American homeless people, surviving in the city

Taking advantage of Sylvia's brief moment of shock at being told to "shut up," Lynch acted decisively, giving her no chance to recover.

He lowered his back a little further, carefully avoiding her injured arm, and reached out to wrap his arms around her thighs, lifting her onto his back.

"Be careful, I'm about to stand up."

After giving a reminder, Lin Qi used his injured left hand to hold the torch, and his right hand to support Sylvia's thigh, and slowly tried to get up.

Sylvia gasped softly and quickly wrapped her right arm tightly around Lynch's neck.

Facing the night wind, Lin Qi gritted his teeth, endured the excruciating pain all over his body, and stood up steadily.

Sylvia's body wasn't actually heavy; the weight Lynch felt while carrying her was well within his tolerance. He could feel Sylvia's body temperature—it was low, clearly due to blood loss and injuries—and he could also feel her body trembling uncontrollably.

"Stop talking nonsense to me, save your energy, hold on tight to me, I'm going to start moving."

After giving Sylvia a final word of advice, Lynch strode into the dense forest.

Before taking that first step, he had already roughly determined the direction he should go. The method was simple: in Seattle in late autumn and deep winter, the night winds often blow from the southwest.

Maple Valley is located northeast of downtown Seattle, and Lynch remembered there should be a road leading from the city to Maple Valley. Therefore, he just needed to walk in the direction the wind was blowing.

Although this method of judgment may not be entirely accurate, in the pitch black of night, with no tools at hand, Lin Qi could only use this method to roughly determine the direction.

Now, besides his tattered clothes, all he has left is the hunting knife tied to his waist and the torch in his hand.

Lin Qi strode into the dense forest, facing the night wind.

The firelight flickered in the night wind, illuminating the scene ahead.

Lynch was trying his best to choose relatively gentle paths through the forest, but carrying someone across this dense forest was still incredibly difficult. Underfoot were slippery grass and jagged rocks, and beneath the ground covered with fallen leaves and branches lay either potholes or thick, twisted tree roots that resembled tripwires.

With each step he took, he felt a sharp pain shooting through his entire body, causing him to gasp for breath. His muscles, exhausted from the night's work, and the wounds all over his body were sending out alarm signals. His chest felt heavy and suffocating, as if weighed down by a massive object; he knew this was a sign of low blood pressure.

But Lynch didn't stop.

As Lynch trudged forward, his steps uneven, Sylvia, after her initial panic, gradually calmed down on his back.

Because she was even weaker, she almost completely lay on Lin Qi's back, her face pressed against his shoulder.

Lynch could feel Sylvia's faint breathing on the skin of his neck.

She remained silent the entire way. Lynch was also focused entirely on navigating the dark path through the dense forest, leaving him no time to pay attention to Sylvia's condition.

On the contrary, it was the faint but steady breathing that brushed against his neck that reassured Lin Qi.

At least she's still alive.

In the pitch-black forest, Lynch felt his perception of time and space begin to become disordered.

He knew that perhaps it was because his physical strength was too poor and he was walking too slowly that he was unable to leave the forest. However, since the only place he could see was a small area in front of him illuminated by the torch, all Lin Qi could see was an endless forest that kept emerging from the darkness.

He didn't know how long he had walked when he suddenly heard Sylvia on his back speak. Her voice was weak and tinged with self-reproach:

"Mr. Lynch... although I don't know what kind of person you are yet... I can sense that you are a kind and good person."

"Why are you suddenly giving me the 'friend card'?" Lin Qi was amused by Sylvia's sudden remark.

But Sylvia's voice grew weaker and weaker:

"They had no grudge against you... It must be because of me... that you also got into a car accident and fell into this valley..."

...That's not necessarily true. It's also possible that I've already come under the radar of a cult.

Just as Lin Qi was about to explain, he heard her voice grow softer and softer, as if she were using her last strength to squeeze out her final words:

"...I'm sorry to have dragged you into this."

After hearing those last words, Lin Qi felt a sudden weight on his shoulder.

Sylvia suddenly lost consciousness!

...This guy is already so weak, yet he's still talking nonsense!

Lynch's heart tightened, and he quickly stopped. He found a relatively spacious clearing in the woods nearby, stuck the torch in the mud, and then gently put Sylvia down.

After a brief inspection, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

...Fortunately, Sylvia only fainted, but at least she was still breathing.

Dragging his injured body, putting Sylvia down and lifting her up again was a real burden for Lynch at that moment. But he had to spend the time and energy to check on her. Otherwise, he didn't want to end up like Zhao Benshan in the movie "Getting Home," carrying a corpse all the way.

His current condition is even worse than Zhao Benshan's when he was escorting his coworkers home.

However, while Sylvia's fainting could be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune, it was still ultimately a misfortune.

She was clearly too weak, and if this continued, Lin Qi had no idea whether she could hold on until they left the dense forest.

Lin Qi grew increasingly anxious, but he could only watch helplessly, utterly powerless. He had no medicine, no food, not even water.

But if they were to stubbornly search for food and water in this dark forest, they would likely only waste more time and risk encountering cultists who came looking for them.

Lin Qi didn't know how much longer he could keep going—he was already giving it his all with every step he took, but what lay before him was a perilous situation from which he could not escape no matter what.

Unlike in the city, where one can always get help from those around them and from society when encountering problems, even if one is penniless.

However, this is the wilderness.

Here, stripped of his social connections and with no one left to turn to for help, Lynch could only rely on his own two hands and a knife, dragging his battered body to face all the difficulties before him.

In the wilderness, there was nowhere to escape.

Lynch gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stop thinking. He hoisted Sylvia back onto his back and started walking again, struggling through the woods.

He has to be faster...faster!

The blood seeping from the wound on his left arm had completely soaked the bandage, and the blood flowed down his arm like streams, forming large drops that fell to the ground.

The torch in his hand began to flicker, seemingly about to go out. But Lin Qi doubted whether he had the strength to make another torch.

Everything started to get worse.

To make matters worse, at that very moment, alarm bells suddenly went off in Lin Qi's mind.

[Rat's Sense] is activated suddenly, and the feedback of danger premonition indicates that a hostile target is cautiously approaching from behind!

...What is that?! Have the cultists discovered us?

Lin Qi's heart jumped, and he turned around abruptly, his eyes wide.

Behind me, the bushes rustled softly, their shadows swaying and blending with the night.

A few seconds later, a pair of eerie green eyes lit up in the darkness.

It was a wolf.