Then, her pale lips moved slightly, and a strange bass sound echoed in the cave.

It was a difficult sound to describe. Without prior knowledge, Mu Dai would never have associated this sound with the transmission of information—it seemed like a sound that naturally belonged in the mountains: trees swaying, leaves rustling, birds flying, insects chirping.

Just as good secret agents don’t possess the imposing presence and vibrant charisma portrayed in films, their appearances are so nondescript that you couldn’t remember their faces even after they’ve circled you three or four times.

This sound was the same—completely unremarkable.

Mu Dai’s throat felt dry. She reached out and tapped Yan Hongsha: “The wild person might be coming. Be alert.”

Yan Hongsha said, “Let her come. I’m afraid she won’t.”

As she spoke, her eyes were frighteningly bright, her lips stubbornly pressed into a thin line.

The three waited quietly for some time. Unexpectedly, nothing happened.

Mu Dai suddenly had a thought: they couldn’t understand what the woman was saying, but surely she wasn’t just calling for “help”? What if she were instructing the female wild person on what to do?

She quickly shared this idea with Luo Ren.

Luo Ren said it was possible, but they had reached the point where the plot was revealed and the dagger unsheathed—in other words, only a physical confrontation remained; there was no room for elaborate schemes anymore.

He crouched beside the woman: “We can’t understand what you’re saying, but you were once human, so you certainly understand what I’m saying—we have two friends who are lost in these mountains, and we’d like your help in finding them.”

The woman’s clothes were so worn that their original color was indiscernible, some parts torn into strips, others knotted and bulging. She stared at Luo Ren, her eyeballs moving, her gaze shifting to Yan Hongsha, then to Mu Dai, so eerily that Mu Dai felt uncomfortable.

She pulled Yan Hongsha outside, partly to avoid the woman’s gaze, to keep watch, guarding against the sudden appearance of the wild person.

Looking around, everything outside was quiet. The fire hadn’t completely died out.

After a while, Luo Ren came out and asked for their opinions: it was getting late, and the cave wasn’t suitable for spending the night. Should they stay on guard here or return first?

Yan Hongsha indicated she was fine with either option. Mu Dai thought for a moment and said, “We don’t have much food left if we go back. Let’s just stay here. Otherwise, do we carry that woman back? That would be too much trouble.”

That worked. Luo Ren surveyed the surroundings and said, “Everyone will need to work a bit harder. Don’t sleep tonight. Keep the fire burning, the bigger the better.”

Darkness gradually fell.

The fire burned vigorously. The wind picked up at night, but fortunately, it blew in the opposite direction, so smoke didn’t blow back into the cave. The group moved to a spot near the cave entrance, sitting together, occasionally adding wood to the fire, and frequently glancing back at the woman lying motionless.

She had stopped struggling, lying quietly, the rouge-amber on her neck emitting a soft glow in the firelight.

Mu Dai felt worried, hugging her knees as she watched the flames.

Would the wild person come? Would she bring Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan with her? If these two hadn’t been captured by the wild person, why hadn’t there been any sign of them?

She tilted her head to look at Luo Ren: “Do you think the wild person lives nearby?”

Luo Ren nodded: “Based on how that woman and the wild person communicate, that should be the case. If the distance was too great, the wild person might not hear her.”

Mu Dai murmured, “Then Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan should also be nearby. If they’ve been captured by the wild person and held for several days, who knows what state they’re in—between fear and hunger, they might be missing arms or legs.”

Luo Ren was silent for a moment, then suddenly thought of something and said: “Mu Dai, give me the whistle.”

Cao Yanhua was currently very anxious.

Originally, things had been progressing smoothly. Yesterday evening, Yi Wansan’s talent had conquered the female wild person. Their artistic exchange continued for a long time, and everyone eventually went to sleep in a peaceful, friendly atmosphere. In the morning, the wild person went out once and returned with small apples and extremely sour pears for each of them.

Yi Wansan was greatly encouraged and subsequently drew many more objects—cups, televisions, cars—all things the wild person had never seen. While Brother Sansan captured the female wild person’s attention, Cao Yanhua crouched behind them, took a stone, and silently carved characters onto small stone fragments he found on the ground.

He carved “Help,” and with a flick of his hand, the small stone fragment flew out of the cave entrance. The female wild person didn’t even turn her head.

Then he carved “SOS,” and with another flick, another stone fragment flew out of the cave.

The stone fragments were too small to carve complex or lengthy messages. Cao Yanhua improvised, silently reciting in his mind:

—Little Brother Luo, Little Master, and Rich Lady Sister, please be alert and notice these…

After throwing out an unknown number of stones, he suddenly stopped mid-swing.

He saw thin smoke rising from the distant forest, as if someone was burning a fire.

As he was wondering about this, the female wild person suddenly stood up with a jerk.

Cao Yanhua thought his espionage activities had been discovered and felt his hair stand on end in fear, but the wild person didn’t pay him any attention, quickly darting out of the cave entrance.

Cao Yanhua was puzzled and asked Yi Wansan, who was equally confused, but guessed that, judging from the wild person’s posture, she had suddenly tilted her head as if listening to a sound.

Cao Yanhua wondered, I didn’t hear anything.

However, the female wild person returned quickly.

This time, she appeared quite agitated. She no longer drew pictures but wore a fierce expression, snorting through her nose. At the slightest sound, she would suddenly look up, baring her white teeth as if ready to pounce and bite.

Cao Yanhua and Yi Wansan were so frightened that they even breathed more lightly.

Then, darkness fell.

A small fire was lit in the cave, and the wild person’s gaze shifted back and forth between Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua.

Cao Yanhua’s heart raced, his scalp tingling. He felt he could interpret that gaze, which asked: Which one to eat? Which one to eat? Eat the fat one!

Just at this moment, he suddenly heard a whistle.

That soft sound traveled across a distance, with rhythmic pauses. If one listened carefully, it resembled the song he had been humming when he first entered the mountains.

—Forward, forward, forward…

It was his Little Brother, Luo!

Cao Yanhua was extremely excited. Just as he was about to signal Yi Wansan, darkness suddenly fell overhead, and he found himself tucked under the wild person’s arm, rushing out of the cave like the wind.

This was bad!

Which one to eat? Which one to eat? Eat the fat one!

A strange heroic feeling rose in Cao Yanhua’s heart. Since he was going to die anyway, he used all his strength to scream: “Brother Sansan, I’m done for! I’ll fight to the death with it! You must seize the chance to escape!”

Before he could finish, a furry hand covered his mouth, instantly silencing him. He stared wide-eyed, watching Yi Wansan lying at the cave entrance, his figure growing smaller and smaller.

Cao Yanhua had thrown caution to the wind, suddenly becoming fearless.

He thought, even in death, he wanted to die heroically. He would bravely fight the wild person, giving Brother Sansan a chance to survive.

As the wind rushed past, Cao Yanhua kicked fiercely, but only hit air. He then used his elbows to jab repeatedly, striking solid flesh.

She surely didn’t feel pain. Hadn’t she been shot earlier? Yet she didn’t even limp.

Shot?

Cao Yanhua’s heart pounded. He remembered that one of the female wild person’s legs, above the knee, indeed had some blood stains. Which leg was it?

His entire body jolted up and down, head pointing downward. He desperately reached down with both hands, feeling something furry. There seemed to be an indentation somewhere, perhaps a scab. Without thinking, Cao Yanhua pinched the indentation with all his might.

Though his hands were short and plump, they possessed genuine strength. As a pickpocket, his technique was all about speed, precision, and force.

It seemed he had found the right spot. The wild person grunted in pain, her leg faltering, causing her and Cao Yanhua to roll to the ground. His mouth freed, air finally entered his lungs, and Cao Yanhua shouted hoarsely: “Help!”

Mu Dai, who had been somewhat drowsy, suddenly jerked awake and exclaimed: “It’s Cao Yanhua!”

Luo Ren stood up immediately, grabbed his machete, and said: “I’ll go!”

He quickly disappeared in the direction of the sound.

Mu Dai stood rooted to the spot, feeling a chill in her hands and feet, while her eyes suddenly grew warm: Cao Yanhua was still alive.

After a while, the wild person’s roar echoed from the forest. The woman in the cave seemed to sense something and desperately rolled toward the cave exit. Fine sweat beaded on Mu Dai’s forehead; if someone wasn’t needed here, she would have rushed out to assist Luo Ren.

Yan Hongsha discerned Mu Dai’s thoughts and, after a moment’s consideration, pulled a torch from the fire: “Mu Dai, this place is also important. Your martial skills are better than mine. I’ll go help Luo Ren—at the very least, I can provide light for him.”

Mu Dai said, “Good, you go.”

After Yan Hongsha left, Mu Dai’s heart pounded wildly as she paced back and forth. This feeling of being unable to participate and only waiting was truly terrible.

Inadvertently glancing aside, she saw that the woman had nearly rolled over, her eyes flashing with intimidating light.

Mu Dai didn’t want to pay attention to her, but as the woman continued to roll outward, almost reaching the fire, Mu Dai had to go over and pull her arm. The woman lay face down, her entire body tense and immobile. Mu Dai grew annoyed and increased her strength.

This time, the woman suddenly released all tension from her body. It was like stepping into space, or like using a thousand pounds of force to move a few ounces. Caught off guard, Mu Dai fell backward, pulling the woman, who landed directly on top of her. The woman urgently lowered her head toward Mu Dai, as if about to kiss behind her ear.

Mu Dai felt nauseated and was about to push her away when the woman’s neck suddenly illuminated, just as Luo Ren had described—like a bundle of straw ropes, that red oracle bone character for “hanging.”

Mu Dai sensed something was wrong, but everything happened too quickly.

The piece of rouge-amber suddenly extended and thinned, maintaining its volume but decreasing in thickness while increasing in length and width. While continuing to wrap around the woman’s neck, it suddenly extended a large sheet as thin as cicada wings, instantly flowing over her face like plastic wrap, enveloping her ears, eyes, mouth, and nose.

Everything before her eyes took on the color of rouge-amber. Mu Dai tried to breathe, but the air was instantly gone.

Through that layer of amber, she saw the woman’s blurred face—perhaps it wasn’t the woman who was blurry, but her consciousness fading.

Was she dying?

Mu Dai’s hands grasped wildly, touching the ground, then the woman’s back. On one of these desperate grabs, she suddenly gripped something.

It was a knife!

Luo Ren’s knife!

No wonder that when they first entered the cave, she occasionally heard the sound of metal scraping against stone as the woman moved. At that time, Luo Ren had thrown this knife into the woman’s back, and she had never removed it.

Mu Dai pulled out the knife and stabbed it into the back of the woman’s neck, desperately slicing downward to create an opening. With her other hand, she quickly reached into the parted flesh, grabbed the edge of the skin, and tore outward with all her might.

With a ripping sound, she saw the woman’s body convulse and twist before falling beside her. With another forceful pull, the piece covering her mouth and nose also tore away.

Air finally rushed into her lungs. Mu Dai lay on the ground, coughing, and with a flick of her right hand, threw that piece of amber into the fire.

In the great flames, the amber human skin stretched out, that deep red character for “hanging” with its complex strokes, glowing through the fire, emanating an eerie, chilling aura.

Mu Dai grabbed some branches from beside her and threw them in, adding fuel to the fire.

She said, “You just burn quietly for a while.”