SES Chapter 81 Part 1

Chapter 81

Yiwansan was still groggy, out cold and not waking up anytime soon.
Cao Yanhua got up and headed toward the cave entrance. Strange… the wild men didn’t bother tying us up. Aren’t they worried we’ll run off?

A flicker of hope rose in his chest: it had been quiet outside for a long while, maybe the wild men weren’t around. If so, he and Brother Sansan might have a chance to escape.

Step by careful step, he shuffled toward the mouth of the cave.

Huh? How come it looks like there’s no ground out there?

He leaned his head out. A sharp mountain wind whipped at his face, making him dizzy. He quickly ducked back inside.

Only one thought filled his mind: We’re screwed.

This wasn’t some ordinary cave on level ground. No—this damn thing was more like a hole carved into the side of a sheer cliff. The slope outside had to be at least an eighty-degree drop straight down. Unless he sprouted wings, or could scuttle along walls like Mu Dai, or had a rope dozens of meters long to rappel with…

Done for. Totally done for.
No wonder he had just dreamed about Phoenix Tower opening with such joy—turned out it was just the so-called “final radiance before death.” Just like his middle school Chinese teacher used to say: a sharp contrast to the dark, tragic life that lay ahead.

Behind him came Yiwansan’s voice.
“Fatty Cao, where the hell are we?”

Brother Sansan was finally awake, but Cao Yanhua had no energy to greet him. “See for yourself.”

While Cao Yanhua and Yiwansan were sinking into despair, Luo Ren had stumbled into an unexpected bit of good fortune—he found Mu Dai.

It didn’t even take much effort. He and Yan Hongsha had gone back to search the area where everything had happened. On their way back along the same route, they hadn’t gone far before a dripping-wet Mu Dai crawled up from the slope below.

She didn’t know if she was still dazed from the fall—there was something a little muddled yet endearingly cute about her. After climbing back up, she glanced around blankly and at first didn’t even notice Luo Ren and Yan Hongsha.

Luo Ren laughed, feeling more than half of his worries finally eased.

He called out, “Hey, you! Yeah, I’m talking to you—get over here!”

Mu Dai jumped at his voice. When she saw him, she lit up with joy and ran straight over. Luo Ren wanted to meet her halfway, but suddenly his strength gave out. He waited until she reached him before pulling her into his arms.

She was soaked from head to toe—she must have hidden in the water. A clever move, actually.

“Did you get stung?” he asked.

Her face looked fine. Luo Ren brushed aside her dripping hair and checked the back of her neck, running his fingers lightly over her skin. His own arms had taken several stings, yet she was completely unscathed. That really was lucky.

He reached out and pinched her cheek, half-teasing, half scolding: “Is this how you treat your boyfriend? The second wasps show up, you bolt faster than Nezha himself. Blink, and you’re gone.”

Remembering her panicked flight, Mu Dai flushed with embarrassment and lowered her head, saying nothing. Luo Ren had only been teasing, but when he saw her go quiet, he worried she’d take it the wrong way. He was about to say something more when she suddenly remembered and looked behind him.

“Why is it just Hongsha? Where are Fatty Cao and Wan San? And Hongsha’s grandfather…?”

“We’ll keep looking along the way,” Luo Ren said. “Finding you is already a good sign.”

Cao Yanhua and Wan San sat side by side at the mouth of a cave, both wearing dazed expressions.

They exchanged what little information they had. Wan San said he had started out dragging the young boss’s wife with him, but after tripping and falling, when he got back up, Mu Dai was gone. The wasps were swarming too close—he panicked, picked a random direction, and just ran. At some point, a savage scooped him up. He fought desperately, got slammed against the rocks, and blacked out.

When he came to, he was here.

Cao Yanhua couldn’t even remember being thrown—maybe he had fainted from fright. He swore to himself he’d never tell a soul.

It was getting dark.

“Brother San,” Cao Yanhua said, “maybe we should call out. If little Sister Master and Brother Luo are nearby, they’ll hear us and come save us.”

Wan San replied, “At least wait until you see them before you start yelling. What if something already happened to them? You’ll just bring the savage down on us. If he’s in a bad mood, he could grab each of us like chickens and toss us off the cliff.”

Cao Yanhua shivered and scooted deeper into the cave.

After a while, he made another suggestion.

“Brother San, this savage looks intelligent. He must be reasonable. When he comes back, we’ll explain—we’re not with Old Man Yan. We hated what he did too. If there’s a debt to settle, take it up with him. Don’t drag innocent people like us into it.”

Wan San shot him a look. “You really think you can reason with that thing? Did you forget the story Zhamah told?”

Cao Yanhua fell silent. True enough—if anyone had been innocent, it was the old man the savage killed. Compared to him, they weren’t innocent at all. Sharing food and lodging with Old Man Yan—no way the savage would believe they weren’t together.

Desperate, he said, “Brother San, we can’t just sit here waiting to die. We need a plan! Heaven never truly cuts off all paths—let’s think. What special skills do we have left?”

“Cao, you really don’t quit, do you? Alright—I can mix drinks, and I can paint. You?”

“I can pick locks.”

The so-called “special skills” were useless here.

The mountain wind whistled outside, a deceptive calm hiding undercurrents.

Then Cao Yanhua’s eyes caught a fast-moving brown figure below.

“Brother San, is that…?”

Wan San’s face went pale. They exchanged a glance, then bolted deeper into the cave, panic-stricken and at a loss.

The mountainside seemed to tremble faintly—the savage was climbing. Pebbles clattered down with each step.

Cao Yanhua’s mind went blank. All thoughts of shouting for help, reasoning with the savage, or staying hopeful scattered like smoke. He clutched at Wan San in panic:

“Brother San, what do we do? What do we do?”

At that critical moment, Wan San’s survival instincts flared.

He flopped to the ground, shut his eyes, and muttered, “Don’t ask me. I’m not even awake yet.”

Seriously?!

Driven into a corner, Cao Yanhua thought: You’re not the only one who can play that game.

With a thud, he dropped too, curling his arms over his head and pressing his face to the ground, chanting in his head: I’m not awake either.

Heavy footsteps entered the cave.

The air seemed to freeze. The steps weren’t loud, but each one stomped on Cao Yanhua’s heart.

The savage stopped beside him, prodded his head, poked his cheek.

Was it because his face was soft and plump, good for poking? Cao Yanhua’s heart was about to jump out of his chest. Inwardly, he screamed: Don’t choose me! Pick Brother San! He’s the handsome one!

In moments of crisis, it’s every man for himself. Sacrifice Brother San and save your own skin.

But the savage moved away. A moment later, smoke filled the air, and firelight flickered in the cave.

Cao Yanhua vaguely remembered seeing a pile of ash earlier.

He cracked an eye open. The savage sat cross-legged, back to them, flames leaping high before it. The fire threw a huge, looming shadow against the stone wall—so massive it felt like it could crush them if it fell.

On the wall…

Wan San opened his eyes too, catching Cao Yanhua making frantic expressions at him. Following his gaze, he looked at the wall—and a chill shot down his spine.

Crude drawings scratched into the stone.

Clumsy, like a child’s doodles, or primitive cave art. If not for Old Man Yan’s story, he might not have understood at all.

There was no clear sequence, just scattered sketches.

First, a woman with a basket walking down a path, trees sketched beside her.

Next, the woman lying on the ground, a man standing over her with a rock.