Before everything goes out

"This is a ghost wall. I encountered it once seven years ago in the woods to the south."

Snake Seven came to a complete stop.

Beneath the tree, the eyes behind the mask narrowed slightly as he drifted into memories.

"Back then, I went into the mountains with Dunzi. You guys should have some impression of Dunzi. He lived in the south and was the one who never got thin from hunger."

I don't know how it happened, but we got separated not long after we entered the mountains. Later we found out that we were trapped in a maze of ghosts. It was such a big forest, and we couldn't find our way out no matter how we looked.

We've tried everything we could think of, but nothing worked. We're out of options, so Dunzi and I have no choice but to spend the night in the mountains.

Snake Seven didn't say how he spent that night, only using the word "overnight" to gloss over it.

But from the seriousness on his face, Li Fei knew at a glance that spending the night in the mountains was extremely dangerous.

"Neither of us dared to sleep all night, but the more tense we were, the harder it was to pass. Eventually, we couldn't hold on any longer, so we agreed to take turns keeping watch..."

Snake Qi paused for a moment.

After a flicker of something in his eyes, he slowly spoke again.

"When I woke up, the fire was still burning, but Dunzi was gone."

To their surprise, the story ends abruptly here.

"And then what happened?"

Gua Tou pressed on, unwilling to give up.

"That was the end of it. I thought he had run back to the village on his own, but he hadn't."

Judging from Snake Seven's expression, he doesn't intend to continue reminiscing.

The group had heard about this incident back then, so they didn't ask any further questions.

It is now certain that the situation is the same as it was back then, and they will likely have to spend the night in the mountains again.

"Are you still able to walk?"

Snake Seven looked around.

Apart from Li Fei, whose face was pale, the others did not seem tired.

After all, they work in the fields year-round, so they can manage a short half-day hike through the mountains.

"If you can walk, walk a few more laps, maybe you can get out by changing direction... If you really have to spend the night in the mountains, you may not be able to make it to the next morning."

Upon hearing this, the group immediately set off again.

Correct.

No matter what, we absolutely cannot spend the night in the mountains.

Just think about those hornets; they're this dangerous even during the day, let alone at night.

Moreover, upon closer reflection, the fact that they were circling around in the same spot indicates that the open space where they ate lunch was not far away, and that hornet could return at any time.

Keep going. It's tiring, but it's better than losing your life.

"This is too strange. We didn't take any detours, yet we ended up back where we started."

As Li Fei walked, he pondered the strangeness of the situation.

He always felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

As time went on, he soon found himself unable to concentrate and could only grit his teeth and focus on walking.

By four o'clock in the afternoon, seven or eight hours of hiking in the mountains had pushed this already frail body to its limit.

It's not just tiring, it's also painful.

The blisters on the soles of my feet kept breaking and growing back, then breaking again.

If it weren't for the piece of Tai Sui meat he ate at noon, which gave him some strength, Li Fei estimated that he would have been unable to walk more than half an hour ago.

"Take off your shoes."

Noticing his distorted walking posture, Snake Seven stopped.

Take off your shoes.

When they saw Li Fei's feet, which were in a state of festering sores, everyone's faces turned grim.

Snake Seven took out a handful of herbs, chewed them up, and carefully applied them to Li Fei's feet.

"hiss..."

After a sharp, piercing pain, Li Fei felt much better.

This stuff probably contained some kind of anesthetic ingredient, and soon he could hardly feel his feet anymore.

"This is troublesome..."

Li Fei thanked She Qi, but the latter ignored him and just stared at his slightly trembling legs.

Uncontrollable twitching and shaking are early signs of exhaustion.

After a moment of silence, Snake Seven turned to look at the others.

"He can't walk anymore, who will carry him?"

When he said this, Snake Seven only looked at the other three people, not at Niu Wenbing.

Niu Wenbing was too short and clearly couldn't carry Li Fei on his back.

"I..."

Just as Gua Tou was about to raise his hand, Ma Zi pressed it back down.

"Why are you carrying him? We're wandering around in these mountains, who knows how much further we have to go? How long can you carry him?"

Upon hearing Ma Zi's whispered words, Gua Tou shut his mouth and stopped talking.

"I'll do it, I'm strong."

Niu San picked up Li Fei and threw him onto his back.

"But let's make this clear first, when I get tired, you'll have to get off and walk by yourself."

Thank you.

Li Fei didn't feign refusal; in fact, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He knows his own physical condition best.

If he continues like this, he won't be able to take another step in less than an hour, and the situation will only get worse.

chah~

Snake Seven struck a match and lit the torch.

"Light mine first, and then you can light the ones in your hands when it's completely dark."

Lying on Niu San's back, Li Fei looked at the glow of the torch and finally got a short rest.

By 5 p.m., it was already dark in the mountains.

The group hadn't planned to stay overnight; they only brought some emergency lighting, which they planned to use sparingly.

The journey continues.

Compared to before, the group's speed had slowed down considerably.

The first is "fatigue".

The mountain road was rugged, and walking it all day was quite exhausting.

Especially the melon heads.

He was already quite heavy, and with all the stuff he was carrying on his back, he was so exhausted he could barely stand up straight.

To Li Fei's surprise, Snake Seven, the oldest member of the group, was in the best condition.

Second, "darkness".

As visibility decreased, Snake Seven, the leader, slowed down and became more cautious.

One hour later, at six o'clock sharp.

In the grove of trees marked with machetes, the group came to a complete stop.

This is the end.

They had already tried all four directions: east, west, south, and north.

Starting from the two points where they discovered the "ghost wall" (a point in time where people are trapped in a maze), they would return to these points every hour they walked, making them landmarks.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere. Get ready, we'll spend the night here."

As Snake Seven said this, he gestured to Niu Wenbing to light the second torch.

It was past six o'clock in the evening, and it was completely dark.

A faint mist began to permeate the mountains, like the darkness Li Fei had seen before, but slightly clearer.

If nothing unexpected happens, this substance will soon become increasingly concentrated, until it transforms into that strange state that resembles both mist and water.

"Put me down."

Li Fei patted Niu San on the shoulder to express his gratitude.

Even if he wasn't fat, and even if Niu Sanzhuang, who carried him, was as strong as an ox, walking two hours through the mountains was by no means an easy task.

Not to mention Niu San, even he was exhausted from lying down.

After jumping off his sweat-soaked back, Li Fei collapsed to the ground, rubbing his aching legs.

The short rest allowed him to recover a little.

Judging from the expressions of the people around him, they weren't much better off.

Especially those with pockmarks.

At first, she kept complaining, but later she didn't have the energy to talk anymore and gradually shut up.

Now that it has completely stopped, it simply found a tree, leaned against it, and hasn't moved for a long time.

Splash...

With a crisp sound, Niu Wenbing emptied the dry firewood from his pocket onto the ground, added a few stones, and built a simple campfire.

He picked up these branches along the way that afternoon, and the quantity was clearly not enough to last him one night.

"Go and pick up a few more, just in case."

At Niu Wenbing's call, the group got up and began picking out branches from the surrounding area to use as fuel.

Li Fei was no exception.

To conserve torches, he followed Niu San, who was carrying a torch, and picked up as many dry branches as possible.

After they had collected enough, the two turned around and walked back.

Just as his gaze swept over a certain spot, Li Fei frowned and suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong?"

"Wait a minute, something seems off."

Under Niu San's questioning gaze, Li Fei stopped in front of the two trees.

He held the withered branch and approached the two trees, examining them carefully from side to side.

"Niu San, look, aren't these two trees a bit off?"

"What's wrong?"

Niu San followed his example, leaning closer to examine it closely, and then touched the decorative knife on it with his hand.

"That's right, I carved these two marks myself, there's no mistake."

"It's not a mark, it's a location."

"Location?"

"Hmm, the distance between these two trees seems to be a little closer than before."

Li Fei frowned slightly and walked around the two trees a few more times.

last life.

He is a construction supervisor who often watches workers tie steel bars on construction sites, so he is quite sensitive to this kind of distance.

He had felt something was wrong before, and after walking back and forth here four times, he finally realized what was going on.

wrong.

The distance between these two trees is incorrect.

Compared to last time, the two trees are now a few centimeters closer.

"How could that be? You must have remembered it wrong."

Niu San didn't think much of it, picked up the firewood and walked back.

After thinking of something, Li Fei also turned and left with him.

but.

He wasn't really leaving; instead, he went back to put down the firewood and then quickly walked back to the two trees.

As he drew closer, his thoughts raced, and his heart pounded faster. If he wasn't mistaken, then this wasn't some kind of ghostly illusion at all, but rather...

next second.

The group, who were preparing dinner around the campfire, heard a startled cry from the woods.

"wrong!"

"These trees are moving silently!"