Trembling At A High Altitude

"Excuse me, where is the restroom?"

Li Teng and the others asked a female staff member.

"Please follow me," the female staff member gestured invitingly to everyone.

Not far from the restaurant, they saw another female staff member approaching from outside.

"Did you just come from the restroom?" someone asked the approaching female staff member.

"Yes," she replied.

"Did you see the chubby man?"

"No?" the female staff member shook her head.

"Then where did he go? He clearly went to the restroom!" The group was somewhat puzzled.

There was a restroom right next to the restaurant, no need to go that far.

The remaining eight people, evenly split between four men and four women, went to their respective restrooms to relieve themselves and also searched for the chubby man.

"We didn't find him on our side, did you find him on yours?"

The men asked the women.

"He's a man, how could he be on our side?" The women shook their heads.

"What if a female ghost dragged him over? Did you check every stall?"

"We checked everywhere, he really isn't there."

"That's strange! Where on earth did he go?"

The group discussed fervently. Although no one said it aloud, there was a basic consensus.

That was, the chubby man had left alone and had not returned yet, which most likely meant bad news.

"I don't get it, two people have already died, why would he still go off on his own? Does he think he's invincible?"

"Maybe he didn't want to live when he came here? Otherwise, it really makes no sense."

"It's also possible, in these end times many people have lost their families, living alone just feels meaningless."

"I don't think that chubby man was suicidal! He seemed in good spirits, animated when talking about women, and he also seemed to value his life."

People continued their various discussions.

"Are there any other restrooms nearby that are closer?" Li Teng asked the female staff member.

"There are more than a dozen restrooms in the Xianyu Mountain Villa!" the female staff member answered Li Teng.

"Which ones are the closest? Take us there to have a look," Li Teng requested of the female staff member.

Li Teng knew when the chubby man had left, and he knew that he followed the departing female staff member, making the identities of these two female staff members very suspicious.

They might be aliens, or some sort of ghost created by aliens.

Li Teng felt that the death of the chubby man was likely related to them,

especially the female staff member who had left just before and after the chubby man.

The female staff member escorted Li Teng and others to several nearby restrooms, searching inside and out, but still found no trace of the chubby man.

The chubby man seemed to have vanished into thin air.

The sky gradually darkened.

As darkness fell, everyone's hearts grew more and more chaotic and uneasy.

This mysterious villa had already seen two inexplicable deaths, and now one companion mysteriously disappeared, with no body to be found.

It was clear that after dark, it would become even more terrifying.

Those less astute might not have realized it yet, but the cleverer ones had already noticed that these two female staff members definitely had a role in this.

But knowing they were problematic, what could they do?

You couldn't very well accuse them to their faces, right? What if they dropped all pretense and suddenly started slaughtering everyone?

Normally, one would think being in a group is safer.

However, the first two victims were with everybody else!

They just died suddenly right before everyone's eyes.

That means, if there are ghosts here, the ghosts don't care whether there are many people or few, they could kill anyone on the spot.

Without knowing their reason for killing, no one knows who might be the next public victim.

As night fully set in and they still could not find the chubby man, everyone suggested they stop searching and find a place to settle down for the night.

The female staff members led everyone to a nearby villa for hosting guests.

"If you need anything during the night, dial '0' on the telephone, and then follow the voice prompts to connect to the front desk where you can reach us," the female staff member told everyone.

"Okay," everyone responded, all the while internally complaining... Who knows if you are humans or ghosts? Who would dare to contact you in the middle of the night?

"We wish you all a pleasant holiday at Xianyu Mountain Villa!" The two female staff members bowed to everyone and then left with smiles.

"Yeah right, as long as we're not dead, it's all good."

"Holiday? Pleasant? We are the Suicide Squad, for goodness' sake!"

"Exactly! We carry the heavy responsibility of saving the Earth and all humanity!"

"Do you believe that? Do you think he says that to everyone on a mission?"

"Definitely! Saving Earth and all humanity, they should at least find some professionals, right? Not just this ragtag bunch we're part of?"

"Cut the nonsense, let's discuss how to safely get through tonight?"

"I suggest we don't split up anymore, everyone should stay together. If we need to use the restroom, the four men must go together, and the four women as well, one person goes while the other three stand guard, everyone must be within sight, that's the only way to ensure safety."

"Ensure safety? How did the first two people die? They died right in front of everyone, what difference does being together make?"

"Those two people were indeed killed in front of everyone, but being alone only makes dying faster! The chubby man hasn't been seen alive or dead yet, isn't it because he went out alone? Compared to that, it's still better to stick together, right? If you disagree, feel free to leave on your own, no one will stop you!"

"How can you talk like that? I was just saying, I never said I wanted to leave on my own!"

"Stop arguing! What's the point of arguing at a time like this?"

Everyone sat on the sofa in the villa's living room, debating and arguing.

"Can we all just calm down?" Yuki Noto raised her tone several notches.

The crowd finally quieted down a bit.

"If you want to leave alive, I suggest you listen to his advice," Yuki Noto pointed at Li Teng.

Having watched Li Teng's performances for so long, through so many scenes, Li Teng had never once failed, so Yuki Noto believed that following Li Teng's advice would definitely be right.

Everyone looked at Li Teng, but their expressions weren't necessarily respectful; some even showed contempt.

They weren't very familiar with Li Teng's abilities, but they had witnessed Li Teng's bad luck firsthand.

Managing to precisely draw himself into the death group among so many paper ballots—his bad luck was no joke.

"Just say what you want to say, I have nothing to say," Li Teng didn't give Yuki Noto any face and directly threw the topic back to her.

"Ah… well… then… I'll say it." Caught up on the stage without a ladder to descend, Yuki Noto had to deal with the topic she'd invited herself.

"I think… it's getting later and later. If we don't sleep and rest well, we definitely won't be able to hold on. So, we must rest well so we can fight better tomorrow.

"But not everyone should sleep at the same time; we need to split into two shifts for night watch. If anything happens, those on watch should immediately wake up those who are not."

"What do you all think about my suggestion?"

Though Yuki Noto had to pick up the topic herself, her extensive experience watching films more or less told her what Li Teng would usually do at this point.

Others didn't say anything, they probably didn't have any better ideas, so there weren't any objections either.

"Let's settle on that, then. How does everyone feel about splitting into two shifts? One for the first half of the night, and one for the second half?" Yuki Noto continued to ask.

Still, no one objected.

"We are eight people in total, how do you think we should divide up?" Yuki Noto asked again.

"Four men in one group, four women in another, isn't it simple? It's convenient for going to the bathroom with others accompanying," someone replied.

"No good, I think it should be mixed genders, considering women are generally more timid. Also, it's not like the four people on the night shift can all go to the bathroom together, right? If the remaining four asleep are left unwatched, wouldn't that be asking for trouble?" someone countered.

"What makes you think women are timid? Are you sick or something? Have you always discriminated against women?" a woman angrily retorted with a punch.

"I was just saying most…"

"Most? Bullshit! Nowadays, there are more timid men than women!"

"Hey! Watch your language! Who are you cursing? Are you the one who's brain-damaged?"

"You mother…"

"Can you stop fighting? What time is it already? Can you start arguing over one sentence?"

"He needs to apologize for what he said! Apologize to us four women!"

"Don't... don't drag me into this, I don't think what he said was wrong."

"It's women like you! The ones who never stand up for anything! Always conceding! That's why women are so undervalued in society today! It's pitiful, tragic, lamentable!"

"You're the one who's pitiful, tragic, lamentable!"

"Have you had enough? Isn't it just about splitting the group? How did it escalate to this?"

"Exactly, it's almost the end of the world, humanity is almost gone, and yet we're still fighting over gender issues. We would be better off figuring out how to increase the population…"

"..."

After the argument had settled, everyone finally agreed on the night watch plan.

That was to move all the beds to the hall on the first floor.

Then eight people were divided into two groups, two men and two women per group, one group to take the first half of the night, the other the second half, while the remaining group slept.

As for those on night duty needing the restroom, they were to pair up and go to the restroom next to the first-floor hall, still within others' line of sight.

The person entering shouldn't close the door, and if something unusual happened, they were to shout loudly.

Yuki naturally was in a group with Li Teng, along with another man and woman on the first half of the night.

The other man and woman had paired up automatically; although they had met for the first time on this day's assignment, they seemed to have taken a liking to each other, so they had volunteered to join Li Teng and Yuki for the first half of the night.

Having suddenly faced the apocalypse today, everyone was very tired and actually all wanted to sleep at that moment.

Those two were the type with poor sleep, so they volunteered for night duty in the first half of the night.

The remaining four people slept during the first half of the night.

"Make sure to wake us up if anything happens!"

"Yes! It's really not comforting to sleep here."

"Ah, I'm just afraid that once we fall asleep, we might never wake up again."

"In this apocalypse, dying in sleep might just be a blessing."

With anxious hearts, the first four to sleep successively lay down in four beds.

Possibly due to exhaustion, they didn't toss and turn as expected and soon fell into a deep sleep.

Some even had wildly moving eyes, clearly deep in frantic dreams.

"Before the apocalypse, what jobs did you all have?"

One of the men among the four on duty for the first half of the night took the initiative to quietly ask the other three.

Without mobile games to play or news to watch, night duty was too boring, and they needed to chat to avoid sleep inadvertently.

"I'm an actor, and so is he," Yuki knew Li Teng wasn't much of a talker... perhaps because he had lived for over a thousand years; he was probably just too old. After all, Li Teng used to be quite talkative and humorous when he was young.

Older men, especially those with rich experiences, tend to become more silent than ordinary people.

They had been through so much and no longer had the desire to share their stories with others.

"An actor? What plays have you done?" The other woman, hearing that the two were actors, suddenly perked up. She was a seasoned movie buff—she enjoyed any movie or drama series and loved celebrity gossip, familiar with all sorts of films, TVs, and actors, regardless of whether they were A-list or lesser-known.

Even the extras caught her eye if she had seen them at least once.

"Furious Speed on Desperate Road, Lurking War Wolf, Time Prison, Guardianship, Old Mountain Village House, Zong Town, Snowfield Hunter, Deserted Island Mysteries, Memory Demon, The Legend of the Retired Soldier King's Female President's Personal Bodyguard and War God, King of the Show-Offs, Survival in Desperate Situations…" Yuki listed off the productions Li Teng had been in, even if just in small segments.

Li Teng looked at Yuki in surprise.

Honestly, he had already forgotten which films he had been in; even if he remembered, he couldn't recall the titles, but Yuki could remember them so clearly.

"Wait... I haven't seen any of these… I hardly miss any domestic movies or dramas…" the woman interrupted Yuki, puzzled.

"Hehe, we acted in web dramas," Yuki, having initially blurted out whatever came to mind, found herself facing someone knowledgeable and had to invent a lie to cover up.

"Web dramas? I've watched nearly all of them! Even if I haven't watched them, I would know their names and intros, but I've never heard of the ones you mentioned." The woman grew even more puzzled.

"They're all recently shot and haven't been released yet." Yuki continued her fib.