The instant the woman turned her face, even though it was dark I could still make out that half of her face was missing, and her mouth was pulled back in a grin of bare, white teeth with a raw, bloody red inside.
My mind went cold and I yanked out my dagger.
In this moonless, windy moment behind the house, the woman-walker looked exactly like Sadako from Ju-on.
After staring for a moment I couldn't keep looking and glanced away—expecting her to lurch toward me—but a few seconds later she was still standing to the side, swaying and making noise without moving an inch.
I looked back at her and nearly vomited.
A tangle of twisted intestines had spilled from the hole in her belly and hung down across her stomach; some of the strands were snagged on the shrubs in front of her, pinning her in place.
The rest swung and slapped as she struggled.
I couldn't help gagging twice.
I took a deep breath, tightened my grip on the dagger, clenched my teeth, and stepped toward her.
The walker had to be dealt with.
Suo Tian and the others were some distance away behind the house and wouldn't hear anything—besides, it was only one walker; there was no need to alarm the whole group.
I hurried up, and because the weather had warmed and decomposition was more active, I smelled a sickening stench well before I reached her.
Suppressing the nausea, I approached with the blade raised.
The woman-walker grew agitated as I neared, making gurgling sounds—really just a mouthful of exposed teeth—trying hard to come at me while her intestines strained against the shrubs with each movement.
I didn't want to look anymore.
Holding my breath, I lunged forward and drove the dagger into her head.
Because she was snagged and couldn't move, she went down easily.
Compared to the horrific sight she presented, her actual threat and combat ability were pathetic.
After she collapsed, I glanced sideways at the tangled guts, felt disgusted to the core, and quickly turned and headed back toward the front of the old building.
When we circled around to the front of the building, I saw from afar that Suo Tian was gazing thoughtfully in our direction.
When his eyes met mine, he gave me a brief, assessing glance, then withdrew his gaze and continued murmuring softly to Rongrong, who was in his arms.
Curling my lips, I walked toward them.
I had just climbed over the railing and hadn't even sat down yet before blurting out, "I was almost scared to death just now."
At those words, the previously chattering group instantly fell silent.
"What happened?" Uncle Gazi asked.
"Ugh, don't mention it. I ran into a female walker — her intestines and everything were hanging outside her belly. The moment I saw it, I nearly threw up."
"A walker?!" Han Lu shouted, and at once the black-clad men who had been sitting on the ground all sprang to their feet, warily scanning the surroundings.
Seeing that, I quickly waved my hand. "Don't panic. I took a closer look — it seems she fell from the mountain by accident. There are marks on the slope. If you have to go out tonight, it's best to go in pairs, not alone."
At those words, Suo Tian frowned slightly, then stood up and said to the black-clad men, "Patrol the area every half hour. Don't leave any blind spots."
"Yes, sir." The men acknowledged and immediately split into pairs, starting their rounds in all directions.
Seeing that, Xu Shu glanced at me and said, "We really should've gone together earlier… now I need to use the bathroom too…"
After accompanying Xu Shu and Han Xue to relieve themselves quickly, we decided not to make any more noise.
It was already late, and Xu Shu and I still had to take the night watch in the second half.
We had no choice but to coax Xiao Hu and Tingyun to sleep.
Rongrong, still clinging to Suo Tian, refused to let go, so he simply held her and tried to lull her to sleep that way.
Lying side by side with Xu Shu and Han Xue, the three of us chatted idly for a bit before drifting off without realizing it.
At some point, I vaguely felt like there was something important I'd overlooked, but my mind was already fogging over, and before I could think more about it, I fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, Shen Feng, who came to relieve us for the shift, woke us up.
I was so drowsy I could barely function.
Xu Shu and I slung our arms over each other's shoulders, eyes half-closed, and stumbled outside to take over the watch.
At some point, the wind had picked up outside.
Xu Shu and I had been yawning nonstop, but the moment we stepped out of the house, a sudden gust made us both shiver.
I zipped up my jacket, looked up at the moonless sky, and said to Xu Shu, "How come the weather changed all of a sudden?"
Hearing that, Xu Shu looked up as well and replied, "Judging by the sky, it's probably going to pour tomorrow."
Just then, Taozi, clinging to Zhou Wen like a koala, walked out of the house.
He must have overheard Xu Shu's words, because he also looked up at the sky and said, "We're in for it tomorrow. If it rains too hard, we might not even be able to leave. This stretch of highway is full of elevated bridges hundreds of meters high — even the slightest mishap could be bad news."
Hearing that, Xu Shu turned to look at him.
Seeing Taozi hanging limply on Zhou Wen, she said irritably, "Can't you stand properly for once?"
It was strange — Xu Shu wasn't usually very talkative, yet somehow she and Taozi got along remarkably well.
Back in the valley, the two of them had already seemed quite close.
According to Han Xue's theory, Xu Shu had an especially strong "tomboy" energy, and Taozi liked anyone with a strong yang presence.
At Xu Shu's remark, Taozi rolled his half-squinted eyes at her, then finally stood on his own two feet, crossing his arms.
He gave both Xu Shu and me a long look, as if something had just occurred to him, and suddenly said to me, "Hey, Chen Yang — you've got some serious guts."
"Uh?" I was stunned by the sudden comment, and even Zhou Wen, standing beside him, looked at him in confusion.
"There." Taozi pointed toward the car Suo Tian usually sat in and said seriously, "Aren't you afraid you'll get pregnant? With all this running around we're doing, it's going to be a pain if you end up with a big belly."
Taozi's expression was completely serious, and for a moment I was frozen on the spot.
It took me several seconds to process what he'd just said, and when it finally sank in, I gritted my teeth and snapped, "Mind your own business!"
But before I could walk off, Xu Shu, who had been half-bent over laughing, glanced at me thoughtfully and said, "Taozi's not wrong. It's something you should probably be careful about."
I looked at her speechlessly, sighed in defeat, and waved my hand dismissively before picking a random car to sit in.
But just as I opened the car door, a loud bang erupted behind me.
The shock was so strong it made me jump, and even the road beneath my feet seemed to tremble.
Two seconds later, I heard Taozi's shriek and Zhou Wen and Xu Shu swearing behind me.
Snapping out of my daze, I quickly turned around — only to see that the ancient building, which had been perfectly intact just moments ago, now had a massive section of its roof caved in.
As I watched, another large piece of the half-suspended roof broke off and fell.
Fortunately, the second floor caught part of the collapse — and since the staircase there had rotted away and was unsafe to climb, no one had been staying upstairs.
Realizing what was happening, I quickly followed Xu Shu and the others as we ran back toward the ancient building.
Just as Xu Shu and the rest were about to rush inside, a few black-clad men who had caught up stopped them.
They were probably worried that the second floor might collapse further, so none of them dared to go in.
The loud crash had startled everyone inside awake.
Yangyang and Shen Feng hadn't gone to sleep yet; when they heard the noise, each of them grabbed a child and followed Uncle Gazi out of the building first.
They clearly hadn't known what caused the sound, but the moment they saw the roof, their faces turned completely pale with fright.
Suo Tian, who had been sitting in the car with Rongrong, arrived a bit later — probably because the child wouldn't let go of him.
When he finally reached us and saw the scene before him, he frowned deeply, gave the collapsing structure a quick scan, hissed sharply under his breath, and immediately sprinted toward the back of the building.
Seeing that, I instinctively wanted to follow, but Suo Tian turned and shouted, "Stay where you are!"
I froze on the spot, not daring to take another step.
He ran fast — within moments, he had disappeared around the back of the building.
Without moonlight, everything was pitch-black, and it was impossible to see what was going on.
The black-clad men must not have gone to sleep either, and after hearing me, Xu Shu, and Taozi shouting that the roof had collapsed and everyone should get out, they quickly rushed out as well.
Only two seconds after Zhang Hongsheng, who had woken late, stepped out of the building, another section of the roof caved in.
A heavy chunk of debris crashed onto the second floor, and the wooden boards gave off a sharp, drawn-out creak before collapsing completely with a loud thud, sending both the broken beams and the debris crashing down into the first floor.
Xu Shu and I were standing close by, and some flying rubble even struck my leg, sending a wave of dull pain through it.
I quickly grabbed Xu Shu, pulling her back to a safer distance, and shouted for everyone else to retreat to the road.
Once we were all back on the roadside, Suo Tian suddenly emerged from the building.
Seeing that, I looked at him in confusion and asked, "How did you end up coming out from there?"
Suo Tian pointed at the half-collapsed roof. "I went up to take a look. A broken branch hit it — the building's too old to withstand much."
I looked up at the ruined roof, my heart still pounding. "This place has to be at least a hundred years old, maybe more. It's held up all this time — how come it collapsed the moment we moved in?"
Hearing that, Suo Tian turned back toward the ancient building and studied it again.
He looked so focused that I thought he might have noticed something, so I asked, "What did you find?"
He glanced at me, shook his head, and said calmly,
"I didn't stay in there — you did."
…...
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