A Way Out

Qing Chen leaned quietly against the stone wall.

He used his hearing to its fullest potential and kept calculating something in his mind.

What to do?

This time, it seems even Qing Chen has no good way to get out of this predicament.

In fact, Qing Yi and Qing Li underestimated the number of wolves. They estimated that there were more than a hundred wolves, but Qing Chen's estimate was more than four hundred.

When Li Yu launched his attack, Qing Li and Sun Chuci used up a lot of ammunition in their firepower to suppress the wolf pack.

Even if every shot in the ravine hits its mark, the remaining ammunition would only be enough to wipe out the entire wolf pack.

But the threat from outside is not just the wolf pack, but also the person who controls the wolf pack and Li Yu.

This could be a planned and purposeful organization.

Qing Chen now has three judgments.

First of all, the person who carried out the plan should not be Qing Yuan. It's not that fast or easy for the other side to create puppets. Otherwise, they would have had many more options when they were in Zhengcheng...

Secondly, even after Li Yu became a living dead and came to the mountain valley, he still played his role very accurately.

Illustrate...

The person who turned him into a living dead was at least someone in the camp who knew about his conflict with his agent.

Finally, from a behavioral perspective, Li Yu is an ordinary person. Even if he attacked from behind, there were a total of nine refugees on duty, and he couldn't possibly kill them all.

Even if they succeeded in ambushing Sun Chuci, it would at most create an opportunity to test the waters.

Qing Chen felt that if he were the one controlling Li Yu, he could gain Li Yu's perspective from the outside.

Leaving Li Yu in the ravine to observe the situation is far more useful than sending him to his death.

Keeping Li Yu alive allows the enemy to find out if there's infighting in the ravine, and if they have enough food and ammunition. Isn't that more useful than sending him to his death?

But Qing Chen thought about it from another angle: was he necessarily smarter than the other person? What he could think of, the other person could probably think of as well.

So what made the other side think that Li Yu's perspective as an inside agent was not important?

Unless, the person who turned Li Yu into a living dead is in the mountain valley.

Qing Chen pondered.

This person must have witnessed the agent murdering Li Yu, so the clues should be focused on the group of people who were with Li Yu at the time.

Qing Chen observed everyone calmly, unable to determine who the other person was yet, or perhaps he was wrong.

The campfire in the valley went out at dawn.

The firewood had burned out, but they were unable to leave the ravine to find new fuel, and the wolf pack had not gone far.

There was no food, and some people were so hungry they were seeing stars, but they could only watch Qing Yi eat.

The sudden murder by Li Yu in the early morning left everyone in shock.

"It's so hot!" A crew member stood up and took off his windbreaker despite the freezing temperature.

This scene left everyone else stunned.

But then, in a daze, the man stripped off all his clothes except his underwear, and then collapsed to the ground, dead.

Someone went over to take a look and found that the person had a strange, unsettling smile on their face even after death.

"What's going on?!"

Why is he laughing?

First, there was the case of Li Yu, the living dead, committing murder.

Now someone suddenly complains about the heat, and then dies with a smile.

In an instant, everyone in the ravine was filled with terror. They looked out of the Yamaguchi, feeling that there was a mysterious and unknown horror there.

However, Qing Li Qing Chen knew that these were signs of impending death from freezing.

Before a person freezes to death, their central nervous system is suppressed, which causes them to emit false "abnormal heat sensations," making them feel hot instead of cold.

Soon, the person will die in a hazy, warm state.

This is also why many people who freeze to death have a strange smile on their face after they die.

Qing Li said coldly, "This is a normal phenomenon of freezing to death. Don't be alarmed. You would probably freeze to death in the same way."

His words only made everyone more panicked.

Qing Chen sat against the stone wall. He was hungry, but there was nothing he could do.

He looked across and saw Yan Chunmi huddled in a corner, secretly stuffing something into her mouth, then lowering her head so no one could see her chewing...

In the mountain valley, some people still secretly brought some food.

However, this was only the first day, and the real crisis had not yet arrived.

When everyone realizes they are about to be trapped here, the order in the valley will probably cease to exist.

Even Qing Yi's followers might not remain loyal.

The next day.

Eleven people froze to death.

Their clothes were stripped off, and several strong men put on three layers of clothing, finally warming themselves up a bit.

Qing Yi disdained doing things like stripping people of their clothes, so he didn't care.

As long as these people don't provoke him, they can do whatever they want.

During this time, Qing Chen discovered that Qing Yi had been cultivating with his eyes closed the whole time, and hadn't even slept.

When there's a campfire in the valley, even though everyone is far apart, just looking at the campfire gives them something to look forward to.

Now, even that thought is gone.

The wolf pack outside the Yamaguchi was still guarding the area, showing no sign of leaving.

Apart from Qing Yi, only a very small number of refugees still had food.

In the middle of the night, someone was smothered to death in their sleep. No one knew who had stolen the biscuits that the person had been hiding in their arms for several days.

The order in the mountain valley is crumbling little by little.

At first, some people were just testing the waters, but later they became more audacious after they found that Qing Yi and Qing Li didn't care.

Some people stripped the clothes off the dead and put them up for sale, even going so far as to approach female supporting actresses in the film crew and ask if they would be willing to exchange these warm clothes.

Qing Chen began to weaken, and he became unsteady on his feet.

No one knew whether he was hungry or sick.

In the middle of the night, someone sneaked up to him, intending to take advantage of his dazed state to strip him of his clothes. However, Liu Liqun discovered this in time and led the stagehands to chase the person away.

The third day.

Another 21 people died.

Qing Chen was even weaker. Liu Liqun had also led the stagehands to snatch clothes today, but after they got them back, they wrapped them around Qing Chen's body first.

Qing Chen... continued to feign illness while calmly observing the reactions of everyone in the ravine.

He hoped to find any possible accomplices in the mountain valley so that no one would stab him in the back when he fought his way out.

However, it's unclear whether Qing Chen misjudged the situation or the other party's acting was too good.

Qing Chen was unable to find any clues.

Today, even Qing Yi's side is running low on food.

According to Qing Li's estimate, they can only hold out for one more day at most.

Qing Li whispered to Qing Yi, "Young Master, we have to break through. If the enemy wants to kill us, they don't necessarily have to actually break in. They can just keep besieging us from the outside, and we'll die on our own in two days. So we have to break through; it's our only way to survive."

Qing Yi nodded. "Wait a little longer. If I wait two more days, I'll have a chance to break through to C-Class. Then my chances of surviving will be much higher."

Qing Li's eyes lit up. "Young Master, you're about to break through to C-Class? So fast?"

Qing Yi said, "When we were by the lake, the master gave me an initiation ceremony, and I have been trying to digest the true energy he instilled in me these past few days."

Now, Qing Chen's Knight True Qi has transformed from clouds and mist into a stream.

For him personally, it was certainly a good thing, but for someone like Qing Yi who received the initiation, it was a bit troublesome. After the 'stream' was poured into his body from the altar, it could not be immediately converted into his own strength. Instead, he needed to constantly cultivate his qi channels to absorb it little by little.

In the past two days, Qing Yi did nothing else but focus entirely on his spiritual practice.

He never gave up hope of living; he only wanted to reach C-Class as soon as possible so he could leave alive.

The protector was somewhat envious. He was a gene warrior, Qing Yi's father had promised him a gene serum if Qing Yi could successfully pass the third round of the Shadow Struggle.

When he is promoted to B-Class expert, his status in the family will also rise accordingly.

Qing Chen was quite pleased to hear their conversation. He had been worried that Qing Yi would be discouraged when facing adversity, but he found that he wasn't.

However, if Qing Yi plans to break out at dawn tomorrow, he won't have much time left to find an inside accomplice.

A large number of people in the mountain valley have fallen ill.

The order here is gradually crumbling.

At this time, no one dared to offend Qing Yi. Sun Chuci's group of seven occupied a corner and took turns keeping watch at night. Because they had weapons, no one dared to provoke them.

The crew was very well managed thanks to Liu Liqun's leadership and the strong sense of unity.

For the rest of the group, fights and disputes over clothing were common occurrences.

Yan Chunmi, the Kite Falcon, was a bit unlucky; every night she slept, three or four men would sneak up on her.

There are also many people eyeing her covetously.

Qing Chen knew that of the 21 people who died today, at least four were killed by Yan Chunmi ...

At this moment, a male supporting actor from the film crew came to Song Niaoniao carrying a heavy windbreaker and said, "Song Niaoniao, I've liked you for a long time. If you become my girlfriend, this windbreaker is for you."

Qing Yi for a moment, then looked at Qing Li.

Male supporting character, died.

Qing Yi muttered to himself, "They even dare to covet Mr. Lian's...? They're tired of living."

He looked at Qing Li: "Distribute the food to all of us, including Sun Chuci and the others. Make it clear to them that we'll be preparing to break out at dawn. If they can keep up, great; if not, there's nothing we can do. I still haven't broken through to C-Class, but we can't wait any longer."

Qing Li asked in a low voice, "What about Song Niaoniao? I think she and her agent can't keep up with us."

After thinking for Qing Yi said, "Let's make sure I stay alive first."

However, at that moment, Qing Li suddenly made a move and slashed Qing Yi's neck with a hand chop.

With the expert's help, Qing Yi immediately fainted.

Qing Chen frowned.

Before anyone else could react, Qing Li whispered to Qing Yi's other followers, "Change the young master's clothes. I'll put them on. Half of you stay here to protect him, and the other half come with me to lure the wolves away. Once the wolves are gone, you'll carry the young master away from the other side. Understand?"

The attendants exchanged bewildered glances and said with difficulty, "We understand."

Qing Chen was stunned. Qing Li actually thought that they had no chance of breaking through the encirclement, so he planned to use his own life to exchange for Qing Yi's life.