Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The answer was yes.
Perhaps Yu Yuan had exhausted too much energy, he fell unconscious after he murmured a yes.
Stunned, Lin Sanjiu looked around.
Those hiding in the shadow, corners, and alleys, and those who were gone, did they all have the word “heart” on their wrist now?
She cast her eyes down on Yu Yuan’s wrist. Amidst his tattoos, she could still see the phrase “straw” clearly. Regardless of what had become of her storyline, she was very certain that Yu Yuan’s storyline was still going on.
Lin Sanjiu tried to carry him on her back, but he kept sliding down no matter how hard she tried. Sweat was forming on her forehead, and it was at this moment that she heard a crackling noise above her. She looked skyward and caught sight of an open window and a flitting human head.
“Hey!” she called out, staring at the window, “Can you come over here for a bit?”
The person shuffled but did not respond to her call. After Lin Sanjiu tried again, only then did the person slowly raise her head up. A face that still possessed the innocence of childhood rammed into Lin Sanjiu’s vision. The girl looked like a 16-year-old teenager. Her eyes were bright like diamonds.
The girl looked at her silently for a long time before retracting into the building.
Lin Sanjiu was first transfixed with surprise, and then she heard a series of footsteps hopping down the staircase. They were getting louder and closer, and when they suddenly stopped, the door opened. The girl stretched half of her body out of the door and asked, “Yeah? What do you want?”
Not all the girls were loved by God. Apparently, this girl was one of the less fortunate ones. Upon closer inspection, Lin Sanjiu realized her skin was way too saggy and ashen-white. There were two deep smile lines flanking her mouth, and she looked like she was locked in perpetual tiredness.
“Can you show me your right wrist?” Lin Sanjiu asked gently, for she feared that the girl might run away.
The girl was slightly taken aback by her request at first. However, she soon came around and stretched her arm past the door. Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes, and as she expected, she saw a “heart”, written in a very small font on her skin.
She wondered how tiring it must have been for Yu Yuan to imprint the phrase onto every citizen in Peanut Town’s wrist.
‘But, since they each have a ‘heart’ now, why has my storyline still not ended yet?”
The girl looked at the “heart”, but she did not make any response to it, acting as if the phrase was always a part of her. Silently, she retracted her arm.
“Do you have water?” Lin Sanjiu asked. “My friend here is injured. He could use some water.”
The girl parted her chapped, blood-crusted lips, and her voice came out as a hoarse, wet whisper, “No, I don’t have water. There is no one working in the water supply department, and the water pipeline is no longer working. If you want water, you can fetch it from the river behind the town.”
‘This is not good.’ With Yu Yuan’s injury, pulling him here and there would only exacerbate his condition.
“Do you have food?” the girl asked. “I can get you the water if you give me some food in exchange.”
“I’m sorry, but no, I don’t have food either.”
The girl went silent, a pronounced disappointment written all over her face. After a few seconds, she walked out of the building with her head held low. She did not wear shoes and there was an empty bottle in her hand.
“Anyway,” she said, her voice low and muffled, “I haven’t had water in two days, so I am going to get some water. Wait for me here, I will help you get some as well.”
Hearing her words, Lin Sanjiu was awash with jubilation. Aside from Yu Yuan, this girl was the first one who was willing to offer her help. Even before the appearance of the black mountain, the people in Peanut Town never showed any intentions of helping her. Not only did they shut her out, but they even stole her car. Since this girl was willing to help her, was it because they finally had “hearts” now?
Lin Sanjiu thanked her for her help, and then asked, “Why haven’t you had water for two days? Is the river that far?”
“Oh, no, it’s not. It only takes about 30 to 40 minutes by foot to get there,” the girl replied expressionlessly. “The problem is that the route to get there is too dangerous.”
“Too dangerous?”
“There are a lot of men along the way,” the girl said as she fixed an indifferent expression on her face. “They roam around the river in groups.”
“What… What are they doing there?”
“Hunting for food.”
“You mean… fish?”
“No, there are no living things left in the river. They patrol around the riverside occasionally. If we want to drink water, we have to stay alert and be quick. If we do not do our homework before going to the river and are too slow in hiding, we might get discovered by them… Then, we have to say goodbye to the world.”
Tongue-tied, Lin Sanjiu did not know what to say.
“Here, let me show you something.” The girl turned around and showed Lin Sanjiu the wound at the nape of her neck. “Can you see the wound? Yeah, it was caused by them. I almost got caught by them, but luckily, I managed to escape in the end.”
“Why… why don’t you all leave the town?”
“Peanut Town has been shut down. We can’t go out,” the girl looked at her woodenly, her eyes clear. “About half a year ago when the sacred mountain was still here, Mayor Orlean closed down Peanut Town. He said he would take over the town and he would protect us until the end.”
‘That stupid m*ron again!’
“Then what did you eat to survive?”
“Rubbish, rats… anything that with legs or can run or swim or fly. Ah, yesterday I ate two beetles.”
“Your parents…” Lin Sanjiu cut off her sentence when she suddenly remembered something.
“Parents? What are those? Are you talking about mentors?” the girl asked with raised brows. “She went out to find us some food, but I don’t think she’ll get anything. Do you have any more questions? If not, then I need to get going now. The sky is getting dark. I need to get the water so that I can exchange food with my mentor.”
It was only then that Lin Sanjiu realized it was getting close to dawn. She bit her lower lip, as she realized she was now torn between the devil and the deep blue sea.
There was no way she would allow the girl to risk herself just to get her water while she sat here doing nothing. However, she couldn’t be sure if she could depend on the girl to take care of Yu Yuan and her rifle either. After she took stock of the situation, she stood up and said, “Give me the bottle. I will go to fetch the water while you stay here and look after him.”
She was faster and she knew how to use a gun. It was very apparent who was the more suitable candidate to go and fetch the water from the river.
However, before Lin Sanjiu could walk far, the scene of the citizens dispersing like a swarm of flies kept surfacing in her mind. She could not shrug the image off no matter how hard she tried and that made her even more worried about Yu Yuan. She stopped walking forward. There was a voice inside of her telling her she should go fetch the water right now, while another voice told her to double back to check on Yu Yuan and the girl. Lin Sanjiu had never felt so torn before, and after having a war inside her mind, the second voice appeared victorious. She turned around and doubled back.
She stepped into the shadow of the building and walked stealthily down the sidewalk like a cat, aware that she was about to risk one of her nine lives. The girl was still sitting next to Yu Yuan, and neither of them had moved ever since she went away.
Lin Sanjiu stayed in the dark and observed the girl for a while. After seeing the girl make no move to do anything to Yu Yuan, her heart began to fall back into her stomach.
Ever since Yu Yuan gave “heart” to the people of Peanut Town, this was the most help she received from a citizen. Perhaps something inside of them had changed. There might not be anyone hunting for citizens by the riverside, and the mentor would give the girl food even though she did not go fetch the water. After all, in many stories, “heart” equated to conscience. And maybe this rule could be applied to her storyline as well.
Just when Lin Sanjiu had succumbed to her own reverie, a figure appeared from the other side of the street. Lin Sanjiu’s heart somersaulted again. It was a petite middle-aged woman. She had a head of frizzy golden hair that draped over her shoulders like a roll of dry hay. Before she even got close to them, the girl rose to her feet and went up to her.
‘Does she know her? Could the woman be her mentor?’
Lin Sanjiu thought things through for a moment then forwent the attempt to go out, deciding to wait for a while longer.
The middle-aged woman kept circling around Yu Yuan. She examined him from head to toe while whispering to the girl standing next to her. They were too far away, so Lin Sanjiu could not hear what they were talking about. After a short while, the middle-aged woman nodded and patted the girl’s shoulder as if she was giving her encouragement. Even though she was very far away from them, Lin Sanjiu could clearly see the pleasure and a twisted smile that flashed across her face.
After that, she crouched next to Yu Yuan. She pulled out a sharp metal piece and held it against his neck.
‘I really shouldn’t have trusted them!’
Just when Lin Sanjiu’s heart tightened and she was about to dash forward, she froze, her eyes widening in disbelief. The girl who was standing behind the middle-aged woman suddenly raised her arm. There was a brick in her hand. In a quick and mighty downward swipe, the girl bludgeoned the woman with the brick, causing the woman to fall onto the ground like a ragged doll. Then, without giving the woman a chance to get up, the girl continued to smash the brick into her face until there was nothing left but blood and mush.
Huffing, the girl threw the brick away. She stretched out a quivering hand, dipped her finger into the bloody mess, and put it into her mouth.
Lin Sanjiu stared at her fixedly.
The girl licked and sucked on her finger. After that, she lifted her head and scanned her surroundings, looking as if she was searching for something. Then, she took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Help! Help! Somebody is going to kill your friend!”
Lin Sanjiu gave a slight start. She didn’t know what the girl was planning, but she couldn’t leave Yu Yuan alone there. Seeing Lin Sanjiu’s figure appear from the shadows, the girl was obviously stunned. However, she soon adjusted her expression and said urgently, “My mentor wanted to eat your friend, so I killed her!”
Lin Sanjiu looked at the middle-aged woman and realized she was still holding on. Lin Sanjiu’s face turned grim. She jerked her head and stared into the girl’s eyes, asking through a menace-laden voice, “What the hell is going on here?”
“You don’t need to fetch water anymore,” the girl said, a hint of pride on her face. “My mentor is dead, so we don’t have to worry about food or water. She wanted to eat your friend, but I didn’t want to, so I killed her.”
“You hate her?”
Cocking her head, she laughed as if she had heard a joke. “Hate her? No, I don’t hate her.”
“Then why did you…”
“You have a gun,” she interjected matter-of-factly.
Lin Sanjiu looked at her in dumbfoundedness as the girl continued to speak. “It’s such a waste for you to use your gun like this. You should establish an interim governing council or something. If you really did that, I would be your first supporter. After all, we need somebody to guide and manage us.”
She spoke with such fervour and assurance that it was as if she had been cooking up the plan for a long time.
