Nightmare Shuttle

It took him about five or six minutes to continue walking up the hill until they reached their destination. It's not that no one was disturbed by Chu Yi's question but after a moment of contemplation, the crew decided that since this was an island it wasn't too farfetched to believe that the villagers relied solely on the sea and mountains.

The house that they were pointed to could be considered big in the village. There are two front rooms, one was for sundries, and the other was for greeting guests. When they walked to the back and saw a few roughshod rooms.

Chu Yi put down the suitcase and turned on the light. A bed made of wood and a small table, temporary bedding, and a kettle.

In the middle of the house was a large yard, where some vegetables are grown for daily consumption, and what looked to be The pigsty and the cowshed but they didn't seem to have been in use for a long time. And next to it is a small toilet. There is a small TV in the living room that could be regarded as a small luxury on the cabinet, as well as, a kitchen and a storage room. The villagers seem to have done their best in terms of hospitality. But the way the house was situated on the hill was slanted. The mottled halo of the sun light sprinkled on the walls of the house, bright and warm, but the cold darkness was the only thing that could be felt.

One of the crew members came in with a strange expression on their face. He said that he found some large tanks in the back of the courtyard, which were full of water and nothing else.

The director thought for a moment: "It might be rainwater."

"Rainwater?" The man named Zhao Yuan looked puzzled, "Then why do you put it in a tank?"

"It can be used to pour vegetables." The director said, "The island's way of life is very backward, and they are very frugal and simple, so it's not surprising to do so."

There was still a strange expression on the crew member's face and he seemed to want to say something but in the end, he closed his mouth.

The director clapped his hands and gathered all the crew. "Alright, I aim for this movie to win the Best Directed Screen Play of this Year. All of you were carefully selected to be in this film and I've already decided to adopt a method of improvisation and independent filming."

He picked up a bunch of screenplays from the table and distributed them. "This is the script. It's been carefully prepared and I will give you time to read it over and prepare, Chu Yi is the sole lead actor if you have any doubts he will help you in the interpretation of the character."

Chu Yi who had been cued: "..."

The director turned to him, "We will go set up our equipment film the opening scene, you can go and explore the island a bit and see if you can pick up any interesting tidbits that we can use for the behind-the-scenes." 

When they walked out, the sun was already high in the air and the suffocating heat of yesterday had once again made an entrance. But what surprised them was that compared to them, the villagers seemed to not be affected by the heat and a few children could be seen running shirtless in the bare sun, their bronze skin shimmering with golden light like a layer of armor.

Aware of the other sights, Chu Yi stopped and look back at where the children had just run past. The little girls who were hiding behind him were dumbfounded. He was also stunned and looked at each other.

Before suddenly they all blushed and the little girls covered their mouths and exclaimed, and ran away shyly. One of them was particularly bold and before she ran away, shouted, "Little brother wait for me to grow up and give you a monkey!" 

The girls screamed happily and scattered like startled mice.

Although Chu Yi had been faced with the admiring gaze of persons since young this was the first time he had been met with such pure and untainted admiration that he momentarily didn't know how to react.

Ruan Quixi smiled playfully and spoke behind him, " It seems you have found yourself a little wife." 

Chu Yi rolled his eyes expressionlessly and continued to walk toward.

They reached the end of the clearing and Chu Yi looked to the front. He had long since noticed the large and dark forest situated on the edge of the village. What he noticed strangely was that no matter how wild the children played they would not venture into the vicinity of the forest, consciously or unconsciously avoiding it like a plague. Any child that got too close would be grabbed by his peers and pulled away nervously.

Ryan Quixi stood beside him and used one hand to naturally block the sun as Chu Yi squinted trying to see past the dark shadows of the forest and looked inside."Would this be one of the forbidden areas you're supposed to explore?"

Chu Yi looked at the shadows and had the illusion of being stared at, the villagers wouldn't fear this place without a reason. Even if it wasn't a forbidden area, it had some significance to the villagers.

"Do you want to go look around the periphery and see if we can find anything?"

Dark red eyes seemed to shift for a moment, a pale figure like a ghost suddenly flitted across his vision. He put down his hands and lifted his foot, "Let's go."

The moment he entered the forest, it was as if they had entered another world. Unlike the extremely bright village on the other side, the forest was filled with an impenetrable black fog. Even walking they could barely see their fingers ahead of them and the dark fog completely cut off their senses. 

He reached out slightly and lighted patted the trunk of a tree he could barely make out in front of him. When his fingers touched the tree, the sense of touch under his fingers startled him. The bark wasn't smooth and rough as like regular trees but a smooth almost sticky feel that uncannily reminded him of fish scales.

Enduring the uncomfortable feeling he slowly ran his fingers along the sides of the bark and eventually came to a strange protrusion. He withdrew his hands and turned back to the man that had almost blended in with the shadows. 

"Do you know how to make a fire?"

Ruan Quixi raised an eyebrow slowly, Why would Chu Yi suggest something as dangerous as lighting a fire in a dark forest as if he wasn't afraid of attracting the attention of bloodthirsty beasts.

Even if he doubts, Ruan Quixi had no intention of not following through. He squatted down, and as soon as he touched a tree branch, he stretched out his other hand and found another. One by one the branches were gathered like this, for those he didn't find suitable he would stand up and use a dagger to draw a beautiful arc, and with a crisp crack, some twigs were sharply cut off, like a wonderful performance. The trees here seemed to be old and hollow and it didn't take long for him to get a fire burning. 

The orange light flickered in the forest penetrating through the darkness. They both stood beside the fire and looked around, the trees were tall and dark. There were no leaves on the tree only crooked and withered branches. 

All creatures were attracted to light and when Chu Yi saw a familiar shadow in the corner of his eyes, he smiled. The fish had caught the bait. 

He took a few steps backward and raised his hand, red eyes flashed with a cunning light and with a flick of his wrist.

Swish!—"

The sound of something breaking through the air was followed by a short scream that was quickly cut off.

Chu Yi raised his brow and followed the sound, the fire reflected the small figure pinned against the tree, struggling profusely.

Chu Yi walked towards the pale figure, quietly watching it struggling with the knife that pinned his thin shirt to the tree. 

With this reaction speed, If someone wanted to kill him, he didn't know how many times he died.

It was a small boy.

He doesn't look like the kind of child who can survive healthily. Not to mention the other children on the island who were muscular and lively, he was one size smaller than them and even the girls look much stronger than him. He didn't know what kind of illness he had but there was a thick smell of blood and pus on his dirty skin. He struggled against the tree and looked at them with big bug eyes filled with either fear or vigilance.

Toddlers are usually full of blood, and their cheeks and lips are usually much rosier than adults. However, this child is too unhealthy. The entire face has only lips. The line and the corner of his eye were marked with a strange redness as if he had been burnt with boiling water.

This was the silver shadow he saw in the forest. Chu Yi and Ruan Quixi stood before the boy, face half-hidden by the flicker of the light of the fire. They both looked at the boy and their faces abruptly stilled. Because the eyes of the boys were completely red. The boy looked at Chu Yi unexpectedly stopped struggling, with a hoarse and rasp voice he asked with a hint of hope,

"Are you sick too?"