Chapter 20: Getting Lost

Chapter 20: Lost

The brown-haired man saw Wen Yu switching dorms as a direct slap in the face.

Now, on this deserted island, with seven days ahead, no surveillance cameras, no teachers watching at all times, no way for parents to get through on the phone—this environment was too perfect for making a move.

The brown-haired man leaned against a palm tree, breaking his compressed biscuit into small pieces and popping them into his mouth one by one. "These past two days, Lou Xuemeng has been glued to that sissy."

"We've gotta get her away from him."

The chance came soon enough.

On the evening of the third day, the setting sun painted the entire island orange-red.

While Lou Xuemeng was washing her face by the stream, the brown-haired man crouched a few meters downstream, washing his hands and knife, moving slow, like he was waiting for something.

"President," the brown-haired man suddenly spoke up, "You and Wen Yu are pretty tight?"

Lou Xuemeng ignored him.

The brown-haired man didn't mind and kept talking anyway: "He just headed into the woods on the north side, said he was going to look for... a water source? I didn't hear him right. I told him he should be back before dark, but he said no worries."

"I noticed he left without any water."

Lou Xuemeng hung around by the stream for a few more seconds, then stood up and headed back toward the camp.

She wasn't the type to be led around so easily.

She went to Wen Yu's tent and pulled the zipper open.

Empty.

The backpack was there. The water bottle wasn't.

Lou Xuemeng's fingers paused on the zipper tab for a second.

"That direction has a split in the ravine," the brown-haired man said in a low voice. "The ridges on either side look identical. Even veteran rangers get lost there."

A spark lit up her eyes, and the corner of her mouth curled up. She snatched her stuff and ran off in the direction the brown-haired man had pointed.

The brown-haired man smirked, thinking she'd fallen for it.

When Wen Yu came back, he'd use the same trick and send him the opposite way.

The sky was darkening.

The brown-haired man stood at the edge of the camp, hands in his pockets, staring off in that direction.

Wen Yu emerged from the woods, his clothes smeared with mud.

The second he saw Wen Yu, his face changed. He strode over. "Well, well, look who it is—my dear old roommate?"

Wen Yu just stared at him, silent.

The brown-haired man stood half a head taller. "You've got the nerve to come back?"

The brown-haired man shoved him hard in the chest.

Wen Yu's heel caught on an exposed tree root. He scrambled to grab the trunk beside him, scraping his palm on the rough bark. The pain made him hiss, and his eyes instantly welled up.

"Switching dorms," the brown-haired man stepped forward, looking down at him. "You think that's the end of it?"

The brown-haired man reached out and smacked Wen Yu's face twice, not hard, but not lightly either.

Wen Yu gathered his nerve and shot back, "Touch me again and I'm telling the counselor!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" the brown-haired man's voice dropped, and he sneered. "You think the counselor gives a damn about you?"

The brown-haired man kicked him.

Wen Yu's skull cracked against the trunk with a dull thud.

The brown-haired man stepped back half a pace, brushing imaginary dust off his hands. "Lou Xuemeng's gone."

"You think you've still got someone in your corner?"

Wen Yu's gaze shifted away from the brown-haired man's face, scanning Lou Xuemeng's tent. The zipper was open. Empty.

Her backpack wasn't there.

The brown-haired man gave him a smug look. "Funny thing is, I know where she is."

"She went looking for you."

"I sent her over there. She might starve to death."

But then the brown-haired man tilted his head, his expression hovering between sympathy and mockery. "Say, if something happens to her, won't that be on you?"

Wen Yu walked away, stooped to grab his flashlight. He almost lost his balance when he crouched, and it took him two tugs to yank it loose. He mumbled something to himself.

The young man's shoulders were slightly hunched, and there was still a little welt on his face from an insect bite.

"If she's missing even one hair on her head," Wen Yu's voice still carried no real threat, but it was the hardest words he'd ever spoken, soft but sharp, like half-melted sugar, "I'll come back for you!"

"Tch." The brown-haired man sneered. "At night, you'd better not come back alive."

The brown-haired man stood there, watching Wen Yu run off, and found it almost funny.

Saying he'd come back for him—what right did some new-money brat have to take revenge on him?

About twenty minutes after Wen Yu ran out, the flashlight's beam started to fade.

"Lou Xuemeng——!"

Wen Yu shouted, his voice bouncing through the woods, swallowed by the trees, dying out before it got far.

The ground under his feet felt familiar. He'd already passed the same three crooked pine trees. He didn't notice the first, got suspicious at the second, and knew for sure at the third.

He was lost.

Wen Yu stopped, pulled out the multi-tool knife from his pocket, and scratched a line in the dirt as a marker.

When he stood up, his knee hit a tree root sticking out of the ground, making him grit his teeth in pain. This place was more terrifying than the mountain behind his village.

"Lou Xuemeng——! Where are you——!"

His voice came out weaker this time.

His throat was raw, and the flashlight was dying. When his right foot stepped down, the dead branches underfoot snapped, and the ground collapsed.

Wen Yu lost his balance in an instant, his fingertips scraping against the mud and tree roots on the pit wall as the flashlight flew out of his hand.

He hit the ground somewhere.

Pain shot through him.

Wen Yu slowly sat up.

He'd fallen into a pit.

Wen Yu leaned against the pit wall, hugged his knees to his chest, and curled into a small ball.

"Lou Xuemeng..." Wen Yu called out, but no one answered.

The mud on the walls smelled damp and musty. Wen Yu buried his face in his knees, then looked up after a moment, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

He thought of the rescue device, but he'd left it behind. He had clearly put it in his backpack—how could it not be there?

That bully of a former roommate stole it!

It must be!

"Wen Yu... you idiot."

Wen Yu curled up in the corner.