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The night was dark and windy, with a pale moon casting a dim light over everything, creating an atmosphere of chill. The surrounding plants were all the same color, and it was uncertain whether any animals were lurking among them.
The jungle at night was quiet, yet fraught with danger; one misstep could lead to a sting from a poison dart frog or a bite from a venomous spider.
Thinking of spiders made Xu Nuan worry even more about Gu Ze. That fearless man always seemed to fall victim to creatures that looked so unappealing.
"Honestly, if he encounters a spider, he deserves it," she thought.
While her heart was filled with concern, her words contradicted her feelings—a trait many people shared, where their words did not reflect their true thoughts.
Leaning on her cane and suppressing the pain in her foot, Xu Nuan walked for a while. After calling out several times without receiving a response, she obediently fell silent.
It wasn't that she felt her instincts were betraying her; rather, she instinctively believed that Gu Ze might be dealing with something important. If she shouted out, she might disrupt whatever good he was trying to accomplish.
This instinct stemmed from her trust in Gu Ze. She didn't know when it had started, but trusting him had become ingrained in her very being, flowing through her veins and reaching her heart, influencing her thoughts and decisions around this trust.
This was also why she felt angry but didn’t spiral into the wild thoughts she usually did.
The darkness easily eroded one's thoughts. Xu Nuan took a deep breath, striving to resist the influence of the night and maintain her trust in Gu Ze as she continued to feel her way forward with the moonlight and the beam of her flashlight.
After walking for a while longer, she faintly heard sounds. However, they were too distant for her to determine whether they were voices, sounds of a struggle, or something else entirely.
The sounds somewhat eased Xu Nuan's anxiety but also heightened her tension; after all, she was just an ordinary person.
Following the sound, after walking about ten meters, it became clearer—it was human conversation. They spoke in lowered tones, and due to the distance, it sounded quite muffled, making it impossible for her to identify who was speaking.
Yet a voice inside Xu Nuan told her that Gu Ze was nearby; what she needed to know was who he was talking to. This thought gave her the strength to keep moving forward. However, as she approached her target, she had to be even more cautious. She slowed her pace and tiptoed carefully, trying hard not to let her cane touch anything it shouldn’t.
Just as she moved two meters further, Xu Nuan heard footsteps behind her—soft yet close enough to be deliberate. In the quiet of the night, human ears became much more sensitive. Maintaining her original posture, one hand reached for her waist and drew out a short knife. The blade glinted coldly in the dim light of the chilly night.
The footsteps grew closer, and her pace did not allow her to quickly reach the person ahead. She found herself in a state of being ambushed.
If she truly thought this way, she had to respond accordingly.
Three, two, one.
Xu Nuan counted silently in her mind. As the word "one" echoed in her thoughts, she immediately turned around and swung her short knife straight out.
The person who had been cautiously approaching her barely managed to dodge; otherwise, their cheek would have been sliced by the blade. Xu Nuan's strike was swift and merciless, clearly believing that there was no such thing as collateral damage. A faint yet palpable killing intent emanated from her.
However, upon seeing the person she almost attacked, even Xu Nuan couldn't help but freeze.
"...Amin?"
The momentary pause made the affectionate name sound rather dry as it escaped her lips. Xu Nuan's eyes surged with a tumult of emotions, about to engulf the little trust and gratitude she had left.
"Warm, why did you attack?"
He Min reacted quickly, immediately pouting and complaining to Xu Nuan. From her expression, it seemed that Xu Nuan's action was a grave offense against her.
"Someone was sneaking up on me; how could I not defend myself?"
Yet He Min's tactic was utterly ineffective against Xu Nuan. From Gu Ze's personal experience, he knew that Xu Nuan was someone who wouldn't budge easily; neither soft nor hard approaches worked on her unless she truly felt moved. Otherwise, any method before her would have no effect at all.
Xu Nuan's expression remained unchanged, but the wariness in her eyes was evident to anyone. At that moment, she was more shocked than angry. She sensed the killing intent but didn't believe He Min had any reason to target her. Out of her own selfishness, she was unwilling to accept this notion.
"I just wanted to see what you were planning to do. How else would I know if you didn't sneak up on me?"
He Min smiled calmly and directly stated her purpose, which eased some of Xu Nuan's wariness.
"Gu Ze is missing, and I'm here to find him."
Xu Nuan's expression remained neutral. She turned to leave, but before she could fully turn around, she noticed a change in He Min's demeanor. He Min quickly turned her head and shouted in a stern voice towards a direction.
"Who’s there? Come out now!"
Xu Nuan was shocked and froze in her tracks. She hadn’t sensed anyone else nearby, which made her wonder if the killing intent she felt had come from that person.
Sometimes, she could be quite stubborn. Once she had made up her mind about something, she would find excuses to justify it. This contradicted her somewhat cold rationality but formed a flesh-and-blood version of Xu Nuan—a real woman.
After He Min shouted, there was no response from that direction. Xu Nuan didn’t feel impatient even after several seconds passed, but then He Min shouted again urgently.
"If you don’t come out, I won’t hold back!"
He Min brandished a knife, and just then, a beam of moonlight hit the blade, reflecting a cold light that made Xu Nuan instinctively close her eyes.
At that moment, someone really stepped out from that place. The sound of their body brushing against the low bushes on either side was jarring.
"Deng Yinyin?"
Xu Nuan exclaimed in surprise. Upon seeing Deng Yinyin's awkward smile and evasive gaze, she began to doubt whether the killing intent she had sensed was real.
It seemed that both He Min and Deng Yinyin could potentially be plotting against her, leaving Xu Nuan's mind in turmoil. To her astonishment, two more people emerged from different directions—one was the awkward Xie Huai, and the other was the expressionless Fang Zheng.
Xu Nuan was completely bewildered. Before she could process anything further, He Min rudely questioned the three of them.
"What are you following us for?"
He Min's expression was colder than ever, and his words and attitude were much more assertive than usual. Xu Nuan, still in a daze, failed to notice this change. People often don't realize the subtle shifts in those they spend time with daily. It is only when the familiar faces change that they begin to wonder why. Ultimately, it was a lack of concern that led her to accept such an ending.
Deng Yinyin and Xie Huai had been dealing with Xu Nuan for quite some time; in fact, they had spent more time with her than He Min had. The atmosphere was awkward, and they stammered, unable to say a word.
Instead, Fang Zheng calmly retorted, "You came for a reason, and so did we."
He Min's face also showed signs of embarrassment, which Xu Nuan caught as she glanced over.
Xu Nuan quickly composed herself and reflected on the behavior of these individuals over the past few days. It became clear to her that they had come because of the secret passage. They had shown a keen interest in it, each for their own reasons but expressing their concern for the secret passage in different ways. In contrast, Chi Xiaoming and Xu Hang, who hadn't come over, didn't seem to care much about it at all.
Xu Nuan was connected to the secret passage; Gu Ze had left first, and she used that as an excuse to come out. Following this line of thought, she could piece together what these people were thinking.
She felt a mix of helplessness and disappointment but also found herself sighing in relief without realizing it.
"If Gu Ze and I really wanted to leave, we wouldn't have left our backpacks behind."
Xu Nuan explained once more. She was eager to find Gu Ze but didn't want to bring these people along; it would be best to send them back as much as possible.
With this thought in mind, Xu Nuan forced herself to stay a little longer, but her left foot was already protesting. Standing for too long was a significant burden on that leg, and no matter how much she ignored her body, she didn't want to end up limping.
"That might just be your trick—pretending you’re not leaving."
When it came to matters concerning herself, Deng Yinyin was no longer awkward and quickly voiced her thoughts.
"You can just leave through the secret passage, so why do you need these scraps?"
"Your imagination is truly impressive!"
Xu Nuan sighed sincerely, but her comment was ill-timed and was taken as sarcasm by Deng Yinyin, who was already in a bad mood and quick to retort.
"Then why did you take that notebook? You only took what was most important to you!"
Xu Nuan fell silent, a serious expression appearing in her eyes. She valued that notebook because it might be related to something left behind by Su Zihang; it held significance. She felt no need to explain this to anyone else, yet she disliked being scrutinized by those around her.
As her gaze swept over He Min, Xie Huai, and Fang Zheng, she saw the implication in Deng Yinyin's words.
In the crucial Survival Game known as the Forest of Hatred, at this delicate moment, both she and Gu Ze were not only being watched by hidden figures but also by those close to them. It was a stark reality that sent chills down her spine.
"I have no obligation to explain my actions to you. Believe it or not, I have no intention of leaving."
Xu Nuan realized how futile it was to engage at this moment and thus displayed her usual firmness.
"I'm going to Ze now. If you choose to follow me, don't blame me for being rude. I respect your knowledge of the secret passage; if you don't respect it yourselves, that's your problem."
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