Although they dodged the fatal flood, the torrential rain continued. This cliff was strangely bare, with no trees growing except for rocks. For a moment, the three of them felt as if they were crammed into a narrow bathroom, forced to shower.
Seeing the two people beside him gradually freezing to the point of babbling incoherently, Zhang Qiling had no choice but to activate his Qilin tattoo to emit heat.
This move solved their immediate crisis. Fatty and Wu Tianzhen finally felt alive again.
But…
Zhang Qiling felt himself being squeezed from both sides, embraced by men, and his whole body stiffened.
To be precise, it wasn't exactly embracing, as he was the one being held.
"Well... well, well!" Fatty, with his superior physique, had almost enveloped both Xiao Zhang and Xiao Wu, blocking a significant amount of rain.
"Xiao Ge, your tattoo has this function too?"
"That's amazing! From now on, for winter camping, no need for electric blankets, and for summer camping, no need for mosquito repellent. It's essential for home and travel!"
Zhang Qiling: ...
He endured it repeatedly, but finally spoke:
"It's too tight..."
The grip of these two felt like they were trying to strangle him, and he was already having trouble breathing.
Hearing these three words, spoken calmly yet with an undertone of reproach, Wu Tianzhen and Fatty instantly loosened their hold, chuckling awkwardly.
Frozen and oblivious earlier, now that they had recovered, Wu Tianzhen saw Fatty's hair, beaten into a bowl-cut shape by the rain, making it almost impossible to find his eyes.
"Hahahaha, Fatty, your hair! Hahahaha!"
Fatty didn't care about that. He even dramatically flicked his bangs, sending water droplets splashing onto Zhang Qiling's face along with the rain.
Zhang Qiling wanted to speak but stopped himself. He really wanted to pull his hood down further, but his hands were bound. The cramped space didn't allow him to struggle forcefully, and he fell into a daze.
Even at this point, Fatty was still unwilling to let go of the poor heat source. xxs壹贰
"Hey Tianzhen, how can you laugh at me!" Fatty, after a self-proclaimed suave hair flick, immediately turned to mock Wu Tianzhen: "We're all in the same boat now, like drowned rats. No one should laugh at anyone else!"
Zhang Qiling: ...?
After speaking, Fatty expected Wu Tianzhen to retort. Instead, he saw Wu Tianzhen grimacing and making ferocious faces in the rain curtain, desperately signaling Fatty with his eyes to look at the center.
Fatty, not understanding, instinctively looked over, and happened to see Zhang Qiling staring at him intently.
Fatty: ...!
It must be said, among the three, only Zhang Qiling had kept his hood on. He hadn't lost it during the recent scramble.
Fatty had personally selected and bought this clothing, and its waterproof performance was excellent. As a result, except for his face and bangs, Xiao Zhang was surprisingly refined.
Calling him a drowned rat was indeed a bit inaccurate.
However, the words were already out, and retracting them wouldn't feel right. So, after an extreme mental storm, Fatty finally said with a particularly sincere and earnest expression:
"Don't worry, Xiao Ge, even if we're drowned rats, you're the most beautiful one!"
With a "pfft," Wu Tianzhen finally couldn't hold back his laughter. Once he started, he couldn't stop, even patting his shoulder to relieve the laughter.
This statement wasn't quite accurate, as who could pat their own shoulder so smoothly?
Yes, Wu Tianzhen couldn't, so he was patting Zhang Qiling's shoulder beneath him.
Zhang Qiling: ...
Tired. Let it all be destroyed.
---
About two hours later, the clouds dispersed, the rain stopped, and the sky cleared, revealing the bright sun.
After the terrifying downpour, everything returned to its original state. Newly sprouted plants grew vigorously on the "corpses" of their predecessors, shooting up a considerable height in no time.
Those animals, which had been hiding somewhere, now emerged one by one.
Except for the large lake that had suddenly formed at the foot of the cliff, it almost made one doubt if the torrential rain had ever happened.
With the branches that had once obscured the sky knocked down by the storm, the sky finally revealed itself completely. A rainbow, almost starting from the treeline, flew towards the cliff, appearing to be within reach.
The three of them ate some compressed biscuits while looking at the rainbow, taking a brief rest.
"Hey, there's so much water down there..." Wu Tianzhen peered down carefully. White insects occasionally jumped out of the water, looking as if they were still eyeing Fatty's backside with intent.
"How about you, Fatty, offer yourself as tribute to the tigers, to appease the resentment of these insect benefactors below. Xiao Ge and I will be eternally grateful~"
Hearing this and seeing the "debts" below, Fatty felt a pang of nausea.
The cliff face above soared into the clouds, clearly difficult to climb, but descending was not an easy task either.
"Save your energy, Xiao Tianzhen. Fatty is staying right here, but you can't escape either!"
"Decades from now, when people from outside come and see, 'Wow—there are two pieces of jerky hanging on this cliff!'"
"Mmm, yes!" Wu Tianzhen replied perfunctorily, "And then Xiao Ge will take us to an auction house and we'll live a life of luxury, drinking soy milk and pouring the rest away~"
"If Xiao Ge wanted a life of luxury, would he need to auction us off?" Fatty disagreed, turning Zhang Qiling's face (who was spacing out) to show Wu Tianzhen.
"Look at this face. Go to any high-end club, and he'd make a fortune daily!"
"This isn't just about a life of luxury anymore; rich women would fight over him!"
Wu Tianzhen wanted to laugh, but after observing carefully, he had to admit that Fatty was right this time. For a moment, his expression twisted into a struggle between wanting to laugh and suppressing it.
Fatty, feeling smug, suddenly felt a chill on his wrist. Zhang Qiling's hand had rested upon it.
Without the deliberate heating from the Qilin tattoo, those pale hands possessed a coldness befitting their appearance.
But no matter how cold his hands were, they couldn't match the coldness in Zhang Qiling's eyes.
At first glance, Fatty even felt that in those pure, black and white eyes, like obsidian, were the words "If you want to die, I'll kill you right now."
Fatty, who had been so arrogant moments ago as to shove Zhang Qiling from a doghouse to a high-end club, immediately became meek, even suspecting he was possessed to dare provoke the mighty.
But fortunately, Zhang Qiling had a good temper (?), and did nothing, merely quietly removed the hand that was on his face.
Seeing this, Wu Tianzhen was almost suffocating from suppressed laughter. As he gasped for air, he suddenly heard a strange sound.
The sound was like the wailing of a vengeful spirit, faint yet clearly surrounding them!
"What is that sound?!"
He looked around but found nothing, suspecting it was the wind blowing through the mountain caves. But if that were the case, the sound wouldn't be so close to them.
Fatty also heard it. For a moment, he even thought Zhang Qiling had finally unleashed his power and was having the little ghosts drag him away, but he quickly dismissed this absurd thought.
"...Did I hear that wrong?" To distract himself, he started looking around randomly and suddenly noticed that the protruding stone blocks on the cliff looked a bit strange, quite regular.
"Don't worry about that sound. Xiao Ge isn't saying anything, so it must be fine!"
"Speaking of which, those stone blocks are quite interesting. I didn't notice them because of the heavy rain earlier. Teacher Wu, can you explain what natural phenomenon this is?"
Teacher Wu didn't have time to reply, but Zhang Qiling, who had been quietly present in the center as if he didn't exist, suddenly spoke.
"Coffins."
"These are all coffins."
Fatty was startled. He turned around and saw half of Zhang Qiling's face hidden in the shadow of his hood. His tone, though the same as usual, sounded eerie.
Then he suddenly realized that he seemed to be standing on a coffin right now...
Fatty: ...I knew it! Xiao Ge was going to unleash his power and stuff me into a coffin!