Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Over the next few days, they fell into a cycle of traveling, taking a short rest, then traveling and resting again.
Time blurred amid the repetitive trek. Only the exhaustion and pain accumulating in their bodies remained painfully clear.
Even the weather seemed to have lost all pattern. As they made their way through the undulating mountain range, the sky shifted from gloomy to bright, and bitter winds sprang up without warning.
An Xiaolin, who was scouting ahead, suddenly stopped. The exhausted group behind her halted on instinct, holding their breath as they looked at her, then followed her gaze.
A massive tunnel entrance was embedded in the face of an enormous, precipitous mountain.
The entrance yawned deep before them, filled with a darkness so absolute it made their hearts seize. The night outside was already dim, making the tunnel seem even more deathly still, as though it could swallow every trace of light and sound.
Lin Hao licked his dry, cracked lips, his voice carrying a hint of barely suppressed excitement. “Once we’re through this tunnel, it’s only another twenty kilometers or so… Then we’ll truly be out of Xiangjiang.”
Those words instantly rekindled the light in everyone’s exhaustion-dulled eyes.
They were one step closer to the safe zone.
Only Qingshui’s brows remained tightly furrowed.
Her gaze settled on the enormous sign above the tunnel entrance, then swept toward the unfathomable darkness within.
According to the sign, the tunnel was two kilometers long. There were no lights inside, and under the already gloomy sky, it seemed fraught with danger.
She quickly surveyed their surroundings. The tunnel had been bored straight through the mountain. Near-vertical cliffs rose on either side, with a range of towering peaks stretching overhead.
Going around was impossible.
“Send the drone in to scout,” Qingshui said.
Lin Hao nodded, pulled the small drone from his backpack, and deftly powered it on.
Its propellers emitted a faint hum as it slowly flew into the darkness. The others forced themselves to stay alert and spread out near the entrance, standing guard while Lin Hao conducted his reconnaissance.
Three minutes later, the drone returned without incident.
Lin Hao studied the footage on the screen and drew a deep breath. “It’s safe.”
Only then did Qingshui slowly release the breath she had been holding.
They had been fleeing for their lives for more than a week, and their total sleep time had amounted to less than twenty-two hours, all of it in brief, fitful stretches.
They still had some food in reserve, but their ammunition and medicine were almost gone, especially the gauze and alcohol Chen Yuhui urgently needed.
More draining still, they had not found a single trace of another airdropped supply crate, while the Madmen’s attacks had never let up.
Worse, extreme fatigue was eating away at them, mentally and physically. The long trek had covered the soles of everyone’s feet with bloody blisters. Some had already burst and stuck to their socks, making every step feel like treading on knives.
“Let’s go,” Qingshui said, her voice as calm as ever despite the fatigue creeping into it. “Stay alert and maintain formation.”
She once again helped the conscious but weakened Chen Yuhui to her feet, then nodded to An Xiaolin.
The baby-faced girl pressed her lips together, raised her gun, and stepped into the darkness first.
The others followed close behind and were swallowed whole by the tunnel’s gaping maw.
Pitch-black darkness enveloped them in an instant.
With their eyes rendered useless, every sound and sensation became infinitely sharper. There was only the labored, restrained breathing of themselves and their companions, echoing faintly through the enclosed tunnel.
And their footsteps. Every one of them hammered against their taut nerves.
At the head of the group, An Xiaolin gritted her teeth and tried to adjust to the darkness, but her heartbeat began to accelerate beyond her control.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
It slammed painfully against her ribs. The darkness was a breeding ground for fear.
Her mind conjured images she could not suppress. Could Madmen be watching them from along the walls? Would they round the next bend and suddenly come face-to-face with a wildly grinning face?
Cold sweat trickled down her temple and into her eye, stinging sharply. She did not dare raise a hand to wipe it away. She only tightened her grip around the cold body of her gun.
With every step forward, her throat constricted until it felt dry and raw, while the strain of her nerves sent a dull ache through her heart.
Relax…
An Xiaolin desperately repeated the word to herself. Qingshui was right behind her. Lin Hao had checked with the drone. It was safe.
No Madmen. No danger…
She forced herself to take several slow, deep breaths. The frigid air filled her lungs, bringing a brief moment of clarity.
She couldn’t stop. She had to keep moving.
In the darkness, the two-kilometer tunnel seemed endless. Just as the oppressive gloom and exhaustion were about to swallow them whole, a faint point of light appeared far, far ahead.
The exit!
Everyone’s heart began racing at once.
The group unconsciously quickened their pace. The speck of light gradually grew until the outline of the tunnel mouth came into focus.
At last, they reached the other end.
An Xiaolin leaned against the cold wall just inside the opening and cautiously peered out.
It was still night outside, but compared to the all-consuming darkness of the tunnel, the night sky seemed almost bright.
A damp breeze washed over her face.
Rushing water…
The roar of the river rang especially clear in the stillness of the night.
By the dim night light, she saw that the tunnel opened onto a magnificent bridge spanning the broad river below.
Once they crossed this bridge…
They would finally be out of Xiangjiang Province.
She turned back and looked toward where Qingshui should be in the darkness, then nodded firmly. “A bridge,” she breathed. “We can cross.”
“Move,” Qingshui replied tersely.
One by one, they stepped out of the tunnel. Back in the relatively open air, everyone couldn’t help drawing a deep breath.
Ji Feifan brought up the rear. Facing backward as he walked, he kept his gun raised and ready.
His gaze continually swept from side to side. The relentless thunder of the river filled his ears, but he didn’t dare let his attention wander for even a moment.
As his eyes passed over the tunnel entrance once more, he caught a glimpse of something unnatural moving at the edge of his vision.
Had the cliff above the tunnel… just moved?
Was he imagining things? Or had the wind rustled some vines? The cliff was so high and steep. How could one of the Madmen possibly climb up there…?
Before he could finish the thought, a deathly pale, smiling face emerged from the shadows on the cliff.
The face was pressed flat against the rock as if desperately trying to remain hidden. But when Ji Feifan’s wary gaze swept across it, it suddenly lost control and stretched its lips into an enormous, silent grin. The corners of its mouth nearly reached its ears.
It had even shoved a bony hand into its mouth and was biting down hard to keep its excited giggles from escaping. Only its shoulders betrayed it, shaking violently.
The sheer horror of the sight seemed to freeze every drop of blood in Ji Feifan’s body. His pupils contracted to pinpricks as he roared,
“Madmen! Above us!”
Up ahead, Qingshui immediately released Chen Yuhui, spun around, and raised her gun, her gaze snapping upward–
Before she could even locate the deathly pale face…
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion erupted behind her without warning!
A searing, violent shock wave slammed into her back.
An irresistible force hurled Qingshui through the air. The world spun wildly before her eyes, and all she could hear was a piercing ring and the fading boom of the explosion.
Clang!
Her hand barely managed to catch against the cold ground. The tremendous momentum sent agony tearing through her arm, nearly wrenching it from its socket, while her body crashed heavily into the guardrail. It felt as if every organ inside her had been knocked out of place.
Her vision dimmed in waves, doubled images flickering briefly before her eyes. Every inch of her body hurt, and the rusty taste of blood filled her mouth.
“Aaaaah! They stepped on it! They stepped on it! The blast hit them! It hit them! Hahahaha! Mom! Dad! Don’t blow these bitches up all at once! I want to take my time torturing them! I’ll chop off their fingers one by one and feed them to the fish! Hahahahahaha!”
“Hee hee hee… These little bitches are tougher than they look… They didn’t get blown to pieces…”
Deranged, shrill laughter and malicious cries slithered down from above the tunnel entrance like venomous snakes.
The Madmen… had set a trap?
Anazu
SHIT