Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Word Spirit·Silence
The 12 survivors who had narrowly escaped death collapsed onto the ridge between the fields, gasping for breath.
Once they confirmed that those terrifying crows didn't dare cross the Tree Line boundary, the tension snapped loose—and with it, all the pent-up conflict exploded at once.
"Who pushed me just now?!"
Yu Shishi's hair was a mess, her knees still bleeding. She glared red-eyed at Bai Lianhua, who was calmly drinking water.
"Bai Lianhua! It was you who knocked over that log just now, wasn't it?! You were trying to use me as bait!"
Bai Lianhua's eyelid twitched, but she quickly swapped it out for a pitiful, wounded expression.
"Shishi, what are you talking about… It was so dark, everyone was running, I almost fell over myself—how could I possibly hurt you?"
"If anything, you were the one running slowly and almost dragging everyone down. So why are you turning around and slandering me now… sob sob sob…"
As she spoke, she leaned into Yang Wei beside her, looking every bit the wronged victim.
The three boys who had previously been pursuing Yu Shishi—what you'd call the "Simp Squad"—now scrambled to speak up, eager to secure their footing within the group.
"Yeah, Shishi, it was so chaotic just now. You must have seen wrong."
"Bai Lianhua is so delicate—where would she get the strength to knock over a log?"
"Everyone's shaken up. Just let it go."
Watching her former close friend stab her in the back and her admirers defect in an instant, Yu Shishi trembled with rage. "You… you all…"
"Enough!!"
A furious roar cut through the argument.
Yang Wei flung the empty water bottle in his hand to the ground, his face twisted with hostility as he shot to his feet.
He shoved Yu Shishi hard on the shoulder, sending her stumbling and crashing to the ground.
"Yu Shishi! Are you done?!"
Yang Wei stood over her, jabbing a finger down at her, spittle flying.
"Given the situation back there, nobody could have helped you! Everyone just wanted to survive!"
"This isn't Blue Star! This isn't school! And you're not some little princess whose whole family dotes on her!"
"If you want to live, shut your mouth and follow orders! Nobody is willing to pay the price for your little spoiled-brat tantrums!"
Yang Wei's words sliced like a blade, shredding the last shred of Yu Shishi's dignity.
She looked around through tear-blurred eyes—and found that among the remaining dozen or so people, not a single one was willing to stand up and say a word for her.
Everyone chose silence. Or cold indifference.
Only Guo Shuai stepped forward with a show of mediation, half-heartedly holding Yang Wei back.
"Hey, Old Yang, cool it—no need to fall out over this. We only just got out."
Then he turned to Yu Shishi, still on the ground.
"Shishi, come on now. Just apologize to everyone and we'll put this behind us."
"Apologize?!"
Yu Shishi stared up at that hypocritical face in disbelief, her stubborn streak surging. "Why should I apologize?! She's the one who hurt me! You're all bad people! A whole group of bad people!"
"I'm not staying with you lot anymore! I'm going back! I'm going to find Yuqing! Wuwuwu……"
With that, she scrambled up off the ground, wiped her tears, and without a single glance back, bolted straight into the dark fringe of the forest.
Running toward where the coach bus was.
"Hey! Don't—"
Wang Jinsheng, a basketball team substitute and one of the former Simp Squad members, instinctively moved to stop her.
But a single icy glare from Yang Wei froze him in place.
"Let her go!"
Yang Wei let out a cold snort. "Dead weight like that—good riddance. One less mouth to feed!"
"Who even knows if it'll really be safe once the sun comes up tomorrow? Our supplies were already running short!"
Wang Jinsheng shrank back and said nothing more.
And meanwhile, Yu Shishi had already plunged into the darkness, running blind.
In the dark, Yu Shishi ran in a blind panic.
Rage and grievance flooded her mind, stripping away every last scrap of rational thought.
Thud!
Suddenly, something caught her foot, and she went down hard again, one of her shoes flying off in the fall.
By the faint light of the moon, she saw what had tripped her—a scarecrow.
It stood quietly at the edge of the Wheat Field in the weeds, a lantern hanging from one hand, head bowed toward her.
Under normal circumstances, Yu Shishi would have fainted from fright.
But right now—fresh from Yang Wei's humiliation, freshly stabbed in the back by her best friend—the fury burning inside her had completely incinerated what little remained of her reason.
"Even you're picking on me?!"
"Even a pile of broken straw dares to pick on me?!"
Yu Shishi let out a shriek, snatched up the shoe that had fallen nearby, and swung it straight at the scarecrow's head—hard!
Smack!
The scarecrow's head—which had only been hanging by a few threads to begin with—swung a full 90 degrees sideways.
It now dangled crookedly at its neck, looking absurd and pitiful.
"Get out of my way! A good dog doesn't block the road!"
Rage vented, Yu Shishi—covered in straw, thoroughly filthy—crammed her shoe back on.
She picked herself up off the ground and limped onward, heading toward the pitch-black tangle of the Twisted Jungle ahead.
Until her silhouette was completely swallowed by the night.
The little crooked-headed scarecrow suddenly moved.
Creak… creak…
Accompanied by a grinding sound, its knocked-sideways head slowly, inch by inch, twisted back into place—revealing a face of monstrous savagery!
Where eyes had been painted in charcoal, 2 searing points of red light now blazed!
The red light instantly locked onto the direction Yu Shishi had gone, and its mouth began to open and close.
And yet…
Just as it seemed about to act…
Ahead, Yu Shishi's figure crossed an invisible boundary line and plunged headlong into the thicket of twisted trees.
Fzzt.
The blazing red light in the scarecrow's eyes, the instant it touched the aura of the forest, abruptly went dark.
It stood frozen in place, staring blankly toward the forest for 2 seconds.
The savage curl at the corners of its mouth slowly drooped downward, as though it was…
Wronged?
Then it retreated back into the shadows and resumed its post.
But something was different now…
It had slowly opened its straw-woven mouth, and in a hoarse, halting voice, began to speak.
"Bul… bully… me."
"Bull…y me."
"Bully me."
The voice shifted gradually from a ragged rasp to something clear and fluid.
The scarecrow was mimicking Yu Shishi's words—and her voice…
……
Over at the Wheat Field.
With the disruptive element gone, Yang Wei began assigning the night watch.
"Guo Shuai takes first shift, Wang Jinsheng takes second, Wu Hao takes third….. I'll take the last shift with Lianhua."
Through sweet talk and attentive service, Bai Lianhua had successfully maneuvered herself into the easiest slot.
Night deepened.
Except for those on watch, the other students quickly sank into exhausted, fear-laden sleep.
By the second half of the night, it was Wang Jinsheng's turn to keep watch.
All around, silence pressed in like something alive—only the soft shush of the wheat stalks swaying in the wind.
Then.
"Wuwu… help… help me…"
A faint, drifting cry crept out from deep within the Wheat Field nearby.
Wang Jinsheng, who had been nodding off, snapped awake.
That voice… so familiar!
It was Yu Shishi!
"Shishi? You came back?"
A spark of joy leapt in Wang Jinsheng's chest.
He'd never given up on Yu Shishi. He hadn't dared to speak up earlier, but now…
If he could rescue her alone, wouldn't that be the perfect chance to swoop in?
Lust stirs, and the brain shuts off.
He didn't even think to wake the others—just crept off stealthily in the direction of the sound.
"Shishi? Is that you? Don't be scared, it's me, Jinsheng ge…"
He pushed through the tall wheat stalks and spotted a small figure standing ahead, back to him.
Dressed in the same clothes as Yu Shishi. Shoulders trembling, as if crying.
"Heh heh, Shishi, I knew you couldn't bear to leave us."
Wang Jinsheng swallowed, and reached out to tap the figure on the shoulder.
But.
Just as his hand was a hair's breadth from making contact.
The figure stopped crying.
Its head snapped around at an angle no human neck could ever achieve—a full 180 degrees!
That was not Yu Shishi's face!
It was a face stitched together from rotting rags!
Stuffed full of putrid, festering straw—a grotesque, leering mask!
No features whatsoever—only a blood-red gash of a seam, split all the way to where the ears would be.
"Sur-prise!"
The thing let out a shrill, grating imitation of a voice.
"AHHHHH!!!"
Wang Jinsheng was scared out of his soul, a shriek tearing free from his throat.
But the next instant, the scarecrow sprouted 3 arms in a flash and clamped down around him in an iron grip!
That split-open mouth wrenched wide, and swallowed Wang Jinsheng's head whole!
Countless dried-yellow stalks of straw drove into his body, and in an instant, his flesh—even his bones—were replaced!
……
"What was that?!"
"Ahh! Someone screamed!"
Yang Wei and Guo Shuai and the rest jolted awake in an instant, snatching up glass-breaking hammers and wooden clubs and charging toward the sound with full alert.
"Over there! That idiot Wang Jinsheng!"
The group crashed through the swaying wheat, reaching the scene.
Only to find Wang Jinsheng lying on the ground, hands cradling his head, face twisted in apparent pain.
No monster anywhere in sight.
"Jinsheng? What happened? What was all that screaming just now?!"
Guo Shuai demanded anxiously, sweeping his flashlight across the man's face.
The "Wang Jinsheng" on the ground slowly lifted his head, an honest, good-natured smile spreading across his face, and waved a hand.
"It's fine, it's fine—sorry about that, everyone."
"It was so dark just now, I tripped over a wheat stalk, hit my head, it hurt so much I just couldn't hold it in."
Hearing that, everyone let out a breath—followed immediately by a chorus of complaints.
"Damn! Nearly scared me to death!"
"What's wrong with you?! Screaming like a pig being slaughtered over one little fall!"
"Alright, alright, break it up. Back to sleep."
Yang Wei grumbled and cursed, put away his weapon, and turned to head back.
Guo Shuai walked at the rear. He cast a somewhat suspicious glance at Wang Jinsheng and asked out of apparent concern:
"You sure you're okay? Nothing wrong with your head?"
"Fine, really fine."
Wang Jinsheng stood up, movements slightly stiff, but tone perfectly normal.
"Alright, you take care then. Don't go falling again."
Guo Shuai chuckled, clapped him on the shoulder.
At the point of contact, a strange pricking sensation.
He glanced down by moonlight and noticed a few dried, yellowish straws clinging to Wang Jinsheng's shoulder.
"Talk about careless—covered in straw."
Guo Shuai didn't give it another thought, brushed the straw away, and headed back.
And the instant he turned away.
The "Wang Jinsheng" standing in the dark—that honest, good-natured smile vanished without a trace.
The corners of his mouth slowly split open into a crooked, sinister grin.
At his neck, just beneath the skin, straw could be faintly seen—shifting and writhing…
……
At the same time, outside the coach bus.
Compared to the eerie horror unfolding in the Wheat Field, the scene at the bus was an entirely different world.
Jiang Nan sat like The Thinker atop a mountain of crow corpses.
Below him, Chen Tong, Wang Meng, and Liu Yuqing were watching him with expressions verging on fervent worship.
"Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable!"
Wang Meng was still marveling. "Several hundred mutated crows! Gone, just like that!"
"I peeked through a gap just now—the rest of those crows all fled. Not a single one dared get close!"
"Jiang Nan… you're incredible." Liu Yuqing couldn't help adding her own praise.
Yet in sharp contrast to their soaring spirits.
Jiang Nan, sitting atop the pile of corpses, was absolutely miserable—he could have cried.
‘What a loss!’
‘A catastrophic loss!’
To pull off that show, to survive, he had burned through 300-plus characters in one breath!
‘That was a whole year's savings!’
‘And on top of that…’
Jiang Nan tilted his head back to look at the roof.
Because of that earlier round of indiscriminate "human Gatling gun" suppressive fire—which had wiped out the crows, yes—
The roof, which had already been on its last legs, had been riddled like a sieve by his air bullets.
It was now on the verge of collapse, cold wind howling in through the gaps, and whatever defensive value it once had was nearly down to zero.
‘Haah……’
Jiang Nan let out a long inward sigh.
Just then, a humming tone rang out in his mind.
He instinctively glanced at the timestamp in the lower right corner of his field of vision.
【00:00:00】
A new day. It had arrived.
【Ding! Daily settlement complete.】
【Word Spirit Reserve refreshed: +1 (Current Balance: 6341)】
【Current Location: Twisted Jungle】
【Check-in successful!】
【Congratulations, Host—you have received the B-Grade Word Spirit 'Silence'!】
At the sound of that notification, Jiang Nan—who had been aching with regret just a moment before—instantly snapped back to full energy, his spine straightening.
‘Another new skill!’
A detailed stream of information poured into his mind.
【Word Spirit·Silence (Grade B)】
Effect: Projects a powerful Silence Field centered on the Host.
Within this field, everything except the Host will be stripped of the ability to make any sound whatsoever—forcibly rendered mute.
Properties: Lasts 1 hour. A binding compulsory rule—no exemptions.
Range: Radius of 30 meters.
Cost: 1 word.
Activation Method: Press index finger to lips and quietly speak the activation word: "Shh."
Reading through this new skill's description, Jiang Nan's eyes lit up.
No offensive power—but this was practically a divine ability!
He'd been the mute for so many years!
Now, at last, he could let others have a taste of what it felt like!
‘I refuse to believe that a regular person suddenly struck mute can out-argue someone who's spent 18 years as a mute!’