Chapter 61: Fang Xiaocao, No, I Did It on Purpose
After hearing Yun Luoshu’s account, Fang Xiaocao was completely stunned, her brows knitted tightly together.
“How could this be?”
“How could it turn out like this?”
She repeated the two sentences over and over.
“Xiaocao, don’t blame yourself too much.”
“I don’t hold it against you.”
“You were probably just too scared…”
Yun Luoshu reached out with her right hand, gently holding Fang Xiaocao’s.
Fang Xiaocao was momentarily stunned but nodded in response.
Yun Luoshu smiled faintly and let go.
Fang Xiaocao withdrew her hand and casually picked up the spring knife on the ground.
“Luoshu, rest well.”
She tucked the spring knife into her pocket, turned, and walked out of the tent.
“Xiaocao, that knife…”
Seeing her actions, Zhi Qi called out.
“I feel very unsafe right now.”
“I need it.”
Fang Xiaocao stared at Zhi Qi and said in a firm tone.
“But…”
“I need it.”
Before Zhi Qi could finish, Fang Xiaocao cut her off.
“…Alright then.”
Seeing her determination, Zhi Qi had no choice but to compromise and nod.
“Thank you…”
Fang Xiaocao stepped out of the tent and sat by the extinguished campfire, hugging her knees and burying her head between them.
Zhi Qi watched her back, her gaze deep and unreadable.
No one knew how much time had passed. The hazy moon had long since risen into the sky.
Everyone else was asleep, but Fang Xiaocao remained in the same position, sitting in front of the cold ashes of the fire.
“Xiaocao, are you okay?”
Su Wanqing walked over and sat beside her, asking softly.
Fang Xiaocao lifted her head slightly to glance at Su Wanqing.
“I’m fine,” she replied.
“I believe you didn’t mean to do it.”
“It must have been the fear…”
Su Wanqing spoke in a soothing tone.
“No, I did it on purpose.”
Fang Xiaocao stared at Su Wanqing and smiled.
“What?”
Su Wanqing was taken aback.
The next second, Fang Xiaocao pulled out the spring knife and stabbed it fiercely into Su Wanqing’s throat…
Su Wanqing’s terrified eyes widened as Fang Xiaocao yanked the blade out, causing a fountain of blood to spray out like a geyser.
A wave of weakness overwhelmed Su Wanqing, and her pupils gradually lost focus…
Killing for the first time, Fang Xiaocao’s entire body trembled.
Fear, nausea, panic, shock…
A mix of emotions churned inside her.
She stepped forward to the corpse and fumbled around the face for a moment.
Then— Rip!
With a tearing sound, a thin, nearly transparent layer of skin was peeled off from Su Wanqing’s face.
“Hah…”
Staring at the piece of skin in her hands, Fang Xiaocao let out a relieved sigh.
“Good… I didn’t kill the wrong person.”
She murmured to herself.
Looking back at “Su Wanqing’s” corpse, an entirely unfamiliar face was revealed beneath the disguise.
Fang Xiaocao tossed the fake skin to the ground and wiped the blood off her spring knife on the dead body.
Then she quickly searched the corpse.
Before long, she found a homemade pistol, a dagger, and a cellphone.
The phone was hers!
Seeing the gun, a chill ran down Fang Xiaocao’s spine.
She realized with a start—thankfully, she had acted first.
Otherwise…
She would have been the one to die!
Unlocking the phone, she checked it carefully.
“Phew…”
“Thank goodness…”
She sighed in relief.
Her contact “Hot Noodles” hadn’t sent any messages.
The phone showed no signs of being unlocked.
Her secret was still safe.
That was the only silver lining in all of this.
She opened the chat with “Hot Noodles” and sent a message:
“Are you there?”
[Contact does not exist!]
Seeing the prompt, Fang Xiaocao put her phone away.
This was bad.
The situation had completely diverged from the future she had foreseen.
And now, she couldn’t reach “Hot Noodles” at all…
Everything would be up to her now.
Picking up the homemade pistol and the dagger, Fang Xiaocao made her way toward Yun Luoshu’s tent.
She moved cautiously, making sure not to make a sound, afraid of alerting the sleeping enemies.
As she slipped inside the tent, Yun Luoshu was already awake and watching her.
“Xiaocao, why haven’t you run?”
Yun Luoshu frowned and asked.
“Silly, how could I leave you behind?”
Fang Xiaocao grinned.
“My leg was drugged. I can’t run.”
“If you take me with you, I’ll just slow you down.”
Yun Luoshu sighed helplessly.
“It’s fine. We’ll just kill them all.”
Fang Xiaocao’s voice was chillingly calm.
Hearing that, Yun Luoshu’s eyes widened in shock, staring at Fang Xiaocao in disbelief.
“I know your eyes are big, stop staring like that.”
Fang Xiaocao chuckled.
“Here, take this. If anyone comes in, shoot them!”
She pressed the homemade gun into Yun Luoshu’s hand.
“Where did you get this?”
Holding the weapon, Yun Luoshu asked in a daze.
“Looted it from a corpse.”
Fang Xiaocao replied nonchalantly.
Hearing that, Yun Luoshu immediately tossed the gun away.
Fang Xiaocao nearly jumped in fright.
“Big idiot, what are you doing?”
“What if it misfires?”
She quickly picked up the gun, scolding her.
“S-sorry…”
Yun Luoshu stammered.
“Hold onto it!”
Fang Xiaocao shoved the gun back into her hands.
“Remember, they’re all killers.”
“If you hesitate, they’ll kill us first!”
She said seriously.
“…Alright, I understand.”
Yun Luoshu gritted her teeth and nodded.
Time rewinds to when Yun Luoshu held Fang Xiaocao’s hand.
In that brief moment, Yun Luoshu had secretly slipped a blood-stained cloth into Fang Xiaocao’s palm.
At the same time, she had written a single word in her hand—“Run.”
Already suspicious, Fang Xiaocao immediately grasped her meaning.
She had then deliberately picked up the spring knife and pretended to be dazed, sitting alone by the extinguished fire.
In reality, she had been trying to lull the enemy into lowering their guard.
And at the same time, she had secretly checked the cloth Yun Luoshu had given her.
There were several words written in blood:
“Run. Trust yourself. Clothes. Phone.”
Fang Xiaocao knew that Yun Luoshu was telling her to escape and believe in her own memory.
But the words “clothes” and “phone” confused her.
Until she instinctively reached for her phone—only to realize it was missing!
It had been taken from her.
Which meant… these people wanted to cut off her contact with the outside world.
Then what did “clothes” mean?
Fang Xiaocao pondered.
She checked her own outfit…
The tactical jacket she was wearing wasn’t hers!
She recalled Yun Luoshu’s jacket as well…
That, too, wasn’t the one they had bought together!
Then she subtly observed “Zhi Qi” and the others’ clothing…
That was when she finally understood where her unease had come from earlier.
The jackets these people wore, while similar in color, weren’t the same ones Zhi Qi had originally purchased for them.
At that moment, Fang Xiaocao realized—
These people…
Were not Zhi Qi and the others at all!
(End of Chapter 61)
