Chapter 37: They Must Be Sneaking Food!

“Boss, there’s a mark here—they’ve found it!”
Led by one of the workers, the foreman arrived near the cave and saw the markings left on the stone.
“Damn it, those bastards found it and didn’t call us first. They must have snuck in for a bite already.”
One of the half-starved workers managed a thin smile.
He was already dreaming of pickled mustard, salted pork, and rice porridge.
If nothing else, instant noodles would do.
Anything would taste delicious by now!
The foreman’s still-plump cheeks quivered as he said, “Everyone’s starving. If we can find the food the security team hid, we’ll be fine. Let’s go.”
The worker leading the way asked, “Boss, what about the others?”
The foreman replied, “I divided everyone into groups of three. There are two sets of marks here, which means both groups have arrived. We’re the last.”
Following the trail, they quickly found the cave, hidden in an incredibly tricky spot.
At the entrance were a few backpacks and other odds and ends left by their own people.
“This is it!”
The workers were overjoyed.
They had braved the torrential downpour, risking flash floods, mudslides, and landslides to search the mountain for several hours—almost to the point of fainting.
“Let’s go in and see!”
Ravenous, the foreman could hardly wait and led the way inside.
But as they walked, he sensed something was off.
Wasn’t it too quiet in here?
No, not quite silent.
Near the cave’s mouth, the sound of the rainstorm thundered.
Deeper inside, the faint murmur of flowing water could be heard.
“Boss, isn’t this cave a bit deep? Why is it so quiet, not a sound from inside?”
One worker hesitated, voicing his concern.
If not for their companions’ backpacks at the entrance, he might have stopped, unwilling to go further in.
“It’s easy to get sleepy on a full stomach,”
Another, lost in thoughts of food, joked, “I bet they’ve eaten their fill and are sleeping. And with no cell service now, we couldn’t contact them even if we tried.”
The hesitant worker suggested, “Should I shout?”
The foreman slapped him upside the head. “Are you stupid? If you shout and the security team hears, how are we supposed to get away with the food?”
The worker, embarrassed, muttered, “Right, I just—”
As they walked, suddenly, the sound of voices ceased.
The group stopped, shining their flashlights around. Where was everyone?
Pointing the beam ahead, the foreman saw a companion who’d been standing right beside him moments before—his mouth was clamped shut by something and he was snatched up, suspended midair.
“What the hell is that?”
Deep in the cave, the foreman saw an enormous spider lurking.
He watched as his companion was wrapped in webs in the blink of an eye, cocooned completely.

Several other cocoons hung nearby. Two still squirmed, but the rest were utterly still.
“Run!”
He managed only that one word before turning to flee.
Suddenly, with a thud, something struck the back of his head. He instinctively stopped, clutching his bleeding skull.
Only then did he hear the wrench hit the ground.
He’d been struck by his own men.
He watched as two workers rushed past him in their desperation to escape.
“You!”
Furious and panicked, he struggled to his feet, wanting to curse, to call for help, to run for his life.
But in the next instant, something sticky wrapped around him—webbing sealed his mouth shut.
No!
You traitors!
Eyes wide, he was dragged into the depths of the cave.
The two remaining workers dashed past him, stumbling frantically toward the exit.
They had sacrificed him to the spider, buying themselves a chance to escape.
Bastards!
May you all die miserable deaths!
His breath grew heavy, and in a daze, he recalled what he’d overheard at the security post earlier that morning. They’d done this on purpose…
“We made it!”
The two workers tumbled out of the cave, exchanging shaken glances.
They had set out to steal the security team’s food reserves, only to nearly become the spider’s reserves themselves. Seeing all those backpacks at the cave’s mouth, it was clear their companions who’d gone in before were likely dead.
Neither mentioned the foreman’s sacrifice that bought their escape; it was an unspoken truth between them.
After all, the foreman had been bleeding them dry for ages—he still carried a few layers of fat on his cheeks.
Frankly, they’d had enough of him long ago.
Besides, so many had died last night because of him.
And again today, so many more.
Now, they felt they’d avenged their brothers.
“How could there be such a gigantic spider here?”
The taller worker’s voice trembled.
“I don’t know.”
His companion’s legs were shaking, whether from the pounding rain or from terror at the human-eating spider, he couldn’t say.
What were they to do now?
They hadn’t found any food, and now even their last companions were gone. How were they supposed to survive?
Should they search for bark and roots to get through the day?
But what about tomorrow?

Suddenly, the tall worker nudged his companion, pointing to the nearby bushes. “Hey, is that a wild boar?”
The other followed his gaze.
In the rain, they spotted an animal rooting in the soil, looking just like a wild boar foraging for food.
Excitement sparked between them.
Maybe it was as the old folks said—blessings and misfortunes are intertwined.
If they could catch this wild boar, they’d have no worries about food for days to come.
They scoured the area, retrieved the metal pipes and machetes left at the cave entrance, and crept forward cautiously.
Ten meters, eight, six, three, two…
The “boar” seemed completely oblivious to the impending danger.
Within striking distance, the two split left and right, poised to attack.
Suddenly, the “boar” lifted its head, stood upright—over a meter tall—and fixed them with eerie, blood-red eyes.
This was no wild boar.
It was a rat—bigger than any boar, its mouth smeared with blood, clutching a mangled, bloody human head in its paws.
The bushes rustled; two more giant rats emerged, their crimson eyes locking on the men.
Terror froze them where they stood.
…
The induction stove was ready.
A small water spell filled the pot, the soup base was added, and the power switched on.
Su Miao and Xia Xiao’an sat eagerly at the table, watching as the water slowly heated.
Mushrooms that needed slicing were neatly prepped beside the stove, the rest had already been washed clean—all nontoxic, all safe.
Since mushrooms alone wouldn’t fill them, Su Miao had also prepared two portions of flatbread, one for each of them.
Once the water boiled, every mushroom on the table went into the pot.
She set a timer on her phone; the rest was simply waiting.
Fifteen minutes later, the rich fragrance of mushrooms filled the air.
The aroma quickly flooded the living room, drifted out the window, and was carried far away by the wind.
“Damn! What are the people in Villa 36 cooking? That smell is killing me!”
“That’s definitely meat—has to be!”
“Monsters! Don’t they see how many people are starving? And they won’t even share—they’re heartless!”
“Go find out who’s cooking meat. Tonight, we’ll sneak over and borrow a little—let the brothers have a taste.”
“It’s Villa 36, for sure. That’s the one with all the corpses floating out the front door this morning.”
“Oh. Then never mind.”