Linbiangui Village-Infinite Streaming Chapter 8

Sister A Ping’s Demise

The two of them stumbled onto a completely new path. Chen Jin felt uncertain, unsure if they would safely descend the mountain or walk into a dead end.

But deep in these old mountains and forests, his phone couldn’t pick up a single bar of signal. Besides relying on memory to avoid the path they took up, they could only rely on luck to find a main road out.

The deeper they went, the denser the vegetation became. It was nearly impossible to spot a person hidden inside.

“Ding!” Chen Jin’s phone suddenly received a message. He quickly silenced the sound and tapped it open. It was an emoji sent by Wu Zeng an hour ago, likely failing to transmit earlier due to the lack of signal.

Why did the signal appear the deeper they went into the mountain? Chen Jin quickly opened the map.

Mengle Village was dubbed a border village because it bordered two countries, Sha Country and Mian Jing. However, the borders were all high mountains, making travel difficult, so it never developed into a major port city.

“So, we’re about to cross the border,” Chen Jin murmured.

“Now that you mention it, I can probably guess the origin of that corpse.”

Of course. Border city, deep mountain forest, disembowelment—these keywords strung together the answer: human drug trafficking.

This was anti-drug knowledge taught in safety education classes when he was a child. Border drug traffickers, to evade inspection at border checkpoints, would package drugs, swallow them, and then travel alone through the deep mountains for manual transport. Upon reaching their destination, they would take a laxative to pass them out.

This method was extremely dangerous. Not only would the carrier die instantly if the packaging ruptured, but brutal traffickers sometimes even disemboweled people to quickly retrieve the drugs.

“Shh!” A sudden, loud movement came from ahead, like something running past.

“Who’s there!”

Silence followed.

Chen Jin’s taut nerves relaxed slightly. Whatever it was hadn’t rashly attacked, meaning it was either a small animal or a solitary person—at least not the groups of big men from down the mountain.

Wu Zeng frantically gestured something to Chen Jin, who surprisingly understood his meaning: “I’ll go check. You stay here.”

Wu Zeng crouched low and moved forward, disappearing from sight shortly after.

“It’s you!” A female voice suddenly came from a distance. The voice was very familiar. Chen Jin rushed forward, taking three steps in two, and quickly saw Sister A Ping leaning against a tree. A rock was placed beside her, presumably for self-defense.

“You… how did you end up here…” Sister A Ping was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt today, which made her face look particularly pale. Her hair was messy, and her voice sounded weak, as if she were injured.

“Sister A Ping, what happened to you?” Chen Jin knelt beside her. He didn’t see any obvious wounds, but a faint stench drifted toward him.

“To be seen in such… a terrible state,” Sister A Ping gave a wry smile. Normally, she always pushed the stray hairs from her forehead back, but now she didn’t have the strength to tidy herself.

“I’ll carry you.” Wu Zeng crouched down. Chen Jin immediately helped her stand up, and the two of them worked together to hoist Sister A Ping onto his back.

“Ouch…” The movement of being lifted caused Sister A Ping a sharp pain. Wu Zeng immediately felt something soaking his back.

“Don’t go back the way we came. There’s a small path near the border line,” Chen Jin led the way, and the three of them quickly retreated.

“I… I won’t live long. Carrying me is just a burden. You two should hurry and leave…” Sister A Ping struggled to utter a few words, then fell silent.

“She’s fainted.” Chen Jin checked her breathing, his brow furrowed.

“Lads! Where did you fall!” Suddenly, shouts echoed through the mountain. The tone was concerned and calm, sounding less like pursuers and more like kind villagers searching for lost children.

“They caught up this fast?!”

“They know the area well; they have ways to take shortcuts.” Chen Jin looked back. The vegetation behind them was dense, and he couldn’t see anyone. “They should still be some distance away. Can you run?”

“Let’s go!” Wu Zeng nodded.

The two began to jog, trying not to make too much noise, so their speed didn’t increase much. In contrast, the sounds of the group behind them grew closer.

The weeds here were overgrown, nearly as tall as a person, making it impossible to see the path underfoot. They could be tripped by a hidden rock at any moment.

With a whoosh, the three of them tumbled into a hole.

“Shit!” Chen Jin slammed heavily onto the ground, cursing in pain.

“Oh, you know how to swear, too!” Wu Zeng chuckled softly.

The spot where they fell was the top opening of a cellar-like pit, hidden deep in the weeds. It was extremely concealed, almost completely covered by grass, allowing very little light to penetrate.

“Uncle Cai, any further and we’ll cross the border!”

“Hmph, the Coiled Turtle Tomb is nearby. It’s not worth forcing our way across for two outsiders!” Uncle Cai snorted, then continued, “Let’s go down first. They can’t possibly stay on the mountain forever. As soon as they descend, we’ll catch them!”

The three of them held their breath in the hole. Only after the footsteps faded did Chen Jin let out a sigh of relief. He couldn’t see his surroundings and had to grope in the darkness to find the other two.

After several attempts, Chen Jin’s hand was grasped by a pair of cold hands. “I’m here. Don’t grope around.”

Chen Jin shivered from the cold. After running in fear for so long, he was drenched in sweat and radiating heat. How was Wu Zeng still so icy cold?

“Help me support her.”

Chen Jin turned on his phone flashlight, setting it to the lowest brightness to illuminate the area. Sister A Ping was lying on top of Wu Zeng. Wu Zeng must have been hit much harder, yet he hadn’t made a sound.

Chen Jin quickly helped Sister A Ping off and sat her leaning against the wall nearby.

This pit was clearly man-made, with a wall specifically carved out. The wall was covered with alligator snapping turtle shells of varying sizes. The only commonality was that they all had some chips or gaps. This must be the Coiled Turtle Tomb that Uncle Cai mentioned, though its purpose was unknown.

Directly opposite the wall, a path wound outward, leading who knows where.

These locals seemed very wary of this place. Regardless of whether the pit was good or bad, at least the human threat couldn’t enter for now.

“Cough, cough…” Sister A Ping was startled awake by a choking cough. The odor emanating from her grew stronger.

Chen Jin leaned closer. Sister A Ping was clutching her abdomen, occasionally gasping, her eyes filled with unconcealed fear.

“Sister A Ping, are you injured in your abdomen?” Chen Jin took off his short-sleeved shirt, preparing to press it against her stomach. “If there’s a wound, we need to stop the bleeding first.”

“Ah…” Wu Zeng watched as Chen Jin stripped off his shirt, kneeling bare-chested on the ground. He had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a lean physique tucked into his jeans. He looked quite, well, quite something…

But given the situation, it wasn’t appropriate to say anything, so Wu Zeng ultimately stammered and didn’t utter another word.

“I’ll return your shirt later,” Chen Jin added without turning his head.

Who cares about the shirt!

Sister A Ping took a long breath. “No need…”

With that, she lifted her shirt. The area around her navel had begun to rot, and yellow pus constantly oozed out—exactly like the pus-filled corpse on the mountain earlier.

“I won’t live long. Thank you for taking me with you just now. You went to all that trouble for nothing.” Sister A Ping managed a bitter smile. Her lips were dry and cracked, but her breathing was smoother than before, and the pain seemed to have lessened somewhat.

The more this happened, the worse the situation was. The last surge of adrenaline was taking effect.

Chen Jin tried to say something, but Wu Zeng stopped him.

Sister A Ping shook her head, a bitter smile on her face. “I remember now. I remember everything, hahaha…”

By the end, her laughter had turned into a mournful, tragic sound, only stopping when she choked again, halting her hysterical outburst.

“Calm down. We’ll take you down the mountain to the hospital immediately. There’s still a chance,” Chen Jin knelt on the ground, his eyes lowered. He knew these were just comforting lies.

“There’s no need.” Sister A Ping took a deep breath, her words filled with helpless sorrow. “Do you know? This world, it’s all fake. Fake.”

Chen Jin’s heart tightened. Could she be…?

Sister A Ping was lost in her own world. She didn’t care if the two of them were listening, speaking only to herself: “That year I passed through this village. The locals used sausages to get me addicted to the herb, turning me into a human mule and forcing me to transport drugs. I never thought I would die tragically halfway. I thought it was freedom, but I never imagined! I never imagined that even death wouldn’t free me from this place, cough, cough, cough…”

The two of them were confused.

“Dead, I became a part of this mountain village, accompanying it in endless cycles. Every time… every time my memory is wiped clean, and I repeat the cycle of addiction, human mule, and tragic death over and over. Only in this final moment before death, am I, the real me.” Sister A Ping’s voice was hoarse and trembling. “This is a curse, a curse…”

“You’ll be free soon.” Wu Zeng squatted beside her. “You are not alone on this final journey.”

“As long as this mountain village remains unbroken, I will ultimately have to taste this bitter fruit again.” Sister A Ping tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You are good people. The only advice I can give you is to stay away from those sausages. Don’t get addicted to the herb, or your fate will be the same as mine…”

Gradually, Sister A Ping fell silent. Even her breathing could no longer be heard.

Chen Jin stared blankly at the scene. This was the third person to die in front of him today. He felt that this world was becoming increasingly unreal.

Looking up at Wu Zeng, a thought suddenly popped into Chen Jin’s mind: Will this person be gone the next second, too?

Chen Jin and Wu Zeng had only known each other for two days, yet his dependence on him had inexplicably reached its peak.

“Let’s go.” Wu Zeng put the shirt back on Chen Jin.

“Where to?”

“To refresh. To push time forward, otherwise we won’t even be able to return to the village.” Wu Zeng pulled Chen Jin up from the ground and led him toward the exit.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, they finally saw the light from the cave entrance. The two steeled their hearts and walked out, with Wu Zeng stepping across the boundary first, as before.

The next second, the familiar dull pain returned, and the two of them were back in the bathhouse stall. The dim yellow light remained unchanged.