Chapter 8

The middle-aged man and Song Qingxiao had been wary of each other from the start. The girl was the only naive and trusting one in the group.

Since the middle-aged man had beaten her earlier, he was worried that the girl might seek revenge if they managed to escape the space. Hence, everyone had decided not to use their real names. Instead, they would refer to each other by the order in which they had entered the space.

The girl was number one, and since Song Qingxiao was the last one to enter, she was number nine.

Even though the girl was a little slow-witted, she could tell that something was not quite right when the middle-aged man called her over. Since he had beaten her earlier, her memory of his ferocious expression was clear as day, and she was still extremely terrified of him.

Since he shouted for her, she shrank into a ball and ran to hide behind Song Qingxiao as she cried uncontrollably.

“I said, come over here!”

The middle-aged man’s face fell when he saw her ignoring his orders. He immediately puffed up his chest. When the girl saw his stance, she became even more frightened. She used both her hands to grip Song Qingxiao tightly, refusing to let her go. She truly considered Song Qingxiao as her lifesaver.

Song Qingxiao’s heart sank. In that situation, they had no water, no food, and had no way of contacting the others, plus they had not found the way out of the space! All of that combined was enough to make anyone go crazy.

The man seemed to have reached the point of breakdown and had hatched an evil plan. It was as if a beast had been released from its cage.

“Number six…”

Even though Song Qingxiao was older than the girl, she was skinny and small in size. The middle-aged man may not be very strong himself, but there was a clear difference in strength between male and female bodies. If he really did attack, she would be in a perilous position.

Thankfully, she still had a trump card—her dagger. As long as the existence of her dagger was not exposed, it might save her life at the eleventh hour. However, she would lose any hope of beating him if her weapon was discovered.

As Song Qingxiao thought up to that point, she struggled to breathe. She had managed to escape death earlier, so she felt as though her life was extremely precious and was extremely attached to her life. She had planned to say something to calm the middle-aged man down. However, it seemed that the words that she planned to speak would not be much help.

The man had run out of patience after searching for such a long time with no results. They had no water, no food, and had not managed to find the rest of their group nor the way out. Since the girl ignored his words and continued to hide behind Song Qingxiao while refusing to show her face, that was the last straw for him. He got up and rushed toward the two women.

“Shut your face right now!”

He looked at Song Qingxiao, and an evil glint appeared in his eyes. He said calmly, “There’s no way out.”

The grease and sweat in his hair stuck it into clumps, and he had tousled his hair, so it looked very messy. The middle-aged man’s eyes were bloodshot, and the veins in his temple bulged out. His appearance and eerily calm tone made Song Qingxiao feel a sense of danger.

“This is the devil’s space. He has trapped us here, so we will not be able to escape. Do you understand?”

He raised his chin like a mad man and continued to speak.

“There’s nothing to eat, nothing to drink. We won’t be able to last a few days like this.”

“Please calm down…”

The girl was so frightened that she burst into tears. However, she did not dare to make a sound because she remembered the beating she had received. She was worried that the sound of her crying might draw the man’s attention and bring harm to herself.

“Sure, tell me where the exit is! Tell me, where can we get food and water!? I’ll calm down right away then!” roared the man. He suddenly calmed down mysteriously and even chuckled out loud.

“After all, if I’m doomed to die. I might as well enjoy myself before the end of my life,” mumbled the man to himself.

“Number one, this is the last time that I’m going to say it. Come here!”

Their environment and the reality that they were in had finally torn down the last shred of civility and morality in that middle-aged man. The thing that Song Qingxiao feared had finally happened.

The girl curled up even more tightly behind Song Qingxiao. The middle-aged man reached out his hand to grab her, and she let out an ear-piercing scream. In the face of danger, she suddenly mustered a burst of energy and reached out to wrap her arms around Song Qingxiao tightly.

When the middle-aged man placed his arms around her, the girl tightened her hold, making Song Qingxiao feel as though she could not breathe.

“Help! Somebody save me!”

The middle-aged man tugged at her hand with all his might. However, Song Qingxiao could not help because the girl grabbed her so tightly that she could barely breathe.

The man struggled for a while until he began panting in tiredness. He was frustrated that his plan was going awry, so he could not stop himself from raising his fist towards the girl’s face. He punched her twice in the head before the girl loosened her grip around Song Qingxiao’s neck. Song Qingxiao pushed against her forcefully to escape from her grasp.

“Help!!!”

The girl still screamed and kicked her legs around wildly. Song Qingxiao took a moment to catch her breath before she tried to push the middle-aged man aside. If she did not join forces with the girl against the middle-aged man, it would be even more challenging for her to face him if something happened to the girl.

The middle-aged man merely held out one hand and was able to push Song Qingxiao away. However, his action allowed the girl to free one of her hands, and she instantly lashed out with her fingers to scratch the man’s face. Her long fingernails created a gash on the middle-aged man’s face, starting from his left eyebrow slanting down to his right cheek. His eye was not spared from the attack.

Her retaliation angered the middle-aged man. He seemed to change his mind and took out the computer mouse that he obtained earlier in the space. He clutched the mouse tightly as he aimed it at the girl’s head with much force. At the same time, he pulled the girl’s hair and quickly wrapped the cord around the girl’s neck.

Ahh!!”

The girl choked as she struggled against the cord around her neck with both of her hands. At the same time, she frantically scratched the back of the man’s hands. His expression was fierce and terrifying.

“You b*tch! How dare you hit me?! I’m going to kill you!”

The girl’s eyes and face began to fill with blood, turning into a deep shade of red. Her limbs flailed wildly as she gasped for air. Song Qingxiao wobbled as she got to her feet. By then, the girl’s eyes had rolled back in her head.

Her legs were still kicking wildly, and two long skid marks appeared on the grass underneath her feet. Her face was ashen and dropped to one side weakly. Her bloodshot eyes slowly lost their sparkle.

An actual scene of violent murder played out right before her eyes. Song Qingxiao felt a chill in her heart. For the middle-aged man to decide to kill the girl right then and there, it meant that he had decided that Song Qingxiao was not a threat. Hence, he did not feel the need to keep his guard up against the skinny and weak woman.

Furthermore, he guessed that Song Qingxiao would not draw harm to herself willingly, especially with the threat of death that could befall her, which was happening right before her eyes. He was sure that anyone of sound mind would not provoke him than to bring trouble upon themselves.

In that ghastly place, it was extremely hard for the three of them to survive. If something happened to him, he would make sure that Song Qingxiao did not survive either. Due to that thought, the middle-aged man did not pay any attention to Song Qingxiao while he was in the midst of strangling the girl.

Song Qingxiao had a chilling light in her eyes. She had analyzed the situation, and it was clear that since the man had acted to kill the girl, it was nearly impossible that he would stop before the deed was done.

It was a good opportunity. She knew what she had to do, but first she had to overcome the mental barrier holding her back.

The memory of the moment when she almost lost her life in the small alley flashed in her mind. However, her strong desire to live won over the burden of killing someone. She took hold of the dagger hidden in her sleeve and leaped towards the man’s back. She jumped onto his back and stabbed the blade into his throat.

She had made up her mind to settle this matter with a single strike. If she failed, Song Qingxiao would not be able to bear the outcome of her failure. She pulled the middle-aged man and fell backward with her legs wrapped tightly around his shoulders, locking him tightly. She put an arm firmly around his face in a chokehold.

The middle-aged man spluttered angrily as Song Qingxiao pushed the dagger deeper into his throat. She copied the actions of her killer from her memory and twisted the dagger forcefully, making the wound larger.

Hot blood gushed out from the wound. The middle-aged man slumped against her chest, and his writhing right before he died nearly crushed her until she could not breathe.

The middle-aged man tried to retaliate multiple times. He swung his hands in an attempt to hit her and tried to stomp her with his feet. He even tried to stand up, but Song Qingxiao did not loosen her grip or let him go. Blood continued to gush out of his wound, making her entire palm wet and slippery. It felt extremely sticky and revolting.

She was so scared that the middle-aged man would not die. She tried to keep a lid on the terror she felt and reached out her hand to grab his wound. The blood gushing out flowed down the man’s neck and dripped onto her chin. Some even landed on the corner of her lip. With every breath that she took, it seemed like the blood was flowing into her mouth. The smell of it made her want to throw up.

The middle-aged man made a gurgling sound as he gasped. With each breath that he took, it sounded like he was choking on his own blood. It reminded Song Qingxiao of the scene in the alley, and she applied more force.

The strength of his struggles began to weaken. He continued to struggle a while longer until his hand finally slumped weakly. The only movements that his body continued to make were involuntary twitches.

If the middle-aged man was not dead, he was not far from it. Once she was sure that she had ended the man’s life, Song Qingxiao let out a sigh of relief and started to tremble uncontrollably.

She felt like she could not control her legs since she had released them from the man’s shoulders. Perhaps because she had overworked them.

Not to mention her blood-drenched hands.

The short tussle had caused her body to become drenched in sweat. The middle-aged man’s corpse pinned her to the ground, and it felt like she was lying under a heavy mountain.

She opened her mouth in a soundless gasp for air. Her chest began to burn with fiery pain as she tried to breathe in. She lay on the ground for a moment to catch her breath. Once a little strength returned to her limbs and she felt like she could control them, she pushed the middle-aged man’s motionless body off her.

His corpse rolled once more before it came to a halt since his body was short and fat. His face lay to one side, covered in blood and dirt. It was an extremely frightful sight.

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