Chapter 95
Chapter 95
Qingshui couldn’t tell whether the persistent high fever was steadily eroding her judgment or whether this mountain forest was itself one enormous maze.
Either way, they seemed unable to find their way out.
The light that should have brought hope now only illuminated the eerily familiar terrain around them more clearly.
They had passed that crooked tree not long ago, and this was already the third time they had seen the flower-covered slope at their feet.
As their strength dwindled and they lost all sense of direction, they grew increasingly exhausted.
More despairing still, even in this remote, desolate forest, there were no fewer signs of the Madmen. They had to spend even more of their already depleted energy and attention avoiding the occasional laughing figures that wandered into view.
Every time they hid, Qingshui felt another sliver of strength drain from her body. All she could hear was her own ragged breathing and pounding heartbeat, along with the vicious whispers in her mind, growing ever more brazen.
Just as Qingshui began to wonder whether they would remain trapped in this green maze until they died–
Bang!
A sharp crack shattered the silence!
A gunshot!
It had come from somewhere ahead and above them, though still quite some distance away.
Then–
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!
More gunshots rang out in rapid succession!
The shots echoed through the valley, startling a flock of roosting birds from the trees. They took to the air in a flurry of panicked cries.
The instant the first shot rang out, Song Yunqing, who had been trailing behind Qingshui like a sleepwalker, went rigid.
A look of utter terror suddenly flared in her vacant eyes. Without even glancing at Qingshui, she spun around on pure, instinctive panic and stumbled into a run in the opposite direction of the gunfire!
“Wait!” Qingshui rasped in a low voice, reaching out with all her strength to grab her. But she was far too weak. The high fever and days of exhaustion had left her with no strength to hold Song Yunqing back.
Seeing that Song Yunqing was about to disappear into the distance, Qingshui raised her voice as much as she dared. “The gunfire isn’t nearby! It’s up above! Don’t run that way!”
Song Yunqing stopped short. She turned and stared fixedly at Qingshui, her previously vacant, numb eyes now filled with overwhelming fear. One hand had already moved instinctively toward her pants pocket.
Qingshui had neither the time nor the strength to explain. Fighting through a wave of dizziness, she pointed toward the slope where the shots had come from and repeated, “It’s above us. Come on. Let’s take a look.” Her voice was weak, but calm.
The sudden gunfire meant danger, but… it might also represent a slim chance of survival.
Song Yunqing stared at Qingshui for several seconds, her chest heaving. The fear and conflict in her eyes were unmistakable.
In the end, perhaps influenced by Qingshui’s extraordinary composure, she slowly lowered the hand reaching for her pocket and gave an almost imperceptible nod in the direction Qingshui had indicated.
The two immediately changed course and began the grueling climb up the slope toward the gunfire.
The shots came in fits and starts, accompanied by faint peals of crazed laughter.
Before long, they reached the crest, and the view suddenly opened up before them–
A highway wound around the mountainside, blocking their path. Massive concrete bridge pillars stood thick and silent before them.
The gunfire and crazed laughter were coming from the highway itself, from a bend not far above them!
Qingshui’s heart abruptly quickened, not from fear, but because she realized this truly was an opportunity.
She swiftly surveyed the terrain, her gaze settling on the tall trees growing close against the steep slope. They were at least twenty meters high. If they could climb one, they would have a clear view of what was happening below.
“Climb!”
Qingshui spoke softly to Song Yunqing, her voice trembling with both excitement and weakness.
Song Yunqing followed her gaze to the towering tree. Hesitation flickered in her eyes, but she eventually nodded.
The climb was grueling for two utterly exhausted girls. The higher they went, the stronger the wind became, buffeting them until they seemed on the verge of falling.
When Qingshui finally managed to inch her way to the end of a sturdy horizontal branch, she felt as though her entire body were suspended in midair. Beneath her lay a steep drop of more than twenty meters. Ahead, a life-or-death battle was unfolding on the highway.
A wave of dizziness swept over her, and she clung tightly to the tree trunk.
From here, the gunfire sounded much clearer. The wild laughter of the Madmen mingled with the furious curses of humans.
Forcing herself to remain calm, Qingshui pushed aside the leaves and branches blocking her view and looked toward the center of the bend, where the firefight was at its fiercest.
Several wrecked cars had been piled together to form a makeshift barricade.
A small group of five or six people was trapped behind it, completely surrounded by at least twenty or thirty Madmen who vastly outnumbered them.
The survivors stood back-to-back, guns and machetes in hand, making their final stand.
Their muzzles spat bullets with reckless abandon, but there were simply too many Madmen. They had no fear of death and surged forward one after another. Even when bullets struck their bodies, they kept howling and charging unless they took a fatal hit to the head.
The survivors’ ammunition was dwindling fast, and their defensive line was on the verge of collapse. A burly man wielding a pointed shovel had just hacked down one of the Madmen charging at him when two more immediately lunged in from the side, twisted grins on their faces.
“You filthy bitches! I’m so damn hungry I’m losing my mind! I’m gonna fuck every last one of you!”
Qingshui swiftly assessed the situation, then glanced at the deathly pale Song Yunqing beside her.
“Give me the gun,” Qingshui said softly. “We’ll help them. Then… we’ll join them.”
If they stood by and watched this group be wiped out, the two of them would be left to wander hopelessly through the mountains and forests. But if they managed to save them, they might gain a temporary place to stay.
Song Yunqing’s head snapped up, her gaze locking onto Qingshui.
How could she have known…?
A storm of emotions churned in her eyes. At last, she drew a deep breath and pulled a handgun from her pocket. She held it out to Qingshui, her voice hoarse.
“There are only… six bullets left.” She paused, then raised her eyes to meet Qingshui’s. “Remember… save one for me.”
Qingshui held her gaze without flinching and gave a solemn nod.
After taking the gun, she said nothing more. She tightened her grip around it, used her other hand to steady herself, and began adjusting her position on the branch.
Her high fever made her vision swim. She shook her head hard, then cautiously inched toward the tip of the branch extending closer to the road.
At last, she lay prone at the end of the thin, trembling branch in an almost dangerously precarious position, her body nearly parallel to it.
The gunfire, crazed laughter, and whispers in her mind… all seemed to recede in an instant.
Her world fell silent.
There was only her heartbeat, steady and slow, one beat after another.
Only the cold feel of the gun in her hand.
Only those frantically moving targets.
Her exceptional eyesight allowed her to instantly identify the most critical points on the battlefield below.
First was the burly man with the pointed shovel. Blood sprayed all around him, but human stamina could never compete with that of the Madmen. Two of the Madmen were already closing in with knives in hand, cackling as they prepared to hack him apart–
Qingshui narrowed her eyes slightly and held her breath.
Bang!
The crisp gunshot rang out from the treetop, blending into the chaos below.
One of the Madmen took the bullet in the back of the head, which erupted in a burst of blood. The attacker went rigid before toppling straight backward.
Big Guy seemed stunned for a moment, but he reacted quickly, roaring as he drove his shovel deep into the eye socket of the other attacker on his right.
Qingshui’s gun barrel did not waver for an instant. She shifted her aim to the other side, where two women stood back-to-back, firing their handguns.
Three Madmen ignored the nonfatal gunshot wounds riddling their bodies and closed in on the women with shrill laughter. They were less than five meters away!
For an ordinary person, landing a headshot on the first try against targets moving so quickly and erratically would be nearly impossible under such extreme pressure.
But Qingshui could do it.
Her eyes tracked the lead attacker.
The wind, the swaying leaves, and all the chaos below faded from her awareness.
Her finger rested steadily on the trigger, feeling its faint resistance.
Now.
Bang! Bang!
The lead attacker and another just behind it both had their heads snap back at nearly the same instant. Bloody holes burst open between their brows, and they crashed to the ground.
The third attacker faltered in shock at its companions’ sudden deaths, its movements slowing for half a beat.
One of the women seized the opening and pulled the trigger. By sheer luck, the bullet struck its neck. Though it did not die, it staggered sideways, allowing the other woman to finish it off with a shot that shattered its skull.
Three bullets.
Up in the treetop, Qingshui slowly exhaled.
The dizziness from her fever seemed to have temporarily receded under the force of her intense concentration. She remained perfectly still and continued scanning the battlefield below.
Beneath her, Song Yunqing clung tightly to the branch. She looked at the tide turning below, then at the figure lying prone on the slender branch ahead. An indescribable emotion flickered through her hollow eyes.