"Whew."
"Whew."
Heavy, ragged breathing sounded above the pitch-black, cramped cellar.
Within the narrow cellar, fifteen-year-old Jiang Huan clutched his younger brother Jiang Ming tightly. Neither brother dared make the slightest sound.
Though the air in the cellar had already grown so turbid it was nearly foul, neither of them dared even breathe heavily.
The two huddled in a corner of the cellar, trembling from head to toe as the scalp-crawling sound of licking continued above their heads.
Only after the heavy crawling sounds had receded, and after who knew how long had passed in a hazy stupor, did Jiang Huan dare poke his head out of the cellar.
The village that had once been so familiar had become a field of ruined walls and rubble. House after house had collapsed, leaving only a few broken walls scattered about. Through the gaps in those walls, Jiang Huan saw severed limbs and corpses strewn everywhere, along with dried, blackened bloodstains.
Jiang Huan stared blankly at the ruins and remains, standing there as though numb. Only after an unknown amount of time had passed, when his younger brother Jiang Ming received no response and bravely climbed out of the cellar—only to see the remains covering the ground and collapse onto the earth—did Jiang Huan finally snap out of it.
Seeing Jiang Ming sprawled on the ground, unable even to cry, Jiang Huan suddenly shuddered. He realized that he and his brother were the only living people left in the village!
"Huanzi, you're grown up now. You must take good care of your brother."
"Huanhuan, protect yourself and your brother. No matter what you hear, don't come out!"
"You must live well. Don't come out, don't come out!"
Remembering his parents' instructions as they had shoved him and his brother into the cellar,