SES Chapter 90 Part 1

Chapter 90

Yiwansan crouched at the mouth of the cave, pressing his ear against the stone to listen for sounds outside. At first, there were faint, scattered noises—unclear, jumbled—but after a while, everything went quiet.

He slowly retreated into the cave. In the past, when he was surrounded by capable people, or when Fatty Cao was around, he could naturally get away with doing less, with being a coward, with being afraid. But now, he was the only one left.

He had to do something. He had to.

The fire inside the cave still burned, but brighter than the flames was the fierce glint in his eyes.

I won’t just sit here and wait to die, he thought. At worst, I’ll take it down with me. That wild brute is huge—by weight alone, I’d still come out ahead.

He didn’t know how long he waited, but finally, there was movement outside. As usual, he heard stones clattering down the cliff as something climbed up—but this time, the ascent was slower. At last, with ragged, heavy breaths, a hand gripped the edge of the cave entrance.

And then it just stayed there, not climbing up right away.

Yiwansan stared at that hand. A thought flashed through his mind: If I push it off, would she fall to her death?

His throat went dry. The idea swelled inside him, impossible to push back down. He hesitated again and again, then finally started to lean forward—

But just then, with a grunt of effort, the wild woman heaved herself upward, her massive upper body breaking into view.

Yiwansan’s heart jumped. He dropped back down at once.

The wild woman staggered into the cave. Her thick coat of hair covered her body, but streaks of fresh blood were visible. Was that Fatty Cao’s?

Yiwansan asked her, “Where’s my friend?”

She didn’t understand, just rolled her eyes at him.

Yiwansan felt the blood in his body pounding toward his head. He jumped to his feet, grabbed a rock from the woodpile, tucked it under his arm, and ran to the edge of the cave. He leaned forward as if to leap out, then pulled back again. Pointing at the rock, he demanded, “Where’s my friend?”

He repeated this several times until the wild woman seemed to understand. Her face suddenly twisted with rage. She flared her nostrils, snorting furiously, and first pointed to her own leg—the spot where she’d been shot.

Then she pointed at the rock, indicating that it was Cao Yanhua.

Next, she mimed someone grabbing her leg, her face contorted in a look of pain.

Yiwansan understood. Cao Yanhua had grabbed her wounded leg.

He stood still, staring at that injury, suddenly recalling Cao Yanhua’s hysterical cries when he was dragged away.

“Brother San, I’m done for! I’ll drag it down with me! You have to take the chance and run!”

Cowardly, life-loving Fatty Cao—he had actually grabbed the wild woman’s wound with his bare hands, knowing full well it would enrage her.

He really had gone all in. He had fought to the death.

Yiwansan’s nose stung, and memories flooded him—sleeping in dumpsters, ragged friends huddled under the overpass, the time he’d stolen hot flatbread in desperation and bolted while a friend clung to the furious vendor, screaming: “Jiang Zhao, Jiang Zhao, run!”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He asked, “And then?”

The wild woman thought for a moment, then raised her hands and mimed slamming someone down hard onto the ground.

Yes—that fit. She had been in pain, and with Cao Yanhua clinging to her leg, she had fallen with him, crashing violently to the ground.

Yiwansan said nothing more. He sat down across from the fire, leaning back against the cave wall, his expression flickering in the glow.

Why had she taken him? Why keep him alive? It couldn’t be for anything good. Sweet one moment, cruel the next—wasn’t Fatty Cao’s fate proof of that?

Damn it.

Gritting his teeth, Yiwansan suddenly clutched his stomach and rolled on the ground, his face contorted, groaning in agony.

The wild woman startled, turning in surprise to look at him. Yiwansan ignored her, throwing himself deeper into the act—cheeks bulging, eyes rolling back, lips pressed tight until frothy spit trickled from his mouth.

Faking illness, scamming people, playing dead to slip away—these were the little thug’s killer moves, undefeated every time. He hadn’t used them in years, but they still worked like a charm.

The wild woman looked confused. She cautiously poked him with a finger. Yiwansan convulsed, clutching his throat as though he couldn’t breathe.

She began to look anxious, pacing the cave, rummaging through her bedding. After a pause, she came over and held something out to him.

Of course, now was not the time to look. Looking would ruin the act. Yiwansan just writhed and waved his arm wildly, knocking the object from her hand. It rolled across the ground—pine nuts, maybe hazelnuts.

But hunger wasn’t the problem. He wasn’t starving—he was in pain, the kind that needed a doctor, needed treatment, the kind that could kill him!

To push the illusion further, Yiwansan started crawling toward the entrance, whimpering in broken sobs. When he lifted his head, his face was streaked with tears.

The wild woman froze, then stomped her feet, clearly torn. At last, she made up her mind, came over, and hoisted Yiwansan onto her back.

He hung limp, “too weak” to move, head drooping, but when she wasn’t looking, he cracked his eyes open.

If he pretended to be dying, there were only two possible outcomes: either she would get fed up and toss him out of the cave, or she would take him outside to seek help.

So far, his gamble was paying off.

But what came next?

The wild woman began climbing down with effort. The night wind whipped past, cold against his skin. Dangling half in the air, Yiwansan felt a wave of fear.

What now? What should he do?

He couldn’t think of a plan, so he only howled louder in “pain.”

The wild woman picked up speed, climbing down faster and faster.

Torches flared to life. From above, the cave vanished into silence, shrinking to the size of an eye.

A clear whistle echoed in the darkness.

Mu Dai turned his head in confusion toward Cao Yanhua.