The sixteen survivors sat slumped on the ridges of the field, gasping for breath.

Once they confirmed that the terrifying crows dared not cross the forest boundary, the tension in their nerves relaxed, and the pent-up conflicts erupted instantly.

"Who pushed me just now?!"

Yu Shishi, her hair disheveled and her knees still bleeding, pointed with red eyes at Bai Lianhua, who was drinking water.

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"Bai Lianhua! You knocked over that log, didn't you? You wanted to use me as bait!"

Bai Lianhua, who was enjoying the relief of surviving, twitched her eyelids but quickly put on a pitiful expression.

"Shishi, what are you talking about... It was so dark, everyone was running, I almost fell too, how could I harm you?"

"But you, you ran so slowly you almost dragged everyone down, and now you're falsely accusing me... boohoo..."

Saying this, she leaned towards Yang Wei beside her, looking as if she had suffered a great injustice.

The three boys who used to pursue Yu Shishi, known as the "simp group," also spoke up to secure their place in the team.

"Yeah, Shishi, it was too chaotic just now, you must have seen it wrong."

"Bai is so delicate, how could she have the strength to push a log?"

"Everyone was scared to death, let's not dwell on it."

Staring at the backstabbing of her former friends and the defection of her loyal pursuers, Yu Shishi shook with pure rage, "You... you all..."

"Enough!!"

A furious roar interrupted the argument.

Yang Wei slammed the empty water bottle to the ground and stood up with a face full of hostility.

He shoved Yu Shishi on the shoulder, causing her to stagger and fall to the ground.

"Yu Shishi! Haven't you had enough?!"

Yang Wei pointed down at her, spitting as he spoke.

"In that situation, no one could help you! Everyone wanted to survive!"

"This isn't Blue Star! It's not school! You're not the little princess everyone spoils at home!"

"If you want to live, shut your mouth and follow orders! No one wants to pay for your spoiled attitude!"

Yang Wei's words cut like a knife, tearing apart Yu Shishi's last shred of dignity.

With tears in her eyes, she looked around, only to find that none of the remaining dozen people were willing to stand up and speak for her.

Everyone chose silence or watched coldly.

Only Guo Shuai pretended to step in and stop Yang Wei.

"Hey, Old Yang, calm down, let's not hurt the harmony, we just escaped."

Then he turned to Yu Shishi on the ground.

"Shishi, really, just apologize to everyone, and let's move on."

"Apologize?!"

Yu Shishi looked incredulously at his hypocritical face, her stubbornness flaring up.

"Why should I apologize?! She was the one who harmed me! You're all bad people! A bunch of bad people!"

"I'm not staying with you! I'm going back! I'm going to find Yuqing! Boohoo..."

With that, she got up from the ground, wiped her tears, and ran into the edge of the dark forest without looking back.

Heading towards the direction of the bus.

"Hey! Don't..."

Wang Jinsheng, a substitute on the basketball team and one of the former simps, instinctively wanted to stop her.

But Yang Wei's cold gaze scared him back.

"Let her go!"

Yang Wei snorted coldly, "Such an ungrateful burden, it's better she leaves, saves us some rations!"

"Who knows if it'll really be safe when the sun rises tomorrow, our resources are already scarce!"

Wang Jinsheng shrank his neck, not daring to speak further.

Meanwhile, Yu Shishi, who had run into the darkness, was in a panic.

In the darkness, Yu Shishi ran wildly, not knowing where she was going.

Anger and grievance filled her mind, causing her to lose all rationality.

"Thud!"

Suddenly, she tripped over something and fell hard to the ground again, losing one of her shoes in the process.

In the faint moonlight, she saw that what had tripped her was a scarecrow.

It stood quietly among the weeds at the edge of the wheat field, holding a lantern, looking down at her.

Under normal circumstances, Yu Shishi would have fainted from fright.

But at this moment, just humiliated by Yang Wei and betrayed by her bestie, the anger in her heart had completely overwhelmed her reason.

"Even you bully me?!"

"Even you, a pile of straw, dare to bully me?!"

Yu Shishi screamed, grabbed the shoe that had fallen beside her, and slammed it hard on the scarecrow's head!

"Smack!"

The scarecrow's head, which was only held by a few strings, was knocked askew by ninety degrees.

Now hanging crookedly on its neck, it looked ridiculous and comical.

"Get lost! A good dog doesn't block the way!"

After venting her anger, Yu Shishi, covered in straw and dirty, haphazardly put on her shoe.

She got up from the ground and limped towards the dark Twisted Forest ahead.

Until her figure completely disappeared into the night.

The scarecrow with the crooked head suddenly moved.

"Creak... creak..."

With a sound of friction, its head, which had been knocked askew, slowly and gradually turned back, revealing a hideous face!

The eyes, originally drawn with charcoal, lit up with two glaring red lights!

The red light instantly locked onto the direction Yu Shishi had left, its mouth opening and closing.

However...

Just as it seemed about to take action...

Ahead, Yu Shishi's figure crossed an invisible boundary and plunged into the twisted trees of the forest.

Sizzle.

The glaring red light in the scarecrow's eyes extinguished the moment it touched the forest's aura.

It froze in place, staring blankly in the direction of the forest for two seconds.

Its originally hideous mouth slowly drooped, seemingly...

Aggrieved?

Then, it retreated back into the shadows, resuming its post.

But something was different...

It slowly opened its straw-made mouth, speaking in a hoarse, broken voice.

"Bul... bully... me."

"Bully... me."

"Bully me."

The voice gradually became clear and smooth from hoarse.

The scarecrow was mimicking Yu Shishi's words and her voice...

...

Back at the wheat field.

After driving away the unstable factor, Yang Wei began arranging the night watch.

"Guo Shuai first shift, Wang Jinsheng second shift, Wu Hao third shift... Bai Lianhua and I will take the last shift."

Bai Lianhua, with her sweet talk and close service, managed to get the easiest shift.

The night deepened.

Except for those on watch, the other students quickly fell into a deep sleep from fear and exhaustion.

In the latter half of the night, it was Wang Jinsheng's turn to keep watch.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the rustling sound of the wheat waves in the wind.

Suddenly.

"Woo... help..."

A faint crying sound came from the depths of the wheat field not far away.

Wang Jinsheng, who was nodding off, was startled awake.

This voice... so familiar!

It's Yu Shishi!

"Shishi? You're back?"

Wang Jinsheng's heart leaped with joy.

He had always had a thing for Yu Shishi. Although he hadn't dared to speak earlier, now...

If he could save her alone, wouldn't that be a perfect opportunity?

Once lust kicked in, his IQ dropped to zero.

His lust clouded his judgment, and he even forgot to wake the others, sneaking towards the sound.

"Shishi? Is that you? Don't be afraid, it's Brother Jinsheng..."

He parted the tall wheat stalks, seeing a small figure standing with its back to him.

Wearing clothes identical to Yu Shishi's, its shoulders shook as if crying.

"Hehe, Shishi, I knew you couldn't bear to leave us."

Wang Jinsheng swallowed, reaching out to pat the figure's shoulder.

However.

Just as his hand was about to touch it.

The figure suddenly stopped crying.

Its head twisted around at an angle impossible for a human, a full one hundred and eighty degrees!

That was not Yu Shishi's face!

It was a face sewn with ragged cloth!

Stuffed with rotting straw, a hideous visage!

No features, just a blood-red seam split to the ears.

"Surprise!"

The thing emitted a sharp, piercing mimicry.

"Ah!!!"

Wang Jinsheng was scared out of his wits, letting out a scream.

But the next second, the scarecrow sprouted three arms, locking him in place!

Its gaping mouth opened wide, swallowing Wang Jinsheng's head whole!

Countless withered straws instantly pierced his body, replacing his flesh and even bones in an instant!

...

"What was that sound?!"

"Ah! Someone screamed!"

Yang Wei, Guo Shuai, and the others were instantly awakened, grabbing broken window hammers and wooden sticks, rushing towards the sound.

"Over there! That idiot Wang Jinsheng!"

The group rushed through the wheat waves to the scene.

Only to find Wang Jinsheng lying on the ground, clutching his head, a look of pain on his face.

There were no monsters around.

"Jinsheng? What happened? Why were you screaming like a pig being slaughtered?!"

Guo Shuai asked nervously, shining a flashlight on his face.

The "Wang Jinsheng" on the ground slowly raised his head, showing a simple and honest smile, waving his hand.

"It's nothing, nothing... Sorry, everyone."

"It was too dark, I tripped over some wheat stalks, hit my head, and couldn't help but scream from the pain."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, followed by a flood of complaints.

"Damn! Scared the hell out of me!"

"Are you out of your mind?! It's just a fall, and you're squealing like a stuck pig!"

"Disperse, disperse, back to sleep."

Yang Wei cursed, putting away his weapon, turning to leave.

Guo Shuai was the last to leave, casting a suspicious glance at Wang Jinsheng, concerned:

"Are you sure you're okay? Didn't hit your head too hard?"

"No, really, I'm fine."

"Wang Jinsheng" stood up, his movements slightly stiff, but his tone was normal.

"Alright, be careful, don't trip again."

Guo Shuai smiled, patting his shoulder.

Upon contact, there was a strange prickling sensation.

In the moonlight, he noticed a few withered straws hanging on Wang Jinsheng's shoulder.

"You're so careless, covered in straw."

Guo Shuai didn't think much of it, casually brushing off the straw, and turned back.

But just as he turned around.

Standing in the darkness, the "Wang Jinsheng" lost his simple expression.

His mouth slowly split into a sinister smile.

Beneath his neck, under the skin, straw could be seen faintly writhing...

...

Meanwhile, outside the bus.

Compared to the eerie horror in the wheat field, the scene by the bus was entirely different.

Jiang Nan sat like a thinker atop a mountain of crow corpses.

Below, Chen Tong, Wang Meng, and Liu Yuqing looked at him with eyes filled with near-fanatical admiration.

"Amazing! Truly amazing!"

Wang Meng was still marveling, "Hundreds of mutated crows! Wiped out just like that!"

"I peeked through the gap earlier, the remaining crows all fled, they didn't dare come near!"

"Jiang Nan... is so strong," Liu Yuqing couldn't help but praise.

However, unlike their high spirits.

Jiang Nan, sitting atop the corpse mountain, was utterly depressed, almost on the verge of tears.

A huge loss!

A massive loss!

To pull off this act, to save his life, he burned through over three hundred words!

That was a whole year's savings!

Moreover...

Jiang Nan glanced at the bus roof.

Because of the earlier "human Gatling" indiscriminate barrage, while it killed the crows...

The already overburdened roof was riddled with holes from his air bullets.

Now it was teetering, with cold wind howling in, nearly stripping away its last defensive properties.

"Sigh..."

Jiang Nan sighed deeply in his heart.

Just then, a buzzing sound echoed in his mind.

He instinctively looked at the time in the bottom right corner of his vision.

【00:00:00】

A new day had arrived.

【Ding! Daily settlement complete.】

【Word count quota refreshed: +1 (Current balance: 6341)】

【Current location: Twisted Forest】

【Check-in successful!】

【Congratulations to the host for acquiring the B-Rank Word Spirit 'Silence'!】

Hearing this notification, Jiang Nan, who had been heartbroken, instantly revived, sitting up straight.

A new skill!

A stream of detailed information flooded his mind.

【Word Spirit: Silence (B-Rank)】

Effect: Creates a powerful silence field centered on oneself.

Within this field, except for the host, everything will be stripped of its ability to make sound, forcibly turned mute.

Trait: Lasts one hour. Mandatory rule, no exemptions.

Range: 30-meter radius.

Cost: 1 word.

Activation: Place your index finger in front of your lips and softly say the activation word: "Shh."

Reading the description of this new skill, Jiang Nan's eyes lit up.

Though it had no damage, this was practically a divine skill!

Having been mute for so many years!

Finally, he could let others taste what it felt like!

I don't believe a normal person turned mute!

Can out-argue someone who's been mute for eighteen years!