"Over here."
Wei's voice dropped to a whisper.
It barely counted as speech.
More breath than sound, slipping through clenched teeth.
He was panting hard. His chest heaved.
And even now, a sharp complaint flickered through his mind.
"Old man, did you really have to saw through a hundred-year-old tree?
If I did not know you so well, I would think you were trying to crush me to death along with it."
The trap had already been triggered. Who was the one who set it off?
The thought flickered through his mind and vanished just as quickly.
It did not matter anymore.
A body was pinned beneath the massive wooden stake, pressed down hard enough that there was no chance of survival.
What mattered was that Chun was right beside him.
He saw her crouched there, frozen.
Her eyes were fixed on the tree stump inches from her face. It was as if her body was still there, but her soul had not caught up yet.
A pang of pity rose in his chest.
'She must have been terrified out of her mind.'
He gently tugged at her sleeve. Her body swayed, and only then did she seem to come back to herself.
She reached out, touching the wooden stake in front of her. It was taller than she was. The moment her fingers made contact, her legs gave out and she sat down hard on the ground.
"I almost died just now, didn't I?"
"Yes," Wei said without hesitation. "I saved you. No need to thank me."
She looked up at him, still pale. "Then tell me ... Why did you step into the trap in the first place?"
"My father always said the most dangerous place is often the safest place."
"That's not what my father taught me," she murmured. "He said when you see danger, you should stay as far away as you can."
Wei reached out and patted her head. Poor thing. She was scared stiff.
He bent down, trying to pull her up, but Chun did not move at all. The ground beneath them was wet and slick. Rotting leaves soaked with water covered the earth.
The moment Wei put weight on his foot, it slid.
His body lurched sideways and he went down hard with a loud smack. Mud and dirty water splashed up, soaking him from head to toe.
Chun froze for a second. Then she looked down at him, took in his miserable state, and suddenly burst out laughing.
It was as if her laughter pierced through the fear that had been building up, the tension, the suffocating pressure, the feeling of being on the edge of death.
All of it seemed to be thrown off in that single laugh.
Wei let out a helpless sigh.
Then, in the very next instant, every hair on his body stood on end.
As he lowered his head, pressing one ear close to the ground, he felt it.
Thump.
Thump thump.
Footsteps. More than one pair.
The vibrations ran through the ground. They came from every direction. Spreading out like a closing fan.
They were being surrounded.
Wei grabbed Chun and hauled her up in one motion.
She was about to stand when he whispered sharply,
"Down."
Chun hesitated for a heartbeat, then understood.
She dropped flat against the ground and clutched the front of Wei's clothes with both hands.
Wei led her forward, their bodies pressed close to the earth as they crawled inch by inch.
They slipped into a patch of low shrubs.
Branches scraped against their cheeks, sharp and stinging, cold with moisture.
They did not dare make a sound.
But crawling like this was painfully slow.
Wei knew it. At this speed, it would not take long before they were caught.
Chun began to panic. Without realizing it, her movements sped up just a little.
A dry twig cracked softly beneath her hand.
Wei immediately tapped her back, urging her to slow down.
She did not have time to understand what he meant.
In the next moment, her collar tightened suddenly. Her whole body was yanked upward, and the world flipped upside down. Her vision spun wildly.
They tumbled together down a dark, sloping path, bodies slamming into wet earth. They slid several more feet before finally coming to a stop.
Wei did not keep running.
Instead, he stood up again and began feeling around along one side of the bushes. He brushed aside dead leaves and snapped branches, then lifted a thin wooden board with his fingertips.
A pitch black opening was revealed beneath it.
"Jump inside."
Chun got in first.
The pit was not deep. Just wide enough for two or three people to curl up inside.
The walls had been packed down again and again. The soil was yellow and firm.
When Chun pressed her palm against it, she could feel how solid it was.
Wei slid down after her, moving as lightly as possible.
Several thin bamboo tubes were embedded in the pit wall. One end disappeared into the earth, while the other angled upward toward the hollow of an old tree. His father told him they were ventilation shafts, hidden with extreme care.
Wei showed Chun a small, easily overlooked hole in the side wall. That one was his own secret.
Inside was a clay jar sealed with cloth. When shaken gently, it sloshed with water.
Beside it lay a small cloth bundle. Inside were strips of dried meat, and dried fruits.
Wei held back his excitement and resisted the urge to explain everything.
These were his secrets.
Sometimes he hid here all day long and never felt stifled. He would sneak in alone, bringing treasures he found in the mountains. Pretty stones. Glow grass that shimmered faintly at night. Antlers shed by wild deer.
He hid them one by one inside this pit.
And now, Chun shared his secret.
Chun looked up at the entrance. It was carefully covered with bark, wooden boards, and dead branches.
From the outside, it looked like an ordinary clump of bushes.
She whispered, "Why aren't we running?"
"Do not make a sound."
Wei's words were breathed almost directly into her ear.
The next moment, a branch snapped.
Loose dirt and stones were kicked aside.
Breathing mixed with the night wind, drawing closer and closer.
Not just one.
More of them were already nearby.
Inside the pit, the air seemed to turn cold all at once.
-----------------
The young boy and young girl's hands were locked together.
They curled up inside the underground tree hollow.
Their bodies pressed close.
Knees drawn in.
There was barely any space between them and the earth around them.
The soil against Wei's back was damp and cold.
It seeped through his clothes.
The chill crept in.
It clung to his skin.
Neither of them moved.
They held their breath.
It felt as if the air itself had stopped flowing.
"Wei…"
"Do not make a sound."
Chun closed her mouth at once.
But after only two breaths, she failed to hold back.
Her voice slipped out again, so faint it was almost nothing.
"…Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
A sharp pain pulsed through Wei's head.
This was not the warning sign that came before his strange ability awakened. It was something else entirely. Something he knew all too well.
Whenever Chun got nervous, she could not stop herself from talking. The more she tried to suppress it, the stronger the urge became.
She needed reassurance. She needed confirmation.
"What do you want to say," Wei whispered.
Chun paused.
When she spoke again, her voice was even softer.
"It does not sound like… the way people walk."
There was another sound outside.
The recoil of a sprung animal trap snapping shut.
Metal scraped against metal. Short. Sharp. Jarring.
Wei slowly let out a breath.
But the breath did not ease the tension in his chest.
"They are following us."
"If…"
Chun hesitated.
"If they are tracking us by smell…"
She did not finish the sentence.
She did not need to.
Wei already understood.
"Why don't you say that earlier…"
He realised that he had made a mistake.
A fatal one.
He had only thought about how well hidden this place was.
A tree hollow underground.
Traps.
Blind spots.
It was the kind of thinking a normal person would have.
Who would linger near a dangerous trap.
The natural reaction would be to get away as fast as possible.
Unless the pursuers were not human.
Unless they had abnormal endurance.
Unless they had an abnormal sense of smell.
If that was the case, then hiding here was no longer an escape.
They had not fled into safety.
They had crawled straight into a trap of their own making.
A chill crawled up Wei's spine, slow and deliberate.
He drew his hunting knife inch by inch, careful not to make a sound.
The familiar weight of the blade settled into his palm.
Above them, not far overhead,
footsteps began to gather.
Then a voice rolled in from the forest,
heavy and rough,
pressing down through the darkness.
"Their scent is still here. Split up! Chase!"
The footsteps scattered immediately.
Chaotic. Urgent.
Quickly fading into the distance.
But not all of them left.
One remained.
That person did not go far.
The footsteps stopped, then started again,
circling the bushes above them.
Once.
Then another round.
Chun's nails dug deep into Wei's palm.
Almost piercing the skin.
Wei did not feel it at all.
The footsteps were heavy.
Each step landed solidly on the ground, producing a dull, unmistakable thud.
Closer.
Closer.
Until at last they stopped.
Directly above their heads.
A massive claw slowly pressed down onto the wooden cover.
Fine dust began to fall from the ceiling.