This Damned Thirst for Survival

Chapter 40

Sleeping in the communal bunk comes with its drawbacks. Resigned to his fate, Jiang Luo tidied up his hair and used his blanket to create a barrier between himself and the people on either side.

After a challenging night, by six in the morning, the competitors had to leave their resting area.

Liao Si moved slowly. By the time he was packed, the room was already empty of other people.

He was in no hurry, leisurely packing his belongings. He took out twenty palm-sized plastic bags, collecting hair from the bedding of all the competitors except his own, sealing the bags, and then labelling each with a name.

He placed these plastic bags into his suitcase, finally taking out one that he had prepared the night before.

In the small plastic bag, a single long hair coiled and bent. Among all the competitors, only one person had such long hair.

Liao Si looked at it curiously for a long while, muttering to himself, "Hua Li, why did the master control me to make me pluck  Jiang Luo's hair yesterday?"

"If he wanted hair, couldn't he just pick it up himself?"

The room was empty besides him, but suddenly, a chilling voice responded, "How would I know what the master is thinking? Your thoughts can be read by the master, why don't you ask him?"

Liao Si chuckled, "You know the master can control my body at any time and know my thoughts. But I was curious all last night, thought about it all night, and the master didn't respond to me once. Isn't that why I thought to ask you?"

Hua Li had no interest in continuing the conversation, "If you don't leave now, someone will come looking for you."

With a leisurely sigh, Liao Si left the resting area.

Jiang Luo was listening to a staff member detail information about the third stage of the competition.

The staff member said, "In the dense forest, there's an isolated village called Shentu Village. About a month and a half ago, the police received a distress call from Shentu Village, but when they drove there, they discovered that not a single phone existed in Shentu Village. After investigating Shentu Village, the police found that the village had experienced several strange diseases years ago, each time resulting in the death of half the population. Despite this, the villagers of Shentu Village never left. In recent years, there have been no more strange diseases, but something even stranger has happened—"

"Every time someone in Shentu Village dies, a new life appears in the village. The population of their village has never changed over the years."

The staff member continued, "Competitors, what you need to do is to uncover the secret of Shentu Village within a week and survive."

What followed was the familiar signing of a death waiver agreement, but the expressions on everyone's faces were much graver than in the previous stage.

The road to Shentu Village was impassable by car, forcing everyone to proceed on foot. The groups from Baihua University and Shanhai University, having the largest numbers, naturally formed two teams. Those competing independently exchanged glances and formed a temporary third team.

However, one person didn't interact with anyone else and, compass in hand, ventured alone into the dense forest.

"That person is He Zhi from Wenxing University," Liao Si slowly made his way to Jiang Luo's side. "He's quite solitary. But I'm not solitary. Jiang Luo, may I walk with you?"

Turning to look at him, Jiang Luo saw Liao Si offer a frail smile. "Even though I'm not in the best of health, I am at least a corpse herder. I won't hold you back."