Zhao Xi slowly emerged from the depths of unconsciousness, the haze of the past retreating as his senses sharpened. The dim light of the room wrapped around him like a heavy fog, but it was the familiar voice of Sun Cheng that pulled him from his stupor. The sound of his name, uttered in frantic relief, snapped his attention back to the present.

"Secretary Zhao, thank heaven, you've awoken!" Sun Cheng exclaimed, his eyes wide with exhaustion and relief.

Zhao Xi blinked, trying to clear the fog in his mind. His muscles ached, his head pounded, and there was a dull, persistent sting in his right arm. He shifted slightly, noticing the unfamiliar surroundings—a room lit only by the faint glow of a single oil lamp. His surroundings were plain but functional: an old bed with worn linens, a small wooden chair where Sun Cheng sat, and a desk piled with various tools and fabrics.

He sat up slowly, his thoughts racing. "Humm, we are saved," Zhao Xi muttered, still piecing everything together. "That man, and... where are we now?"

Sun Cheng wiped his brow, clearly still shaken by everything that had happened. "The man... he took us here, to the tailor shop, near the street. You know, it's the one at the end of the lane, the one with the sign that has the needle and thread." His voice was filled with an urgency that matched the tension in his posture.

"Tailor shop?" Zhao Xi murmured, his brows furrowing in disbelief. He remembered the face of the man who had appeared at the last moment to save them, his figure shrouded in an eerie, glowing armor. It seemed impossible that he could have any connection to such an ordinary place. "That man... he is the tailor?" he asked, a hint of surprise creeping into his voice.

As if answering his unspoken question, the door creaked open. A middle-aged man, tall and broad-shouldered, walked in. His expression was grim, and he carried himself with a quiet authority that made the air in the room grow heavy. The man’s eyes met Zhao Xi's with a cold intensity. He stood tall and unwavering, his presence formidable. In his hand, he gripped a gun—its cold steel gleaming faintly in the low light.

"You two are too reckless," the man said in a booming voice that seemed to echo off the walls. "You'd better leave right now."

Zhao Xi straightened, the sense of unease growing in his gut. He had known something was off ever since they'd been saved. The sight of the man, and the sudden appearance of the armored figure, raised more questions than it answered. The man pointed toward a small, hidden door on the far side of the room, almost blending into the wall.

“There’s a tunnel leading to the back mountain,” the man continued, his voice dropping to a more serious tone. “You can go through it now. If you wait too long, you’ll be trapped here. In hell.”

The words hit Zhao Xi like a cold slap. "Hell?" he echoed, confusion and alarm in his voice. “What do you mean by that?”

As Sun Cheng opened his mouth to speak, Zhao Xi quickly cut him off, his thoughts racing. He was beginning to understand the gravity of the situation, the ominous warning, and the man’s cryptic tone.

“We owe you our lives," Zhao Xi said, his voice thick with gratitude and curiosity. "But what’s happened here? What’s going on? We need the truth. You should come with us. The government’s already aware. Troops will be sent here soon. It’s better if you leave with us.”

Sun Cheng nodded quickly, trying to add to the urgency. "This man—he's the previous county secretary, Zhao Xi. He knows what we’re up against."

The middle-aged man’s eyes flickered, and he muttered something under his breath as if deep in thought. He seemed to recognize the name, his gaze softening just for a moment. "Oh... it’s you, young man."

Zhao Xi raised an eyebrow. Something about the man’s tone made him uneasy. "Yes, it's me," Zhao Xi replied, his voice steady despite the strange turn of events. "But, sir... we’ve met before, a long time ago."

He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the long, jagged scar on his right arm—the mark of that fateful day so many years ago. It had been the same arm the creature had bitten, the same arm that had almost been its final meal.

The man’s face went pale. A long sigh escaped his lips as his eyes scanned the scar. "This... you’re the boy from that day," he murmured, a mixture of recognition and regret in his voice. "You saved her, didn't you?"

Just as the silence thickened, the door creaked again. A young woman walked into the room, her face pale but determined. The moment her eyes met Zhao Xi’s, there was no mistaking the recognition in both of their gazes. Her expression was a mixture of shock, disbelief, and a strange sense of familiarity.

"You!" she exclaimed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Zhao Xi's heart skipped a beat. His memories surged forward in a flood of emotion. It was her. The girl he had saved so many years ago. The girl who had been in danger when he was just a child, the one whose life he had spared in the mountains, facing down that unspeakable creature. She had been just a child, too, and they had both survived that horrific encounter together.

He opened his mouth to speak, but words caught in his throat. She had changed, but not enough to erase the bond they shared—the bond formed in that desperate, terrifying moment.

"Is it really you?" Zhao Xi asked, his voice trembling with disbelief. "We have met...before this disaster...in this tailor shop. But, it seems that we had met each other when i stepped into that mountain in our childhood. "

The young woman stepped closer, her eyes glistening with a strange mixture of sorrow and recognition. "Yes, it's me," she said softly, her voice thick with emotion. "I never forgot what you did for me. I never forgot that day in the mountains. You saved me, and... and I don't know why or how, but... I’m here now."

Zhao Xi’s heart pounded as memories of that terrifying day, so long ago, rushed back in vivid detail. He had never imagined he would meet her again. The fact that she was here, now, after everything that had happened, only deepened the mystery of what was unfolding around them.

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The middle-aged man stood silently, watching the reunion unfold with a heavy sigh. "It's a long story," he said quietly. "But now, it's not the time to talk. You two need to leave. And fast."

Zhao Xi and Sun Cheng exchanged glances, the weight of everything that had transpired sinking in. The tunnel. The hell. The creatures. The mysterious man who had saved them. The girl from his past. They had no time to waste.

The atmosphere in the dimly lit room was thick with tension, every second stretching into an eternity as the middle-aged man, his face a mask of grim determination, turned toward Zhao Xi. His weathered eyes were sharp, scanning him with an intensity that seemed to pierce through to his very soul. “Just now, you said the troops are coming here, right?” The man’s voice was low but urgent, each word heavy with a burden Zhao Xi couldn’t fully comprehend.

Zhao Xi nodded slowly. “Yes, they’re on their way. The government is aware of the situation now. The troops have weapons, they can eliminate these grotesque creatures... put an end to this madness.” His voice was firm, though the uncertainty that had crept into his thoughts made his words falter slightly.

The man’s eyes darkened, a shadow of something unspeakable crossing his face. He shook his head slowly, his lips pressing into a thin, hard line. “No... you don’t understand,” he muttered under his breath before looking Zhao Xi dead in the eye. “If you can reach them, tell them—do not come here! The curse... this place... it’s cursed.” His voice lowered even further, as though speaking the word “curse” aloud would draw some ancient evil nearer.

Zhao Xi frowned, confusion twisting his features. “Cursed? But why? Why can’t they help? The creatures... they need to be stopped. The curse is nothing but a superstition, isn’t it?” He tried to reason, his mind struggling to make sense of the bizarre turn of events.

The man’s gaze grew colder, more distant as if he were revisiting some unspeakable memory. He sighed heavily, the weight of his words clearly pressing on him. “You don’t know, boy,” he said with a sharp edge in his voice. “Once you step into this cursed place, once you breathe its air, every living being, whether native or foreign, will be consumed by madness. They’ll lose their minds... and they’ll become deformed. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been here for a minute or a year. It’s inevitable.” His voice trailed off as if the very idea of this curse was too much to bear.

Zhao Xi stared at him, his mind racing, but a feeling of unease crept over him, one he couldn’t quite shake. "But... I’m still... I’m still sane. I haven’t felt any of this madness you speak of. Why?" His voice cracked with a mix of curiosity and disbelief. The middle-aged man didn’t answer immediately, instead standing there in silence, lost in thought. Zhao Xi’s heart thudded in his chest. He couldn’t understand it. Everything seemed so real, yet so unreal at the same time. How could something as intangible as a curse affect people but leave him untouched?

Before he could press the man further, a shrill, gut-wrenching scream shattered the silence. Sun Cheng’s anguished cry echoed through the room, causing Zhao Xi’s blood to run cold. He whipped around, his eyes wide with panic.

Sun Cheng was standing there, clutching at his chest, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His once sturdy figure was now trembling violently, his face twisted in pain. His eyes were bloodshot, bulging, the whites turning red with an unnatural ferocity. His skin had gone deathly pale, a sickly shade of ashen gray, and his limbs began to twitch erratically, as though something within him was tearing at the seams. Zhao Xi’s heart pounded in his ears.

“Sun Cheng!” Zhao Xi shouted, rushing toward his comrade. “What’s happening? Are you okay? Please, just hold on. We’ll get you out of here! You need to stay with me, alright? We’re almost there—just hold on!”

But Sun Cheng’s grip on his chest tightened, and he crumpled to the ground, his body contorting in a grotesque display of agony. Bloodshot eyes locked onto Zhao Xi’s, and in that moment, a terrible realization hit him like a physical blow. He knew. He could see it in Sun Cheng’s eyes. He knew what was happening.

“Sun Cheng! No! Please!” Zhao Xi’s voice cracked, panic rising in his throat.

He turned toward the middle-aged man, desperation in his eyes. “Do you know what’s going on? What’s happening to him? Can you save him? He’s my comrade!”

The man’s expression was filled with sorrow, but there was something else in his gaze—a grim resignation that chilled Zhao Xi to the core. “He’s cursed,” the man said, his voice rough with an emotion that Zhao Xi couldn’t place. “Like everyone else in this place. Once the symptoms appear, there’s no stopping it. It’ll only get worse. Eventually, he’ll lose his humanity... and become one of them.” He paused for a moment, the weight of his words hanging in the air. “No one can save him, at least not that I know of.”

Zhao Xi felt his heart drop into his stomach. “No!” he cried out in anguish, his hands shaking. “There has to be something we can do! He’s my friend—he can’t become one of those things!”

Sun Cheng’s body trembled violently, a horrific transformation beginning to take shape. His limbs snapped and twisted in unnatural angles. His back arched, and a guttural growl erupted from his throat, deep and primal. The horrific sound sent a shiver down Zhao Xi’s spine.

“Aaaahhh!” Sun Cheng howled, his face contorting in agony as his body twisted and warped before Zhao Xi’s horrified eyes. His once human features were now a grotesque mockery—his face lengthening, his mouth opening wider than seemed possible, filled with sharp, jagged teeth. He was changing, his body crawling along the floor like an animal, his mind no longer his own.

Zhao Xi stepped back, his mind racing with disbelief. “No... it’s impossible!” he whispered through gritted teeth. His hands clenched into fists, but his body was frozen, unable to process what was happening before him.

The middle-aged man stepped forward, his expression hardening into one of grim resolve. “This is not the man you knew,” he said coldly. “This... this is not Sun Cheng anymore. He’s a monster now.”

Without hesitation, the man pulled out a machete, the blade gleaming ominously in the dim light. Zhao Xi’s blood ran cold as the man raised it high, his movements swift and efficient. The machete came down with a sickening finality, slicing through the air and severing Sun Cheng’s head from his body. The monstrous creature’s form fell to the ground with a sickening thud, its lifeless eyes staring into nothingness.

Zhao Xi stood frozen, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene before him. His heart wrenched, his throat constricting with grief. Tears blurred his vision, but he didn’t move, didn’t speak. The horror of what had just happened—of losing his comrade, his friend—was too much to bear.

After a long silence, Zhao Xi took a shaky breath, his voice hoarse with emotion. “This... this tragedy, I can’t forgive it. I won’t let it go.” His hands balled into fists, fury and sorrow mingling in his heart. “I will find the source of all of this... I’ll find whoever is behind this nightmare. I will make them pay for what they’ve done.”

The middle-aged man looked at him with a mix of sympathy and respect. “You’re right to feel that way,” he said, his voice quiet but firm. “This is no ordinary disaster. It’s a curse, a plague, a holocaust. And you’re right. I’ve been searching for the source of it for years. I’ve tracked it through blood and death. If you want to join me, if you truly seek revenge... then you’re welcome to come.”

Zhao Xi nodded, his eyes burning with determination. “I need to join you,” he said, his voice steady and unyielding. “I need to see this through. I’ll fight with you. For Sun Cheng, for everyone who’s been lost. This... this will end.”

The man’s lips twitched into a grim smile, though his eyes remained filled with sorrow. “Then come. But know this—what lies ahead will test you in ways you cannot imagine.”

And so, with a shared resolve, they turned toward the hidden tunnel.