sunset melting gold

Fang Shiqiu dreamed of that hand again.

Leaning in his warm embrace, the hand that once brought medicine pills and warm water caressed his protruding spine, and gently patted his trembling back.

It was the dumb woman's hand, not wrapped in cloth strips, not torn by ice and snow, weak but intact.

The nerve-burning heat subsided slowly, and the terrified heart returned to calm. Fang Shiqiu wanted to open his eyes to see her, but his swollen eyelids were extremely heavy, sticky and unable to open.

He slept for a long time, and when he woke up again, the mute girl who should have been leaning on his side was gone.

The flame in the fireplace had been extinguished for an unknown amount of time, no sparks could be seen on the charred charcoal, no movement could be heard in the huge villa, only the humming of the wind squeezed in through the crack of the door.

The dumb girl was not in the villa, Fang Shiqiu leaned against the fireplace that was still warm, thinking about her whereabouts.

She promised that she would not leave, maybe she just ran out of firewood and went out to look for it.

Fang Shiqiu huddled in a corner, wrapped his body tightly with a thin blanket, rubbed his fingertips over the dry fluff, and picked a hard lump.

The thin blanket hadn't been cleaned for a long time, and the pus and blood-stained cloth exuded a rotten smell, and the fluff was stuck together by the dried mixture, dry and agglomerated, completely losing its function of keeping warm.

The heat from the fireplace dissipated little by little, the cold wind blowing in from the gap under the door swirled wildly in the empty room, and the familiar roar came again from the sky above the villa.

The wind and snow blown by the propellers made the windows buzz, and the glass shook and vibrated, as if it would fall at any moment.

Fang Shiqiu covered his head with a thin blanket and curled up on the ground.

The voice of the helicopter sounded different from the previous one, but there was no difference. After all, it didn't come for them, and it wouldn't take them away from this cold and desolate tomb.

Fang Shiqiu tightly covered his ears, his arched body trembling constantly.

Don't listen, don't think.

As long as there is no expectation, there will be no pain.

The helicopter hovering above the pine forest finally left again with a high profile as Fang Shiqiu wished.

The wilderness returned to calm, and Fang Shiqiu crawled out from under the thin blanket.

The sound of helicopters circling past was noisy and piercing, and the sound of a drum-like heartbeat sounded on the overcongested eardrums, occupying all his hearing.

He couldn't hear the movement in the room, Fang Shiqiu was suddenly a little scared, and wanted to go downstairs to find the dumb girl.

He stood up leaning on the fireplace, staggered out of the room with the knife left by the dumb girl, and came to the stairs.

Compared to the empty rooms, the stairs of the villa are a mess.

The wooden fence was roughly cut down, and the gaps were full of sharp wooden thorns. The handrail extending upward from the bottom was almost suspended in the air, and would shake violently with just a light touch.

Fang Shiqiu couldn't stand and walk with his own strength, and was afraid of being thrown down the stairs by the shaking handrails, so he could only squat on the stairs, holding on to the steps to move down step by step.

His feet were covered with chilblains, and when he stepped on the stairs, the wounds on the soles of his feet were excruciatingly itchy, and he had to take a break every few steps.

When walking to the last step, the door not far away was suddenly knocked.

Fang Shiqiu was taken aback, fell down the steps, and fell heavily on the ground. There was a crisp sound from the ankle pressed by the body, and a tingling pain came from the joint.

But he didn't care about the pain in his body at all, he scrambled and hid in the corner by the stairs, holding the small knife that was cut tightly with both hands.

"Bang bang—"

The creatures outside the door pounded hard on the door, and the fragile door panel was crumbling.

Fang Shiqiu hid in a corner, the knife in his hand trembling.

He was too scared, and his over-stressed brain began to imagine unknown creatures outside the door, which would be ferocious and hungry beasts, who would break through the door and pounce on the half-dead prey, pull out his internal organs, and eat his dirty and ugly body of.

The absurd hallucinations and physical pain combined to become even more unbearable pain.

Fang Shiqiu even prayed to the non-existent god again, praying that the creature outside the door was not a naughty feline, not fond of torturing its prey, but could bite his throat cleanly and kill him quickly.

He's had enough, let him out of this nightmare.

The banging on the door continued for a while, then suddenly stopped.

The door panel no longer squeaked, replaced by a strange sound like rubber rubbing against snow.

Fang Shiqiu twitched the corners of his mouth and laughed while holding the knife.

It turned out that in addition to hallucinations, he had auditory hallucinations again. He could hear the sound of snow boots walking and fantasize about the appearance of humans.

"Is anyone there?" the creature outside the door shouted.

The smile on Fang Shiqiu's face froze when the voice sounded, and the knife in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

It was a human voice, a young male speaking.

But not Liang Ming.

Could this man have come to save him?

Fang Shiqiu couldn't tell whether the voice was a hallucination or reality, and sat there in a daze. The man outside the door knocked on the door again as if he had sensed his thoughts.

"Hello!" he said in broken English.

"Is there anyone in there?"

The man outside the door kept shouting, Fang Shiqiu regained consciousness like a dream, and staggered to the door.

His hands were hanging on the doorknob, and he pressed down on the doorknob with his body weight.

The door opened, and the dazzling sunlight came in. Fang Shiqiu, who had lost his support, fell backwards.

He was ready to fall to the ground, but his back fell on a cold object, and he didn't feel the expected pain.

Blinded by tears from the sun, Fang Shiqiu couldn't see the man in front of him clearly, only a red shadow dangling in front of his eyes.

The man spoke a strange language that Fang Shiqiu couldn't understand, and warm hands grasped his ankle and wrist, and touched the collar around his neck.

The specially made flexible neck ring was hooped around Fang Shiqiu's slender neck, and it was tightened by coughing and vomiting again and again, and it had already been strangled into the fragile flesh, and even the slightest touch would arouse pain.

Fang Shiqiu closed his eyes in despair.

The man's hand paused, without touching the collar again, he picked him up and walked towards the pine forest.

Fang Shiqiu leaned in the man's arms, tears overflowed his eyes in the bumps, and his vision gradually became clear.

He looked at the villa that was gradually being left behind, and thought of the dumb girl who had nowhere to go.

"Wait...wait a minute!"

The man stopped and tightened his arms holding Fang Shiqiu.

Fang Shiqiu wanted to ask the man to find the missing dumb girl, but because he hadn't talked to anyone for a long time, he couldn't describe the dumb girl's appearance.

"There's one more person with me!"

"She...she can't speak, and her hands and feet are wrapped...in cloth..."

A hoarse voice stuck in his throat, making a tearing and ugly sound.

The man was silent for a moment and asked, "An Asian woman like you?"

There was hope in Fang Shiqiu's eyes, and he wanted to ask about the mute girl's whereabouts, but the man looked away.

"She was injured and has been sent to the hospital down the mountain for treatment."

The man didn't stay any longer, and continued walking towards the depths of the pine forest with Fang Shiqiu in his arms.

The pine forest next to the villa is dense and vast, and the snow under the trees is deep and shallow. The man held Fang Shiqiu and walked along the footprints when he came for a long time, and finally reached the edge of the pine forest before sunset.

The rocky beach in summer exposes a large area of ​​rugged rocks, with sharp edges and corners everywhere. It is difficult for rescue helicopters to land, so they can only park in a wider area further away.

Fang Shiqiu lay on the man's shoulder and approached the helicopter bit by bit. The pine forest and rocks no longer hindered his leaving footsteps, and the dilapidated villa was completely left behind.

He can finally get out of here.

Fang Shiqiu was pleased with himself, and when he walked towards the more open snow field, he caught a glimpse of red from the corner of his eye.

He turned his head, and a large area of ​​crimson came into view.

The snow-capped plain was splashed with crimson liquid, and splashed red dots were scattered all around. The air was filled with a faint smell of blood, like a blood-red ink painting with splashes of ink.

The joyful expression on Fang Shiqiu's face froze at that moment.

He didn't dare to think about what it was.

Is it red paint?is blood?

Or his hallucination?

"do not look."

The man covered Fang Shiqiu's eyes with his hands.

His vision was blocked, and a scorching red remained on the pitch-black retina.

Fang Shiqiu didn't know whose blood it was.

Could it be Liang Ming's?

Or dumb?

It must have been left by some animal.

Fang Shiqiu was helped onto the helicopter and put on a dry and clean thermal blanket.

He resisted the urge to look back, and did not look at the crimson snow again.