The cat rolled its eyes, then turned around and presented its chubby body to me, clearly not intending to pay me any heed.
I idly switched on the flashlight I always carried and swept the beam around. It was obvious this was Yan Yan's room, and it seemed the owner didn't come back here often.
The things were arranged in an extremely orderly manner, neatly placed in rows. There were some black marks gradually spreading around, which gave me a bad feeling.
I sniffed the air seeping in from outside the door and suddenly realized something. This place wasn't completely sealed. Someone was releasing sleeping pills into the room.
Hadn't I already agreed to the wedding tonight? The idea of two men getting married was simply preposterous, yet were they still planning to do something to me?
The cat's gloating look became more and more obvious. Finally, I caught on. I closed my eyes and with a thud, fell to the ground, waiting for what was to come.
In the last moment before I lost consciousness, my heart was filled with helplessness. Was it really that tragic to be treated this way every time?
But when I opened my eyes again, what greeted me wasn't the hellish scene I had expected, but Fatty's greasy face.
Fatty leaned over and nudged my arm with his toe. "Get up already. Do you plan to wait here until it's too late? If you keep lying like this, even the daylilies will be cold."
I gave Fatty a disdainful look and scrambled up clumsily, looking around.
"Where are we? How did you end up here?"
I didn't believe Fatty had the ability to rescue me from that den of wolves.
Facing my suspicion, he didn't seem particularly offended. Instead, he looked as if it was only natural.
"Of course, it wasn't me who saved you. Someone else did."
He tossed a key into my hand. "The guy told me to give this to you."
I thought of Yan Yan, and my expression became a bit strange.
"What does this mean?"
I examined the key in my hand. It was an extremely ancient bronze key that seemed to have been around for quite some time.
Since my family ran an antique shop, I could tell how old this thing was.
"This is an antique. Why did he give it to me?"
"Be content. He's been quite nice to you. The elders of their clan have their eyes on you. Do you really want to become that damned sacrifice?"
"What do you mean?" A chill ran down my back.
Fatty explained to me that on the way, he received a message from Yan Yan. Although Fatty didn't know how to feel about Yan Yan's actions, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
In this situation, the most important thing wasn't to explain things to me but to get out of this dangerous restricted area quickly.
Grabbing my arm, Fatty and the police officer carried me away. They hoisted me up like a sack and ran forward at full speed.
Hua Lian'er looked at us, rolled her eyes, and said, "What on earth are you doing?"
"Hurry up and get out of here. Something's not right here."
"I'm not leaving."
Hua Lian'er seemed to lose her temper all of a sudden. I was weak all over and being carried, so I couldn't say anything.
Hua Lian'er sneered. "You'd rather save this good - for - nothing than investigate the secrets of this clan?"
"You're the good - for - nothing! Let me tell you, he's my brother. If you want to insult him, you have to get through me first. I'm warning you, watch your mouth."
Fatty's hot temper was unforgiving. As soon as he opened his mouth, he started cursing. Staring into Hua Lian'er's eyes, his gaze was filled with fierceness.
Hua Lian'er was startled by Fatty. She first shrank her neck back, then immediately looked around nervously.
"I'm warning you, be polite to me. I won't let this go. Before I came here, I contacted that black - clothed man. You'd better be nice to me."
Hua Lian'er's words made the police officer frown. The two of them rushed into the mountains in a hurry.
"Stop right there!"
Hua Lian'er's face changed drastically when she saw the direction they were running. Even though I didn't see her expression, I could feel the despair in her voice.
"Stop! You can't go in. Don't you know what kind of place that is? You'll die if you go in!"
Hua Lian'er roared from behind, on the verge of tears. But no matter how sad she was, she didn't move a single step.
It seemed that no matter what, we still couldn't escape this place.
Sighing, when I turned around to leave, my movements suddenly froze. A black - clothed figure was standing there.
The man stared at us with a cold gaze, saying nothing. I stiffly turned my head to look at Fatty and almost died of anger when I saw his evasive look.
"Hey, buddy, what are you hiding from?"
Fatty gave a somewhat guilty laugh. "Sorry, we wanted to wait for you, but things were urgent just now."
"I know."
Yan Yan's voice was cold, and his eyes were full of helplessness.
"I hope you can go in with me."
As soon as he said this, I immediately realized something. I shrank my neck and hid behind Fatty.
"Don't look at me first, buddy. Let's be honest. This is the restricted area of your clan. If those people come after us, you'll probably have to go in with us too, right?"
After a brief explanation of the current situation, it turned out that in order to prevent the black - clothed leader and the others from chasing us, the police officer and Fatty planned to take me into the restricted area.
Of course, they would go in with me too. Hearing this, I immediately interrupted them.
"Wait a minute. What do you mean? You're not joking, are you? It's a restricted area. How can we just go in?"
Fatty shook his head and whispered in my ear, "It's a restricted area, but there must be a way to deal with it. It's better than you just dying like this, buddy. Think it over. If you're really targeted out here, you might even be sliced alive. Do you know what happens to a sacrifice that escapes?"
I thought to myself, of course I don't know. All I know is that I might be used and then thrown into this desolate mountain with its tombs. How would I know what the consequences would be?
Fatty squinted at me. "I didn't just sit around doing nothing. I found out some things. Anyway, you should make a good decision. If it weren't for your life being in real danger, I wouldn't have done this. If a sacrifice that escapes is discovered, they'll be sliced alive. Do you know what that means? Your flesh will be peeled off your bones bit by bit."
I couldn't help shivering and stared into Fatty's eyes. "Are you serious?"