The girl screamed, her voice sounding somewhat desperate in this environment.

Song Qingxiao’s eardrums were buzzing from the shock. The middle-aged man, already irritable from the long search for an exit, became even more agitated due to hunger and fatigue. He was also startled and frightened by slipping and falling.  The girl’s scream became the catalyst that ignited his emotions. Once he regained his senses and eased his strength a bit, without hesitation, he raised his arm and slapped the girl’s face hard!

With a loud smack, the girl’s head tilted to one side from the force. Song Qingxiao, who had just managed to sit up straight with great effort, was pulled back to the ground by the girl, whose hand was tightly gripping hers.

“If you scream again, I’ll kill you!”

The girl’s scream abruptly stopped. After the silence, the eerie stillness became even more apparent. It felt like apart from the three of them, the surroundings were a dead city.

The middle-aged man, already on the verge of breaking down, found an outlet for his fear, unease, fatigue, and all the negative emotions through this violent act. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression ferocious. Even after slapping the girl, he was still unsatisfied. He raised his fist and swung another punch at the girl’s head.

The girl was stunned and instinctively let go of Song Qingxiao’s hand to try to block the blow. She let out a sobbing cry.

The previous slap had already caused the girl’s mouth to bleed, and now the middle-aged man’s punch changed her complexion.

This could potentially turn fatal. Song Qingxiao instinctively tried to stop it.

She grew up in the western part of the imperial capital, where violent incidents frequently occurred. There were areas known as “slums” and “chaotic streets.” She had seen countless scenes of fighting and knew the feeling of constant fear.

She understood the girl’s fear. In this kind of environment, even the slightest movement could make one tremble with fear. She was also suppressing her own fear, afraid of attracting any danger.

The girl was originally timid and easily frightened. Being tripped and scared by the middle-aged man, she had already received a slap and was likely to be harmed even more due to the man’s loss of control.

It was already difficult for the three of them to come this far. If something happened to the girl, it would be even harder for the remaining two to find the other six members of their team and, let alone, find a way out of this space.

Of course, the most important reason was not just Song Qingxiao’s compassion for the girl, but her concern. If the middle-aged man harmed the girl, the balance of the remaining team would be broken.

There were only two people left in the group of three. Being alone with the middle-aged man undoubtedly increased her danger.

Furthermore, the middle-aged man, who had a history of violence, might resort to violence again during the process of finding an exit. In that case, her situation would be extremely dangerous!

Thinking of all this, Song Qingxiao grabbed the dagger hidden in her sleeve in case the man suddenly attacked. At the same time, she used her body’s strength to push her shoulder against the middle-aged man:

“Don’t hit her anymore!”

When she said this, her voice was somewhat dry, and only Song Qingxiao herself could hear how urgently her blood was flowing and her heart pounding.

Perhaps it was because the middle-aged man was short and stout, externally strong but internally weak, or perhaps it was because he had already been overwhelmed by fear, fatigue, and hunger during their journey.   

When Song Qingxiao bumped into him, the middle-aged man released his grip on the girl and fell to the ground. Despite his burning anger, he tried to get up and attack again.  

Song Qingxiao quickly suppressed the numbness in her shoulder caused by the collision and used all her strength to drag the girl, who was limp and unable to move, away from the middle-aged man. At the same time, she sternly asked:

“Do you want to kill her?”

Her timely intervention caused the middle-aged man’s action to pause.

Although this space was detached from reality, the idea of abiding by the law and order was deeply ingrained in many citizens of the empire. Before morality completely deteriorated, Song Qingxiao’s intervention indeed calmed the middle-aged man down, and his clenched fist unclenched.

The girl’s body trembled like a sieve, and her cheeks quickly turned red and swollen from the imprint of fingers. She was extremely terrified of the middle-aged man and her character was inherently weak. Even when being hit, she didn’t dare to cry out loudly. She curled up her legs and hid behind Song Qingxiao.

“It’s not clear how to escape from this place. It’s already difficult for the three of us to search for an exit together.”

Song Qingxiao carefully considered her words, afraid of provoking the middle-aged man and causing further complications. At the same time, she firmly held onto her arm, pressing the handle of the knife through her clothes:

“If someone has an accident, we will lose one less strength. It won’t benefit us.”

She was not someone who spoke a lot, but the words she spoke hit the nail on the head. The middle-aged man’s complexion eased a bit, indicating that he had calmed down considerably.  Song Qingxiao breathed a sigh of relief and continued:

“We haven’t found Zhou Jing and the others yet. If we meet up with them later and find an exit to leave this place, injuring someone will only cause trouble.”

By mentioning this, she gave the middle-aged man some hope and tried to keep him in check, so that his behavior would be restrained.

These few sentences had a significant effect. The middle-aged man suppressed his anger, brushed off the grass from his body, and snorted before standing up.

He was the first one to slip, and combined with his stout figure, he fell harder than the two girls. When he stood up, he made a sound of cold air being sucked in. His right leg was somewhat uncooperative, and he limped as he walked, more laboriously than before.

After calming down, Song Qingxiao surveyed the area. It was slightly lower than the place where they had fallen before. From the solid ground beneath their feet, it seemed to be a set of stairs. However, due to the passage of time, the stairs were covered in weeds and had become indistinguishable. Coupled with the dim lighting, it was easy to overlook and fall.

After realizing this, the three of them became even more cautious as they descended the stairs, exploring a new area.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the black shadow that had been hidden in the thick fog finally drew closer. It was a building similar to a factory shed. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief, but their scalps tightened immediately after.   In this unfamiliar place, unfamiliar buildings appeared. They don’t know if there is any danger.  

The few people held hands and entered together.   

The light inside was darker than outside. This should be an old factory with a surprisingly large space. Apart from a dozen large cylinders, there was nothing else inside.

The cylinders were covered with heavy lids, and they didn’t know what was inside. Without any certainty, the few people were tired and hungry. They didn’t dare to rashly open the lid. After discussing, they decided to search the surroundings first.

If they could see the buildings, there might be additional exits. Once they found an exit and left this haunted place, they would consider themselves relieved.

The middle-aged man seemed to have regained his strength.   

The three of them searched the factory, and Song Qingxiao silently remembered the terrain of the places she passed. After a while, the three of them became exhausted and appeared extremely tired.  

 The middle-aged man’s initial excitement and hope for the factory gradually dissipated. His face became increasingly gloomy, and he didn’t speak much. His expression became more dangerous.   

Finally, everyone’s stomachs growled, and they couldn’t walk any further. So, they found a place to sit down.

“Do you have any food?”

The middle-aged man reached out to Song Qingxiao. She already felt that something was wrong with him. Her hand was held tightly by the girl, and her other hand held onto the middle-aged man.

Since being hit by the middle-aged man, the girl didn’t dare to approach him again. She treated Song Qingxiao as her savior and held onto her tightly at all times.

This prevented Song Qingxiao from constantly holding onto her dagger, and she felt a little anxious.

“No, I don’t.”

She let go of the middle-aged man’s hand and pretended to rub her arm, but her hand was still holding onto the handle of the dagger. The middle-aged man noticed her actions. She had made several such movements along the way. In this sensitive period, the middle-aged man asked with a gloomy expression:

“Why have you been touching your hand?”

He became wary, but Song Qingxiao forced a smile and pretended to be calm:

“When I fell earlier, my arm was injured. I scraped off a piece of skin and it bled.”

She said this, and the middle-aged man dismissed his suspicion.

After the three of them fell down the stairs earlier, he was also injured. His right leg still hurt slightly. He shifted his gaze away from Song Qingxiao and onto the girl who tried to stay as far away from him as possible. His gaze became even more sinister, carrying a hint of hostility:

“Do you have any food?”

As soon as he spoke, the girl’s body began to tremble. As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, the girl quickly shook her head:

“No, I don’t.”

She was afraid that the middle-aged man wouldn’t believe her, so she even opened her pockets and even unzipped her coat to prove that she wasn’t lying.

Song Qingxiao was focused on her thoughts about the cards in her mind. After such a long time, the cards still showed no movement.   The girl’s actions of taking off her coat alarmed her.

In this situation, the girl’s actions were very dangerous! Unfortunately, she was too young and didn’t realize this.

The middle-aged man’s gaze gradually changed, and his aura also changed. Song Qingxiao shook off the girl who was clinging to her and lowered her voice to scold her:

“Everyone can tell that you don’t have any food!”

As she spoke, she pushed the girl away and used the excuse to tidy up her clothes.

The middle-aged man lifted the corner of his mouth and beckoned to the girl: “Number one, come here.”

He licked his lips.