My joy at finding water had made me careless. In the darkness, I never saw the pit at my feet.
My forward step landed right on its slick edge, my balance collapsing in an instant. There was nothing to grab onto.
My hands clawed at empty air, and then—
I crashed into the bottom of the pit.
My right leg hit first, taking all my weight and the force of the fall. My head slammed into a rock, and a loud ringing filled my skull. The world went black.
It felt like a century passed before consciousness crept back in.
“Hss—”
My temple throbbed. My leg throbbed. Everything hurt.
The torch had fallen with me. The flames had gone out, but the ember still glowed faintly—so I couldn’t have been unconscious for long. I blew gently, coaxing the fire back to life.
Using the rough stone wall for support, I pushed myself upright. My forehead pulsed with pain. When I touched it, my fingers came away sticky and warm—blood.
My right leg was worse. Sharp, stabbing pain radiated through it, the entire limb numb and useless.
I groped for my right leg in the darkness and realized, with a jolt, that the bone at my ankle was out of place—definitely broken.
Just my luck. I hadn’t even seen the hole beneath my feet.
I cursed myself for being useless, but regretting it now wouldn’t change anything. After resting for a moment, I drew a deep breath and tried to stand. It took everything I had just to get upright. In the pitch-black, with only the faint ember of the torch as light, I could barely make out that this pit was a little over two meters deep. The walls were smooth, and with my leg like this, climbing out on my own was nearly impossible.
“Xiao Wen! Xiao Wen!”
I shouted Wen Lingyu’s name from the bottom of the pit, and her reply came almost immediately from outside.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
I felt embarrassed—the whole point of coming in here was to take care of them, yet here I was, needing help myself.
“I had a little accident. Can you come in here?”
Her cautious footsteps approached. About two minutes later, she reached the area.
“Be careful, there’s a deep pit right here.”
Her steps halted. “That was close… I almost stepped right in. Li Yuze, are you down there?”
“Yeah,” I said helplessly.
Silence hovered for a moment. She lowered the torch to look at me, worry etched across her face. “Are you hurt?”
“Yeah,” I repeated, even more helpless.
“I’ll pull you up.” She reached a hand down.
But the pit was far too deep. Even stretching, I couldn’t reach her, and even if I did, there was no way a small girl like her could haul me up.
“You won’t be able to pull me out. Go get water first and take care of the others. I’m fine.”
She bit her lip and reluctantly agreed. I heard her rustling around—she must’ve filled the buckets.
“Li Yuze, wait for us. Once Xu Zirong feels better, he’ll pull you out.”
I leaned back against the pit wall and forced a small smile.
Soon, everything went dark again. Only the sound of dripping water kept me company. The cave was bitterly cold; even my jacket wasn’t helping. Then I heard a chattering sound—took me a long while to realize it was my own teeth knocking together.
Extreme cold forces the body to shiver; it’s a natural survival instinct.
I wrapped my jacket tighter, but tugging it pulled at my injured leg. Pain shot up so sharply that cold sweat beaded across my forehead.
It was freezing—so cold it felt like the whole cave wanted to freeze solid.
Maybe I should just sleep for a bit, I thought foggily, lying to myself. If I fall asleep, maybe I won’t feel the cold anymore.
I curled up, fell sideways, shut my eyes. My consciousness blurred quickly.
Somehow, I was back in that lonely stilt house. I sat on the wooden bed as moonlight poured through the window, casting a faint, pale shadow across the floor.
The mountain wind blew straight in, numbing cold that seeped into my bones. Even pulling the blanket around me did nothing.
I got up to shut the window—then froze.
Something black was clinging to the sill.
I leaned closer. It was those black insects.
They surged inside in swarms, like waves of darkness, countless and overwhelming.
“Ah!”
I stumbled back, bumping hard against the wall.
The insects poured in, and the whole house seemed to tremble under their weight.
Terrifying. They were going to devour me.
Panicked, I bolted toward the door. The moment I pulled it open, a pale face filled my vision.
Shen Jianqing.
He stood there silently, expressionless, his eyes pitch-black in the darkness. A silver ornament hung from his hair, making his already striking features look even more unnervingly beautiful. He stared at me, his voice cold as steel despite its melodic tone: “Li Yuze, where are you going?”
His gaze was frightening—bottomless, like that of a beast that had lost all reason.
Instinctively, I tried to shut the door, but he blocked it with a single outstretched arm.
Black insects behind me. Shen Jianqing before me.
Suddenly, pain shot up my leg.
I looked down. One of the black insects had sunk its fangs into my injured ankle, its legs hooked into my skin as it burrowed deeper.
“Ah—!” I screamed, collapsing.
Shen Jianqing stepped forward again, repeating in that cold, mechanical voice: “Li Yuze, where are you going?”
He looked down on me as if I were the insect, his voice pressing in from all directions:
“Li Yuze, where are you going?”
“Li Yuze.”
“Li Yuze…”
“Li Yuze!”
The voice shifted—from icy to worried, from near to far. It felt like I was walking through fog, reaching toward it with everything I had.
The darkness thinned. A faint red glow appeared in the distance and grew brighter as I fought toward it. The voice finally became clear.
“Li Yuze…”
“Li Yuze, wake up!”
My heavy eyelids cracked open. Firelight flickered all around. Xu Zirong, Qiu Lu, and Wen Lingyu stood at the edge of the pit, all staring down at me.
“You’re all here…” I sat up, but the dizziness was immediate and overwhelming.
“Are you okay?” Wen Lingyu asked, worry thick in her voice. “I didn’t see clearly last night—you’re hurt really badly!”
I didn’t want their pity, so I forced myself to sound tough. “It’s fine. It’s really not that bad.”
“It’s because of us you fell in,” Qiu Lu said, guilt written all over him.
I rubbed my forehead, accidentally hitting a scabbed wound. Pain shot through me and I winced. “Stop standing around staring. Just pull me up!”
Xu Zirong hurried forward and reached down. I pushed myself up, balancing on my toes, and managed to grab his hand.
With brute force, he hauled me straight out of the pit.
“Can you walk?” he asked, frowning. “Your hand is burning hot.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think I can walk… my ankle’s broken.”
Xu Zirong slung my arm over his shoulder and helped me toward the cave entrance. By the time we reached it, the sun had already risen. I squinted, letting my eyes adjust to the sudden brightness; the sting in them eased only slowly.
“Don’t look so grim, like I’m about to die,” I said, sitting down and trying to sound casual. “How are you two feeling?”
Wen Lingyu replied, “Same as before—when the sun rises, the fever disappears.”
“And we feel completely fine, no discomfort at all,” Xu Zirong added.
But Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong exchanged a look, both wearing the expression of someone who knows something isn’t right. Once could be a coincidence—but twice? Definitely not.
“The wine that day… it might have been tainted,” I said, not entirely sure. Right now, though, the priority was getting out so they could have a full medical checkup. “We were too careless. Those Sheng Miao weren’t friendly. You two need to get moving. Only once you’re out can we figure out what caused this.”
“What about you?” Wen Lingyu asked.
I drew a deep breath. “I can’t follow you right now. With my leg like this, I won’t get far, and I’ll only slow you down.”
“No! We came together. There’s no way we’re leaving you behind,” Wen Lingyu said, eyes brimming with tears.
Qiu Lu added, “You got hurt taking care of us.”
“Exactly! Leaving you here would make us terrible people!” Xu Zirong said, half-squatting before me. “Get up—I’ll carry you out myself if I have to!”
Seeing them, I felt a rush of emotion. Over the past days, my view of them had completely changed—I truly considered these three my friends. Wen Lingyu might be delicate, but she was thoughtful; Qiu Lu was brash and generous; Xu Zirong was strong, loyal, and dependable.
In moments of danger, none of them ever considered abandoning me. That moved me deeply. They were all genuinely good people, and I felt a quiet satisfaction in having met friends like them.
“The longer I stay in the forest, the more dangerous it gets. Me tagging along will only slow you down,” I forced a smile, trying not to appear helpless. “Go ahead. Find help first. Coming back for me will be safer than trying to bring me out with you. And I’m worried about both of you, too.”
Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong fell silent.
I made my final call. “Go now! I’ll wait here, but don’t take too long!”
Seeing my determination, they had no choice but to compromise, leaving behind drinking water and some dried food.
“Yuze, we’re leaving. Be careful here. As soon as we find help, we’ll come back for you,” Xu Zirong nagged like an old mother even as he prepared to leave. “You seemed to have a fever—I left some medicine for you. Remember to take it.”
I nodded repeatedly and urged, “Go. Be careful on the way.”
They packed up and set off again. I leaned against the cave entrance, watching their figures gradually fade, eventually swallowed by layers of branches and foliage until I couldn’t see them at all.
I just hoped they’d be lucky enough to get out of this endless forest soon.