Qin Chuan looked at Zhou Yue, who had already stopped breathing before him, his already stern expression becoming even colder.
It was Xu An who whispered a reminder, "Let's find a place to wait. Didn't they say they'd already contacted the lighthouse?"
Zhou Haimei also chimed in. Unlike the other two, she was so frozen that she was almost losing all feeling.
Qin Chuan didn't insist further. He found a piece of torn cloth and covered Zhou Yue's body.
The three of them then left, one after another.
It wasn't that they didn't want to find a place to bury Zhou Yue.
The weather was too cold now, and there were countless severed limbs and dismembered bodies around. If they really started burying them, they wouldn't know when they would finish.
Xu An kept looking forward, unable to resist glancing back at the scattered corpses. Suppressing the grief in his heart, he continued to walk forward.
After not walking far, Qin Chuan led Xu An and the others to the cave he had previously lived in, which was also their temporary stronghold.
Looking at the wind-sheltered cave before them, Xu An had to admit that in this area, this was indeed the best place to take refuge.
The four walls formed a natural barrier, and the entrance was narrow and tall, just large enough for a normal adult to pass through.
It inadvertently formed a natural protective shield.
Zhou Haimei also praised the temporary refuge without reservation.
The three of them entered one by one. The moment Qin Chuan stepped into the cave, he sensed something was wrong.
Just as the opponent's dagger was about to pierce his body, Qin Chuan turned and dodged the attack.
He then delivered a sidekick, sending the person hiding in the cave to the ground.
He then subdued the person with a joint lock, twisting their arm behind their back and pinning them against the wall.
As the man cried out repeatedly.
Xu An and Zhou Haimei also walked into the cave.
It was too dark in the cave to see anything, and only two figures could vaguely be discerned overlapping in the darkness.
Xu An was a little worried and called out softly.
"Qin Chuan? Are you alright, Qin Chuan?"
She had heard the sounds of fighting earlier, but the entrance to the cave was indeed too narrow.
She had mentioned before that the cave was only large enough for one person to enter.
This was both an advantage and a disadvantage.
She was afraid that rushing in might affect Qin Chuan's fight.
After everything had settled down inside, Xu An softly asked, "Qin Chuan? Are you alright?"
Xu An asked while moving closer.
In the deep darkness, Qin Chuan's cold voice echoed, "I'm fine, you two can come in."
Xu An then pulled Zhou Haimei along and walked in.
The person Qin Chuan was holding against the wall trembled and begged in a shaky voice.
"Don't kill me, please don't kill me!"
"I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to, please don't kill me."
Along with the man's trembling voice, a faint smell of urine began to fill the cave.
Qin Chuan was also a bit speechless. He hadn't said anything yet, and the man had already scared himself into wetting his pants.
It wasn't until Xu An lit the kerosene lamp in her hand that everything in the darkness was illuminated.
The moment the light flared, the man screamed sharply as if startled.
He squatted on the ground, covering his head and shouting, "Don't kill me, I didn't mean to, I really didn't mean to."
All three of them sensed something was wrong.
A thought began to form in their minds.
Qin Chuan's voice was like a mountain of ice that had never melted, and every word exuded a chilling aura.
"Who are you? Why are you here?"
Hearing Qin Chuan's words, the man finally looked up, facing three unfamiliar faces, but his expression still held a trace of lingering fear.
But Xu An's sharp eyes caught the sliver of relief still lingering on his face.
Just as Qin Chuan was about to ask more, Xu An spoke first.
"Why are you here? You're not part of our team, are you?"
This preemptive strike directly cut off the man's retreat. He looked at Xu An, the prepared words stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.
Qin Chuan, who had been confused, was stunned by the man's reaction.
He had initially wondered why Xu An would say such a thing, as she clearly wasn't part of their team.
But after hearing Xu An's words, Qin Chuan understood what was happening from the man's reaction.
The man was wearing their uniform, indicating he intended to impersonate someone from Qin Chuan's team.
If Xu An hadn't been there today, Qin Chuan might have mistaken this person for a terrified member of the team, and might have dismissed his ramblings as a result of excessive fright.
However, with Xu An's hint, Qin Chuan realized that this person looked unfamiliar.
Even though he couldn't remember everyone in his team to begin with.
But the person before him, illuminated by the kerosene lamp, looked even more weathered, clearly not someone who lived on the lighthouse.
High cheekbones, sunken cheeks, and clouded eyes that met your gaze immediately.
Coarsened joints worn down by years of labor, a hunched back, and noticeably swollen calves.
These were all indicative of a fisherman, not someone living on the lighthouse.
It was only with Xu An's reminder that the other two realized something was amiss.
Xu An, combined with the man's earlier words spoken in fear,
A faint voice echoed from the cave entrance again, "Where are the people who used to live in this cave?"
The man trembled, not daring to answer.
Qin Chuan did not have the patience to wait for the man to dither as Xu An did.
His sturdy military boot mercilessly stomped on the man's hand lying on the ground.
The next moment, a piercing scream that seemed to tear through the sky rang out.
"Ah—"
The man trembled with pain, but Xu An and Zhou Haimei on the side did not intervene, watching him coldly.
Seeing that the man still refused to speak, Qin Chuan applied more pressure to his foot. The man felt his hand was about to be crushed.
From begging for mercy, he erupted into curses.
"You animals deserve to die! You came to steal our supplies, you deserve to die, you deserve it, you deserve to die, damn it, you animals!"
"......"
As the man continued to curse, there was no need to question his identity; everyone understood.
Zhou Haimei asked softly, "But how did this person get here?"
This reef and the fishing village were not too far apart, but they were separated by a stretch of sea, and it was currently the extreme cold period.
However, only the man on the ground knew about this.
Xu An ignored him, handing him over to Qin Chuan, and pulled Zhou Haimei toward the depths of the cave.
Strangely, the cave seemed to have a warming effect. After staying inside for a while, they actually felt a hint of warmth.