3. Fear
The huge sun in the sky rose slowly as the group pressed on, climbing to its highest point… From there, it poured all its heat over the forest. The forest, once cool and refreshing, had become stifling and oppressive. The heat and the long, unbroken march left everyone feeling exhausted and worn out again.
“Hang in there a little longer, everyone. We need to find a suitable place to rest.” Su Lin frowned. Apart from towering trees that seemed to reach the clouds, the area was packed with dense, low shrubs… There wasn’t a single spot where they could stop and catch their breath.
“Mm…” No one gave a longer answer. They were already at the limits of their strength and didn’t want to waste their energy on a question like that.
“Keep it up, everyone.” The going was rough… They could barely make their way through gaps in the shrubs. Still, everyone endured it. For some reason, ever since they’d entered this area, the shrubs had suddenly grown thicker… Their marching speed had plummeted, while the energy they used up had multiplied several times over.
“Help! Somebody help me!” A cry for help suddenly came from far away. Su Lin immediately raised a hand, signaling for the group to stop.
“Did you hear that?” Su Lin asked Wang Tong, who was standing nearby.
“Yeah.” Wang Tong nodded stiffly, clearly at a loss over this sudden turn of events.
“…Da… da… da…” The sound of a pistol echoed through the woods, each shot seeming to announce that another life was fading away.
“Don’t come any closer!… Is anyone there?! Help me…” The desperate screams set everyone’s nerves on edge…
Su Lin and Wang Tong exchanged a glance.
The cries and gunshots from far ahead made everyone’s heart tighten… They had no idea what the people up front had run into, but the sounds cast a shadow over the whole group.
“Uwaaah…!” A huge crash rang out from somewhere in the distance, followed by a scream. Everyone instinctively squeezed their eyes shut… They couldn’t see what had happened, but they could guess the likely outcome.
“Stay alert… The danger is close.” Su Lin’s voice trembled slightly… What was happening before them made it feel as if they were walking along the edge of hell. One slip, and there’d be no way back.
“I suggest we try heading in the opposite direction from where the sounds came from and avoid the danger. What do you think?” Su Lin thought for a few seconds, then looked at the others. His eyes were full of hope. He wanted them to agree with this somewhat risky decision.
But things didn’t go as he’d hoped. It was clear that the group wasn’t going to agree with every decision Su Lin made.
“I kind of want to turn back…” A girl with a sharp, pointed face voiced her objection. Her name was Wang Qian. She was one of the few people in their class who didn’t care much for fitting in with the group. At a time like this, she clearly didn’t want to entrust everything to the team leader.
“It’s like this… The risks of turning back are about the same as the risks of moving forward. And if we turn back, all the effort we’ve put in to get this far will have been for nothing, won’t it?” Su Lin explained his thinking. Deep down, he knew they absolutely couldn’t turn back now. If they did, the group would lose its nerve.
“I don’t care… I don’t want to keep going.” Wang Qian looked deeply unwilling, with a hint of pleading in her eyes.
“Wang Qian, just stick with everyone this time, okay? We’ll be able to look out for each other better if we stay together, right?” Zhu Yue tried to persuade her. She hadn’t spent much time with Wang Qian and didn’t know her very well. After all, there were more than fifty people in their class. She couldn’t know every one of them well.
“Fine…” After a long silence, Wang Qian finally agreed. She understood that there was no way she could leave the group now.
“All right, let’s move out. Everyone, stay alert along the way and watch for any movement in the plants. We have no idea what kind of creatures live in this forest.” Su Lin didn’t pay Wang Qian any further attention and gave the order.
The group moved through the trees with their hearts in their throats. Ever since they’d heard the cries for help, the only sound among them was their heavy breathing. Everyone was on the highest alert…
“Su Lin, look…” Liu Haimeng called out to him from up ahead, clearly having spotted something…
“It looks like another group passed through here… And there seems to be a clearing up ahead, but…” Liu Haimeng pointed to the bloodstains on the shrubs ahead and glanced at Su Lin…
“Don’t alarm everyone. Stay calm… Slow the group down.” Su Lin frowned. This clearly wasn’t good news.
“Aah!” The women’s screams set off a commotion in the group… It startled Su Lin.
“Wang Qian, what are you making a fuss about?!” Once he saw that nothing was wrong, Su Lin angrily lowered his voice and scolded her.
“There’s… there’s a huge spider…” Wang Qian pointed to a palm-sized spider clinging to a tree trunk. Tears were welling in her eyes from fright.
“It’s okay… It won’t hurt you.” Su Lin couldn’t stand seeing girls cry, and his anger vanished at once. He hurried to comfort her.
“No… No… I want to go home!” Wang Qian cried out loudly… Negative emotions swept over everyone in an instant…
“…Stop it, Wang Qian!” Su Lin glared at her, trying to signal that she should quiet down. He couldn’t understand why someone so grown-up could be so timid…
“No! I want to go home!…” Wang Qian shouted hysterically, completely ignoring Su Lin…
“…If you keep shouting and attract some kind of monster, will you take responsibility?! Who do you think you’re complaining to?!” Su Lin suddenly grew irritated again… His guilt from a moment ago faded, and he snarled at Wang Qian…
“Could you take some responsibility for the group, Wang Qian?!” Zhu Yue couldn’t take it anymore either and rebuked her.
“The group, the group! I’m always looking out for the group, but who looks out for me? I’ve been following the group’s orders this whole time. When have any of you ever listened to me?!” Wang Qian’s voice grew louder and more agitated.
“Nobody forced you to join this group… Why are you crying to us about it? Once you join a team, following orders is your duty, isn’t it? Please stop dragging the group down. If you want to go home, you can go by yourself!” Zhu Yue was furious at what Wang Qian said…
“…” The girl fell quiet after being scolded. Her eyes searched the people around her, looking for someone to take her anger out on… At last, she looked at Yueye…
“Fine… Fine… So I’m dragging the whole group down, am I?… What about her?! With her here, we’re obviously going to move slower…”
Wang Qian pointed right at Yueye’s nose, looking at her as if she were deadweight… From the moment she’d joined the group, Wang Qian seemed to have objected to Yueye’s presence.
“Forget slowing us down—don’t we have to take her into account no matter what we do?! She’s always the slowest and weakest one. If we run into danger, she’ll probably get us all killed!” Seeing that no one was contradicting her, Wang Qian quickly added this, trying to shift the blame onto Yueye.
