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墨書 Inktalez
"Did you find anything over there?"
"No, what about you?"
"Nothing either."
Such words filled the temporary resting place that Xu Hang had decided on this noon. There was a low Birch tree here, surrounded by moss, and only from a distance could one see the lush herbaceous plants. The temperature was quite low, and the ground was hard as rock. The cold wind swept in from all directions, chilling everyone except Xu Nuan to the bone.
Not long ago, when Xu Hang decided to set off again, they realized that Xu Nuan had not returned on time. Even after searching in the direction she had initially gone, they found no trace of her. They scattered around the area within a hundred meters but still could not find her.
"She's not an impulsive person, nor does she throw tantrums. I hope nothing has happened."
Thinking about how Xu Nuan had been in a daze these days, her vigilance and skills significantly diminished, Xu Hang felt a twinge of worry. His gaze fell on Gu Ze's flushed cheek, hesitating to speak.
Just as they were at a loss, Xie Huai suddenly pointed at the low Birch tree and shouted loudly.
"Xu Nuan's backpack is missing! Has she set off on her own?"
Gu Ze quickly turned to look at the spot where they had piled their backpacks and indeed noticed one was missing. None of them knew when it had disappeared.
"Could it be," Deng Yinyin speculated loudly, "that she took her backpack while we were looking for her? It's too much to leave without saying anything; at least she should have said goodbye."
Deng Yinyin pouted, sounding somewhat resentful.
"She wouldn't leave without saying anything!"
Gu Ze and He Min spoke in unison to Deng Yinyin, then exchanged glances, both seeing the complexity in each other's eyes.
Her best friend was here.
The person she loved most was here.
The warmth that she couldn't let go of would definitely not leave just like that.
"This really isn't her style," Xu Hang concluded. "It's just that her belongings and backpack are missing. If we haven't seen any other traces of people around, then it can only mean she left alone."
There were only two possibilities: leaving voluntarily or being taken away against her will.
However, before Xu Nuan went missing, she hadn't strayed too far from them, and it wouldn't be easy to take Xu Nuan away. No matter how disoriented she seemed, Xu Nuan was still the impressive Xu Nuan.
At that moment, almost everyone shared this thought. Gu Ze's expression grew increasingly grim, a storm brewing in his eyes as memories of his earlier argument with Xu Nuan replayed vividly in his mind, her words echoing in his ears.
He clenched his fists, a mix of emotions swirling within him, difficult to articulate.
Meanwhile, Xu Nuan was once again plagued by those blood-soaked dreams. In her dream, she desperately tried to escape but was bound in place by an unknown force, watching the painful past replay over and over before her eyes. She didn't understand the purpose of these dreams—were they reminders not to forget her hatred or her original intentions?
She had never forgotten; she always kept that in mind. Therefore, she didn't need these dreams to violently reopen wounds that had never healed.
The oppressive scenes in the dream made her breathing labored. She gasped for air as the bizarre images began to fade without her realizing it. She could actually sense that she was about to wake up.
As she felt the air entering her lungs through her nostrils, her consciousness returned. However, she felt a pain radiating from her wrists and ankles. She tried to move her body but found it unresponsive; her limbs were extremely stiff.
Slowly opening her eyes, Xu Nuan saw vast expanses of rock. She was in a cave filled with stones, completely alone, leaning against a massive boulder.
The dizziness in her brain had not subsided. After shaking her head, she focused her gaze downward to assess her current state. Her hands and feet were bound tightly with red ropes that were not particularly thin, restricting blood flow and leaving bruises. She was unsure how long she had been in this curled-up position, but judging by the stiffness of her body, it was clear she had been away from her initial resting place for quite some time.
A moment of panic washed over her as she wondered who had brought her here and what their intentions were. Would Gu Ze and the others notice her absence and come looking for her?
She was uncertain.
However, she recalled that before falling asleep, she had argued with Gu Ze, and at that moment, she had resolved to persevere even if it meant going alone. The past and future were irrelevant; she needed to focus on the present to execute her plans.
Even though she believed she held some advantageous clues, the fact remained that she was in a passive position. Too many unknown individuals lurked around her with unclear motives, and she still harbored doubts about what she had done to Qin Yaojie. The Mastermind had yet to reveal themselves, and the paranoid Zhang Xiao was also operating in the shadows, doing who knows what. She always planned to seize opportunities, but the reality was that she had never succeeded in counterattacking and continuously missed chances.
As feelings of despair surged within her, Xu Nuan thought of the person with whom she had recently quarreled. But she quickly shook off those thoughts, encouraging herself to stay strong as she bent down to bite at the ropes binding her hands. However, the person who tied her up was clearly skilled; they had cleverly secured the end of the rope deep within the red strands. These ropes were tightly wound around her multiple times, and despite biting at them, all she achieved was bumping her lips against the bindings without making any progress.
Abandoning the idea of freeing her hands, Xu Nuan attempted to stand up. Even if it meant moving in an awkward hopping manner, she wanted to see where she was being held. Unfortunately, her feet were bound too tightly and had been inactive for too long, making them less cooperative than she had imagined. She managed to wobble halfway upright before losing balance and falling backward. Struggling to regain control of her body, she stumbled a few steps but ended up crashing against a rock, causing a sharp pain in her back.
With both new and old injuries flaring up as dizziness returned to her mind, she recalled the moment when Gu Ze had thrown her down a slope; at that time, her back protested violently against the impact with the ground. Now it felt like an added injury on top of an existing one.
Xu Nuan was not someone who easily gave up.
She moved like a caterpillar; unfortunately, after only a couple of movements, two figures emerged from outside the cave.
Shen Shen, dressed in a white Tactical Jacket that resembled a lab coat, entered alongside Dong Keyong, who wore a gloomy expression and had never spoken to Xu Nuan before. Dong Keyong carried a backpack that looked very familiar.
"My backpack?"
Xu Nuan exclaimed in shock, looking uncertainly at the two newcomers.
"Have you met with Xu Hang and the others?"
She could retrieve her backpack, and since so many people were guarding it, that meant Xu Hang and his group had given it to her willingly.
In that moment, Xu Nuan felt as if her heart had been placed in a frozen wasteland; the chill within her made her teeth chatter. She uncontrollably wanted to rush over and snatch her backpack back, but she stumbled and fell to the ground, forced to look up in utter disarray as the two of them dumped out the contents of her bag and rummaged through them carelessly.
Shen Shen still wore that elegant smile that was familiar and comforting to her, but at this moment, that smile turned into a blade, piercing her already fragile heart.
"If we hadn't met, how could we have gotten your backpack?"
Shen Shen only rummaged through the pile of items for a while before giving up, while the silent Dong Keyong searched more meticulously than Shen Shen, persistently looking for something. Xu Nuan had no idea what they were after. Originally, the only personal items in her backpack were two things: a diary left by Tang Jingshu and a notebook with special symbols given to her by Qin Yaojie. However, because she had been running around haphazardly before, she had placed these two items in Gu Ze's backpack and hadn't retrieved them.
The rest of the contents in her backpack were all taken from the Supply Station; everyone had those items, and there was nothing particularly special about them.
As Xu Nuan weighed their intentions, she questioned Shen Shen's words.
"They're not stupid; how could they trust you to give them my things?"
Even though she had already acknowledged this fact internally, she still pretended to mock Shen Shen for trusting Xu Hang and his group so much. After all, this was her inner hope—that she was not the one who had been abandoned.
"They're definitely not stupid."
Noticing Dong Keyong's movements, Shen Shen stood up confidently and walked toward Xu Nuan's direction. She kindly helped her up against a rock, continuing to keep her bundled up without any intention of loosening the bindings.
Xu Nuan tried hard to avoid any contact with Shen Shen. She recalled Gu Ze's insulting words from before, feeling a wave of desolation wash over her. But that didn't mean she would actually act on those feelings; she wasn't that kind of person. Even if Gu Ze didn't believe her, she would stick to her principles.
Shen Shen paid no mind to Xu Nuan's actions. Seeing her wary expression only brightened his mood as he half-squatted half a meter away, continuing his explanation.
"But I told them that you and I are together now, and that we will act together from here on out. They are all perceptive people, so of course they will hand over your belongings to me."
"What do you mean?"
Xu Nuan was unsure whether her feelings were more of anger or sorrow. She felt that something significant and special had happened during their first encounter in the Survival Game.
"They all know that you and I aren't familiar with each other, and we haven't met before. How could they possibly trust you like that?"
The more he spoke, the less secure Xu Nuan felt. She sensed that more things were slipping out of her control, which made her extremely anxious. Bound here, she had no idea what fate awaited her.
"Heh heh."
After chuckling softly twice, Shen Shen looked at Xu Nuan with a smile.
"Do you think they would doubt our relationship when they saw that scene in the Supply Station lounge at the Dreary Wetland?"
"Tsk," Shen Shen said, a reminiscent expression crossing his face. "That was a very intimate relationship."
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