Zheng Yiyi was being pinched by the mouth in my hand, obviously extremely uncomfortable, thrashing its head left and right.
I, busy with escaping for my life, was so annoyed by it that I almost threw it straight into the hands of the walkers behind me.
Running through the bushes, my speed was heavily restricted.
On top of that, the walkers behind were keeping close, leaving me no time to search for a proper path below—I could only dart wherever my legs carried me.
Those walkers weren't afraid of scratches from the bushes, nor did they feel pain, so at this moment their speed was hardly slower than mine.
Luckily, I was wearing a hoodie with a big front pocket today.
I stuffed Yiyi right into it, freeing up one of my hands, and immediately felt a lot lighter.
But that also gave Yiyi some freedom.
After wriggling around in the pocket for a while, its chubby little head poked out, face full of ferocity as it barked furiously at the walkers behind us.
I lost patience, shoved it back into the pocket, and cursed: "For fuck's sake, your ears are still drooping! Stop pretending you're some lion dog!"
I yanked the zipper shut in one go to make sure it couldn't poke its head out again, and only then did I shift my entire focus back to the most important thing right now—running for my life.
Finally, after bursting out of the thicket once more, the scenery around me changed.
It was no longer endless bushes and vines but a forest of tall, straight trees.
The gaps between the trunks had decent spacing—it was perfect for escaping!
The walkers had been able to keep up with me in the thicket because I had to clear the bushes in front, which wasted time, while they only needed to follow through the path I had forced open.
But things were different in the forest now.
Their walking speed was still slower than a normal person's.
So I gripped the stick in my hand tighter and darted into the woods without hesitation.
Sure enough, once I entered the forest, the distance between me and those walkers widened quickly.
But they were tall, and though their pace was slow, their stride length was far larger than mine, so I didn't dare to let my guard down.
I kept running toward the sparsest parts of the woods, terrified of being forced back into the underbrush again—if that happened, I'd really cry.
I had no idea how long I had been running, but eventually my body began to falter.
I had already spent too much strength forcing my way through the thicket earlier, and now after running like this for so long, I was panting like an ox.
I clutched at my chest, trying to regulate my racing heartbeat, forcing myself to breathe deeply in and shallow out.
But after only two tries, I was back to gasping like a bull again.
In my arms, Yiyi was still wriggling restlessly.
I gnashed my teeth in anger.
This fat dog!
If I weren't busy running for my life right now, I'd stew it for dinner!
Clenching my teeth, I kept forcing myself forward.
Looking at the still-sparse trees around me, a chilling thought suddenly struck, sending cold sweat down my back…
If there are walkers here, could there also be other strays wandering around?
If I suddenly run into a few more up ahead, then it's very likely that Yiyi and I will be gnawed down to bones today.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel puzzled—there are so many people living in the valley, so how could they possibly allow walkers to roam the mountain, separated from them by only a small creek?
Just as I was deep in thought, I suddenly froze on the spot—staring blankly at the sheer cliff that had appeared out of nowhere in front of me.
The walkers closing in behind snapped me back to reality.
Snapping out of my daze, I looked around quickly, only to see steep slopes on both sides—completely impassable.
Somehow, without realizing it, I had led Yiyi straight into a dead end.
With no other choice, I tightened my grip on the thick tree branch in my hand and turned back to face the walkers blocking the path.
At last, I had a chance to really take a close look at them—and the sight was horrifying.
The one in the middle had lost all the skin on its head, leaving only a circle of rotten flesh, somewhere between red and black.
With no eyelids, its two bulging eyeballs were exposed to the air, paired with a mouth that opened and closed mechanically.
The whole face was utterly nauseating.
The ones on either side weren't any better.
Their faces were just as badly decayed, and one of them was even missing half an arm.
I clenched the stick tighter, fixing my eyes on the half-armed walker.
As the saying goes, when picking persimmons, go for the soft ones.
Out of the three, he was the one missing a piece—so he should be the easiest to deal with.
Not wanting to be forced all the way back against the cliff, I didn't hesitate any longer.
Once I'd chosen my target, I gritted my teeth, gripped the stick, and charged straight at him.
I knew full well that with my current strength, there was no way I could knock down any of them with a kick.
So I abandoned that thought altogether.
Instead, I gripped the stick with both hands, and when I closed the distance, I rammed it straight into his stomach.
These walkers were massive, and even though I stood at 168 cm, it still wasn't easy to aim for their heads.
Stabbing the stomach was far simpler.
My plan was to shove him backward with the stick, create an opening, and slip past them to get back on the path.
If I could run, why would I be stupid enough to fight them head-on?
But they say dreams are full and reality is cruel.
My first stupid mistake today was venturing into the mountain alone to find Yiyi.
The second was putting way too much faith in this damned stick.
When I watched it snap cleanly in two under the force of my lunge, I nearly cried.
And worse, instead of being taken down like I'd hoped, the walkers beside him closed in fast.
I had no choice but to retreat in a hurry.
But after only a few steps back, I had to stop again.
I was already standing at the very edge of the cliff.
Below me, the crashing sound of water made my legs go weak.
In front of me, the walkers opened their mouths and closed in, their grotesque, rotting faces twisted as if mocking me.
I bit down so hard I thought I might shatter my teeth.
Staring at the walkers drawing ever nearer, I glanced quickly over my shoulder at the cliff behind me.
A bleak thought crossed my mind: drowning was better than being bitten to death.
At least I'd leave behind a whole corpse.
And who knows—if luck was on my side, maybe I wouldn't drown at all.
No sooner had that thought formed than reality gave me no more time to consider.
The walkers reached out to grab me.
Instinctively, I stumbled back another step—only for the ground beneath my foot to vanish.
My body instantly lost its balance.
With a scream tearing from my throat, I plunged as gravity yanked me down.
In the instant I hit the water, before it closed completely over my mouth and nose, I still clearly saw the walkers standing atop the cliff, roaring in frustration down at me.
Just as I was feeling a bit smug for having escaped with my life, my body quickly sank toward the bottom of the water.
After choking on two mouthfuls, I finally remembered to flail my arms and kick my legs wildly, trying to recall the swimming strokes I'd seen on TV.
Surprisingly, I actually managed to float back up.
The instant my head broke the surface, I greedily sucked in several breaths.
The current here was swift, and now that my head was above water, I realized my body was being carried rapidly downstream in an unknown direction.
I was a complete landlubber.
Back in the summer, the only "swimming" I'd ever done was fooling around with Yangyang in the city pool, clutching a swim ring while splashing around.
Now, my frantic thrashing was only just enough to keep my head breaking the surface every so often for air.
After one more desperate gasp, I suddenly felt violent struggling from inside my hoodie pocket.
That was when I remembered—I'd stuffed Yiyi inside!
In a panic, I reached for the zipper, but the moment I stopped paddling, my body sank underwater again.
In order not to drown Yiyi, I had no choice but to rip the zipper open as fast as I could before flailing my arms again.
When my head finally broke the surface once more, I felt like my lungs were about to explode.
Yiyi wriggled twice inside the pocket, and before long, the fat dog bobbed up beside me, his soaked fur plastered flat against his head.
Overjoyed, I grabbed him quickly and hauled him onto my shoulder.
The current was fast—if I wasn't careful, he'd be swept away in an instant.
Yiyi was smart, though.
He clung tightly to my shoulder, one paw even hooked into my hoodie's hood to keep his balance.
I had no idea how long we drifted like that, but soon every muscle in my body screamed with exhaustion.
If this kept up, before long Yiyi and I would really end up as a pair of drowned, wronged water ghosts.
Just as I was losing hope, my gaze sharpened—I spotted a crooked-necked tree ahead, with a curtain of vines hanging down from its branches, trailing right into the water's surface.
I quickly judged the distance.
Perfect!
If I was right, we'd pass right beneath it.
As long as I seized the chance and grabbed those vines, I'd finally be able to catch my breath.
Before long, we drifted under the tree.
Seizing the moment, I slapped the water twice to lift myself up as much as I could, then shot out a hand and grabbed two or three vines at once.
My body was almost instantly steadied, though the lower half still dragged forward with the current's pull.
I quickly reached out with my other hand and grabbed a couple more vines, finally managing to hold myself securely in place.
Clutching the vines, I took several deep, ragged breaths, then began scanning my surroundings.
I was still near the side where I'd fallen from the cliff just now.
The tree entangled with these vines grew high up the cliffside.
Tilting my head back, I gauged the height—it was at least ten meters.
Climbing back onto land wouldn't be easy.
I glanced across the rushing water to the other bank, and my head throbbed with despair.
Over there, it was nothing but smooth rock walls—impossible to scale.
Looking up again at the crooked-necked tree and the dense curtain of vines dangling down, I thought hard and realized: apart from climbing up with my bare hands, there was no other way.
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