“Are you fucking stupid?!” Li Cu cursed loudly. He swung the fire extinguisher, naively hoping to drive the snakes back, but it was already too late. Yang Hao jumped down from the freezer, kicking a few snakes aside as he rushed to Li Cu’s side, frustratedly slapping himself on the face. “Mistake, mistake! Why are there so many? We need to retreat.”

“This place is full of residential buildings. If we just retreat, how many people will be harmed?” Li Cu said. “We can’t retreat; we have to take them all down.”

“We’re definitely going to die here,” Yang Hao replied, pointing at Su Wan. “If we don’t die, Su Wan will definitely die here.”

They immediately looked at Su Wan, who was crawling up while foaming at the mouth. The wound on his neck was deep and dark, and the blood flowing out was black. His tongue was numb, making it impossible for him to speak clearly; he just pointed at a cardboard box on the other side. “Gun! Damn it, where’s the gun?”

Li Cu and Yang Hao exchanged a glance and rushed to the box, pulling out a folding submachine gun. In their panic, it took them a long time to load the bullets and pull back the bolt.

Li Cu had never imagined that firing a real gun would be so difficult; pulling the trigger six times in rapid succession nearly made him lose grip. He then adjusted his strength, pressing down on the gun and began to spray bullets at the snakes on the ground.

There was no suspense; the snakes were incredibly fast, but under the dense firepower created by the two of them, the snakes were shattered like grass, all the way to the door.

“Will someone call the police?” After stopping the fire, Li Cu could hardly hear anything, only Yang Hao’s voice asking him.

Li Cu shook his head. “No, Chinese people haven’t heard gunshots; they would think it’s firecrackers.”

They put away the gun and immediately went back to help Su Wan up. Li Cu had thought Su Wan would get up immediately and complain a bit, but when he saw Su Wan’s condition, his face had turned black, and he was unconscious. Something was wrong.

He touched Su Wan’s forehead, thinking it couldn’t be that serious. After slapping him a couple of times, he realized Su Wan had stopped breathing.

“He’s dead! He’s dead!” Yang Hao exclaimed in horror.

He leaned down to listen for a heartbeat and only heard a very faint pulse. His mind went blank, and after checking Su Wan’s pulse, he immediately began performing artificial respiration. After a few attempts, there was no response; Su Wan’s body had stiffened.

Yang Hao slapped Li Cu, who finally snapped back to reality and immediately called for an ambulance. By the time he checked Su Wan again, he found that his entire body had gone cold. Li Cu collapsed to the ground, feeling dizzy.

In the moments before the ambulance arrived, they tidied up the scene. Throughout the process, Li Cu was in a daze. Yang Hao said that if it was a snake bite, they needed to bring the snakes along, so they found a bag and stuffed one of the snake carcasses inside.

On the way in the ambulance, Li Cu’s ethereal consciousness began to return, and he truly realized what he was about to face.

Watching Su Wan’s face gradually turn pale on the stretcher, his heart grew colder. The thrilling and poignant scenes he had previously read about in novels lost their romantic facade in reality, becoming so cruel.

It seemed that in those 20 minutes, he had completely transformed from a high school student into an adult.

He buried his face in his hands, listening to the sounds of the heart monitor and the ambulance sirens. Yang Hao was on the phone with Su Wan’s parents. Then, his ears began to ring, and gradually he could hear nothing at all.

Li Cu did not dwell on whose fault it was; he knew that no one wanted such things to happen. He was as innocent as Su Wan. He wouldn’t entangle his emotions in guilt; he wasn’t that kind of person. Perhaps this was one of his few virtues.

But what he thought about was his future—what should he do next? He used to think this was his destiny, but now he felt afraid. A deep-seated fear; he never imagined that something like destiny could be so dangerous.

Not just for himself but for those around him. Would he have to bear such psychological pressure for any decision he made in the future?

Su Wan was sent to the intensive care unit. The two of them sat outside the door while Yang Hao received Su Wan’s parents, who soon after issued a critical condition notice. Li Cu looked at Su Wan in the ward from a distance, picked up his phone, and pressed 110.

He didn’t dial it out; his fingers slid across the screen a few times before retracting. He wasn’t afraid of trouble; he knew he couldn’t bear the consequences afterward. He also knew that no one would blame him, but he just couldn’t press the button.

The reason he couldn’t press it wasn’t noble. He knew he was an ordinary person. Never had he felt as excited as before because he realized he was no longer ordinary. He didn’t need to get excellent grades or be exceptionally handsome; he could tell himself he had reasons to look down on others.

Although he didn’t know if this reason was beneficial to him, at his age, he needed such a reason to feel different from everyone else.

If he pressed that number, he would quickly become an ordinary middle school student with no reason to skip class.

Just as he was hesitating and worrying about Su Wan’s condition, suddenly Su Wan’s mother came out of the intensive care unit and rushed to him, saying, “Duck Pear, Wanwan wants you to go in.”

Li Cu was taken aback as Su Wan’s mother grabbed him and pulled him into the ward. He saw that Su Wan was already awake, his face pale and his lips purple.

“Are you okay?” Li Cu didn’t know what else to say. His upbringing had left him inexperienced in such situations.

“How could I be okay?” Su Wan said in a voice so low it was almost inaudible.

“Don’t worry. If the snake venom hasn’t killed you, it can be treated soon,” Li Cu said, and only then did he realize Su Wan’s parents were nearby.

Su Wan ignored his joke, moved his head slightly, and couldn’t produce much sound, just signaling him to come closer.

Li Cu leaned in, and Su Wan said, “Sorry, Duck Pear, there’s something I hid.”

Li Cu looked at him and understood instantly; it seemed that Su Wan hadn’t given him everything. But he was surprised; Su Wan wasn’t the type to hide things.

“What is it?” Li Cu glanced at his parents and quietly asked.

“The first package,” Su Wan said. “It’s buried under the pipa tree at my house.”

“The first one?”

“Yes, that was the first package. This package is very important. I’m really sorry I hid it away; you must take a look.” Su Wan said.
“Why did you hide it?”
“It wasn’t me who wanted to hide it; it was the person who sent these things who requested it. But I’m afraid if I don’t say anything, there won’t be another chance.” Su Wan closed his eyes and said softly, “While my parents are still in the hospital, hurry and take it out.”
“Did you not receive these?”