Chapter 1644: Chapter 1644
Xu Shanshan busied herself for a long time and indeed collected a lot of rainwater. Looking at the rainwater in the stone basin of the altar, she breathed a sigh of relief. With this water, if they rationed it a bit, they could last three to five days. Of course, that’s assuming it doesn’t evaporate, but given the nature of this formation, it’s likely to evaporate quickly once the sun comes out. Shanshan even considered whether she should take off some clothes and cover the basin to reduce evaporation.
Li Yifei was still in a daze over there. This time he was dazed for even longer. Not only did he squat down, but now his face was almost touching the ground, as if this would allow him to see more clearly and find any cracks in the stone.
However, even after staring for a long time, Li Yifei still couldn’t find any cracks, and his eyes were sore.
It wasn’t until the rain stopped that Li Yifei maintained the same posture for about an hour or even longer.
The last bit of rainwater disappeared before Li Yifei’s eyes, and the ground dried up so quickly that it didn’t wait for the sun to come out to shine on it.
Li Yifei slowly stood up, twisted his neck, shook his body, and his whole body emitted cracking sounds, prompting Xu Shanshan, who was lost in thought, to look over.
Li Yifei smiled at her, walked over, and placed his hand on Xu Shanshan’s shoulder, saying, "Go take a nap; leave the task of breaking the formation to me."
Xu Shanshan pursed her lips, shook her head, and said, "I’m not sleepy yet. There’s water I stored on the altar, so if you’re thirsty, go drink some. No need to conserve; it might rain again soon, and the rain here is so abundant."
"You too, don’t conserve it. We might break through the formation in the next moment, and..."
Li Yifei chuckled mischievously, leaned into Xu Shanshan’s ear, and said, "Don’t worry about having no place to pee. I’ve been observing for hours; the stones over there definitely have something suspicious about them. They can silently absorb moisture like a sponge. If you want to pee, just go over there."
Xu Shanshan quickly turned away, glared at Li Yifei, wanting to say something but eventually just gave a gentle push and muttered, "No decency."
Li Yifei laughed triumphantly, watching Xu Shanshan get up and walk toward the other side, and he slowly followed, strolling along.
Xu Shanshan tilted her head up, walked around, and naturally didn’t discover anything as Li Yifei hadn’t found anything all night. Shanshan felt a lot of pressure inside; she had insisted on coming out with Li Yifei this time. If anything happened to him, her family would blame her, even if... this wasn’t entirely her fault. But she could never let the person she loved die in front of her, right?
Xu Shanshan suddenly stopped, looked back at Li Yifei, who also stopped in front of her, and Shanshan opened her arms to hug Li Yifei.
Li Yifei nuzzled Xu Shanshan’s hair with his chin and said, "Don’t worry; we will get out of here, we definitely will."
"Yifei." Xu Shanshan raised her head, her big eyes flickering as she looked at him, a hint of sadness in her gaze. Li Yifei responded with a hum, and Shanshan continued, "I have a request, and you have to promise me."
"You promise first, and then I’ll tell you."
"Hmm... I should at least know what the request is, right? Although you’re my wife and we’re very close with no secrets between us, but if at this moment... you ask me for a quickie, I... well, even if it costs me my life, I’ll satisfy you. Come on, darling, fire away!" Li Yifei said, spreading his arms in a "fire away" gesture.
Xu Shanshan frowned and said, "That’s not what I meant."
"Oh? It’s not that... but look, I’m all ready. As the saying goes, under a peony flower, to die as a ghost is also suave. Even if we become ghosts, we should be charming ghosts."
Listening to Li Yifei’s nonsense, Xu Shanshan couldn’t help but give him a playful smack and pouted, "Are you going to listen to me or not?"
Li Yifei put away his smile, adopted a serious expression, and said, "Of course, I’m listening. Go ahead!"
Xu Shanshan said, "No interrupting, you must listen to me."
Li Yifei gave a bitter smile and said, "My dear, you have to first tell me what it is, you know me, I’ll usually listen to you on most matters."
Xu Shanshan rolled her eyes and said, "I don’t care, whatever it is, you’re going to listen this time."
Li Yifei said, "Alright, go ahead."
Xu Shanshan pursed her lips, held Li Yifei’s hand, slightly raised her head, and said seriously, "If, and I mean if, we can’t find a way to break the Formation Method or find an exit in a short time, then." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ɴovelfire.net
Li Yifei furrowed his brows; he instinctively felt that what Xu Shanshan would say next was something he didn’t want to hear.
Xu Shanshan spoke softly, "Husband, if it really comes to that, then I’m asking you to consider me as food. You need to survive; listen to me, this is important. I volunteered to come out this time to find Bai Shan, so if it really comes to that, you have to stay alive and live longer, get out, go home. The Li family can be without any woman or child, but not without you!"
"What kind of nonsense is that!" Li Yifei glared, never truly angry at Xu Shanshan before, and he wasn’t angry this time either. From Xu Shanshan’s perspective, he could easily understand the significance of her decision, but understanding was one thing; from his perspective, as a man, a husband, if it really came to that, he would be the one to die first, not Xu Shanshan.
Li Yifei’s eyes were wide open, his grip unconsciously tightened, and he shouted at Xu Shanshan, "Listen, Shanshan, we will get out of here, I promise, you won’t die, and neither will I. Even if someone has to die, it will surely be me before you. As for eating or not eating each other, surviving or not surviving, you’re never to speak of it again, these ideas shouldn’t be lingering in your mind."
Both were adults, especially having experienced many things; what they said was not impulsive but their true feelings, emotionally acceptable but not logically permissible. Li Yifei’s reaction was intense, and seeing Xu Shanshan about to retort, he immediately embraced her, pulling her into his arms, locking onto her lips, kissing her with determination.
Initially, Xu Shanshan’s body was stiff, seemingly resisting, but it didn’t take long for her to soften.
From standing, they somehow ended up lying down. Their already minimal clothing was now almost entirely undone, baring essential parts, yet they continued to kiss, embracing each other.
Their hands were moving, and Li Yifei kissed her passionately, using the kiss to dispel the words Xu Shanshan had uttered before, erasing the dreadful thoughts from her mind.
There was a hugely sensational story back then, involving a mountaineering team that encountered an avalanche. Eventually, some survived, some died, and the deceased were found with missing limbs, initially thought to be devoured by animals but later discovered to have been eaten by survivors.
Another story involved a couple endangered and trapped in dire straits; later, the wife was rescued and survived while the husband sacrificed himself, continuously biting into his wound to let his wife drink his blood to stay alive. Ultimately, the wife survived, but the husband died from excessive blood loss.
Such stories are many, sometimes used to criticize human nature and sometimes to extol its greatness in certain circumstances, depicting familial bonds, love, or any aspect of humanity.
However, Li Yifei didn’t see it that way. He swore that one of the things he hated most in his life was facing such decisions.
Once, Li Yifei was indeed facing such a choice. At the beginning of his missions, he encountered armed martial artists dispersing their special forces team during a drug traffickers’ raid. Li Yifei and two others were trapped, unable to venture outside as it was swarming with armed drug traffickers. The three hid for two days, their stomachs growling; one was shot and had a festering wound, feverish, and desperately in need of prompt medical attention. If conditions didn’t improve, a bleak outcome was inevitable. But outside, clutching firearms, those traffickers posed a threat beyond mere death; capture would involve interrogation and potentially being used against their country.
The injured comrade fell into a coma. That night, Li Yifei awoke to low moans and, despite his exhaustion, opened his eyes to a horrifying scene: another comrade kneeling over the injured one, mouth at his neck, greedily drinking blood, occasionally biting to release more.
Li Yifei felt a cold chill throughout his body. He had never witnessed cannibalism, let alone between comrades—two who had, just days before, exchanged jovial conversations and shared familiarity.
Yes, they were trapped, without food or water, but drinking a comrade’s blood to quench thirst or stave off hunger was unthinkable.
Especially when the other comrade was gravely injured and unconscious, Li Yifei immediately rose and attempted to stop it, but the comrade ignored him, even considering Li Yifei a fool.
He insinuated that the injured one wouldn’t live much longer, so why not contribute? His meat and blood would provide days more survival. In their regular training, Li Yifei often consumed raw blood and meat, but never from a human, always other animals.
This time, the comrade was drinking another comrade’s blood and was about to eat his flesh.
Li Yifei froze in horror, bone-chilling cold sweeping through him, unsure of what to say, thinking only that the comrade was a demon, a devil.
Neither then nor now would Li Yifei agree to such actions, ultimately choking that blood-drinking comrade to death with his own hands.