Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 33 - Chapter 33

Leaning against the cave entrance, Zhang Liu gazed at the starlit sea, confirming once more that there were no signs of rescue boats. With a yawn, he shifted his focus to the flickering flames.

The sea breeze entered the cave, carrying a hint of warmth after passing through the campfire. This comforting sensation made him even sleepier.

To stay awake, he pinched his thumb against his forefinger, the slight pain clearing his mind momentarily.

Noticing the fire dimming, Zhang Liu added another log. The flames climbed up, crackling as tree bark ignited and moisture hissed from the wood.

Soon, it would be Anya’s turn to keep watch.

Zhang Liu glanced at the two girls sleeping behind him. Qin Ruoshuang lay calmly, her head resting on her arm, breathing evenly.

Anya, on the other hand, was sprawled out. Her head rested on Qin Ruoshuang’s chest, her mouth occasionally moving as if dreaming. Her bare, pale feet rubbed against the foam mat beneath her.

From his vantage point, Zhang Liu could clearly see Anya’s smooth, tender calves and her firm, slender thighs. If he were to lean down just slightly, he’d catch a glimpse of the black triangle beneath her skirt.

But Zhang Liu had only indulged in such a glance once, back when he lay idly in the cave and happened to turn his head.

Afterward, he avoided looking. At his youthful, hormonally charged age, too much stimulation was something he could hardly endure.

Should he wake Anya to take her turn on watch? Glancing at the moon inching further across the sky, Zhang Liu felt more conflicted.

Just then, the familiar sound of wolves howling pierced the night.

“Awwoo…”

“Howl…”

The eerie, drawn-out cries sent shivers down the spine.

The sound of snoring from the cave abruptly stopped. Turning instinctively, Zhang Liu saw Anya and Qin Ruoshuang both opening their eyes, locking gazes with him.

“It’s fine… Go back to sleep,” Zhang Liu said with a smile, quickly averting his gaze.

Anya’s sleeping posture was atrocious. Resting her head on Qin Ruoshuang’s chest was one thing, but drooling all over her shirt—turning the protective layer of her school uniform semi-transparent—was another!

Noticing the chill on her chest, Qin Ruoshuang instinctively reached up and touched the damp fabric. Her eyes shifted toward Anya, who was wiping drool from her mouth, her expression helpless.

“Hehehe…” Anya chuckled apologetically, then decisively lay down beside her and closed her eyes again.

As for her turn on watch, it had already slipped her mind entirely.

Zhang Liu kept an eye on the two of them out of the corner of his eye. Seeing Anya fall back asleep, he sighed inwardly, leaning back against the wall.

The wolf howls persisted, growing louder, while the snoring behind him resumed, a clear sign that Anya was once again dreaming.

For someone who claimed to have been too scared to sleep through the wolf howls the night before, Anya seemed to have no trouble now.

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Zhang Liu ran his hand over the ancient cave wall, likely millions of years old, feeling a wave of emotion.

Fate was truly unpredictable.

He actually spent two nights in a row here with Anya and Qin Rushuang, two girls who were destined to not have any social interactions with him after graduation. There would definitely be more such nights to come.

Just then, a faint rustling sound reached his ears from the side of the cave.

This wasn’t the sound of wind stirring stones.

It was the sound of something—or someone—stepping on sand outside the cave, blending faintly into the symphony of wolf howls.

Holding his breath, Zhang Liu listened intently as the rustling grew nearer, his heart pounding harder.

He gripped the sharpened wooden stick Anya had found tightly in his hands.

“Tap… Tap…”

When the rustling stopped, a new sound began—soft, rhythmic tapping.

It unnerved him, but the tapping persisted, faint yet unrelenting.

What was this sound? What was outside?

Fear coursed through Zhang Liu, warning him not to step out. Leaving the safety of the cave could mean facing danger head-on.

But courage, coupled with rationality, urged him otherwise.

Instead of deteriorating over the coming days and succumbing to despair, why not face the threat now and fight to survive?

The greatness of humanity lies in the ability to stand tall in the face of fear!

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Liu repeated his favorite JoJo line to steel himself. He turned for a final glance at the sleeping girls behind him, as if bidding farewell.

Grabbing a burning log from the fire, Zhang Liu stood up.

The motion must have caused a noise, as the tapping sound outside ceased abruptly.

In the symphony of howling wolves, Zhang Liu and the entity outside seemed to share a tacit understanding.

He stood motionless; it did the same.

The silence between them, amidst the chaos, was deafening.

But the burning log in Zhang Liu’s hand was rapidly becoming too hot to hold.

When the rustling resumed, closer than before, Zhang Liu snapped. He hurled the burning log toward the source of the sound.

Holding his sharp stick defensively, he peered toward the direction of the thrown log.

In its flickering light, he caught a glimpse of a white figure disappearing around the bend of the mountain.

It was a goat—or something similar.

Relieved, Zhang Liu glanced at the water source, now noticeably lower.

Clearly, it wasn’t just him, Qin Ruoshuang, and Anya drawing water here.

Still, as long as it was an herbivore, there was no real danger.

Exhaling deeply, Zhang Liu turned back to the cave—only to find Qin Ruoshuang standing silently behind him.

Her sudden appearance startled him, causing him to instinctively step back.

Unfortunately, he was standing at the edge of the cave. Losing his balance, Zhang Liu tumbled backward out of the cave.

“Ah!” Qin Ruoshuang gasped, reaching out and grabbing Zhang Liu just in time to pull him back.

Her quick reaction turned his fall into a forward lurch, and he ended up crashing into her.

Qin Ruoshuang fell backward from the impact, but Zhang Liu quickly shielded her head with his hands before it hit the ground.

After losing control of her body, Qin Ruoshuang instinctively wrapped her arms around the only thing she could cling to—Zhang Liu’s head.

What was happening?

His face was pressed between two soft, warm mounds, and a pair of slender but firm arms were holding him tightly from behind.

Zhang Liu felt suffocated, unable even to speak.

When he tried to open his mouth to breathe, Qin Ruoshuang reflexively pressed his head down harder, causing him to inadvertently bite down on something soft.

Panicking, Zhang Liu shook his head in an attempt to free himself and catch his breath.

But when his tongue brushed against something through the thin fabric, he froze in shock, not daring to move.

Qin Ruoshuang, feeling the warmth on her chest, also froze in fright, her mind going blank. She clung tightly to the head against her chest, instinctively securing it in place.

Her legs, seemingly acting of their own accord, wrapped around his body.

However, when Qin Ruoshuang noticed a certain part of Zhang Liu’s body pressing against her, she, too, dared not move.

The cave fell silent, save for the crackling of the firewood and Anya’s quiet sleep sounds.

The rapid heartbeat of both Zhang Liu and Qin Ruoshuang was the only sound they could hear.

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