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墨書 Inktalez
In the depths of the cave, the sound of dripping water became increasingly clear. After a brief moment of panic, several people gathered at the edge of the hole where Fang Zheng had fallen. Xu Hang and Chi Xiaoming helped each other, one steadying the other so that he could hold a flashlight and carefully observe the situation inside the cave.
However, the beams of light projected downwards were swallowed by the darkness, making it impossible to see what lay within.
“Fang Zheng, can you hear me?”
“If you can hear me, respond!”
Xu Hang shouted loudly, his voice echoing throughout the vast cavern.
No one answered.
Chi Xiaoming frowned, recalling the scene from earlier and expressing his confusion.
“I didn’t hear anything heavy hitting the ground.”
At that moment, Fang Zheng had only let out a startled cry; there had been no other sounds.
This was a strange phenomenon. After Chi Xiaoming brought it up, a few people began to ponder over it, but to no avail.
“What should we do now?”
He Min took a few steps toward the hole, ensuring her safety before craning her neck to look down. All she saw was darkness. After staring for a few seconds, dizziness washed over her, making her feel lightheaded as if she might fall at any moment.
She quickly stepped back, her gaze alert and no longer gentle as it once was. Most of the others were focused on the hole, paying little attention to her as they would have to a beautiful and gracious woman in better times.
After waiting for several seconds without a response, she frowned again and glanced at Xu Nuan’s equally tense face beside her.
She didn’t care about Fang Zheng’s fate; it was his fall that forced them to make a choice: should they risk going down to find him or ignore him and continue on?
He Min was certain that no one wanted to acknowledge Fang Zheng’s plight. However, she couldn’t rule out someone suggesting an impractical idea just for show. She looked down on such behavior but couldn’t voice her disdain directly. She continued to play her role as a competent Player and didn’t think her acting needed any refinement.
Finally, Gu Ze gave He Min some attention. He glanced at her before looking at Chi Xiaoming and Xu Hang but said nothing.
Deng Yinyin's mind was not on this matter from the very beginning. At this moment, she was someone who could hurt Qiu Beiyue, a person longing to return to her melancholic girlhood.
Xu Nuan stared directly at Gu Ze. In this moment, she did not hide her trust and reliance on him, just as Gu Ze had never concealed his trust and attachment.
Of course, the last to speak was Xu Hang.
"Let's go. We just need to leave marks along the way."
Those who understood the underlying meaning knew this signified giving up on Fang Zheng. After all, if they did not rescue him from the cave, the marks would merely be decorations.
A fleeting joy flashed across He Min's face. She was pleased that everyone was openly selfish; only in such moments did she have the opportunity to continue moving forward.
Zhang Xiao was dead, but it didn't matter. As long as there were still people behind the scenes, as long as someone continued to make promises, she could still achieve her goals. And these goals had nothing to do with companions or friends; in her envisioned future, it was only about herself and her own interests.
Her smiling eyes sparkled like stars, reminiscent of insects that glimmer in the night—unbeautiful, even repulsive.
What He Min had not considered was that Fang Zheng had stayed behind because he had made an agreement with Gu Ze. Gu Ze was a man she could not grasp; she could not see through him or understand his thoughts. Thus, she would never realize how pale and powerless her joy truly was, making one want to scoff at it.
The cave remained dark, and everyone could only rely on flashlights for light. The distant glimmer ahead was neither too close nor too far, tempting them to rush forward but leaving them disappointed after exhausting their strength.
Xu Nuan secretly glanced at Gu Ze, and their gazes met. Upon seeing the emotions in his eyes, Xu Nuan smiled slightly, feeling reassured. She stopped entangling herself in her thoughts and focused seriously on the path beneath her feet.
The sounds of insects began to swell, accompanied by water noises that resembled the orderly and powerful footsteps of soldiers echoing in their hearts.
"Ah!"
A piercing scream shattered the silence of the cave, making its darkness even more sinister.
In that moment, they couldn't determine what had made the sound. Reflexively, they looked at each other, trying to figure out who was missing to ascertain who might be in trouble.
Xu Nuan tightened her grip on Gu Ze's hand, using his warmth to calm her heart. As the others waved their flashlights wildly, illuminating the cave chaotically, she suddenly noticed a flicker of light in the distance.
With her determination solidified and her judgment formed, she firmly believed that what she saw was not a mere illusion. She tugged at Gu Ze's sleeve, her gaze fixed intently on the flickering light ahead.
"One, two..."
Deng Yinyin soon realized the terrifying nature of this cavern, quickly pulling herself out of her earlier melancholy and observing her surroundings with utmost seriousness. In the face of life and death, regrets had to take a backseat.
She began to count the people around her aloud.
"Hmm?"
Deng Yinyin's voice was low, the fatigue within it betraying her emotions, making it easier to reveal her true thoughts.
"Everyone is here? Then who is calling?"
"No, it's not a person calling."
Chi Xiaoming's expression darkened as he stood beside Liu Minghong, who had only his eyes visible. Liu Minghong swiftly moved aside, his short knife flying through the air with a speed that left others unable to react.
Xu Hang was relatively quick on the uptake; he adjusted his flashlight so that the beam illuminated Liu Minghong's short knife, revealing a large spider pinned to the ground by it.
The spider had a ghastly face adorned with a sinister grin. Its body was black, allowing it to blend into the darkness unnoticed. The diameter of its body was about the length of an adult's forearm.
Xu Nuan gasped in shock and instinctively glanced at Gu Ze, the man who feared spiders. However, she found Gu Ze still focused on the flickering light that few others noticed, oblivious to the large spider.
Strangely puzzled, Xu Nuan furrowed her brow. As she withdrew her gaze in confusion, she saw Liu Minghong step on the immobile spider.
"Ah!"
Another piercing scream echoed through the dark environment, chilling everyone to the bone and standing out starkly in the gloom.
A few of them breathed a sigh of relief, glad that no one had been harmed.
It was not out of concern for others, but rather because it indicated that the dangers within this cave had not reached a certain level, allowing her to pass through safely.
Such thoughts flashed quickly through He Min's mind as her eyes darted around, and she took a step back.
"Ah!"
Another scream escaped her lips, and reflexively, He Min jumped forward again, only to step into empty space and fall straight down.
As her body uncontrollably plummeted, she realized something was wrong. Just moments ago, she had been standing on solid ground; how could she have stepped into nothingness now?
Accompanied by the sensation of weightlessness came the sound of rushing wind. Like Fang Zheng, she let out a brief scream, unable to do anything else as darkness enveloped her.
Xu Nuan was stunned. She had hardly interacted with He Min over the past few days, and instinctively, she reacted slowly to He Min's situation. This time, she was further away from He Min; as she reached out her hand, He Min's figure vanished from sight.
A sense of worry crept in, though it wasn't overwhelming. This left her feeling anxious and puzzled.
Just as Fang Zheng had to make a choice when he fell, the others now faced a decision regarding He Min.
For a fleeting moment, Xu Nuan felt indifferent, but ultimately, the gratitude she owed He Min for saving her life and their shared history took precedence. She wanted to go down and see what had happened, even though her foot was injured.
This attitude was starkly different from how she treated Fang Zheng—very pragmatic and without blame.
Knowing that descending quickly was crucial, Xu Nuan hesitated slightly. She glanced at Gu Ze as if seeking his opinion. At that moment, Gu Ze leaped forward, his body twisting in mid-air as he swung his arms ahead of him against the fierce wind.
Due to the lighting conditions, Xu Nuan squinted her eyes. She vaguely saw Gu Ze grab something in mid-air before crashing down with it.
Her concern for Gu Ze instantly overshadowed all other emotions. Xu Nuan hurried forward and passed by Deng Yinyin, who voiced her confusion.
"Hey? Where did the hole that He Min fell into go?"
"What?"
She turned her head again to look at the ground, just as Chi Xiaoming's flashlight illuminated that spot, allowing her to see clearly that there was indeed nothing there.
At this moment, everyone regained their composure. Yes, when they had just arrived here, it was flat ground. How could He Min suddenly step into a void and fall? They weren't walking in a place filled with pits.
But this was indeed a pit.
Xu Nuan blinked and suddenly looked up towards the direction where Gu Ze had fallen; there was no one there anymore.
"Gu Ze!"
Xu Nuan truly panicked now. These past few days, she had been dealing with people and had experienced the traps of the Survival Game, causing her body to become sluggish and her reactions slow. She had unwittingly stepped into a trap.
However, Gu Ze was different. Just moments ago, he had been able to react quickly, surely he had noticed everything. No wonder he didn't care about those spiders or anything else.
Xu Nuan felt a bit regretful but wasn't anxious anymore. She knew Gu Ze's strength all too well and understood that worrying would only lead to chaos. She calmed herself down and used the flashlight to observe her surroundings, not rushing to find Gu Ze or hurry forward.
The others didn’t stop her either. With two people suddenly gone, it felt eerily quiet. The remaining group hesitated; after all, Gu Ze was a source of support for many of them. No one dared to guarantee that they could survive without him.
Xu Nuan and Gu Ze relied on and trusted each other with their lives, while the others merely viewed Gu Ze as an excellent person to depend on. They would think of helping him if he were in danger, but when it came to life-and-death situations, they would likely turn a blind eye.
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