Mao Xiao's disappearance and Hai Baihe's attack undoubtedly cast a shadow in everyone's heart. The once relaxed atmosphere vanished instantly, and everyone's nerves tightened. They looked at the ground from time to time, fearing that monsters would jump out and grab their feet, dragging them into hell.
In such a shadowy environment, in such a tense and fearful atmosphere, it's difficult for anyone to maintain their sanity for long.
Especially after walking for twenty minutes without even seeing a glimpse of the subway station.
"Mr. Li," Diya stopped in her tracks, "is it possible that we took the wrong path?"
Li Hao, who was leading the way, shook his head. "Not likely. We haven't seen any detours along the way."
"Wrong path?" Xiong Baobao didn't catch Diya's words clearly. She hurried a few steps forward and said, "How could we take the wrong path? How can we go wrong in this situation?"
Normally, when a beautiful woman acts coquettishly, men are usually willing to indulge her. But not in times like this. Li Hao restrained his annoyance and said, "We didn't take a wrong turn. We haven't seen any detours along the way."
"But this is illogical." Wang Dong analyzed the situation, "We should have arrived at the subway station after just one stop. How is it possible that we still haven't reached it?"
Indeed, it was a problem. However, Li Hao didn't like others questioning him. "How would I know? If we really took a wrong turn, wouldn't you have seen it?"
"We've been following you all along," Xiong Baobao blurted out, "We were just looking at the ground earlier, how could we have noticed if there were any detours?"
Wang Dong felt that her words were too straightforward, so he pulled her sleeve and tried to speak in a more calm tone. "Mr. Li, don't get angry. Baobao was just a bit scared, so her tone might have been a bit harsh. But if we've been walking for so long without reaching the subway station, it's very likely that we took the wrong path."
Diya thought about it and agreed with their perspective. "We've been walking on one side all the time, and the light from our phones is limited. It's normal to miss a road for a moment, even though most subway doors open on this side, it's still possible that the direction is reversed."
Li Hao loosened up slightly, but Hai Baihe rejected this possibility. "The first station we got on was Xianhua Road, the previous station was Heping University Station, where I study, and the next station is Tianzi Lane, a place I often go to. All three stations have doors on the left side."
Li Hao felt his pride return and spread his hands. "I told you there were no detours."
"But how do you explain that we've been walking for so long and still haven't reached the subway station?" Xiong Baobao looked at him, "We've already walked for an hour between two stations. Is that logical?"
Hai Baihe said slowly, "I don't know."
She couldn't determine if they had taken the wrong path or if this tunnel was like the road in Huyang Township, a never-ending loop. The latter was obviously more terrifying, so she decided to remain silent for now.
However, the others were unaware of the terrifying possibility of an endless loop, so they started arguing.
Li Hao insisted on moving forward, while Xiong Baobao and Wang Dong believed that they had definitely taken the wrong path and should turn back. It was about to turn into a quarrel
when Diya intervened, trying to mediate. "How about this, let's walk a bit further. If we still can't see the subway station, then we'll turn back and try again."
Zhuang Yijian nodded and said, "Alright, now is not the time to argue. Can you still hold on?" The last sentence was clearly directed at Hai Baihe.
Hai Baihe sighed and said, "It's fine." She just wanted Zhuang Yijian to stop supporting her. If this had happened a month ago, she would have taken advantage of this opportunity, but now it seemed like Zhuang Yijian had developed some feelings for her, so she didn't dare to do anything else.
Damn, what if he misunderstands something? She didn't plan to start a romantic relationship! But she couldn't reject him too obviously and hurt the young man's self-esteem.
Perhaps hearing her thoughts, Liang Xiao suddenly turned his head and looked at her, and Hai Baihe exchanged a glance with him, signaling for his help.
Liang Xiao blinked at her, asking if she was sure.
He had heard from the bartender that Hai Baihe used to visit the bar often to flirt with Zhuang Yijian. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, it wouldn't be surprising if she had some thoughts.
Especially since they were just in an ambiguous relationship now, and if Hai Baihe arranged to meet Zhuang Yijian again, it wouldn't be a big deal. To get what she wanted, why not take advantage of the situation?
Besides, Zhuang Yijian was handsome and had a stable personality. He took his feelings seriously, even in such a terrible situation, he still cared for her. He would be a suitable boyfriend, and if they could be together, it would be a good thing.
But Hai Baihe clearly didn't have such intentions. She blinked hard, affirming her decision.
Breaking up now would only lead to chaos. While nothing had been made clear yet, it would be better to make him lose interest quickly.
Liang Xiao thought for a moment, gave her a reassuring look, and now it was not the right time to intervene abruptly. He would think of a way.
While they were in their dispute, the others had already reached a decision. They decided to walk for another twenty minutes, and if they still couldn't find the way, they would turn back.
After twenty minutes, nothing had changed.
Li Hao reluctantly agreed to turn back, but this time, he refused to lead the way. "Since you all think my eyesight is bad, I won't lead anymore. You can go on your own."
However, when Xiong Baobao wanted to walk in the front, she became scared again. Wang Dong hesitated and said, "Then, fine."
"Forget it, I'll go ahead." Diya believed that now was not the time to argue and took the initiative to lead them back.
Hai Baihe saw an opportunity and quickly freed herself from Zhuang Yijian, catching up with Diya and said, "I have good eyesight, I'll walk in the front too."
She walked too fast, and her injured foot stumbled. Zhuang Yijian was about to reach out to support her, but Liang Xiao was already in the perfect position, walking beside her and supporting her. "Be careful," he said smoothly, taking over naturally, without showing any signs of premeditation.
Hai Baihe immediately relied on him, distributing her weight to him. She felt a bit uncomfortable maintaining her posture to avoid getting close to Zhuang Yijian. She was exhausted. "Thank you," she sincerely thanked him.
"Just don't regret it,"
Liang Xiao glanced at Zhuang Yijian, who seemed slightly disappointed. He shook his head and smiled. If there was any mutual interest between Hai Baihe and Zhuang Yijian, he would definitely support it. But obviously, it was one-sided affection now, so he should help her a little.
Hai Baihe sighed, whispering softly, "Don't be too unreliable. Sleeping together is one thing, but deceiving emotions is not good."
Even if there was no Liang Xiao, since she didn't like Zhuang Yijian and didn't plan to pursue a formal relationship with him, she didn't want him to make any extra effort for her.
Not liking someone, there was no need to hold onto their emotions. She didn't want to be someone who was always on someone's mind, nor did she feel the need to fulfill her vanity with someone else's deep affection.
Life is long, don't waste time and energy on hopeless feelings. It's better to let go early and seek a better match.
"Got it," Liang Xiao concisely replied. Since Hai Baihe had no intention, he didn't mind helping her a little.
This was demonstrated by changing his supporting action from holding her to putting his arm around her waist. With him as a crutch, Hai Baihe's walking speed increased immediately. They were only second to Diya, ranking second in the queue.
As for Li Hao, due to the change in the order, he ended up being the last. He was still unwilling to let go of blaming Xiong Baobao. After taking a few steps, he couldn't help but turn his head and look around. When he did, a chill ran down his spine. "What's that?"
"What's wrong?" Everyone else turned their heads, afraid to see Li Hao being dragged into the tunnel.
Li Hao blinked his eyes, and the figure that had flashed by disappeared. There was only the dense darkness behind. "Maybe... maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. It seemed like I saw something flash by."
Xiong Baobao laughed nervously. "Uncle, please don't scare us like that. It's terrifying."
"Perhaps I saw it wrong," Li Hao reassured others, trying to convince himself as well.
But everyone quickened their pace.
Not even ten minutes later, everyone's footsteps stopped simultaneously. A fork in the road appeared in front of them. Xiong Baobao took a look and happily exclaimed, "See, I told you we took the wrong path!"
She was about to walk in that direction, but Diya stopped her. "This path seems strange. It's such a big tunnel, how could we have missed it?"
Indeed, they had been focused on the ground and the path in front of them. But Diya made sure to scan the surroundings every once in a while, making sure nothing was missed. It was normal to overlook a small tunnel, but how could they miss such a big fork in the road?
"The lighting isn't good. It's normal to make mistakes," Wang Dong dismissed it. "Let's go. I don't want to stay here for another minute."
Now it seemed that there was no better explanation.
However, Hai Baihe had a strong aversion to this tunnel. But relying solely on "I feel something is wrong" would not be enough to convince the others not to go that way.
After all, they had been walking for over an hour, and both their physical strength and endurance were reaching their limits. Could she bear the responsibility of turning back or moving forward?
Not to mention that there might not be any paths left, whether going forward or backward.
But she couldn't shake off the feeling that going deeper
into this tunnel was not a good choice.
Hai Baihe hesitated for a moment, then suddenly pointed to the other side. "Look, there seems to be something written on the wall."