173: Chapter 173 Wang Lan Disappeared

Tent.

Su Qingxue's breathing grew rapid.

The tent represented signs of other people surviving, and even clues that a rescue team had once set foot on this Deserted Island.

If it was left by the rescue team, as long as they searched along this clue, there was a high possibility of leaving this place.

"Where is it?" Su Qingxue couldn't help pressing, "What's inside?"

Wang Lan stared into Lin Fan's eyes, "I didn't dare to get close and look. After Zhang Tao was attacked, I only cared about running and didn't remember the specific reference objects. If you want to go see, I can lead the way."

Lin Fan's gaze was extremely cold.

The timing of Wang Lan throwing out this bait was too coincidental.

Just as Zhang Tao died, she discovered the tent. This was clearly to divert his attention, trading a clue of unknown authenticity for her own life.

Or, this was a trap in itself.

That mountain ravine was piled with a large amount of wild boar entrails they had discarded yesterday, and the bloody smell was extremely heavy.

Going there itself was an extremely dangerous behavior.

But the information about the old tent was indeed valuable.

The tsunami on this Deserted Island was coming soon; not only would there be natural disasters, but there were also many uncertain factors.

Mastering more information about the island's past was the key for him to control the overall situation.

Regardless of whether there was a conspiracy inside, it was necessary for him to go and explore.

"Wait here," Lin Fan spoke.

Wang Lan was stunned.

Lin Fan turned around and looked toward the Karst Cave direction, "I am going back to the Karst Cave to get the crossbow arrows. If you dare to play any tricks, I will make sure your death is more painful than Zhang Tao's."

Hearing this, Wang Lan's tense shoulders obviously collapsed, and she repeatedly responded, "Mm, I understand!"

As long as Lin Fan was lured away by the tent's clues, her life today would be considered saved.

Lin Fan strode toward the slope direction, and Su Qingxue glanced at Wang Lan, quickly following Lin Fan.

The two walked a certain distance, leaving Wang Lan's sight and hearing range.

Su Qingxue couldn't help speaking, "Lin Fan, do you really believe her? That woman's look just now was completely wrong."

"That tent is eighty percent a trap. If you go there now, in case there really is a large wild beast, or she has arranged some trap over there..."

"I know there's a trick," Lin Fan interrupted her, his footsteps unstopped, "Zhang Tao was most likely killed by her."

Su Qingxue paused her steps, her face turning pale, "Then you still follow her words?"

"Because I need to confirm whether there is really a tent there."

Lin Fan's tone was calm, "If there is, it shows that someone had been stationed on this island before. If not, keeping her for a few more hours doesn't matter."

"A woman like her cannot make any big waves."

The two returned to the Karst Cave. Lin Fan walked into the compartment, and when he came out, he was already holding the crossbow arrows. He spoke, "Zhang Tao is dead."

Liu Feifei was stunned in place, her eyes wide open.

Song Ya followed closely behind, and upon hearing this, the half-section of withered branch in her hand dropped directly to the ground.

"D—Dead?" Liu Feifei's tongue was tied, "How did he die?"

"Wild beast attack."

"It could also be smashed to death with a stone by someone, but it doesn't matter."

Song Ya's face was pale, "Then what about Wang Lan?"

"On the beach." Lin Fan inspected the bowstring of the crossbow, "Song Ya."

"Mm!" Song Ya straightened her body.

Lin Fan looked at her, "Remember my words next."

"From now on, no matter what movement you hear outside, no matter who cries for help, you must absolutely not leave this cave entrance."

Song Ya felt Lin Fan was a bit strange, and Lin Fan continued to speak, "Remember, if there are other survivors, you must guard this cave."

Lin Fan didn't know when the tsunami would come. Perhaps they would come as soon as they entered the woods, or perhaps at night. But no matter what, this Karst Cave was the best shelter and must never be lost.

Before Song Ya had time to ask anything, the two walked out of the cave entrance and stepped onto the downhill path again.

The sky seemed to have become somewhat dark.

A scalp-numbingly dead silence enveloped the entire island.

This stuffiness and silence were the unique vacuum period before a major disaster arrived.

Lin Fan quickened his pace.

Lin Fan held the crossbow, his fingers resting near the trigger, and Su Qingxue followed half a step away.

They bypassed that black reef covered with barnacles and stopped at the previous open ground.

It was empty.

Only a few soaked and rotted withered logs lay across the mud and sand.

Su Qingxue stopped her feet, her gaze quickly scanning around, and finally pointing to a damp sand with an indentation in front, "I remember Wang Lan was in this position."

She walked forward half a step, staring at the shallow pit pressed out by knees just now. "We've been away for less than ten minutes, where is the person?"

"Ran away?" Su Qingxue lowered her voice, her throat dry, "Did this woman see you go get weapons and run away out of a guilty conscience?"

"She doesn't have that courage." Lin Fan's fingers rubbed against the mechanism, "Going into the woods is courting death. Returning to the Karst Cave has Song Ya guarding it, and she can't get in. Staying here is her only bargaining chip to survive."

"Then where is she?"

"Be careful." Lin Fan's gaze locked onto a row of heavily weathered rock walls on the right, "This woman is full of nonsense, and the set of rhetoric just now is full of loopholes."

"What tent, what victims, it's all based on her single mouth. Now that she's hiding, she might just be lying behind some rock brewing bad intentions."

Su Qingxue understood his meaning.

Perhaps this was a trap to lure him in, waiting for Lin Fan to approach so she could launch a sneak attack from behind.

Thinking of this, Su Qingxue only felt a chill shooting up her spine.

In a place like the Deserted Island, you could guard against wild dogs in the open, but you couldn't guard against human malice in the dark.

"Then let's go straight back." Su Qingxue didn't want to take this risk, "Since the person is gone, there's no need to waste time with her."

"Since we're already here." Lin Fan didn't retreat. He took a step forward, then lowered his head. On the sandy ground, besides the footprints when they left, there were some other things.

"Follow behind me."

Lin Fan dropped these words, lowered his waist and back, and walked forward along the traces on the ground.

Su Qingxue clenched her teeth and could only bite the bullet and follow.

The traces on the ground were very strange.

There were no messy running footprints, nor claw pits stepped out by passing wild beasts.

An irregular strip-shaped groove about half a meter wide was dragged out on the sand surface, as if some heavy dirt and sand were forcibly dragged across.

Even more eye-catching was the color.

In the grayish-yellow mud and sand, there were mottled dark red patches mixed in. The further forward they went, the denser the red became.

Those bloodstains that hadn't completely dried up seeped into the gaps of the sand grains, and the bloody smell was pungent.

Su Qingxue felt a turbulent wave turning over in her stomach.

She had smelled this bloody stench before. Last night when Zhou Kai cut open his flesh to detoxify, the whole cave was filled with this smell.

But the amount on the ground was much more than last night.

This didn't look like blood shed by a normal living person.

The dragging traces extended all the way behind a huge grayish-white rock dozens of meters away.

The bottom of the rock was covered with moss, and half of it was buried in the sand, blocking the view from behind.

That pungent bloody smell wafted out from behind the rock.

Lin Fan raised his hand, signaling Su Qingxue to stop.

Su Qingxue's heartbeat was so fast it felt like it was going to jump out of her throat.

She gripped the corner of her clothes tightly, her palms full of slippery cold sweat.

That smell was simply too disgusting.

Lin Fan pressed against the edge of the rock, then exerted force with his feet, his body sliding sideways by half a body length, the crossbow's crosshairs covering behind the rock.

Vision locked.

No living creatures.

Only blood all over the ground.

Seeing Lin Fan freeze in place and lower his crossbow, Su Qingxue thought there was no danger, so she walked toward Lin Fan's direction.

Until Lin Fan noticed Su Qingxue approaching from behind, he snapped back to his senses, "Don't come over."

However, it was too late. Su Qingxue's feet were nailed firmly in place.

"Ah..."