Gu Sisi walked forward without looking back.
Naturally, she also ignored the person on a house not far away who let out a deep sigh in her direction.
Gu Sisi took out a small compass from her pocket. She had secretly bought it when shopping with Miss Huo Wu after learning that the Valley of Death was a small grove.
Perhaps it was because no one had entered for years.
As soon as Gu Sisi walked into the grove, she felt a chill down her spine. The temperature here was much lower than outside, and the overlapping leaves blocked out the sunlight.
When her feet stepped on the fallen leaves, they made a "crunch" sound, which was extremely obvious in the silent forest.
Gu Sisi rubbed the goosebumps on her body and continued walking south while looking at the compass.
She didn't know how long she had walked, but Gu Sisi felt that she had gone deep into the grove, yet there was still no end in sight.
Suddenly, there was a "whoosh" sound.
Gu Sisi was so startled that her whole body trembled, and the compass in her hand fell to the ground.
She still remembered vividly the dream from the previous day, the feeling of fear while running away. Now, her blood seemed to freeze from fear. When she took a closer look, it turned out to be just a wild rabbit passing by. She was stiff for a long time before she let out a sigh of relief. Bending down, she picked up her compass from the fallen leaves.
She continued walking forward, but this time, she was more careful.
The wild rabbit was just an accident. After that, Gu Sisi encountered more and more "accidents", such as wild chickens, squirrels, snakes hidden in the leaves, various plants, and some animals she didn't recognize.
Thankfully, they were all harmless.
Gu Sisi patted her chest, grateful for her good luck. If she had encountered a wild boar or a poisonous snake, she would have been in big trouble.
The more she walked, the more puzzled she became. Gu Sisi guessed that the monster people in the neighborhood talked about might be a large - sized animal.
But as soon as this thought came to her mind, she thought of more and more things and became increasingly scared. So, she simply stopped thinking about it and focused on walking forward.
She didn't know how long she had walked when suddenly she heard the sound of flowing water. She was overjoyed and rushed towards it.
The presence of water meant that she might be able to find an exit.
Sure enough, Gu Sisi saw a gurgling small stream. Although it was very narrow, it was undoubtedly great news for Gu Sisi in her current situation.
With the help of the small stream, Gu Sisi gradually walked out.
But all she saw was an open grassland covered with short weeds. Gu Sisi was completely confused and didn't know how to proceed.
Had she left the Valley of Death?
Since she had walked for a long time, Gu Sisi took a short rest. Sitting on the ground, she noticed that the sky was getting darker. Only then did she realize that she had been walking in the grove for a whole day.
Because Gu Sisi was afraid that someone would track her down and also afraid that Miss Huo Wu would come looking for her. She felt extremely guilty and didn't know how to face her, so she didn't bring her phone and had no way of knowing the time.
Gu Sisi got nervous. Afraid of spending the night in this wilderness, she quickly got up and looked around to see if there were any houses.
She rushed forward without stopping. Sure enough, she saw a wisp of smoke not far away.
There must be houses there!
Gu Sisi was certain. Overjoyed, she rushed towards the source of the smoke without hesitation.
After walking for a while, she felt that she was getting closer. But Gu Sisi also felt more and more tired. Gasping for breath, she stopped for a moment, then looked up and continued walking.
However, three men emerged from the thicket in front of the path and blocked Gu Sisi's way.
Gu Sisi gradually slowed down. Seeing this, the three men walked towards her.
She sensed something was wrong and quickly turned around and ran backwards, but was surrounded by the three men.
"Where are you running? Do you think we'll eat you?" one man said while licking his teeth.
"Judging from her appearance, she's not from around here," one man concluded.
Another man knocked on that man's head: "It doesn't matter whether she is or not. We're here to rob anyway."
These three men all had strong local accents, and Gu Sisi had to listen very carefully to understand what they were saying.
Hearing this, Gu Sisi immediately squatted down and pleaded: "You can have my money. Please just let me go."
Gu Sisi had no way to fight back. Right now, the money on her was of little use to her anyway, so it didn't matter if she gave it away.
"Wow! She really isn't from around here," the man said again after hearing Gu Sisi speak.
This time, with the dim sunlight, they could also clearly see Gu Sisi's appearance.
"Isn't that obvious? She clearly doesn't look like one of us!"
The tallest man made the judgment. Then he squatted down and put on a seemingly amiable smile: "You said you'd give us all your money?"
Gu Sisi was terrified inside, but she just followed his words and said tremblingly: "Yes, as long as you let me go."
"What if I don't?" the man retorted.
The other two men got interested and squatted down. They patted the tall man on the shoulder: "Dongzi, are you crazy? If you don't let her go, are you going to take care of her?"
"Why not?" the man retorted.
The two men were stunned. There really wasn't a reason why not.
She was an outsider, with no one to turn to.
"But Dongzi, think about it. A stranger comes here. Don't you think her background is very suspicious?" another man still had some sense.
"Who cares? What can a woman do?" the man seemed to not care at all.
The men discussed Gu Sisi's fate with each other, completely ignoring her thoughts.
At this moment, while they were chatting, Gu Sisi found an opportunity. When they weren't paying attention to her, she stood up and ran away in a flash.
The men only realized it later. They suddenly stood up and let out an "ouch" sound. They got up too quickly and felt a bit dizzy.
By the time they chased after her, Gu Sisi had already run far away.
Just like being chased by the monster in her dream, Gu Sisi didn't dare to stop for a moment.
Every time Gu Sisi was about to give up and the men behind were about to catch up with her, she somehow found the strength to speed up again. The men behind were also out of breath.
"This woman can run so fast!" one man gasped while holding his leg.
"Quickly chase. Don't let her get away," the tall man was very anxious.
The men chased after her again.
Gu Sisi finally ran back to the grove she had just left and stopped.
The men behind also caught up. Seeing the situation, they laughed.
"Keep running! Why don't you run anymore?" the man's words were clearly full of schadenfreude.
Gu Sisi didn't say a word. She just took steps backward, getting closer and closer to the grove.
The faces of the three men in front changed.
"Are you crazy? If you go in there, you'll die," one man shouted anxiously.
Gu Sisi stopped.
Seeing this, the men took small steps towards her and waved their hands carefully, afraid of scaring her.
"Listen to us. Come with us and leave. Don't do anything stupid..."
They got closer and closer. Just as a man was about to grab her, Gu Sisi dodged.
Before the man could continue, Gu Sisi turned around and disappeared from their sight, entering the grove.
"What...?"
The men were at a loss. This was a completely unexpected situation.
"What should we do?" someone was anxious.
Another man shook his head and said blankly: "It's okay. As long as we don't say anything, no one will know."