Xu An counted the corpses on the ground, calculating the number against the wolves she had initially estimated.
Zhou Haimei watched her as she muttered incessantly, using the back of her knife, and walked towards Xu An with a torch.
"Aren't they all dead? What are you counting?"
Xu An shook her head and, upon closer inspection, realized that although the footprints around the fire circle were messy, one wolf's paw print was exceptionally clear and distinct.
This wolf's paw print was clearly larger than that of the other zombie wolves.
The footprint was also deeper than the others.
But strangely, this footprint only had three toes.
This meant that there was another wolf, slightly larger than the rest, with only three legs.
"The numbers are wrong," Xu An frowned deeply.
Just as Zhou Haimei was about to ask what was wrong with the numbers, a low growl echoed from the surroundings.
The sound seemed to come from all directions, a mournful whimper, like hellhounds, fixated on them.
Xu An bit her lip, her teeth leaving a visible mark on her lips, a sight that tugged at the heart.
Even Zhou Haimei sensed the danger at this moment.
Just then, a voice, cool and out of place, rang out.
"You'd better find the wolf king and kill it quickly. It's calling its companions."
"Companions?" Xu An seemed confused. She looked at the messy pile of corpses on the ground. "Aren't these its companions?"
But Ze Yuan remained silent.
As the wolf king continued to howl, Xu An gradually felt something approaching them from the depths of the dense forest.
Only then did Xu An understand what Ze Yuan meant by "companions."
The companions were not other wolves, but something far more terrifying.
Without hesitation, Xu An grabbed Zhou Haimei's hand and ran forward.
At that moment,
She truly felt the threat of death.
"An An, what's wrong? An An, say something."
"An An, the torch is falling."
Before Zhou Haimei could finish speaking, the torch in her hand dropped to the ground.
Accompanied by the friction of the grit.
The surroundings plunged back into darkness.
But Xu An's footsteps did not stop; she continued to pull Zhou Haimei, running wildly.
She even forgot that she had a car.
However, it was this forgetfulness that saved Xu An.
In an instant, a terrifying pressure swept towards them. Zhou Haimei, almost instinctively, shoved Xu An away.
Xu An had no time to react before Zhou Haimei pushed her aside.
She watched helplessly as Zhou Haimei was pushed away.
Suddenly,
A massive tentacle descended from the sky.
It coiled around Zhou Haimei's body and violently flung her into the air.
Xu An's heart leaped into her throat. Her eyes were fixed on Zhou Haimei being flung into the air, as if she herself were being thrown along with her.
She thought that even in her past life, she had never been this afraid.
But now, she seemed to be experiencing this feeling for the first time, different from the fear of seeing a monster.
It was the instinctual fear of losing a loved one.
It was like something was within reach, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't grasp it.
Just like Zhou Haimei before her.
With her enhanced senses, she could even see the expression of fear on Zhou Haimei's face as she fainted in mid-air.
But she could do nothing.
A great sense of helplessness enveloped her like a net from which there was no escape.
But it seemed even heaven could not tolerate Xu An's moment of distraction.
She had not yet recovered from the gloom of potentially losing Zhou Haimei when the scene before her made her pupils dilate in shock.
The monster that had snatched Zhou Haimei was the same tentacle monster that had wiped out Xu An's squad in her previous life.
The tentacle monster, whose full outline could not be seen, whose tentacles alone were enough to cause death as it toyed with them.
It now held Zhou Haimei's body with its tentacles, tossing her up and catching her in the air like a projectile.
As if playing a game.
If the monster wasn't holding Zhou Haimei in its hands at that moment, Xu An might have mockingly commented on its good spirits.
But this monster was now toying with Zhou Haimei's life.
An even more intense fear descended from the sky, a suffocating pressure.
It pinned Xu An down, rendering her immobile.
She remembered her own pathetic escape in her previous life.
Her companions who were brutally tortured to death.
In that instant, countless scenes flashed through Xu An's mind like a kaleidoscope.
There were memories from her past life.
And there were memories from this life.
Confused and hazy.
Gradually, the two lines of memory seemed to merge.
Threads began to unravel like peeling silk.
Finally, they intertwined before Xu An's eyes, forming the monster before her.
A massive, awe-inspiring, terrifying.
Octopus monster.
Was this the companion the wolf king had called?
But why would such a thing appear here?
Xu An's mind was filled with a million questions. She truly wanted to sort out her doubts one by one.
But she knew she couldn't.
With her extraordinary senses, she saw the true form of the tentacle monster for the first time.
But she felt no relief.
Its horrifying and sinister appearance was a nightmare she never wanted to recall.
Ze Yuan's desperate shouts echoed in her mind, laced with faint anger.
"Run! What are you standing there for? Don't tell me you want to go back and save her."
Xu An remained silent, but her expression answered the question.
"Xu An, you will die."
The voice was incredibly calm, as if it weren't saying "you will die."
It sounded more like "the weather is nice today."
Xu An seemed to emerge from a long nightmare. The fear and helplessness of her past life transformed into sharper spears at this moment.
Spears that Xu An could use to strike at powerful enemies.
"Everyone dies eventually."
Xu An replied to Ze Yuan, but her gaze never left Zhou Haimei.
Seeing that Zhou Haimei's chest was still rising and falling, Xu An confirmed that Zhou Haimei was still alive.
Since she was still alive, Xu An was determined to bring her back.
This was their promise to each other.
Xu An intended to bring Zhou Haimei back to the lighthouse together.
"Aren't you going to look after your mother? Have you forgotten she's waiting for you to come home at the lighthouse?"
Thinking of Xu Yan,
Xu An's heart felt like it was pricked by a needle, a fleeting pain.
Without hesitation, she got up from the ground, looking at the bloody scratches on her palm from the rough sand.
If Xu Yan knew she was being so reckless,
She would surely give her a good smack on the head.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but smile.
At least she had sent Xu Yan to the lighthouse, and the points she had left for Xu Yan were enough for her to live independently.
Moreover, Xu Yan had her own job at the lighthouse.
Xu An chuckled, "Don't underestimate my mother. She can get angry."
She believed that if Xu Yan were here, she would agree with her actions.
However, Ze Yuan's hesitant voice still echoed in her mind.
Xu An knew what it wanted to say.
But she interrupted Ze Yuan.
"Zhou Haimei also has parents waiting for her to come home."
"This time, I will definitely bring her home!"