SES Chapter 216 Part 2

True enough. Sometimes, you had to show a little kindness to pheasants—for their sake and for your own—leave a way out for everyone.

By the time their legs felt ready to give out, the pursuit finally faded away.

The two of them were gasping for air, exhausted to the point of collapse, when, from far away, carried by the wind, came a long, drawn-out howl.

Yan Hongsand’s heart clenched. In an instant, every hair on her body stood on end. “Yiwansan… that sounds like… wolves.”

Yiwansan was tense too. “Do you have any gear on you?”

They didn’t. Everything had happened too suddenly. They hadn’t brought anything—not even a flashlight or a lighter.

They looked around. All directions were pitch-black forest. They couldn’t even remember which way they’d come from.

A cold wind blew through. The howling sounded closer. Suspicion bred fear; the unseen forest seemed full of rustling, as if packs of beasts were closing in.

Cold sweat beaded on Yiwansan’s forehead. “Hongsand, up a tree first. Wolves can’t climb. Even if we stay up there all night, it’s better than getting dragged off.”

They picked a thick, sturdy tree and climbed it with hands and feet. Leaning against a massive branch, they barely dared to breathe, listening only to the leaves shifting in the wind.

Sparse moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves. Yiwansan saw Yan Hongsand gesture for him to look down.

He slowly lowered himself, chest and stomach pressed to the branch.

Below the tree, two or three wolves were circling. Their faces were fierce, eyes glowing faintly, thick tails hanging low, sharp ears pricked toward the sky in the moonlight.

They seemed to know there were people above. They craned their heads unwillingly, and for a moment, when one opened its mouth, Yiwansan thought he saw rows of sharp teeth.

The wolves kept circling.

Yan Hongsand whispered, “Yiwansan, I’ve heard wolves are really smart. They can stack up on each other and even surround prey. Let’s not sleep tonight.”

Sleep? Did she still think sleeping was an option? How big was her heart, exactly?

Yiwansan reminded her, “Hold on tight. Don’t fall.”

Yan Hongsand suddenly grew anxious. “What about Mu Dai and the others, and Cao Fatty? Will they run into wolves too?”

Yiwansan was already regretting it. Why had they run out of the camp in the first place? Back then, they’d had a tent. Even though the pheasants had battered it around, if the three of them had worked together and sealed it shut, forget pheasants—even wolves wouldn’t have gotten in. How had things come to this?

He said quietly, “Luo Ren and the little boss lady should be fine. They’ve got gear and skills. I’m more worried about Cao Fatty…”

No real martial ability, and all that meat on him. Wolves loved that sort of thing.

After a while, the wolves left. The forest grew quiet again, but Yiwansan became even more nervous.

Had they really gone, or were they planning something?

He wiped the sweat from his forehead. By chance, he looked up and suddenly saw, far in the distance, a scattering glow.

It wasn’t likely to be natural light. Nine times out of ten, Luo Ren had set up a light marker to help them find their way back.

Yan Hongsand saw it too and grew a little excited. “Should we go back?”

Yiwansan gave a strained laugh. “Go back? Are you crazy? What if we run into wolves on the way? They can light things up over there—they must have gear, maybe even guns and fire. Wild animals won’t dare get close. Better to let them come find us than for us to go looking for them.”

That made sense. Yan Hongsand bit her lip and stared at the thin, diffused light, hope flickering in her eyes. “If only Cao Fatty were with them.”

Time passed second by second. The wolves didn’t return. The wind rose and fell. Leaves kept rustling in their ears. Afraid Yan Hongsand would fall asleep, Yiwansan kept talking to her. At first she responded, but later it turned into simple “mm”s and “ah”s.

By moonlight, he saw her eyes growing dull—the kind of exhaustion that came from being pushed to the limit. She was still forcing herself to stay awake, though, repeatedly pinching the flesh of her leg.

She was a girl, after all. Each time she pinched herself, she did it hard enough to make him wince. Feeling a bit sorry for her, he said, “How about this—you sleep for a bit. I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

Sleeping in a tree wasn’t easy. He shifted back, made space near the trunk, and let her lie closer to the center. Embarrassed, Yan Hongsand said, “I’ll just nap for a moment. If wolves come, wake me up.”

“I will, I will.”

“Then later, when you’re tired, you sleep, and I’ll keep watch.”

“Got it, got it. Go to sleep.”

His tone was impatient, like he thought she talked too much. Yan Hongsand felt a little dejected. It really did seem like Yiwansan disliked her.

Right—dismissive and impatient. He’d even promised to write an article for her, then gone back on it.

She sighed. Her eyelids felt like invisible hands were pulling them shut, and she quickly fell asleep.

The branch was hard. She slept badly. Her dreams were worse.

She dreamed of her uncle, Yan Jiuxiao, crawling eerily along the seabed. She dreamed of a cloth-sewn Qing-Sweeper doll hanging in a well; when she leaned in to look, the doll suddenly grinned at her. She dreamed of a dog picking up a burning log from a stove, standing on its hind legs and sneaking around, setting the curtains on fire one by one…

Finally, she dreamed she was back in the forest.

Dense trees all around, mist swirling, wolf howls rising and falling, enough to make her scalp tingle.

She ran as fast as she could, calling out, “Mu Dai,” “Luo Ren,” “Cao Fatty.”

There was soft movement behind her. She turned sharply and saw several long, oddly proportioned shadows flickering behind the trees, accompanied by low whispers.

—Here, right here…
—She’s about to find it…
—No, no, she won’t think of it…

This dream felt strangely familiar. Hadn’t Mu Dai talked about this dream before? They’d even discussed that those long, disproportionate shadows might be the murder slips.

“She’s about to find it”—find what? The seventh murder slip?

Yan Hongsand’s heart pounded, a mix of fear and excitement. Holding her breath, she walked deeper into the forest, the murmuring sounds gradually falling behind her.

The scene suddenly opened up. There was a huge tree. Several wild wolves circling beneath it turned abruptly, bared their teeth, saliva dripping, green eyes glowing like ghostly flames. With guttural growls, they lunged straight at her. Thrown to the ground, Yan Hongsand screamed, eyes wide, and saw someone crouched in the tree above her, staring down like an owl…

She shuddered violently and woke up.

Dawn was breaking. A thin morning mist hung in the forest. Yiwansan was crouched on a branch, gripping it—he really did look like an owl.

Yan Hongsand wanted to laugh. She shifted uncomfortably and suddenly realized something was draped over her.

She thought she was mistaken and rubbed her eyes. No—it really was clothing. Yiwansan’s jacket.

Well, that was unexpected. Hadn’t he been so dismissive of her? And hadn’t they agreed to take turns? Why hadn’t he woken her—had he wanted her to sleep longer?

Her heart started thumping. After a moment, she cleared her throat and said, “Why didn’t you wake me? Did the wolves come back later…?”

“Shh.”

Yiwansan motioned for her to be quiet. “Listen.”

Listen? To what? Yan Hongsand froze.

The morning forest was full of waking sounds—branches swaying, leaves drifting, wind threading through the trees…

Wait. She heard something.

Tap. Tap tap. Tap tap tap tap tap.

Like something pecking at stone—very faint, piercing through the thin mist, steady and persistent.