“Ah? Why?” I couldn’t react in time.
He didn’t answer me. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly said, “Follow me!” and immediately ran outside.
I glanced at the sun, which had dipped a little lower, and thought to myself that he would get us both killed. I quickly followed him. He ran to where the original tents were, found a waterproof bag in one of the tents, then ran back and grabbed a few toothbrush cups that were sitting on a rock, and directly picked up a miner’s lamp before heading into the woods.
I stumbled behind him and saw him quickly reach the swamp where the jungle met the marsh. He jumped in and started digging up the mud from the bottom of the swamp with one of the cups, pouring it into the waterproof bag and smearing it on himself. I was dumbfounded as I watched him. He waved at me, and I nodded and jumped in as well. Before I could steady myself, a cup of mud was splashed on my face. A few seconds later, the two of us were covered in mud, looking just like Wen Jin had when we first saw her.
I had initially planned to wait until the fog rolled in to smear myself with mud because it was really uncomfortable, so I asked him why we were doing this. He replied, “To catch Wen Jin.”
“Catch Wen Jin?”
“She’s looking for food. Her supplies have run out, so she will definitely come back tonight. We need to set an ambush.”
“Tonight? An ambush?” I immediately shook my head. “I won’t do it. If we lie down, we won’t be able to get back up.”
The quiet oil bottle looked at me and suddenly asked, “Why did you come here?”
I was taken aback. He shot me a cold glance, climbed out of the water, and walked away without looking back.
I stood there in the swamp, feeling extremely uncomfortable inside. I thought, why are you glaring at me? I came here because you all kept things from me. Why did I come here? Damn it—
As I thought about it, I decided I wouldn’t stay in the swamp any longer. I knew what he meant; it was too late to be afraid! I cursed under my breath and climbed up.
When I returned and told Fatty, he hesitated a bit. What had happened yesterday was too horrifying, and he wondered if it might be a bit risky. But after some careful discussion, he agreed.
The mood of the situation changed dramatically; we went from trying to survive the night to trying to find death. However, Fatty said that Wen Jin wasn’t stupid; she would likely appear either before the fog rolled in or just as it started. Even if we weren’t near the campsite, she would probably come as soon as it got dark. If what the little brother speculated was true, and she was looking for food, then she might be extremely hungry by now.
The quiet oil bottle had Fatty boil another pot of soup, making it look like a partially finished broth. Fatty immediately got to work, stoking the fire even more. Soon, another pot of mixed hotpot was bubbling away, filling the air with a delicious aroma. The quiet oil bottle took the mud and went over to Panzi, smearing mud on him to cover him up as well. Then he did the same for Fatty.
Once everything was ready, the quiet oil bottle picked up the pot and signaled for us to follow. I asked him what we would do about Panzi. He replied, “We’ll be back before the fog rolls in. With three of us, the chances of catching her are a bit higher.”
The three of us made our way back to the original tent area, where the quiet oil bottle placed the pot of mixed hotpot by the campfire we had used yesterday.
At this point, it was still early, so the three of us found a concealed spot to crouch down. I couldn’t help but feel like laughing; this was a bit ridiculous. We were using a pot of soup to lure Wen Jin, as if she were a cat.

We squatted there, watching the sun dip below the treeline, as the surrounding darkness closed in like a ghostly presence. We waited for something to happen, but nothing came, and even the soup had gone cold. The胖子 couldn’t hold back any longer and wanted to ask him something, but he waved us off and pointed to his ear, signaling us to listen for sounds.

We focused intently, straining to hear the noises around us. The mud covering our bodies was both foul-smelling and sticky, making me feel extremely uncomfortable. Especially on my face and waist, where the heat had dried the mud into clumps, pulling at my skin and causing an unbearable itch. Yet, there was no way to scratch it; doing so would only make it itch more and dry out faster.

We gritted our teeth and waited, entering a daze as the sky darkened to the point where only a hint of twilight remained. Suddenly, the person beside me moved, and I snapped back to attention, tensing my body. I shook my head to clear my mind and stealthily peered out from behind the rock with them. In the dim light, I saw a figure covered in mud cautiously emerge from the woods. Judging by the silhouette, it was unmistakably a woman.

“It really is Wen Jin!” My throat tightened, and I thought to myself that this was indeed effective. Before I could ponder the situation further, the muffled bottle pushed against my shoulder, pulling me back.

I looked at him, and he made a gesture to me and the胖子, indicating that as soon as he moved, we should flank her from both sides and make sure to block her escape.

At that moment, I had no idea what the muffled bottle was planning, but we nodded and waited patiently. The feeling of ambush was exhilarating, and my heart raced until we heard the sound of the soup can stirring.

The胖子 wanted to rush out, but the muffled bottle remained still. Since he didn’t move, we didn’t either. After about ten minutes, the muffled bottle closed his eyes, suddenly flipped over, and darted out from behind the rock. Almost simultaneously, we heard a startled cry followed by the sound of someone turning and running away.

The胖子 and I immediately took off, charging out from both sides and encircling her around the camp. We dashed between a few tents and converged, surrounding her in an instant.

Wen Jin was clearly panicked, lost and spinning in circles among the three of us, her face filled with terror.

Then, with the flash of a fire, I finally got a clear look at Wen Jin’s face. Although the mud obscured her true appearance, I could tell she was extremely young, looking almost like a girl of eighteen or nineteen. Even in this situation, I could see that she was exceptionally delicate, far surpassing the image in that photograph.

This was almost a meeting that transcended time and space. In normal circumstances, I would have felt as if she had stepped straight out of that photo. However, I had no leisure to ponder such thoughts now.

Wen Jin was evidently terrified by our presence, looking around for an escape route. “Don’t be afraid, Chen… Auntie,” I wanted to speak to comfort her, but after saying just that, I realized it was incredibly difficult to get the words out.

Wen Jin glanced at me and suddenly rushed over. I opened my arms, intending to hug her and subdue her. Unexpectedly, she suddenly ducked down, twisted my arm, and turned my whole body around. I cried out in pain, and with a push, she sent me sprawling onto the tent, nearly collapsing it, and then she dashed into the thick fog. I got up and saw that the fat guy and the oil bottle were already chasing after her. I silently cursed myself for being useless and immediately followed suit.