Chapter 7: Ancient Friends

Gu Zhiyou took two steps forward, reached out to check his breathing and heartbeat, then shook his head and said, "He is dead"

"It must be the Stoneclaw Beast," Sun Yaojie suddenly exclaimed

Ah

Sun Yaojie pondered for a moment and looked at everyone, saying: "What does everyone think? Should we go take a look or what?"

Soon, everyone rushed to a place overgrown with water plants. This was an area of water plants approximately half a person's height deep. The young man, Chen Long, was lying half-naked at the edge of the water plants, surrounded by blood. His throat had been bitten open, revealing a gaping wound, from which blood was gushing out.

"That being said, it seems like... there is something going on... Hehe, Brother Gu, you really have some skills. Do you have any special tricks to share with us brothers?" Fang Zhirong chuckled. Gu Zhiyou, despite his unattractive appearance and seemingly modest attire, managed to marry such a beautiful wife, which left Fang Zhirong quite impressed.

Gu Zhiyou immediately looked towards Lin Xiao

The other individuals were also filled with envy

What should we do? Should we go back and take a look?" Fang Zhirong inquired

Gu Zhiyou smiled and said, "At that time, my wife was running a small online store in her spare time. She often called me to deliver packages, and over time, we became familiar with each other. We got along very well, and eventually, we fell in love."

Everyone felt a heaviness in their hearts

"Everyone, listen to this sound. Is it from that kid just now?" Fang Zhirong suddenly exclaimed

"How could he just die? Who exactly killed him?" Wu Wenxu, tall and strong with a single-minded disposition, scratched his messy hair and voiced the doubts that were on everyone's mind

"It must be that he was caught alone, so he was ambushed and killed. That Stoneclaw Beast may not have gone far yet—" Shi Lei suddenly screamed, his face filled with terror

Gu Zhiyou smiled and said: "Her father believes that her marrying me would bring shame to their family, and he is resolutely opposed to it. Her mother is more agreeable, though. This time, we received a call from her mother, inviting us to bring the child to their home for the New Year. I think... her parents have come to terms with it, haha"

Lin Xiao took a gentle breath; in the air, there was a faint hint of blood. He spoke, "It was killed by a large ferocious beast." At this point, he had already envisioned the stone-clawed beast with skin like rock in his mind.

At this point, he let out a hearty laugh, clearly quite happy

Upon hearing this, many people turned to look at him. Wu Wenxu was stunned and exclaimed, "No way, then how did you all end up together"

Lin Xiao smiled and said, "Indeed, such girls are quite rare nowadays"

Lin Xiao remained silent, yet made a mark here. They had just explored this area, which was devoid of any quagmires, consisting entirely of solid ground. By the time he finished, everyone had already rushed towards the location from which the recent screams had come.

Hmm, her name is Wen Ningxuan, and she is a novel enthusiast. She is friends with several of us. By the way, she has a somewhat complicated relationship with Lin Xiao... you know what I mean, hehe.

In fact, seeing Chen Long's face filled with terror, his distorted features and wide, vacant eyes, everyone already knew that he was dead.

By the way, is that girl who gave the cookies a friend of yours?" Gu Zhiyou suddenly recalled that Wen Ningxuan seemed to have been standing next to Lin Xiao and the others at that time

Fang Xinyi scoffed, "That coward..." She felt a bit disdainful towards the way that young man had been so frightened just now

Fang Zhirong chuckled and said, "What? Are you also such a good girl?"

Fang Xinyi shot him a glance and said, "What do you mean by 'very few'? There are plenty; it's just that you men are not good at discovering them, and you all think that women are materialistic, snobbish, and vain."

Hearing Sun Yaojie mention his son, Gu Zhiyou nodded at him, smiled, and then let out a slight sigh. The smile was due to the happiness of having a son, while the sigh was a reflection of the current predicament they faced. No one knew what challenges lay ahead, especially since his child was still very young and lacked any means of self-protection.

Gu Zhiyou said: "Go take a look, he suddenly let out such a terrible scream, it is possible that he has encountered some danger, we cannot stand by and do nothing."

Upon seeing this, Sun Yaojie immediately waved his hand and called out: "Everyone, let's go take a look."

A love story has finally borne fruit, indicating that there truly exists such genuine love in this world, unrelated to material aspects such as money and power. Sun Yaojie sighed, as he and Ye Dongling were also deeply in love, which made his feelings particularly profound

Gu Zhiyou was taken aback by Fang Xinyi's words at first, but then he understood and laughed heartily, saying: "So it's because I look ugly, right? Haha."

Fang Xinyi shot him a glare and said, "Why not hetushucomcom..." Just as she said this, a piercing scream suddenly echoed from not far behind.

At this point, he sighed and said, "Her family strongly opposed us after they found out. My wife gave up her job at the hospital, abandoned her parents and family, and came with me to work in Jibei." At this point, he was clearly moved himself, with tears welling in his eyes

Lin Xiao and the others were all taken aback, wondering what this Gu Zhiyou, who had no power or influence and looked quite ordinary, represented. His wife, Chang Juan, was willing to give up such a good family and job for him. What does this indicate?

Fortunately, this path has been confirmed to be free of any quagmires, allowing everyone to relax considerably and proceed at a brisk pace.

After a while, Fang Zhirong murmured, "Damn it, this is love. Today I finally witnessed what love truly is. Now you all know, there is still genuine love in this world"

The implication of ingratiation in his words was quite evident, and Fang Xinyi shot him a glance, choosing not to respond.

Lin Xiao and Sun Yaojie, along with others, are slowly exploring towards the thicket a hundred meters away; the quagmire is too terrifying, and no one dares to be careless

In the team, more than half of the members nodded, as it was a matter of life and death

Everyone looked at each other in confusion; what was even more eerie was that after the scream, there was a profound silence, with no further cries for help or sounds of distress.

Upon the reminder from everyone, it indeed came to mind that Gu Zhiyou's wife is very beautiful, and their son is quite lovely with his fair complexion. However, Gu Zhiyou himself has dark skin, small eyes, and a large mouth, and in terms of appearance, he can certainly be considered unattractive

At almost the same moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred

The man, around thirty, who was trapped in the quagmire at that time, saw that it was Lin Xiao and the pretty girl who had come up with a solution by tying their clothes and belts together to form a long rope, which ultimately saved him. Therefore, he felt very grateful to Lin Xiao and the girl, and intended to draw closer to them. He inquired about their names while first introducing himself as Gu Zhiyou.

Although there were more than 40 people around, he still felt a sense of dread

The incident occurred suddenly, startling everyone. Fang Xinyi's words were interrupted halfway, and everyone turned around, yet saw nothing.

Another woman in the team, who was quite robust, with a face like a silver basin, was a retired weightlifter from the province. Her name was Shi Qian. At this moment, she spoke up: "Human life is at stake; let us go take a look." As she spoke, she was already heading in the direction from which the scream had just come.

Hearing his voice, everyone could not help but grip the short knives in their hands tightly

Fang Xinyi immediately shot a glare at Gu Zhiyou, clearly displeased with his comparison of her to Fang Zhirong. Suddenly, she said, "Hey, Gu Zhiyou, your wife and son are both very good-looking, tsk tsk." As she spoke, she scrutinized Gu Zhiyou.

He suddenly let out a heart-wrenching and piercing scream

Everyone recognized that the voice belonged to the young man who had just cried out in fear. Many in the crowd noticed that he was walking alone in the opposite direction. They initially thought he was returning to the station, but how could such a terrible scream occur? Could he have fallen into a quagmire again?

Weirdly, Chen Long turned his head to take a look, and then he saw a pair of terrifying eyes that glimmered like green copper bells. Below them, two streams of air were being expelled from the nostrils, and it was precisely these air currents that had just sprayed onto the skin at the back of his neck, making him feel it.

Lin Xiao noticed that everyone was looking at him, and he shook his head in some helplessness, feeling quite speechless about Fang Zhirong's big mouth

Several people successively reported their names, and everyone was not unfamiliar with this ancient friend. They all recalled the scene when Wen Ningxuan gave cookies to his child. Sun Yaojie interjected, "Your son is very cute"

By the way, your children are now two or three years old. Do your wife's parents still oppose it?

Upon hearing these words, everyone felt a chill in their hearts and instinctively retreated towards the center of the group

Fang Zhirong's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "Fang Xinyi, what a beautiful name. We are actually from the same family, as I also have the surname Fang. My name is Fang Zhirong. Everyone, listen, don't our names sound quite similar?"

Lin Xiao thought that they were also taking the train to Ming Island this time. Gu Zhiyou's wife, Chang Juan, has parents on Ming Island, which suggests that the relationship between the two parties should have eased.

Gu Zhi-you smiled and said, "It is indeed very similar"

The girl, who appeared to be around twenty-two or twenty-three years old and looked very charming, was also quite generous. Upon hearing the names called out by Lin Xiao and Gu Zhiyou along with a few others, she smiled and introduced herself as Fang Xinyi

Among the crowd, Fang Xinyi and Shi Qian, being women, turned their heads away after just a glance at Chen Long's half-naked appearance, feeling too embarrassed to look any longer

Gu Zhiyou smiled and said: "You may not believe it, but I come from a rural background. I used to work at a courier company on Ming Island, just delivering packages. It would be fair to say I was quite poor. My wife, Chang Juan, was a doctor at the municipal hospital in Ming Island at that time, with a formal position. Her father was the director of the hospital. To be honest, there was quite a gap between us.