Aside from the young girl’s extreme innocence, both the middle-aged man and Song Qingxiao had developed a sense of caution towards each other. 

The middle-aged man, who had previously resorted to violence, was concerned that the girl might trouble him again once they found a way out of this space. Therefore, none of them had any intention of revealing their true identities. Instead, they referred to each other based on the order in which they had entered the space. The girl was Number one, and Song Qingxiao, who had arrived last, was Number Nine. 

When the middle-aged man called out the girl’s number, even she, despite her slowness, sensed that something was amiss. 

Having been previously slapped by the middle-aged man, she vividly remembered his menacing expression and felt a deep fear of him. Now, when the middle-aged man called her, she instinctively backed away, hiding behind Song Qingxiao, suppressing her sobs with a whimpering sound. 

“I told you to come here!” the middle-aged man said. 

Seeing that the girl didn’t move after being called by the middle-aged man, his face darkened, and he began to stand up. The girl, terrified by his actions, clung tightly to Song Qingxiao as if she were her lifeline. 

Song Qingxiao’s mind sank further. In such a situation with no water, no food, no contact with other people, and no way to find an exit, all these circumstances were slowly eroding people’s sanity. 

The man was clearly on the brink of a breakdown, and once he entertained malicious thoughts, it was like opening the floodgates containing a wild beast. 

“Number Six…” 

Song Qingxiao was older than the girl but had a slim physique. Even though the middle-aged man was not particularly strong, the significant difference in physical strength between men and women could put her in great danger in a real conflict. 

Fortunately, she still had her trump card, the concealed dagger. As long as the dagger remained hidden, it might provide her with a slim chance when it came down to the wire. 

However, if the middle-aged man discovered the dagger before that, her odds of survival would be diminished. 

As Song Qingxiao contemplated this, she felt a bit relieved.  

Tonight, she had narrowly escaped death, and she cherished her life all the more.  

She tried to persuade the middle-aged man to calm down, but the words that had previously restrained him now seemed to have no effect. 

After a long time without finding any teammates, unable to locate an exit, and facing the challenges of dehydration and hunger, the middle-aged man had become extremely impatient. He had lost his patience. When he spoke, the girl, who was already terrified, hiding behind Song Qingxiao and sobbing softly, made him even angrier. 

“You need to calm down…” Song Qingxiao began, but it was clear that the words that had once calmed the middle-aged man down were no longer effective. 

Long periods of searching without any results, combined with the frustration of being unable to find water or food, had pushed the middle-aged man to his limit. He got up and started walking towards the two girls. 

“Now, you shut up!” he calmly said to Song Qingxiao, but his eyes betrayed a sinister intention. 

“This is a devil’s space. It has trapped us here, and we can’t get out, understand?” He raised his chin with a hint of madness in his eyes. 

“There’s no food, no water. We won’t last for long.” 

“You calm down…” Song Qingxiao tried to reason, but it was clear that the words that had once calmed the middle-aged man down were no longer effective. 

The middle-aged man’s eyes were bloodshot, veins pulsating on his temples. He appeared increasingly dangerous, especially when compared to his calm words. 

“Number one, I’ll say it one more time. Come here.” 

The environment and the harsh reality had finally stripped away the veneer of civility from the middle-aged man. Song Qingxiao’s greatest fear had finally materialized. 

The girl clung even tighter to Song Qingxiao, as if she wished she could curl up into a ball. When the middle-aged man reached out to grab her, she let out a piercing, high-pitched scream. At this critical moment, she tapped into an immense reservoir of hidden strength, clamping her hands tightly around Song Qingxiao’s neck. 

As the middle-aged man attempted to grab her, she held on so tightly that Song Qingxiao struggled to breathe. 

“Help! Help!” the girl cried out, her voice piercing the air. 

The middle-aged man grabbed her hand without holding back any strength. At this moment, Song Qingxiao was restrained by the young girl, making it difficult for her to breathe and unable to free her hand to help her.

The man pulled for a while, getting tired and out of breath. Frustrated by not being able to succeed smoothly, his evil intentions grew stronger.  

Without thinking, he raised his fist and struck the girl’s face and head. After two punches, the girl’s arm around Song Qingxiao’s neck loosened slightly, and with a strong effort, Song Qingxiao finally broke free.

“Help…”

The girl continued to shout, kicking her legs wildly. Song Qingxiao regained her senses and came over to try to push the middle-aged man away. At this moment, if the two women didn’t resist together, once the middle-aged man succeeded and something happened to the girl, it would be even more difficult for Song Qingxiao to deal with the situation alone.

The middle-aged man freed one hand and pushed Song Qingxiao away with a single hand.

His action allowed the girl to free one hand, and when she swung it, her nails scratched the man’s face. The long nails left a bloodstain from the center of the man’s left eyebrow diagonally down to his right cheek, even his eyeball was not spared.

This intense resistance enraged the middle-aged man. He changed his initial plan and took out the mouse he had obtained when he entered the space from his clothes.  

He tightly gripped the mouse and smashed it forcefully onto the girl’s head. At the same time, he grabbed the girl’s hair and wrapped the mouse cord around her neck in three or four moves.

“Cough… Ah…” The girl desperately tried to scratch her neck with both hands while grabbing his hand.  

He had a ferocious expression, “You little bitch, dare to hit me! I’ll kill you!”

The girl’s eyes gradually became bloodshot, her face turned pale, her legs kicked wildly, and she made a dying “huhu” sound.  

When Song Qingxiao staggered to her feet, the girl’s pupils began to dilate.

She was still struggling instinctively on her legs, leaving two long marks on the grass as she dragged her heels. Her face turned gray, and it drooped weakly to one side, her bloodshot eyes gradually losing their luster.

A real scene of violent murder was unfolding before her eyes. Song Qingxiao’s heart chilled.  

The middle-aged man was now solely focused on killing the girl and had long considered Song Qingxiao not a threat. Therefore, he didn’t have much guard against this thin and weak woman.

Moreover, subconsciously, he probably believed that this woman posed no harm to him, especially considering the warning from the girl’s previous experience.  

A “smart” person should not provoke him at this time and bring trouble upon themselves.

In such a godforsaken place, it was already so difficult for the three of them to survive. If something happened to her, a woman alone would have no chance of getting out alive.

Due to these thoughts, the middle-aged man did not pay attention to Song Qingxiao while strangling the girl.

Song Qingxiao’s gaze had already turned cold. She had analyzed the situation long ago. Once the middle-aged man made a move against the girl, she couldn’t afford to hesitate. This was a good opportunity, and she knew what she had to do. The only thing she had to overcome was that barrier.

The memory of almost being stabbed to death in the alley earlier tonight surged into her mind. The hope of survival outweighed the psychological burden of killing.  

She grabbed the hidden dagger in her sleeve, pounced on the man from behind, and hung her body on him. In the palm of her hand, the dagger stabbed into his throat.

Under the desperate situation, she exerted considerable force, aiming for a single decisive strike.

If she missed, the consequences today would be unbearable for Song Qingxiao.

She held onto the middle-aged man, tilting him backward. Her legs tightly clung to his shoulders, and with one arm, she embraced his face.

The middle-aged man let out angry curses from his mouth. Song Qingxiao held the dagger tightly and forcefully stabbed it into his throat.

She even imitated the movements of the assassin in her memory, forcefully twisting the handle, making the wound deeper.

Warm blood gushed out, and the middle-aged man’s back pressed against her chest and abdomen. His dying struggles almost suffocated her with their weight.

The middle-aged man tried several times to fight back, using his other hand to hit her, but she stomped her feet with force and tried to stand up. Song Qingxiao didn’t dare to let go, even though her whole palm was soaked with blood, greasy and disgusting.

She was afraid that the middle-aged man wouldn’t die. Enduring her fear, she reached out to grab his wound.

Blood flowed from the wound, streaming down the back of the middle-aged man’s neck. Drop by drop, it fell onto her chin and the corners of her mouth. With each breath she took, it felt like the blood flowed into her mouth, making her nauseous.

The middle-aged man made gasping sounds like “pu pu” from his mouth. Each breath sounded like he was being choked by the blood flow, reminding Song Qingxiao of the scene in the alley. She exerted even more force with her hand.

His resistance gradually weakened, and his body struggled a few more times. Finally, his hand fell down weakly, and his whole body convulsed instinctively.

At this moment, even if the middle-aged man didn’t die, he was probably not far from death.

After confirming that she had cut off the middle-aged man’s life, Song Qingxiao finally relaxed and started trembling uncontrollably.

Her legs, exhausted from exerting too much force, were now relaxed but somewhat unresponsive. Not to mention her hands, which were covered in blood.

The short fight just now had soaked her body in a large amount of cold sweat. The middle-aged man’s corpse pressed against her, like a heavy mountain.

She gasped silently with her mouth wide open, her chest burning with pain from breathing. After lying still for a while to rest, her hands and feet regained some strength and she could control them.  

She pushed the middle-aged man’s body, which had stopped convulsing, to the side.  

Due to his short and fat build, he rolled in place before finally stopping, his face turned to the side, smeared with blood and dirt, exuding an extra layer of horror.  

T/N Note:
If you see any error, please comment down below so I could address them, and so that everyone else may have a smooth reading.

Thanks in advanced.