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墨書 Inktalez
The presence of Rao Tingxue's followers made Xu Nuan's group feel extremely restless. It was around four in the afternoon, and they had been moving together for over three hours.
According to their usual pace, Xu Nuan and her companions could have explored many places during this time. However, with the addition of those three people, their efficiency dropped significantly. They weren't physically tired, but the mental burden weighed heavily on them. Both Xu Nuan and Deng Yinyin had become numb from the incessant chatter that flowed from Rao Tingxue's vibrant exterior.
Xu Nuan was tasked with gathering information, and at first, she managed to keep up with the conversation, engaging her mind. But soon, all she could focus on was Rao Tingxue's mouth moving endlessly, and nothing seemed to register in her mind; she felt completely dazed.
Deng Yinyin felt similarly. Initially, she was very angry and tried to spar verbally with Rao Tingxue. Eventually, she became frustrated to realize that no matter how she mocked Rao Tingxue, the conversation always circled back to the same topic that Rao Tingxue had started with.
Xu Hang and his companions were primarily concerned about Ning Han's handgun, so they refrained from engaging too much with this seemingly ordinary yet potentially dangerous man.
The restless atmosphere among the eight was abruptly interrupted by a howl from a wolf.
The howling grew closer, prompting everyone to instinctively run away from the sound.
However, the dense bushes created significant obstacles for them, and in their urgent situation, they had no choice but to continue down their current path.
It seemed that the pack of wolves had caught wind of human scent and was tracking them down. The urgency in their escape intensified.
In such panic, it was easy for accidents to happen.
Despite being women, Rao Tingxue was the fastest runner. In her haste, she stumbled upon a cliff and fell directly off it. Cui Yongsheng rushed to grab her but ended up falling as well.
The cliff was neither too high nor too low, with thick weeds and rocks at the bottom. Ning Han calmly retrieved a rope from his backpack, preparing to throw it down.
Meanwhile, Xu Nuan hesitated about whether to help. Just as she was contemplating this, Xie Huai suddenly fell down as well. Instinctively, Xu Nuan reached out to grab him, but dizziness overwhelmed her vision; she ended up tumbling down the cliff herself.
“Xie Huai!”
"Warm!"
As Xu Nuan fell off the cliff, her consciousness was hazy. She vaguely heard someone calling her name, a familiar sound she had often heard before.
Then came the sensation of weightlessness, and in an instant, she landed on the grass, her head striking a rock. She felt a warm liquid trickling down.
"Xu Nuan, you're bleeding."
Hearing Xie Huai's voice brought back memories of what had happened earlier. Struggling to open her eyes, she saw Xie Huai's bewildered face. He reached out as if to help her up but hesitated, unsure if he would touch her wound.
Not far away, she also heard Rao Tingxue's mocking voice.
"What a foolish woman. Falling from such a low distance and still hitting her head—how stupid can you be?"
Xu Nuan reached up to touch her head and when she looked at her hand, it was stained bright red.
Suddenly, this scene felt eerily familiar, as if something similar had happened long ago. She vaguely remembered a man who kept talking to her about various things.
However, before this moment, there were no such fragments in her memory.
"Xu Nuan, how are you? Can you hold on? Xu Hang and the others have already lowered the rope; we can climb up using it."
"I'm fine," Xu Nuan said, pressing her hand against her head as she sat up. Through a haze of crimson mist, she spotted her companions on the cliff above. She couldn't see their expressions; her vision was extremely blurry, and a flood of memories surged into her mind—memories she seemed to have forgotten.
Xie Huai supported Xu Nuan as they made their way toward the cliff. Meanwhile, Ning Han had already tied one end of the rope to a large rock and lowered the other end down. Rao Tingxue and Ning Han were beginning to climb up.
At that moment, they heard Deng Yinyin's scream.
"Ah, there are wolves! Xie Huai, there are wolves behind you!"
Xu Nuan and Xie Huai quickly turned to look behind them, and saw two wolves approaching.
Over there, Rao Tingxue and Cui Yongsheng were climbing up in fear, but soon one of the wolves dashed over and bit through the rope, causing both of them to be thrown down again.
"What should we do? How can there be wolves here?"
Xie Huai's hand trembled as he supported Xu Nuan. Having already lost too much blood and reeling from the shock of memories, Xu Nuan nearly lost her balance and fell to the ground.
"Nuan, grab the rope quickly!"
In this critical moment, Xu Nuan heard a familiar voice. Reflexively looking up, she saw Gu Ze's anxious face.
With her vision still blurry, Xu Nuan couldn't tell if the man's expression was unclear or if it was just her. When she lowered her head, she noticed that two ropes had been lowered down.
"Xie Huai, just tie the rope around your waist."
Xu Nuan pushed Xie Huai, who was still worried, and was surprised to find that the two wolves were only attacking Rao Tingxue and Cui Yongsheng, showing no intention of attacking her and Xie Huai.
What was going on?
Xu Nuan was puzzled. In less than a second, she realized that Xie Huai had already tied one of the ropes around her waist very firmly.
"Quickly go handle it, I can hold on for a while longer."
Xu Nuan was taken aback, suddenly realizing that a short knife was flying towards them at high speed. She hurriedly pulled Xie Huai aside, and the rope tied around her waist was cut by the blade.
"Ning Han!"
Xu Nuan heard Gu Ze's voice again.
She had no time to assess the situation because the wolf she thought wouldn't attack them suddenly circled behind Xie Huai and lunged at him fiercely.
Xu Nuan yanked Xie Huai in another direction just in time to evade the wolf's attack. At the same moment, she heard Cui Yongsheng's scream.
Turning back abruptly, Xu Nuan saw Rao Tingxue pulling on the rope, stepping down on Cui Yongsheng. Meanwhile, Cui Yongsheng was being bitten on the thigh by a wolf, blood gushing out. The wolf that had attacked her and Xie Huai turned back to assault Cui Yongsheng.
While Xu Nuan was puzzled by Rao Tingxue's actions, she heard Xie Huai let out a muffled groan and quickly turned to check on him.
"What happened?"
Xu Nuan noticed that Xie Huai's face had gone pale.
Xie Huai clutched his left arm, forcing out a few words.
"It seems like it's dislocated again."
Recalling how Xie Huai had dislocated his arm while saving Deng Yinyin and suffered for a long time afterward, Xu Nuan gritted her teeth. She stood up and pulled Xie Huai toward the edge of the cliff, tying a sturdy rope around his waist while speaking in a low voice.
"Go ahead, your hand can't be delayed any longer."
If Xie Huai's hand continued to be neglected like this, it was very likely that he would suffer from habitual dislocation, and the aftermath of that could be quite painful.
"But you..."
Xie Huai was about to say something when he was interrupted by Xu Nuan.
"Hurry up and pull him up!"
Xu Nuan yanked on the rope hard and sighed in relief when she saw that Xie Huai was being pulled up.
The people on the cliff seemed to have objections to her actions, but she couldn't hear them clearly. In fact, everything around her felt somewhat unreal at that moment.
It seemed as if an illness hidden within her body had suddenly erupted, and with her head injured and some memories returning, she was beginning to lose her balance.
Pressing her back tightly against the stone wall, Xu Nuan struggled to draw the short knife from her waist. She then squinted to see the situation with Rao Tingxue and Cui Yongsheng.
Rao Tingxue had already climbed quite high, and Ning Han showed no intention of pulling her up directly, which was a stark contrast to his usual obedient demeanor. Meanwhile, Cui Yongsheng's left leg had been brutally torn off by two wolves, and the heavy scent of blood spread freely in the air.
As she inhaled the smell of blood and listened to the mingled sounds of Cui Yongsheng's screams and the howls of wolves, Xu Nuan thought for a moment before stepping toward Cui Yongsheng's direction. At that moment, there were more voices coming from the cliff, creating a bit of a commotion, but she still couldn't make out what they were saying. All she could hear were Cui Yongsheng's agonizing cries and the disturbing wolf howls.
She decided to try her best to save him; after all, it was a human life she was considering.
When she first entered the game, she valued human life greatly. However, as time went on, she became solely focused on preserving her own life, disregarding others. Then she encountered the Third Batch of Players, and unknowingly, she was influenced again, starting to care about the lives of these people.
Most who entered this game did so for personal gain, but many were also manipulated into it.
She couldn't bear to see someone continue to make mistakes.
Life should be sacred; this game trampled on human existence and could not be tolerated.
Xu Nuan's thoughts were beautiful, but she overestimated her current state. As she took a few steps toward Cui Yongsheng, she suddenly collapsed to the ground without warning and lost consciousness.
When she regained her senses, Xu Nuan heard the sound of rain—loud and heavy. She also caught snippets of conversation and arguments.
Struggling to lift her eyelids, Xu Nuan saw Gu Ze and Xu Hang discussing something while Deng Yinyin was arguing with Rao Tingxue.
"Who do you think you are? Just because you want us to give you food doesn't mean we will!" Deng Yinyin's words were sharp.
"Do you know who I am? I am..." Rao Tingxue began to boast about her own importance.
"Hiss." Xu Nuan clutched her head and sat up, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"Are you okay?"
Xu Hang and Gu Ze stopped their conversation and walked over to her, with Gu Ze standing expressionlessly behind her.
The sharp pain in Xu Nuan's heart made her frown. She quickly lowered her head to hide her discomfort, unaware that the man behind her wore a worried expression as she did so.
"Does your head hurt?" Xu Hang's attitude towards Xu Nuan had improved significantly since he became her ally; at least it was no longer just a simple companion's demeanor. "Generally, if you hit your head, you need a thorough examination to avoid any lasting effects, but we don't have the means for that right now."
"I'm fine," Xu Nuan replied, lifting her head again and suppressing the many questions swirling in her mind. She calmly scanned the area but didn't see Cui Yongsheng's figure, which left her feeling somewhat relieved, though her expression remained unchanged.
"What were you two arguing about?"
Upon hearing Xu Nuan's question, Deng Yinyin was the first to respond, looking smugly at Rao Tingxue.
"They wanted to leave in the rain to tackle the challenges ahead, but they lack food and wanted to ask us for some. However, our supplies are also quite limited; we can't just give them away."
Xu Nuan knew well that the first part of that statement was true while the latter was false.
Her gaze landed on the visibly agitated Rao Tingxue, but she didn't hesitate as she turned to face Ning Han, who had been silent yet exuded a changed aura.
"We can give you food, but you need to answer me one question."
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