Seven Days and Nights with the Werewolf

Day 2 · 08

Afternoon slipped by, and the sky began to turn.

A dense, inky mass of dark clouds hung low over the distant sea. Ocean currents, their origin unknown, carried the carcasses of plankton, washing foam and dead waterweed up on the shore in tangled clumps. The crevices between the reefs were already strung with clumps of waterweed, their hair-like fronds coiling and twisting in the shadows with the tide— the entire island felt as if it were being coiled around and gnawed at by a sea of slithering snakes.

“A storm’s coming,” Li Sinian said, his voice laced with worry. “Let’s head higher up first. I don’t know the flow of the island’s freshwater supply. If the rain’s too heavy and the tide rises, I’m afraid the water source might get contaminated by seawater.”

They trekked around the island against howling gales, then set off for the hill at its center. The island seemed small enough from a distance, but walking it on foot was sheer t*****e. Fang Daichuan fared well enough— he’d braved wind and rain for film shoots, and this bit of exercise was child’s play. Ding Zihui, however, struggled badly. The two men half-dragged, half-carried her all the way to the summit.

Ding Zihui leaned over, hands on her knees, gasping for breath. “This hill… it’s nothing like the ones I usually climb.”

“No kidding,” Fang Daichuan said, rolling his eyes as he scanned their surroundings. It could barely even be called a hill— a mound, at best— yet it was thick with vegetation. He kept a wary eye out for any animals that might emerge from the trees as he teased her casually. “The ones you climb are scenic spots with neatly paved stone steps. You didn’t actually think all hills look like that, did you?”

They crested a small knoll, and the villa where they were staying came into view on the other side. Li Sinian’s gaze had been fixed on the villa the whole time, and his attention slipped for a split second— his foot slid on the loose earth, and he nearly plummeted off the edge. Fang Daichuan’s hand shot out and grabbed him just in time.

Pebbles and loose soil skittered down the slope in a shower. Li Sinian clung to Fang Daichuan to steady himself, then glanced down, cold sweat breaking out across his forehead. A deep chasm stretched between them and the villa on the other side. The hill was not particularly tall, but it was a few hundred meters high at least, and a towering, bottomless ravine cut across the rock face as if carved by the gods.

“Holy s**t,” Fang Daichuan said, his hands shaking with lingering fear. He turned and pulled the other two back a step, and the three of them stood at the edge, watching scavenger birds circle and shriek in the deep crevice. “Do you think this is natural, or man-made?”

Li Sinian took a tiny step forward, his eyes fixed on the inky black depths below. “Even if it was man-made, it must be incredibly old. The protruding rocks down there are plastered with bird droppings, and saplings as thick as a man’s wrist are growing in the rock crevices.”

The gurgle of running water echoed up from the far depths of the ravine.

“There’s an underground river down there,” Li Sinian said, his brow furrowing as he stared into the dark crevice. “I just wish I knew more about geography. Could seawater backflow into an underground river on an island like this?”

As he spoke, a low roll of thunder boomed overhead, far off in the sky.

Li Sinian looked up. A bolt of lightning tore through the thick, black clouds, followed by rumbling thunder that seemed to go on forever. The stagnant heat of the past few days clashed with damp, cold air, and the air grew thick with the sharp, earthy stench of parched soil.

“Did you come this way when you first arrived on the island?” Fang Daichuan had wised up this time. He twisted his head and spoke in a low voice, seizing the moment when Ding Zihui squatted down by a small puddle nearby, seemingly occupied with something.

Li Sinian was measuring the thickness of a tree trunk, gauging if it could bear the weight of a small raft. He looked up at Ding Zihui’s back at the question, then replied, “No. The hill’s not tall enough to hide anything— I could see everything from below, so I never bothered coming up. Never thought there’d be a crevice like this hidden here.”

Fang Daichuan fell silent for a moment. He hated to let his mind go there, but the situation left him no choice. He hesitated for a long while, then whispered again, “You said… your father went missing on this island, right?”

Li Sinian froze mid-action. He stared blankly for two seconds, glanced reflexively at the ravine, then quickly averted his eyes.

“Do you think he might be…?” Fang Daichuan prodded cautiously.

Li Sinian took a few steps forward and peered down from the cliff edge. The wind whipping up from the ravine was loud, a low murmur like the voice of an abyss. Another bolt of lightning split the sky, and a downpour came crashing down, raindrops kicking up clouds of dry dust from the ground. Li Sinian’s pale amber eyes looked as if they were glistening with moisture.

“It’s pouring now, too slippery to go down,” Fang Daichuan patted him on the shoulder, making a promise. “Don’t worry. I’ll try going down there tomorrow when the weather clears up.”

Li Sinian turned to him, staring blankly for two seconds. His bangs were soaked through with rain, curling slightly— plain and unremarkable when dry, now flopping limply over his forehead, making him look a little silly.

“Let’s get back quickly!” Ding Zihui stood up and waved at them from a distance. “There’s nothing to see here, and it’s pouring!”

Li Sinian snapped back to his senses.

He shook the water out of his hair, and that familiar smile tugged at the corner of his mouth again. “We’re just checking if the trees here are sturdy enough to build a raft! Find a place to take shelter from the rain first— we’ll be right there!”

Ding Zihui obeyed, huddling under a large boulder to wait out the downpour.

Li Sinian grabbed Fang Daichuan and pulled him deep into the woods, where the thick curtain of rain hid them from the rest of the world. He walked over to a half-withered tree, kicked at its base a couple of times, and uncovered a hollow trunk gnawed half-through by insects. “Quick. Bury your poison here.”

“Huh?” Fang Daichuan stared at him dumbfounded. He didn’t understand, but he pulled the vials out of his waist pack anyway, obedient as ever. “Bury it… here? Why?”

Li Sinian sighed, pulled a plain T-shirt out of his pocket, wrapped both vials in it, and stuffed the bundle into the dry hollow of the tree. He then scooped up a few loose stones and tossed them casually in front of the opening to block it from view.

Fang Daichuan copied his movements, piling more stones around the hole— loose enough to look natural, but tight enough to hide the hollow. Li Sinian wiped the water from his hands and let out a heavy sigh. “Didn’t you say you’re going to suggest everyone search each other’s rooms tonight? How do you plan to explain these two vials?”

“Destroy them together, of course!” Fang Daichuan’s eyes flew wide. He finally realized what Li Sinian meant, and he spun around, ready to dig the vials back out. “No way. I can’t hide these for myself. We destroy them all together, or not at all. What is this, a secret weapon? What about trust between people?!”

Li Sinian shoved him hard against a nearby tree and pinned him there with all his strength. “Are you really this stupid?! Let me make a bet with you. If you find even one vial of poison during the search tonight, I’ll take your surname from now on. Believe me?”

Fang Daichuan stopped struggling at once, staring up at him dumbfounded. “Impossible. I don’t believe it!”

Li Sinian curled his lip in disdain, trying to reason with him. “Just leave it here. If you find any poison tonight, I’ll come back here with you, grab these two vials, and destroy them in front of everyone. If you don’t find a single one, you’ll listen to me from now on— no more stupid, reckless stunts.”

It sounded fair enough. Fang Daichuan stood there, his head hung, thinking it over. “Well…”

Li Sinian took the chance to rub his chest with his left hand— this i***t might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he’s got a hell of a lot of strength. He pressed a hand to the rib that had been jolted hard by Fang Daichuan’s elbow earlier, forcing a bitter smile to himself.

“What… what are you two doing?!”

A hesitant voice cut through the rain behind them.

They turned their heads, and saw Ding Zihui standing there, a look on her face as if she’d just walked in on a secret affair. Li Sinian glanced down at their position— he had Fang Daichuan pinned firmly against the tree trunk, one hand pressed to his own chest, the other braced against the bark, pulling Fang Daichuan close to his chest.

They jolted apart as if their tails had been set on fire.

“N-Nothing…” Fang Daichuan’s expression was stiff and awkward. He thought of the two vials hidden in the tree, of his sneaky attempt to stash them away, and then of how Ding Zihui had laid her own card on the table for them without a second thought. Shame washed over him, and he hung his head low.

Ding Zihui looked from Fang Daichuan’s guilty face to Li Sinian’s wary, probing gaze fixed on her. A sudden realization dawned on her.

“Oh!” Ding Zihui spun around and started walking down the mountain, her movements overly casual. “Uh, nothing! I saw nothing at all! I’ll head down first!”

Fang Daichuan stared at her fleeing figure, his voice tight with worry as he whispered, “Did she see where we hid the stuff? She’s acting so weird— should we find a new spot?”

Li Sinian reached out and patted his forehead. “It’s not that she saw that. She’s got the wrong idea…” He trailed off suddenly, looking down at Fang Daichuan’s wide, puppy-like eyes. “Forget it. Don’t worry about it. If she’d really seen the vials, she never would have said anything just now. Let’s just get out of here.”

With that, he strode out of the woods first, leaving this trouble spot behind.

Fang Daichuan followed him, confused. He chanced to look up, and his eyes widened— Li Sinian’s earlobes were flushed a faint, bright pink, starkly visible in the darkening, rain-dimmed sky.

The sky dimmed by the minute, and the second night was about to begin.