The door cracked open a sliver.
Xie Jun's head poked out, cautiously glancing at the opposite room with its slightly ajar door before turning to look at Wang Xiaoli beside him.
He grinned, leaning close to whisper in her ear, "Good job. I'll reward you properly later."
He turned and waved behind him, "Dazhuang, come here."
"Big brother." Dazhuang approached, handing one of the two machetes he carried to Xie Jun.
Xie Jun walked to the doorway, staring at the dimly lit room with confusion. "Why are the curtains closed?"
Wang Xiaoli whispered, "They closed them before sleeping, said they were afraid birds might crash into the glass at night. I didn't open them because I was worried the noise would wake them."
Xie Jun commanded her, "Go open the curtains a bit, do it quietly."
Wang Xiaoli walked over and gently pulled open the living room curtains.
Faint moonlight spilled into the living room. Xie Jun cautiously scanned the area first - the interior was open with no hiding spots.
Only then did he signal for his brother to follow him.
Xie Jun lowered his voice, "Which room?"
Wang Xiaoli pointed toward the room Qin Ziwen had prepared in advance.
Xie Jun waved backward and walked with his brother to the door.
The two exchanged glances. Xie Jun motioned for Xie Guang to go first.
Xie Guang twisted the doorknob and pushed inward.
The room's curtains were drawn, but a lumpy outline on the bed was vaguely visible, accompanied by deep snoring sounds.
Xie Guang took a step forward, then suddenly felt something under his foot.
"Whoosh—"
A rope loop tightened around his calf.
Thump!
Caught completely off guard, Xie Guang stumbled and fell.
The nearby wardrobe swung open as Qin Ziwen strode forward, immediately thrusting with his spear. In the darkness, visibility was poor, so he aimed for the upper body of the fallen man, stabbing repeatedly as the man wailed and screamed in agony.
Then decisively, he raised his spear and thrust toward the narrow bedroom doorway.
Hearing his cousin's screams, Xie Jun froze momentarily before realizing they'd been set up - that bitch Wang Xiaoli had betrayed them!
Looking back, he saw the other bedroom door diagonally behind him slam shut with a bang, the bolt locking into place as Wang Xiaoli hid inside that room.
Cursing under his breath, he prepared to advance when a long spear came thrusting toward him. He tried to dodge, but with the door beside him and the confined space, the weapon stabbed his shoulder, making him gasp sharply from the pain.
Before he could react, the snoring from the bed abruptly stopped. Qin Ziwu flipped over and leaped up, slashing directly at the head of the man on the floor.
His first strike felt somewhat weak, but the second came down heavily with adrenaline-fueled force, blood splattering across his face.
Qin Ziwu quickly retreated, standing beside his brother as both glared fiercely at Xie Jun, though Qin Ziwu's peripheral vision caught the machete that had fallen to the floor, his eyes flickering with interest.
Xie Jun glanced at his cousin groaning on the floor, his expression grim as he slowly backed away while holding his machete.
"Brothers, I admit defeat this time. We'll cross paths again, no need to fight to the death. I have a blade - if you insist on coming at me, I can take one of you with me when I die, ah!"
Qin Ziwen couldn't be bothered with his nonsense, directly thrusting his spear forward.
They'd already crossed the line into killing intent - no point in useless chatter without finishing the job.
Xie Jun swung his blade, deflecting the clothes-drying rod, though the spear tip still pierced his shoulder.
A fierce glint flashed in Xie Jun's eyes as his left hand grabbed the clothes-drying rod to prevent withdrawal. While the two struggled for control, he pushed forward bodily, only to suddenly sense blade wind coming straight at his face.
Instinctively, he swung his machete to block.
"Clang!"
A tremendous force vibrated through his arm, leaving it numb.
Qin Ziwu laughed heartily, "Your blades work really well! Die, bastard!"
The half-meter-long machete swung like an axe in Qin Ziwu's hands, blow after blow raining recklessly toward Xie Jun's head.
Just hearing the whooshing blade wind made Xie Jun's scalp tingle.
Each successive strike vibrated through Xie Jun's arm until it grew weak, nearly making him drop his weapon.
This bastard's really strong.
The thought had just crossed his mind.
When his left hand loosened, the clothes-drying rod he'd been holding was yanked back, the blade edge slicing across his palm. He had no time to register the pain before the clothes-drying rod approached again.
"Not good."
Excruciating pain shot through his eye, his head snapping backward as his whole world spun.
He only felt something sharp piercing through his eye - cold, chilling, churning until he nearly lost consciousness.
Xie Jun crashed against the wall with a loud thud, sliding slowly down along it.
"Thump."
Qin Ziwen twisted the clothes-drying rod, then thrust it deeper with force.
Only when Xie Jun's right hand released, the machete clattering to the floor, did he withdraw his spear.
With the battle over, an indescribable emotion swept through him.
Qin Ziwu stared blankly, looking back and forth at the two motionless figures on the floor.
Qin Ziwen's heart pounded rapidly as he pressed a hand to his chest.
"Knock, knock, knock." He rapped on the closed bedroom door. "Alright, it's over. You can come out now."
No response came from the bedroom.
Wang Xiaoli was probably terrified.
Qin Ziwen's voice deepened, "Come out. I won't say it again."
"Click."
The bedroom door's lock disengaged.
Wang Xiaoli opened the door, head bowed, body trembling as she fearfully glanced at the two corpses on the floor.
In her mind, Xie Jun and Xie Guang were not people to mess with.
The Qin brothers who could kill these two had inherited the Xie cousins' status in her mind, perhaps even surpassed it.
Qin Ziwu, still flushed with battle frenzy, suddenly asked his brother, "Brother?"
Qin Ziwen said, "Let her go. I keep my word - she did what she promised me, so I'll do what I promised her."
Qin Ziwu paused, then nodded, "Huh? Oh."
Qin Ziwu shouted impatiently, "Get lost!"
Wang Xiaoli immediately fled without looking back, terrified they might change their minds.
Outside on the stairs, Old Deng came down carrying something after hearing the commotion, cautiously peering into the room.
Wang Xiaoli, running out, nearly collided with him, screaming in fright.
Qin Ziwen and his brother dragged the corpses out, surprised to see Old Deng outside. "Old Deng?"
Old Deng looked at the carried-out Xie Jun - too dark to clearly see his face. "I heard noises earlier, thought something might have happened to you, so came down to check."
Qin Ziwen smiled, "These Xie brothers heard I got some meat and tried to rob me tonight. I defended myself legitimately."
With all the screaming and wailing earlier, there was no hiding it in the quiet night, so he hadn't planned to anyway. Having Old Deng as a witness worked perfectly.
Old Deng looked shocked but quickly understood - the current environment differed from before. He gazed complexly at the Xie brothers' corpses, thought for a moment, then rolled up his sleeves. "Let me help you carry them."
With Old Deng's help, the three quickly carried both corpses downstairs.
The best approach would be digging a pit to bury them, but excavating a hole large enough for two people would consume too much energy, plus they lacked tools.
Wasting that much effort on these scumbags wasn't worth it, so they simply dumped them outside the residential complex's south gate. The three didn't venture out - the wilderness at night proved more dangerous than daytime.
After working for a while and finishing up, Old Deng wiped his hands. "My family plans to smoke the meat tomorrow. Want to join us?"
Qin Ziwen readily agreed, "Sure, we'll work together tomorrow. What time are you getting up?"
"Originally six, but after this happened, we'll sleep in a bit - let's make it seven."
Returning home, the room still held a faint metallic scent.
Qin Ziwen found some old clothes and simply wiped the bloodstains from the floor.
Soon, midnight arrived.
「You have successfully survived safely in the wilderness for the third day. Through teamwork, you hunted a crocodile and distributed some raw meat. Human hearts prove more terrifying than beasts - someone attempted to attack you, but you successfully counter-killed them using traps. Comprehensive score: 32 points」
「You received rewards: 【Expansion Card】Blank Micro Expansion Card1, Mountain Plant Encyclopedia Fragment2, 【Building Card】Level 1 Beast Cage1, Packaged Salt3」