All morning, the group searched the houses in the residential area thoroughly, turning everything upside down.
However, with so few people, even after Fang Fei, Gu Qingqing, and Wu You joined in, the pace was still slow.
At noon, Qin Ci, Wei Dong, and Luo Yu returned with the water-bearing plants and two rabbits they had found. "Luo Bo caught the rabbits," Wei Dong said, handing the struggling rabbit to Ke Xun. "That kid's really good; he's quite professional at digging hunting traps. We'll go back into the forest this afternoon; there are still several traps we haven't checked yet. We might have caught some other animals. We came back early because we didn't want you to worry."
"Everyone has their own specialty," Shao Ling said, praising Luo Yu who was wiping his sweat beside him. "Everyone has their own area of expertise."
Ke Xun took the rabbits to process them, skinning, bleeding, and gutting them. Luo Yu and Wei Dong had already built a fire outside, and Ke Xun took the meat to roast.
"The blood on the meat can't be washed off, and it'll probably taste really fishy. Let's just make do for now." Ke Xun squatted by the fire, his clothes soaked with sweat, and simply took off his shirt to work shirtless.
The others, afraid of the heat, stayed at a distance. Some were busy squeezing the water from the plants into containers, some were busy checking for suspicious items brought from the house, and some were building a makeshift sunshade with sheets and branches—given the horrific scene of the previous night, no one wanted to stay inside, even though it was hot outside.
Tian Yang was still sitting blankly outside the house from the previous night. Wei Dong brought him a cup of plant juice, and looking at his face, his feelings were very complicated.
He was covered in that black blood, and they didn't know what bad consequences it would have, but no one dared to take the risk of letting him come into contact with the others. He was being tacitly and silently excluded… But what could they do?
Wei Dong felt this scene was exceptionally cruel.
It wasn't just the manner of death; the loneliness, helplessness, and sense of abandonment from his own companions was no better than the taste of death itself.
Even on his deathbed, he had to endure such psychological torment.
"Let me build you a sunshade," Wei Dong said to Tian Yang, trying to make his tone sound normal, as if he were talking to anyone else.
Tian Yang looked up at him slowly, then gave a bitter smile: "I don't deserve your pity... You still hate me, don't you..."
"You really messed up Ke'er back then," Wei Dong said. "They all called Ke'er a dead gay, thinking he was the one who kept pestering you, a 'straight man.' A dozen or so idiots even organized themselves to ambush Ke'er on the way home from school, saying they would beat him until he was childless, since he was gay anyway.
"You know, Ke'er was beaten to the ground and couldn't get up, and he never once revealed that you were gay too. I did hate you to death back then, but how should I put it, ever since the Ru Hua incident, all the hatred and complaints have become so empty and useless. I don't even know how long I'll live, so I don't have the time or the mood to keep remembering those things and people that make me unhappy."
"Besides, now that you're in here, we're all in the same boat. Aside from life and death, nothing else matters. Just forget about the past, let it go. Right now, you can only do what we did: look forward, don't look back. Xiao Kai is dead. No matter how much pain and sorrow you feel, it's useless. Look forward, do everything you can to get out of here alive.
" "You know, what keeps me going is my parents. Just thinking about what will happen to them for the rest of their lives if I die, how much suffering they'll endure, who will take care of them, who will bring them joy..."
Wei Dong's voice choked at this point. He took a deep breath before continuing, "You're not Ke'er. Xiao Kai isn't the only person in your life. Where are your parents? Where are your wife and children? Are you half-dead here because of Xiao Kai's death? Is Xiao Kai more important than them? If he's so important, why don't you divorce your wife and be with Xiao Kai?" "Alright, I'm not going to give you any more pep talks. That's all I have to say. You decide what to do. If you blame us for isolating you, then blame us. Because for all of us, there's only one goal: to survive, to get out of here alive."
Tian Yang looked at him, his lips trembling for a moment. He slowly took a breath and murmured in a hoarse voice, "Pep talks are good... really good... In a place like this... without pep talks, where would the will to survive come from..."
As he spoke, he picked up the cup, gulped down the liquid inside, wiped his mouth, and looked up at Wei Dong, saying, "Could you please help me set up a sunshade? I don't have much strength right now... I won't go with you guys, so as not to be a burden."
"Okay, wait a moment." Wei Dong turned and left. A little while later, he and Ke Xun came back carrying some things. Ke Xun was holding a roasted rabbit leg in his hand.
"Eat up, don't be picky about the taste." Ke Xun handed him the rabbit leg, then he and Wei Dong helped him set up a sunshade.
"If you need any help, just assign me some tasks too," Tian Yang said to Ke Xun. "The more people there are, the more time we'll save."
"Okay," Ke Xun thought for a moment, "We found some books in these houses this morning. Can you check them and see if you can find any clues in them?"
There were many books found in the houses, probably several hundred. Although they found these books yesterday when they were searching for clues in the houses, they only had time to glance at the titles and didn't have time to search carefully. This time, they moved all the books outside, intending to spend an afternoon gambling on whether they could find any clues related to the signature in these books.
Ke Xun moved dozens of books over and placed them next to Tian Yang, and also poured him a cup of herbal juice: "Let us know if you have any questions." The
rest of the group gathered not too far from him, sitting under the awning, each with a large stack of books in front of them, and began to read them quickly.
The books were diverse, including both Chinese and foreign language books, some familiar and others completely new.
It was a very time-consuming and energy-draining task, but no one dared to slack off.
Around 3 PM, Qin Ciwei and Luo Yu prepared to go back into the forest to retrieve water-bearing plants and prey from the traps, while Ke Xun tossed his book aside and called a meeting with the rest of the group.
"It's not long until dark," he said. "We need to prepare for tonight's events. I've thought about it, and it's better to stay inside than outside. If we're outside, with all that human skin and blood unchecked, we could be surrounded and overwhelmed no matter where we run. We need to find a relatively enclosed room and seal the gaps in the doors and windows."
"Do you think we can stand on the roof?" "Wu You pointed to the houses next to them, "Look, these roofs are all slanted, no matter how much blood there is, it can't possibly seep up."
"But you have to consider the human skin and the unknown substance," Ke Xun said, "While the blood can't pile up, the unknown substance can. If it accumulates around the houses, it can eventually reach the roof."
"That makes sense," Wu You nodded, "Then…then let's keep them in the houses."
Last night's horrific scene had instilled a deep psychological aversion and resistance in everyone towards enclosed rooms.
"I remember that house over there, there's a room that's relatively clean," Shao Ling said, pointing to a house, "Given the amount of blood that seeped into the room last night, I think we can prepare a few high tables, stack them up, and have everyone stay on them."
"Let's figure it out as we go." Ke Xun stood up and glanced at He Tang lying next to Fang Fei, "How is she?"
Fang Fei shook her head slightly: "He has a high fever. I don't know if he's asleep or unconscious now. His condition is a bit like Xiao Kai's yesterday."
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Ke Xun turned to look at Tian Yang not far away and saw that he was also lying on the ground, with several books under his head. His face was pale, and he was still struggling to flip through the remaining books.
"It's a bit strange," Zhu Haowen said. "He Tang didn't have any blood on him, so why is he like this? If it's not really related to blood, then we might have to reconsider the criteria for death."
Everyone left He Tang behind and went to the house that Shao Ling pointed out. They moved several high tables from other houses into the room, almost filling the entire space.
Zhu Haowen also collected several raincoats and distributed them to everyone: "Just in case."
Everyone understood the meaning behind those four words. Although it sounded cruel, it was the only option.
Ke Xun saw the raincoats and had an idea. He found a hammer, nails, transparent tape, and other things, and pasted the raincoats on the outside of the window, nailing them in place tightly. He also nailed another layer on the inside of the window.
"Once everyone is inside before dark, seal the doors shut and block as many people as possible," Ke Xun said.
After everything was almost ready, the group came out of the house again, only to find He Tang still unconscious, and Tian Yang curled up, clutching his head.
"Tian Yang," Ke Xun walked over, "How are you?"
But he knew in his heart that asking was pointless; no matter what he was like now, no one could help him.
"It hurts..." Tian Yang lifted his face from between his arms, his face deathly pale, just like Xiao Kai's yesterday.
"Where does it hurt?" Ke Xun asked.
"Behind my eyes...it hurts like hell..." Tian Yang groaned in pain.
"Forget about these books," Ke Xun leaned down. "If you agree, I'll knock you out; maybe that will make things easier."
Tian Yang shook his head. "I know… I don't have much time left… I don't want to die, Ke'er, I'm afraid of dying… I'm so afraid… You don't know, you can't understand how I feel right now… I, I wish I could live a little longer… Ke'er, don't knock me out, I only have this little bit of time left to live…"
Tian Yang stammered, unable to hold back his sobs.
Ke Xun looked at him silently; in this situation, any words of comfort would be pale and powerless.
"Ke'er… I'm sorry…" Tian Yang's voice trembled. "Back then, I shouldn't have…"
"It's all in the past," Ke Xun said calmly. "Who hasn't done a few foolish things they regretted when they were young? Thinking about it now, it's quite laughable. Don't think about it anymore. While you still have time, you… record what you want to leave for your family on your phone—just in case."