The door to the apartment creaked open a crack.
Xie Jun's head poked out. He warily eyed the ajar door of the apartment across the hall, then glanced at Wang Xiaoli beside him.
A smirk spread across his face. He leaned in and whispered in Wang Xiaoli's ear, "Good job. I'll reward you handsomely later."
He turned and waved to someone behind him. "Da Zhuang, come here."
"Boss." Da Zhuang walked over, separated one of the two Mountain-Climbing Knives he was holding, and handed it to Xie Jun.
Xie Jun moved to the doorway. Looking into the dimly lit room, he asked doubtfully, "Why are the curtains closed?"
Wang Xiaoli said in a low voice, "They closed them before bed. Said they were worried about birds and stuff hitting the glass in the middle of the night. I was afraid opening them would make too much noise and wake them up, so I left them."
Xie Jun ordered her, "Go open the curtains a little. Be quiet about it."
Wang Xiaoli went over and gently pulled back the living room curtains.
Faint moonlight spilled into the living room. Xie Jun first scanned the area cautiously. The room was open, with no place to hide.
Only then did he wave for his cousin to follow him.
Xie Jun lowered his voice. "Which room?"
Wang Xiaoli pointed to the room Qin Ziwen had prepared in advance.
Xie Jun gestured behind him, and he and his cousin walked to the door.
The two exchanged a look. Xie Jun had Xie Guang go first.
Xie Guang turned the doorknob and pushed the door inward.
The curtains in the room were drawn, but he could faintly make out a lump-like silhouette on the bed, accompanied by the sound of long, drawn-out snores.
Xie Guang took a step forward when he suddenly felt like he'd stepped on something.
SWOOSH—
A rope snare tightened, binding his calf.
BAM!
Caught completely off guard, Xie Guang staggered and fell.
The adjacent wardrobe door flew open. Qin Ziwen strode forward, raised his Long Spear, and stabbed. It was pitch-black and hard to see clearly, so he aimed for the fallen man's upper body, thrusting repeatedly, causing the man to wail and scream in agony.
Then, he decisively thrust the Long Spear toward the narrow bedroom doorway.
When Xie Jun heard his cousin's screams, he froze for a moment. Then he realized he'd fallen into a trap. 'That bitch Wang Xiaoli sold me out!'
He looked back just in time to see another bedroom door diagonally behind him slam shut. The bolt slid into place. Wang Xiaoli had hidden in the other room.
He cursed under his breath. Just as he was about to move forward, a Long Spear lunged at him. He tried to dodge, but the doorway was right beside him, leaving no room. It stabbed his shoulder, and he sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
Before he could react, the snoring from the bed stopped abruptly. Qin Ziwu flipped over and leaped up, bringing his knife down on the head of the man on the floor.
His hand was a bit weak on the first strike, but fueled by a surge of adrenaline, the second blow came down hard, splattering blood all over his face.
Then, Qin Ziwu quickly retreated to stand beside his brother. The two of them stared menacingly at Xie Jun. But out of the corner of his eye, Qin Ziwu spotted the Mountain-Climbing Knife that had fallen on the floor, and a glint appeared in his eyes.
Xie Jun glanced at his cousin, who was whimpering on the ground. His expression was grim. He clutched his Mountain-Climbing Knife and slowly backed away.
"Brothers, I'll admit defeat this time. We're all neighbors, no need to fight to the death. I have a knife. If you insist on coming at me, I'll take one of you with me when I die! Ah!"
Qin Ziwen couldn't be bothered with his nonsense and thrust his Long Spear forward.
'We've already tried to kill each other. Why waste time talking instead of finishing the job?'
Xie Jun swung his knife to parry. The clothes-drying rod was knocked aside, but its tip stabbed into his shoulder.
A vicious glint flashed in Xie Jun's eyes. He grabbed the clothes-drying rod with his left hand, preventing it from being pulled back. As they grappled for control, he pushed his body forward, only to be met with the sudden whoosh of a blade.
He instinctively swung his own knife to block.
CLANG!
A powerful force shook his arm, making it go numb.
Qin Ziwu laughed. "This knife of yours is pretty damn good! Now die!"
In Qin Ziwu's hands, the half-meter-long Mountain-Climbing Knife was like an axe. He swung it at Xie Jun's head again and again, with reckless abandon.
Just hearing the whistling of the blade made his scalp tingle with fear.
Blow after blow rained down, jarring Xie Jun's arm until it went weak. He could barely hold onto his knife.
'This bastard is strong as hell.'
The thought had just crossed his mind.
His left hand went slack, and the clothes-drying rod he was gripping was pulled back. A blade's edge sliced across his palm. Before he could even register the pain, the clothes-drying rod was lunging at him again.
'Not good.'
A sharp pain shot through his eye. His head snapped back, and the world began to spin.
He could only feel something sharp piercing through his eye—cold, terrifying, and twisting inside, making him almost lose consciousness.
Xie Jun slammed into the wall with a THUD and slowly slid down it.
SQUELCH.
Qin Ziwen twisted the clothes-drying rod, then gave it another vicious shove inward.
Only when Xie Jun's right hand went limp and his Mountain-Climbing Knife clattered to the floor did he finally pull back the Long Spear.
The fight was over. An indescribable emotion washed over him.
Qin Ziwu stared blankly, his eyes darting back and forth between the two motionless bodies on the floor.
Qin Ziwen's heart was pounding. He clutched his chest.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. He knocked on the closed bedroom door. "Alright, it's over. You can come out now."
There was no sound from the bedroom.
Wang Xiaoli was probably scared.
Qin Ziwen's voice dropped. "Come out. I don't want to say it a second time."
CLICK.
The deadbolt on the bedroom door was unlocked.
Wang Xiaoli opened the door. Her head was bowed, and her body was trembling as she cast a fearful glance at the two corpses on the floor.
In her mind, Xie Jun and Xie Guang had been people you didn't mess with.
Now, the Qin brothers who had killed them inherited that status in her mind, perhaps an even higher one.
His eyes still bloodshot from the kill, Qin Ziwu suddenly asked his older brother, "Brother?"
Qin Ziwen said, "Let her go. I'm a man of my word. She did what she promised me, and I'll do what I promised her."
Qin Ziwu was taken aback for a second, then nodded. "Huh? Oh."
Qin Ziwu shouted impatiently, "Get lost!"
Wang Xiaoli immediately fled without a backward glance, terrified the two would go back on their word.
Outside in the stairwell, Old Deng, having heard the commotion, came downstairs carrying something and cautiously peered into the apartment.
The fleeing Wang Xiaoli nearly ran into him, letting out a frightened shriek.
Qin Ziwen and his brother were dragging the bodies out when they saw Old Deng at the door. They were a bit surprised. "Old Deng?"
Old Deng looked at the body of Xie Jun being carried out. It was too dark to see the face clearly. "I heard a noise just now and thought something might have happened to you, so I came down to check."
Qin Ziwen said with a smile, "The Xie Brothers heard I got some meat and tried to break in and rob me tonight. I was just defending myself."
With all the screaming and wailing earlier, there was no way to hide what happened on such a quiet night. He hadn't planned to hide it anyway; it was good to have Old Deng as a witness.
Old Deng was shocked, but he quickly understood. The world they lived in now was different. He looked at the Xie Brothers' bodies with a complicated expression, thought for a moment, then rolled up his sleeves. "Let me help you carry them."
With Old Deng's help, the three of them quickly carried the two bodies downstairs.
The best solution would have been to dig a hole and bury them, but digging a pit big enough for two people would take too much energy, and they didn't have any tools.
It wasn't worth wasting so much energy on these two scumbags, so they just dumped the bodies outside the south gate of the Gated Community. The three of them didn't go out themselves; the wilderness at night was more dangerous than in the daytime.
After they were done with the grim task, Old Deng wiped his hands. "Tomorrow, my family is planning to smoke our meat. Want to join us?"
Qin Ziwen readily agreed. "Sure, let's do it together tomorrow. What time are you guys getting up?"
"We were planning on six, but after all this... let's get some more sleep. Let's make it seven."
Back in their apartment, the faint, metallic smell of iron still hung in the air.
Qin Ziwen found some old clothes and gave the bloodstains on the floor a quick wipe.
Soon, it was midnight.
「You have successfully survived for a third day in the wilderness. You hunted an alligator as part of a team and were allocated some raw meat. The hearts of men are more terrifying than wild beasts; someone tried to attack you, but you successfully used a trap to counter-kill them. Overall Score: 32 Points」
「You have received the following rewards: [Expansion Card] Blank Expansion Card (Micro) x1, Mountain Plant Guidebook Fragment x2, [Building Card] Level 1 Beast Cage x1, Bag of Salt x3」