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墨書 Inktalez
Xu Nuan fell silent as she glanced over at Xu Hang, noticing that his makeshift stretcher was nearing completion. They would soon be leaving this place, and there was little time left to deal with the matter at hand.
"Did I not answer back then?"
With determination, Xu Nuan tightened her grip on the food, causing the packaging to crumple and crumbs to spill onto the ground. She stared intently at the floor, speaking each word deliberately.
"I will answer you now. I'm sorry..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Xu Nuan was pulled away. Anticipating Gu Ze's sudden move, she had prepared herself and pushed back with all her strength as she was yanked forward. From a distance, it looked like they were both gripping each other's arms, straining against one another.
In terms of strength, Xu Nuan knew she would lose; in terms of stubbornness, she was equally outmatched.
Just when she thought she had timed her response perfectly, Gu Ze held her tightly in his embrace, enough to make her feel like she might vomit the food she had just eaten. She didn't want to recall the events that led to this moment.
"Gu Ze, being unable to escape doesn't simply mean tying me to your side; there are many things you don't understand."
The closeness reminded Xu Nuan of Gu Ze's heartbeat from last night. She wanted a quick resolution without spending time on emotions; she needed to hurry to the Supply Station.
"If you don't understand me, then of course you won't."
Ultimately, she pushed against Gu Ze. Along with his voice, she could hear the distant murmurs of Deng Yinyin and others discussing them. Suddenly, it struck her that their position might provoke discontent among others.
"But I will try to understand. Nuan, no one understands you better than I do."
Xu Nuan sighed. Gu Ze understood her more than most, but not to the extent she desired. She didn't blame him; after all, she buried her thoughts deep and concealed many things—what right did she have? Most importantly, she had never expressed her feelings openly, so she believed she could withdraw at any moment and chalk it up to a momentary impulse.
"Nuan, do you like me?"
Just as Xu Nuan prepared to resolutely avoid entangling herself in matters of the heart again, Gu Ze suddenly asked this question.
"Nuan doesn't lie, so you will answer me seriously."
A cunning person asking a cunning question.
Xu Nuan felt a sudden sting in her nose; she couldn't answer that question. Instead, she pounded Gu Ze's back with the hand holding the food and buried her head deeper into his chest.
A light laugh soon echoed from above, and Xu Nuan felt a bit frustrated, unsure of how to respond, while Gu Ze's clear voice continued to penetrate her ears.
"There are many ways to keep you from leaving. I originally intended for those to appear as surprises before you, but since you're not cooperating, I can only remind you that I'll use surprises to keep you here."
"What surprises?"
Xu Nuan's voice sounded somewhat muffled, which was a roundabout acknowledgment that Gu Ze's method could indeed keep her around.
"You'll find out soon enough. You'll be very surprised. From now on, I won't make promises; I'll only give you surprises."
Xu Nuan remained sullen.
"If a surprise is revealed, it’s no longer a surprise."
Xu Nuan understood very well that Gu Ze's so-called surprises were not the romantic gestures typical in the city. What could they be? Having been numbed by this game, Xu Nuan skipped over some normal options and ran towards the conspiracy she had recently learned about. Although she couldn't figure it out, she had already fallen into Gu Ze's trap and felt a surge of curiosity.
Eventually, when Xu Nuan obediently walked to the middle of the group, she cursed herself for being so weak, succumbing to momentary curiosity and letting that guy Gu Ze have his way. She hadn’t seriously considered that a night of arguments and a morning of disputes had quickly pulled her out of what felt like a nightmare; otherwise, she wouldn’t have had the energy to internally complain and mock herself.
Feeling the burning gaze behind her, Xu Nuan sighed softly and returned to the group. She no longer even qualified to walk at the end of the line; she had to admit that Gu Ze was indeed watching her closely.
"He really is watching closely."
Just as Xu Nuan thought this, she heard someone say it beside her, startling her into stepping aside. As the gaze behind her grew even hotter, she saw He Min approaching.
"Amin, it's you."
Xu Nuan let out a gentle breath and forced a smile while pointing at the backpack behind her.
"Thank you for bringing it back for me."
He Min shot Xu Nuan an exasperated look and sighed lightly.
"When did you become so formal? If you keep being this polite, I won’t hold back."
Xu Nuan's smile became natural upon hearing those words. She took two steps toward He Min, walking side by side with her. In front of them were Xu Hang and Xie Huai, who were carrying a stretcher. Deng Yinyin had been squinting at the still unconscious Fan Beibei, occasionally exchanging a few words with Xie Huai.
She felt that Deng Yinyin and Xie Huai's relationship had improved; their interactions were somewhat subtle. However, thinking about Deng Yinyin's obsession with Gu Ze made her feel that it was all just her illusion. This illusion was based on her deliberate neglect of the bitterness rising in her heart.
"By the way, Nuan," He Min's gentle voice interrupted Xu Nuan's thoughts. She turned to look at He Min, whose usual gentle demeanor left her momentarily dazed. "When we found your backpack, it was in disarray, and everything inside was scattered everywhere. It seemed like they wanted to take your things. Did you check it just now? Did you lose anything?"
"No."
He Min's next question brought Xu Nuan back to reality. Noticing the unnatural twitch at the corner of He Min's eye, Xu Nuan added, "I believe I didn't lose anything important."
He Min smiled and quickly changed the subject. "It's good that you two are back together. Couples are like that; one moment they're arguing, and the next they're all lovey-dovey. Your situation perfectly illustrates this saying."
Although Xu Nuan felt that He Min's wording was inappropriate, she didn't correct her. After all, not long ago, she had become Gu Ze's girlfriend—a term that felt strange yet made her heart tremble with excitement.
While her heart raced with excitement, the interaction between the two remained largely unchanged from before. Believing that her life had not been affected, Xu Nuan continued to focus on what mattered to her.
They hadn't walked for long when He Min spotted a mark left by Yu Yu, which looked relatively fresh and followed along the Special Tree, indicating they were not far from Chi Xiaoming.
The two responsible for carrying the stretcher thought they would soon be able to relax. This thought lasted only about ten minutes before reality dealt them a harsh blow.
Fan Beibei woke up. The moment she regained consciousness was fleeting; she quickly descended into madness. Her frenzied state almost made everyone forget her previous daze. The first to notice something was off was Deng Yinyin, who had been keenly observing Fan Beibei throughout the journey.
"Guys, she's got a knife hidden in her sleeve!"
Deng Yinyin's warning came just in time. Xu Hang and Xie Huai, who had intended to approach Fan Beibei to subdue her, halted their movements and watched her warily.
Fan Beibei, unaware of the knife in her sleeve, behaved like a madwoman, engaging in simple yet visually stimulating actions—occasionally lunging at someone as if to bite them. They all knew that even if Fan Beibei was awake, any one of them could easily subdue her. So despite her erratic behavior, they weren't afraid; they were merely concerned about potential underlying schemes.
Whether there was a conspiracy or not remained unclear to them; however, Fan Beibei's interruption had wasted a lot of their time. Just as Xu Hang impatiently moved closer to Fan Beibei to prepare to knock her out again, a swarm of Lemmings burst out from the nearby low bushes.
These Lemmings were not the normal ones; they were dozens of times larger than what anyone had ever known. Their fur was thick, their teeth sharp, and most chilling of all were their pairs of red eyes that sent shivers down one's spine at the mere glance.
Wherever the Lemmings passed, the green vegetation was quickly consumed. In the brief moment they stood frozen in shock, a large number of Lemmings surrounded them, darting about and making loud noises, occasionally brushing past their feet without any intention to attack.
The soft and cute Lemmings seen on television transformed into something terrifying when magnified like this, and their overwhelming numbers sent goosebumps rising on their skin.
Instinctively, the group huddled together, except for the eccentric Fan Beibei, who was overly excited to see the Lemmings. She chirped happily, but the others couldn’t understand her words.
Xu Nuan found Fan Beibei's behavior intriguing and wanted to move closer for a better look. However, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by the quick-handed Gu Ze.
She immediately gave up; this kind of thing had happened too often. Earlier on the road, she had tried to observe a mark from a distance but was blocked. When she attempted to move to the back of the group, she was obstructed again. Even when she wanted to scout ahead, she was pulled back. According to Gu Ze, she had to stay within his line of sight at all times; if she failed to do so, he would punish her and force her to comply.
Xu Nuan felt helpless; this man’s domineering side was surfacing again. Yet this time, it felt different—she accepted it internally while resisting outwardly.
As they were surrounded by Lemmings and felt disgusted yet unable to escape due to the increasing number blocking their path, an inexplicably excited Fan Beibei bent down without hesitation and grabbed one of the Lemmings. To everyone’s astonishment, she attempted to shove it into her mouth.
At that moment, Xu Nuan and the others could no longer ignore Fan Beibei. He Min reacted fastest; she threw a knife that struck the creature just as Fan Beibei lost her grip due to the knife's impact, causing the Lemming to fall to the ground.
What surprised everyone was what happened next: the seemingly lifeless Lemming that dropped onto the ground was not at all what they had imagined it to be.
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