Xu An nodded and tied one end of the rope around her waist, handing the other end to Zhou Haimei.
"I'm going in then."
"Be careful."
After Zhou Haimei's repeated warnings, she watched Xu An walk towards the dark cave entrance.
As Xu An approached the cave, she smelled a strong scent of blood. They hadn't noticed it from afar, but now, a powerful aura of blood surged into Xu An's nostrils.
Xu An quickened her steps and entered the cave. It was pitch black, making it impossible to discern direction.
Xu An took out the flashlight she carried. The moment the light shone, she saw bodies in various attire scattered on the cave floor.
These bodies appeared to be quite old, not recent deaths.
Xu An carefully avoided the skeletal remains and moved cautiously.
However, the further she went inside, the more pungent the smell of blood became.
Xu An could even hear faint sounds of breathing, like muffled cries for help.
Xu An continued deeper into the cave.
Finally, after venturing about five to six hundred meters in, Xu An saw a freshly deceased body lying on the ground, its blood still wet. This body was wearing the uniform attire of the competition participants.
The death pose was horrifying, with its eyes wide open as if in disbelief facing its demise.
For some reason, Xu An suspected that these people's deaths were caused by betrayal.
She continued forward.
But as she moved further into the passage, the number of bodies increased, and the overwhelming scent of blood almost drowned Xu An.
She wondered, "But why are there so many dead people here, and yet no human footprints outside?"
Xu An pondered for a long time before finally attributing it to the heavy snow covering the footprints.
The next second, Xu An heard a rustling sound. She moved forward to investigate, only to find her ankle being grabbed by something.
Almost instinctively, Xu An drew her knife and swung at whatever was holding her.
"Help... help me..."
It was this gasp that made Xu An stop her action. She looked closely and realized that the thing grabbing her ankle was not a monster, but a person.
To be precise, it was someone on the verge of death, barely clinging to life.
Xu An pushed away the hand gripping her ankle. The hand was emaciated and extremely cold.
Xu An looked at the "person" on the ground. There wasn't a single good piece of flesh on her body.
Her stomach seemed to have been cut open by a sharp object, with her intestines exposed. Her shoulders and thighs were covered in gaping wounds and missing pieces, as if torn apart by a wild beast.
What surprised Xu An was how this person was still alive with such injuries.
From the voice, Xu An felt it was a girl, but she could no longer discern her face. The skin of the girl's face seemed to have been peeled off, leaving a bloody, mangled mess.
"I can't save you. How did you end up like this?"
Even Xu An, with her hardened heart, felt a chill run down her spine at the sight.
But amidst the terror, there was also a trace of pity.
She couldn't save her.
The girl seemed to quickly accept this reality, her throat emitting a "huk-huk" sound.
Like a broken bellows,
Constantly leaking air.
The girl wanted to speak, but it seemed to require great effort.
"It's okay... thank you... help me... die..."
The girl's words were broken and intermittent. Xu An had to lean close to the girl's lips to make out a few words.
Xu An guessed that the girl wanted her to end her suffering.
This was not a difficult request.
However, the girl, mustering her strength, pushed Xu An towards the exit, repeatedly saying, "Run... run..."
This made Xu An somewhat confused.
Could there be danger in the cave?
Nevertheless, Xu An chose to end the girl's suffering first.
After all, living in such a near-death state was truly an inhuman torment for the girl.
But Xu An did not retreat from the cave as the girl had said.
Instead, she continued forward.
Relying on her spatial abilities, Xu An disregarded the girl's warning.
And in the next second, Xu An witnessed a sight that made her want to vomit.
...
Looking in the direction Xu An had gone, Zhou Haimei felt immense anxiety as she watched Guan Shan. "How long has An'an been inside?"
Guan Shan didn't speak, simply holding up three fingers, indicating thirty minutes.
As Zhou Haimei watched the sky darken, worry filled her eyes.
"It's been thirty minutes, why hasn't Xu An come out? Has something happened?"
Guan Shan naturally didn't answer Zhou Haimei, only shaking his head to indicate he didn't know.
Zhou Haimei glanced at Guan Shan, shook her head, and turned away to stay by herself.
After all, Guan Shan was a silent type, impossible to elicit a word from.
Outside, Zhou Haimei and Guan Shan sat behind a stone stump, looking anxious.
Afraid that something might happen to Xu An inside.
Just as Zhou Haimei was growing impatient,
She suddenly heard several gunshots coming from the cave.
Almost instantly, Zhou Haimei sat up from the snow. Her first instinct was to pull on the rope.
But the next second, something even more terrifying happened.
As Zhou Haimei frantically pulled the rope, she realized it was unusually light.
Zhou Haimei pulled the rope as if driven mad, muttering continuously.
"No, no, An'an will be fine!"
But as Zhou Haimei's movements became faster, the rope was pulled to its end.
Zhou Haimei quickly walked to the cave entrance and looked at the severed end of the rope. Her eyes welled up with tears.
But she held them back from falling.
Although her mind told her that none of this could be true, upon seeing the cut rope end,
Zhou Haimei felt as if the sky had fallen.
When Guan Shan saw the rope end, he understood that Xu An's situation inside was likely not good. He looked at the stunned Zhou Haimei, unsure how to comfort her.
He could only gently pat Zhou Haimei's shoulder, signaling that Xu An would be alright.
But Guan Shan himself didn't know if Zhou Haimei would understand his intentions.