"Come out!" The scarred man kicked the stone at his feet. "You can't get away! Lao Jin said that as long as you go back, nothing will happen!"
Feng Yulan clenched the fruit knife so tightly that her nails almost dug into her palm. She could hear Zhang Shumin's heartbeat, pounding against her ribs like a war drum.
Suddenly, the scarred man looked towards the tree hole, a hideous smile forming on his lips - he saw the strip of cloth that Feng Yulan had hung on the branch.
"Found it!" he shouted, raising his hunting rifle and aiming it at the tree hole. Feng Yulan subconsciously closed her eyes, but heard a scream—not a gunshot, but the wail of some animal.
She opened her eyes and saw a wild badger jumping out of the grass and biting the scarred man's ankle. The man fell to the ground in pain, and his hunting rifle went off. The bullet hit the tree trunk, only half a meter away from their heads.
"Damn it! It's a mad dog!" another voice came. Feng Yulan saw another dark figure running over, raising a stick to hit the badger.
The badger suddenly opened his mouth, turned around and ran into the woods, leaving the scarred man cursing on the ground.
"Don't worry about that beast!" a third voice said impatiently, "Let's catch him first! Lao Jin said, there's a reward for the living, but dead... hmph."
Feng Yulan felt Zhang Shumin's body trembling slightly under her, not because of fear, but because of anger.
She remembered what her mother-in-law had said: "Fight back." So she slowly took out the detonator from her underwear, bit open the oil paper package with her teeth, and the coldness of the metal spread along the tip of her tongue to her whole body.
"Wait until I count to three," Zhang Shumin said suddenly, her voice startlingly clear. "Throw the detonator at their feet and run to the right."
"Then you..."
"Leave me alone!" Zhang Shumin growled. "Only by surviving can I get revenge!"
Feng Yulan gritted her teeth, put the detonator into Zhang Shumin's hand, and took out a match herself. The footsteps outside were getting closer and closer, and the scarred man's flashlight had already swept across the vines at the edge of the tree hole.
She saw a flicker of relief in Zhang Shumin's eyes, and then heard her shout at the top of her lungs: "One! Two! Three!"
The moment the match was lit, Feng Yulan threw the lit detonator towards the cave entrance and at the same time pulled Zhang Shumin to roll deep into the tree hole.
The explosions sounded almost at the same time, making the entire tree hole buzz, and dirt and wood chips fell and hit their backs.
Feng Yulan felt as if her ears were stuffed with cotton and she could hear nothing. She could only see Zhang Shumin's mouth moving, as if she was shouting something.
When she finally got up, the entrance to the cave was blocked by fallen tree trunks, with only a few rays of moonlight leaking in.
Zhang Shumin lay beside her, her eyes closed. Her right hand was still gripping the detonator, with burn marks on the base of her thumb. Feng Yulan trembled as she reached out to feel her breath. Only when she felt a faint breath did she dare to burst into tears.
"Mom, we're not dead." She pressed her face against Zhang Shumin's, feeling the warmth of her face. "We're not dead..."
After an unknown amount of time, the noise outside finally died down. Feng Yulan found the remaining half match, lit a small piece of rag, and used the flame to examine Zhang Shumin's injuries.
The explosion of the detonator opened her wound, and blood soaked the new bandage, but fortunately, no shrapnel remained.
"I have to find water." Feng Yulan muttered to herself and took out a cloth hanging on a branch - a thin layer of dew had already condensed on it.
She carefully squeezed the dew into Zhang Shumin's mouth, and watched her mother-in-law's cracked lips slowly become moist, and a feeling of bitterness welled up in her heart.
Outside the tree hole, the night deepened. Feng Yulan leaned against Zhang Shumin, listening to her even breathing. Suddenly, she remembered a fairy tale she had read as a child: two fugitives took shelter in a tree hole, finally waiting for dawn.
She touched the harpoon hidden in her arms, and then touched the two remaining detonators - their dawn may still be far away, but at least they are still alive.
"Go to sleep, Mom," she whispered. "When it's daybreak, we'll find a way out."
Zhang Shumin didn't respond, but just rubbed against her chest, like a sleeping child. Feng Yulan closed her eyes and let fatigue wash over her.
In the last moment before she lost consciousness, she heard the howling of wolves from deep in the woods, but this time, she was not afraid - because there was someone in her arms, waiting for the dawn with her in the darkness.
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