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墨書 Inktalez
Seeing the once radiant and proud beautiful woman reduced to her current state, Xu Nuan felt a surge of emotions. After the initial shock, her focus shifted to the present situation. Fan Beibei, in her madness, showed no intention of attacking them; however, her exposed ugliness made it difficult for anyone to approach her.
Fan Beibei had been with them for a while now, yet they had not seen Yu Yu or Chi Xiaoming. Had she separated from those two during the earlier Survival Game, or had she simply slipped away from their watchful eyes this time?
Xu Nuan believed it was crucial to verify this matter. However, just as she intended to move toward Fan Beibei, Gu Ze held onto her arm firmly, preventing her from going any closer.
"What are you doing?"
Xu Nuan felt that they were in a strange standoff, which irritated her further, leaving her unsure of how to handle the situation.
"Just in case; she harbors hostility towards you."
Gu Ze's reasoning was sound. While one hand held Xu Nuan back, his gaze remained fixed on the few people nearby who seemed hesitant to approach Fan Beibei. It appeared that He Min and the others were reluctant to get close to her and were unsure how to drive her away without causing harm.
"But she's already gone mad."
Xu Nuan's irritation grew as she couldn't meet Gu Ze's gaze. Still, she dared not show it outwardly. In fact, she felt physically fine; after a night of fever, it had subsided. Her wounds weren't healed but were not as severe as she had imagined. Logically, she should have felt refreshed, yet she found herself increasingly troubled and conflicted, unable to make any decisions.
"You've seen rabid dogs before; they still bite."
Gu Ze continued to observe Fan Beibei seriously without looking at Xu Nuan. To her eyes, he seemed evasive and unwilling to confront her directly.
"This is the first time I've noticed how sharp-tongued you are."
Ignoring Gu Ze's grip on her arm, Xu Nuan turned and seized his arm instead, dragging him toward Fan Beibei. She had experienced what it was like to be subtly influenced or hypnotized; it could indeed leave one feeling dazed. However, such occurrences were infrequent and wouldn't have a significant impact. Shen Shen had only ever suggested something to Fan Beibei once, and it was harmless enough not to lead her to this state. Therefore, it could be concluded that either Fan Beibei was pretending or she might have taken something that affected her mind.
At this delicate moment, she certainly did not want any dangerous factors around her.
Under Gu Ze's deliberate neglect, Xu Nuan easily dragged him over to He Min and the others, conveniently ignoring the strange looks from Xu Hang and the others.
Before Xu Nuan could say anything, Xie Huai suddenly pointed at Fan Beibei, who was in front of them, making a fuss but too afraid to come closer.
"I heard a sound like that before, back when we were on the mountain. Xu Hang, do you remember?"
Xie Huai eagerly described the strange noises he had heard earlier—sounds made by a human imitating a beast's growl, along with branches randomly hitting against rocks.
Xu Hang lowered Xie Huai's hand and nodded.
"I remember. That means Fan Beibei started following us back then."
"If she's following us, then she's pretending to be crazy. What is this woman trying to achieve by acting like a fool?"
Deng Yinyin quickly reached a conclusion and approached Fan Beibei with some dissatisfaction. She reached out to snatch the branch from Fan Beibei's hand, thinking about how this person was using props for her act. However, just as she grabbed the branch from Fan Beibei's hand, Fan Beibei suddenly seized her wrist and bit down hard.
"Ah! Let go of me, you lunatic!"
As Deng Yinyin struggled to shake off the unyielding Fan Beibei while screaming, she inadvertently met Fan Beibei's vacant gaze. She felt that those eyes were somewhat eerie; the madness that flickered in them was even more terrifying than what she had seen before.
Xu Hang swiftly circled behind Fan Beibei and knocked her out with a swift chop to her neck. He then caught her and set her aside.
Deng Yinyin was still grumbling, looking sadly at her hand. She rolled up her sleeve and saw a deep circle of bite marks. Xie Huai looked at her with concern, wanting to pull Deng Yinyin over to disinfect and apply medicine. Surprisingly, Deng Yinyin, who had always looked down on Xie Huai, walked over obediently without any sarcasm.
Xu Nuan shot a strange glance at Deng Yinyin but didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she turned her attention to Fan Beibei, who was lying on the ground, and asked Xu Hang, "How should we deal with her?"
At that moment, they had no way of discerning whether Fan Beibei was pretending to be crazy or if she was secretly following them. They also had no idea what her intentions were, making it a dilemma on how to handle her.
If she was genuinely foolish and had no particular motives, leaving her nearby could mean she would become prey for wild beasts. Xu Nuan didn’t want to be overly kind-hearted, but she also didn’t think that Fan Beibei deserved such a fate for what she had done before.
"Chi Xiaoming and Yu Yu are likely at this checkpoint," Xu Hang said, his expression unchanged. His gaze lightly swept over the hands of Xu Nuan and Gu Ze that were intertwined, showing no reaction to Xu Nuan's attitude. It seemed he hadn’t witnessed the scene of their earlier quarrel.
"The Supply Station shouldn’t be far now. Let’s take her along; once we reach the Supply Station, we won’t have to worry about her anymore."
Xu Nuan furrowed her brows. This indeed aligned with Xu Hang’s usual way of doing things. However, if Fan Beibei had other intentions, this approach could potentially disrupt the team.
The word "team" sent a chill down Xu Nuan’s spine. She had clearly planned to leave this group; it felt like the moment to speak up was now. If she didn’t act soon, she would have to continue on this journey with them.
"By the way, I—"
Before Xu Nuan could finish her sentence, Gu Ze tugged at her. At that moment, Xu Hang turned to ask He Min a question.
"Do you still have contact with Yu Yu? Is there any secret signal agreed upon? It would be better if we could send someone over when we see them."
For a moment, Xu Nuan felt that Xu Hang was being intentional, but as she pondered this, she was drawn in by Xu Hang's words.
Everyone knew that He Min liked Yu Yu, and that Yu Yu had a vague relationship with Fan Beibei, yet they were all on the same team. Xu Nuan was curious; since He Min liked Yu Yu, why didn't he join Yu Yu's team or invite Yu Yu to theirs? She didn't have a good impression of that Yu Yu, but if it made He Min happy, she could tolerate that man being in their team.
The word "team" echoed in Xu Nuan's mind again, making her feel a bit embarrassed. She wanted to slap her head to dispel such thoughts, but instead, she lifted the hand that Gu Ze was holding onto, which left her feeling frustrated.
"Can you let go now?"
Earlier, Xu Nuan had wanted to lock eyes with Gu Ze to see what he was thinking, but now she hesitated to meet his gaze due to the strange thoughts swirling in her mind.
"Let go first."
Even without looking up at Gu Ze, she could sense a gaze resting on the top of her head, making her feel slightly warm.
Xu Nuan released her hand, but Gu Ze did not let go; instead, he took advantage of the situation and grasped her hand along her arm as if intending to intertwine their fingers.
She felt inexplicably embarrassed and tried to pull away from Gu Ze's grip. Although they didn't successfully intertwine their fingers, his hold remained tight.
Gu Ze's hand felt different from usual—rather than dry and warm, it was slightly damp, as if he were sweating due to some emotion.
Was this man nervous?
Why was she feeling nervous?
A strange sensation surged within Xu Nuan, and she wanted to ignore it. She didn’t want her mental preparation from the previous night to be wiped away by this handshake. The fundamental conflict between them remained unresolved, and the problem still lingered. She was afraid of experiencing the same situation again without the time or ability to resolve it.
The odd feeling was quickly replaced by a rising irritation. Xu Nuan suddenly felt unwell and spoke sharply to Gu Ze.
"Is this your idea of not letting go?"
Gu Ze smiled but said nothing, which only made Xu Nuan more impatient. Remembering Gu Ze's earlier words, she realized that he did not trust her unconditionally. If that was the case, she could do without that trust.
"If you don’t let go, I’ll chop off your hand!"
Xu Nuan pretended to reach for her waist, only to find that she had no short knife on her. She must have been with Gu Ze since she fainted yesterday and hadn’t had time to find a new weapon.
At that moment, a short knife extended from the side. Xu Nuan recognized the style; it was Qin Yaojie’s knife, the one Dong Keyong had used to kill Shen Shen.
Xu Nuan took the knife and met the ambiguous gazes of He Min and Xu Hang. He Min hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Are you two really playing such a dangerous game? Love and killing each other?"
He Min's words reminded Xu Nuan of the scene from yesterday when she had fought with Gu Ze. Although most of the time Gu Ze had let her vent her emotions, he had also said things like "unless I kill him, he won’t let me leave."
There was indeed a hint of love and hate in their relationship. Xu Nuan felt a bit awkward and didn’t know how to explain. Thinking about her clothes and the wounds that had been treated, she took the opportunity to thank He Min.
"My wound was cleaned by you, right? Thanks."
Due to the presence of two gentlemen, Xu Nuan decided not to mention the fact that she had borrowed this piece of clothing.
However, as soon as she finished speaking, she noticed He Min's more meaningful expression, which, upon closer inspection, seemed somewhat teasing.
"It was Gu Ze who changed it. I thought you knew, considering the commotion you two made last night..."
He Min's words trailed off in a way that left much to the imagination. Xu Nuan blinked and took a few seconds to realize what He Min meant.
"We're not..."
Xu Nuan opened her mouth to explain but found herself at a loss for words. Glancing at Xu Hang beside her, who wore an expression that clearly said 'you two should tone it down; showing off your affection is so uncouth,' she fell silent.
The real reason for her silence was the hand of Gu Ze holding hers. She turned to glare at Gu Ze, her eyes accusing him, while her hand that held the short knife twitched as if it truly intended to chop off Gu Ze's hand.
However, Gu Ze remained remarkably calm and effortlessly shifted the topic. He looked at He Min.
"Just now, you and Yu Yu were using a code to communicate. How about we look for the code while heading to the Supply Station and return Fan Beibei to them? You don't mind that, do you?"
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