Black Sky - Chapter 20

At the moment a huge slab of stone hit her head, Bai Zi was staring at the mutant sinking into the water.

By the time she reacted, she was surrounded by sand and rocks, with not a single gap.

Fortunately, Bai Zi immediately lowered her head and covered her mouth and nose with her arms before being completely buried, and thanks to the mutant underneath her, she wasn’t submerged in the stagnant water.

The stagnant water filled the gaps between the sand, and the pressure increased even more, making it impossible to breathe, but Bai Zi, who was in the midst of it, didn’t panic.

She deliberately slowed down her breathing rate, using senses other than sight to perceive the movements around her.

Fatty Qiu’s frantic screams, the sound of sand and rocks sliding between the cracks, the surging sound of stagnant water being splashed…these sounds were gradually blocked out by the increasingly heavy sand and rocks. In the end, Bai Zi could only hear her own heavy breathing.

Her heartbeat was gradually slowing down, and dizziness was slowly spreading in her brain.

To Bai Zi, this pain was nothing compared to the nearly year of torment she had suffered in the basement.

She closed her eyes, and the scene of Meng Yilan suddenly calling out to her and running quickly towards her along the tracks when she left the subway station floated into her mind.

When Meng Yilan stood in front of her, panting, Bai Zi saw herself in the other party’s eyes for a moment.

Bai Zi, who was about to suffocate, indulged herself for once, letting herself fall into a self-indulgent fantasy.

Perhaps, at that time, in Meng Yilan’s heart, there was a tiny bit of space that belonged to her, Bai Zi.

If she were to leave this world in this state, then it would be the happiest thing possible, at least, a hundred times better than dying in that stinky incinerator.

But perhaps, Bai Zi’s life was destined to be harder than teeth.

Bai Zi, who was about to completely pass out, heard a shout coming from a very far away place.

“Hey…”

She frowned, trying hard to listen.

“Hey—”

Suddenly, there was the sound of sand and rocks rolling down, but it wasn’t coming from above her head, but from a parallel direction closer to Bai Zi. Bai Zi tried to twist her body, but couldn’t move.

“Can you hear me—”

The shouting became clearer and clearer, and the sound of sand and rocks sliding down also became closer and closer.

Just then, the mutant that Bai Zi was pressing under her suddenly struggled. Compared to Bai Zi, who couldn’t move, the mutant was obviously much stronger, and it even drove Bai Zi, who was riding on it, to twist violently in the pile of sand.

Bai Zi tightly grabbed the mutant’s shoulders, to prevent herself from being thrown off.

With the struggling movements, the tight pile of sand and rocks was drilled through little by little, and the shouting became clearer and clearer, seeming like the person calling out was right next to her.

Bai Zi tried to twist her body again. This time, she could finally lift her arm, and even push the sand and rocks around her out.

Just as Bai Zi was about to lift her hand again with force, she suddenly felt someone grab her arm hard. In the next moment, the other party used force to pull her out of the pile of sand and rocks.

Bai Zi held her breath, straightened her body, and with the other party’s pull, finally drilled out of the pile of sand and rocks. Because she used too much force, Bai Zi pounced towards the person who had pulled her out, and the two of them fell onto the stagnant water.

In the dim space, there was only the sound of the two people’s intertwined breathing. Bai Zi was exhausted, opened her mouth and breathed in the air in large gulps. When she finally calmed down, she heard the person under her chuckle softly, and even reach out to touch the scar next to Bai Zi’s left eye: “Is it a burn?”

Only then did Bai Zi realize that she was unrestrainedly pressing down on the person who had rescued her, You Yuyi.

Bai Zi immediately stood up straight: “Sorry.”

You Yuyi, who was already soaked, wasn’t in a hurry. She stretched out her hand towards Bai Zi, waiting for the other party to pull her up.

Bai Zi didn’t dare to neglect her, and helped the other party up. But as soon as You Yuyi stood still, she heard familiar breathing and roars coming from behind her.

The mutant had also got out of the pile of sand.

Without saying a word, Bai Zi pushed You Yuyi away, and pounced towards the mutant, pressing it under her again. But the handgun had been lost when she was buried by the sand and rocks just now, and besides temporarily suppressing the mutant, Bai Zi had no other way.

“Knife!” You Yuyi drew a dagger from her waist, and threw it onto the pile of sand and soil next to Bai Zi.

Bai Zi bent down, took the dagger, and quickly and forcefully inserted it into the mutant’s neck, but the mutant was still struggling.

You Yuyi shouted again: “Head! Cut it off!”

Bai Zi pulled out the dagger, and blood spurted out like a fountain, instantly dyeing the stagnant water on the ground red.

Then, Bai Zi, holding the knife, forcefully cut along the mutant’s neck.

The mutant’s struggling force became smaller and smaller. When most of its neck had been severed, it had completely stopped moving.

“Continue,” You Yuyi urged, “Cut it off completely, otherwise it will heal again.”

Bai Zi, panting, moved her body, knelt down on one knee, and like chopping a pig’s head, swung the knife down again and again towards the mutant’s neck. Finally, that head covered in sores fell off, and Bai Zi threw it aside like she was discarding some trash.

You Yuyi walked closer, and took back the dagger from Bai Zi’s hand: “You’re quite skilled.”

Bai Zi glanced at You Yuyi, stood up, and began to observe her surroundings.

“Both sides have collapsed,” You Yuyi said, wiping her face, cleaning off the mud. “We’re just stuck in the middle.”

“Where’s Fatty Qiu?” Bai Zi asked again.

You Yuyi shrugged her shoulders, and walked to the pile of sand and rocks to sit down: “Ran back to the subway station.”

Only then did Bai Zi feel that something was wrong: “Can you see things?”

You Yuyi curled the corners of her mouth: “Aren’t you the same?”

Right now, there was no light around them, and the roads on both sides were blocked. Logically speaking, in this situation, a normal person wouldn’t be able to see anything at all, but You Yuyi was not only able to dig Bai Zi out, but also accurately throw the knife to Bai Zi’s side, and could even tell her how to subdue the mutant.

“You’ve been bitten?” Bai Zi asked directly.

You Yuyi didn’t answer, but instead raised her hand, and pulled down the clothes on her left shoulder.

A large area of fair and tender skin was exposed, a slender neck, connected to a smooth shoulder, and further down, a protruding collarbone.

What was meant by beauty lying in the bones, not the skin, was probably referring to You Yuyi.

Unfortunately, on that originally smooth shoulder, there was a clear bite mark that could be seen with the naked eye.

It was as if a beautiful work of art had been cruelly branded with an ugly mark by a demon.

You Yuyi chuckled softly, and straightened her clothes: “Now, can you tell me what your name is?”

Bai Zi breathed a sigh of relief, and said softly: “Bai Zi.”

“The Zi from rabbit?” You Yuyi frowned.

“The Zi from catalpa tree.”

You Yuyi suddenly understood: “Oh, the Zi from hometown.”

Bai Zi frowned slightly. She especially didn’t like hearing others use her name to create the word “hometown,” which would remind her of her brother Bai Sang, whom she hadn’t seen for ten years.

“That name doesn’t suit you, it’s too proper. The Zi from rabbit is pretty good,” You Yuyi said, narrowing her eyes. “Because I think you’re especially like a wild rabbit, fair and tender, looking especially well-behaved, but if you’re pushed too far, you’re still just a wild rabbit that cuts people’s heads off.”

Completely unable to understand what You Yuyi was trying to express, Bai Zi simply ignored the other party, and found the furthest place to sit down.

“That’s not fair, is it?” You Yuyi sighed. “I’ve already shown you, won’t you show me too?”

She was referring to the bite mark.

Bai Zi frowned, thought for a few seconds, and pulled up the sleeve of her right arm.

Then, the two saw that the bite wound, which should have healed long ago, had actually started to become inflamed, swollen, and even oozing blood, as if it had just been bitten.

But Bai Zi wasn’t surprised by this. Ever since she left the doll shop in the zoo, her arm had been aching faintly, and now, it was just confirming her guess—just like a year ago, in that dark basement, her body had started to show signs of decay again.

You Yuyi frowned: “How long has it been since you drank human blood?”

Bai Zi could vaguely understand what the other party was saying. This was also a huge confusion that she had after waking up in the incinerator, but she was still unsure, so she remained silent.

“You’re really not cute, this wild rabbit,” You Yuyi crossed her legs. Although she was sitting on the messy pile of sand, and there wasn’t a single clean spot on her body, she still exuded an inexplicable sense of allure. “It’s rare to meet a kindred spirit, but you’re still so cold, I’m starting to regret digging you out, you know.”

Hearing You Yuyi use the word “cold” to describe her, Bai Zi couldn’t help but feel a little confused.

In the past, Bai Zi didn’t like to talk because she had a severe stutter. On the surface, she was taciturn, but her mental activity was extremely active. She had even imagined that if she cured her stutter, she would be a chatterbox.

But now, her stutter had been cured inexplicably, but the words that she used to only say in her heart were still stuck in her heart.

At this time, Bai Zi finally realized that she would only become talkative in front of one person.

After sighing secretly in her heart, Bai Zi finally opened her mouth and said: “It’s been about three days.”

It had been about three days since Bai Zi woke up in the incinerator.

And now, the mystery that had been lingering in Bai Zi’s heart was finally revealed—back then, in the incinerator, the liquid that someone had fed to Bai Zi, who was on the verge of death, was the “human blood” that You Yuyi had mentioned.

“Three days?” You Yuyi stood up, walked to Bai Zi’s side. “Do you know that for people like us, if we don’t drink that stuff for a day, our bodies will start to decay faster?” As she said this, she sat down next to Bai Zi, almost pressing her body against the other party’s.

Bai Zi quickly moved her body, putting at least two people’s distance between her and You Yuyi.

“Heh,” You Yuyi chuckled softly, and asked again, “When were you bitten?”

Once again, Bai Zi chose to remain silent.

“You’re really impossible to reason with,” You Yuyi leaned sideways, propping herself up on the pile of sand with one hand, in a lazy posture. “Aren’t you worried at all? It’s been three days, if you drag it out any longer, I think your face will start to grow sores.”

“Instead of worrying about sores growing on my face,” Bai Zi said faintly, “I should worry about us rotting to death here.”

Hearing Bai Zi’s unrelenting retort, You Yuyi laughed: “You’re really cute.”

Bai Zi moved further away again.

“Although we’ll rot, we won’t die,” You Yuyi looked at the headless corpse of the mutant floating on the stagnant water, and explained in a soft voice, “Unless our heads are also cut off, then we can meet King Yama.”

Bai Zi asked: “How do you know?”

“From experience,” You Yuyi said vaguely, and then smiled. “Wild rabbit, we’ve only just met, and not only are we one in a million kindred spirits, but we’ll also rot together here in the future. It’s quite romantic, right?”

Bai Zi finally couldn’t bear it any longer: “Miss You, do you have some kind of strange fetish?”

You Yuyi still had a smile on her face, and asked back: “Did You Xin ask you to come?”

Suddenly hearing the name “You Xin,” Bai Zi immediately thought of the scene where You Xin’s abdomen was cut by a sword. After hesitating for a long while, she opened her mouth and said: “Your cousin is injured.”

You Yuyi’s smile instantly disappeared, and she asked in a deep voice: “What kind of injury?”

“Abdominal,” Bai Zi added, “She was cut by that old man with a sword. I’ve already helped her stop the bleeding, but it won’t last long.”

After a long silence, You Yuyi said in a low voice: “That stinky girl You Xin is the last of my relatives in this rotten world.” The solemn expression on her face hadn’t faded, but her words had already started to become frivolous, “Wild rabbit, it seems that we’re not destined to rot together here. I have to rush back to save that stinky girl.”

Bai Zi was about to say a few words of comfort, but she heard some sounds coming from the other side of the pile of sand and rocks. She immediately turned her head, bent down, and pressed her ear against the sand and soil, listening carefully.

“Bai Zi—”

Although there were only two words, and the volume was extremely weak, Bai Zi immediately recognized the other party’s identity.

This shout came from the person who had haunted her dreams for ten years.