Liu Jialin came back to her senses. A bitter smile appeared on her pale face as she shook her head, raised a hand to knead her swollen, aching brow, and muttered to herself.
"How could anyone possibly be calling my name in a place like this? I must be so exhausted that I'm hallucinating."
Just as she was denying it herself, an even clearer voice came from somewhere nearby.
"Liu Jialin, where are you?"
This time, she heard it with perfect clarity—vivid and real, without the slightest trace of haziness.
A glimmer of light instantly lit up Liu Jialin's dim eyes. After carefully recognizing the voice, unconcealable delight flooded her face. "Someone really is calling for me. That's Lin Li's voice."
In this isolated, helpless underground deathtrap, suddenly hearing a familiar call was no different from finding life in the depths of despair. The desire to survive within her, already on the verge of being snuffed out, instantly rekindled with hope.
Liu Jialin forced her weak body to move, wanting to get to her feet at once and call back.
But at that moment, a heavy, dense scraping sound came from behind her. It drew closer and closer, making the ground tremble faintly.
Mutant beasts.
Lin Li's call had drawn in the mutant beasts wandering nearby. They were rapidly closing in from all sides in groups.
Liu Jialin's heart tightened, and she immediately swallowed the response at her lips, not daring to make a sound.
She knew clearly that once she answered, her voice would completely expose her location. Not only would it draw even more mutant beasts to surround her, it might even bring danger to Lin Li, who had come to save her.
Liu Jialin made a snap decision. Forcibly suppressing the searing pain in her waist and