tangled with the bandage fibers, and every movement tugged at her nerves. Cold sweat instantly beaded across her forehead from the pain.
Gritting her teeth, Chen Yuhui soaked the bandage little by little with saline to soften the places where it had stuck. Then she clenched her jaw and forcibly peeled it away. Tiny beads of blood immediately seeped from the torn tissue.
“Hiss…” She couldn’t stop herself from sucking in a breath, her fingertips gripping the edge of the bandage with all their strength.
An Xiaolin watched from beside her and handed her the medicine and fresh gauze.
Chen Yuhui took them and slowly wrapped the clean gauze around her leg. By the time she finished, cold sweat had nearly drenched her entire body.
Exhaustion surged over her like a tide.
The instant she closed her eyes, she sank into a hazy state somewhere between sleep and consciousness. An Xiaolin, Ji Feifan, and Zhou Yaping soon did the same beside her.
The wind passed through the dead branches with a mournful whine. Every so often, the short, clear cry of some unknown bird sounded in the distance, only to be quickly swallowed by the deathly silence.
Time crawled by in this false tranquility.
Qingshui didn’t know how long she remained alert. Perhaps twenty minutes, perhaps longer. Only when she heard Lin Hao quietly signal that it was time to change shifts did she open her eyes and silently take his place.
She concealed herself among the vegetation, breathing as softly as possible while listening for movement around them.
Then an exceedingly faint rustle drifted in from afar, carried on the wind.
Her entire body tensed in an instant.
“Something’s out there!” she warned in a low voice.
The others jolted awake from their shallow sleep. In less than three seconds, every one of them had a weapon in hand.
An Xiaolin exchanged a glance with Ji Feifan, who shook his head. Qingshui silently rested her finger on the trigger. Without looking back, she breathed a warning to the others.
“Don’t move.”
Everyone’s breathing went still.
Qingshui held her breath and listened carefully to the strange noise.
It was faint, like a small animal moving through the leaves and branches. It didn’t sound like the Madmen, but it wasn’t a bird either.
That rhythm… It was too strange. Almost as if something was…
Sniffing?
The rustling paused for a moment, then drew closer. An indescribable stench suddenly spread through the air.
It wasn’t the sickly sweet reek of the Madmen, but an odor mixed with the stench of rotting flesh.
The next second, a face abruptly thrust itself through a gap in the tangled dead branches overhead!
It was deathly pale and swollen, with dried blood still smeared across it.
Qingshui’s pupils contracted sharply.
She didn’t hesitate.
Bang!
The gunshot exploded through the cramped hollow, sending pain stabbing through everyone’s eardrums. An Xiaolin and Ji Feifan sprang up at the same time, aiming their guns toward the source of the noise. Lin Hao instinctively threw himself over Zhou Yaping to shield her.
The face jerked backward with a piercing whimper.
Wait. That sound wasn’t right.
It wasn’t the excited cackle of the Madmen, nor was it a human scream. It was… a cry of pain and terror.
Then she saw it clearly.
It really was a human face.
Deathly pale skin had been crudely stitched over the head of some creature. The stitches ran from the forehead down to the jaw like rows of centipedes, forcibly sewing skin from one species onto another.
Through the empty sockets of the human skin peered a pair of clear, tear-filled animal eyes.
Qingshui’s gaze traveled downward, and her stomach clenched violently.
It was a dog.
A medium-sized dog. Its fur had been shaved off, and large sheets of human skin had also been stitched over the rear half of its body. The skin was an unnatural bluish gray, its edges swollen and festering. Dark red fluid seeped from the seams where it met the dog’s remaining fur.
It was dead.
There were still tears in its eyes.
“Move out!”
Qingshui shot to her feet.
Only the Madmen could have done something like this. They had to be nearby. This hillside could be surrounded at any moment. They needed to leave immediately!