Chapter 32.2 The Promised Land
“I’m pregnant.” Irina said surprisingly. She touched her belly and sighed regretfully, “It’s a pity that the father of the child is an irresponsible bastard. I have to make more money. I can’t let the baby live the same life as me.”
Sergey was stunned. He didn’t expect Irina to say such a sentence suddenly, and he stammered: “I, you, you are pregnant? Why didn’t you say that you were pregnant? How could you do this job? What if?
“What if?” Irina asked him.
“Forget it, it’s nothing.” Sergey felt that it would be unlucky to express his worries, so he shut up, but his expression was still a little more irritable. “This won’t work. We can’t move on.” He turned around after studying the map, he said, “Let’s return now. Although it’s a waste of time, we don’t know what else is waiting for us ahead. Irina, for the sake of your child, you can’t take such a risk.” “
Irina blinked her eyes. She was very beautiful, with a pair of emerald, green eyes that were as clear as glass. He thought she would definitely give birth to a beautiful child. She said, “No, we are already here. Why do you want to go back again.”
“Of course you have to go back!” Sergey said puzzledly, “For you who are pregnant, survival is the first priority!! What if something happens to your child?”
“But if I go back, I will have no money.” Irina said, “I need money.”
“I can lend it to you. No, give it to you.” Although Sergey didn’t have a girlfriend, he liked children very much. He said, “Your mental state is no longer normal. If you continue, you will really become worse. If something goes wrong… Just trust me once, okay?”
Irina refused. She refused decisively, and she didn’t even bother to find an excuse. She was stubborn as if there was something waiting for her ahead, and she would rather die than go back.
Sergey felt despair for the first time. While despairing, an idea came to his mind. He looked at Irina, who was squatting next to him, taking notes seriously, and made a decision in his heart. He would look for an opportunity tonight to look at Irina’s notebook, preferably from her schedule in the past few days to find out why she became like this.
Irina didn’t know what Sergey was thinking. She was always in a good mood. She was carrying that huge bag and humming a song as she moved forward. If the surrounding environment hadn’t been weird, Sergey might have thought that she was cuter than usual.
It was unknown how long they walked, but the sky became dark again.
Sergey stopped early, lit a bonfire, and ate the dry dinner without tasting anything. Irina still had no intention of eating. She stared at the fire, the pen in her hand kept moving, and he couldn’t tell what she was writing.
Sergey said: “You should sleep a little longer tonight; your health is important.”
Irina said: “No, I’ll be fine if I go to sleep at midnight. Wake me up at about three o’clock.” She opened her mouth and said with a smile, “There were the most hares at that time, I like it.”
Sergey said: “Okay.”
So, Irina fell asleep just like last night, her breathing quickly became even, and the expression on her face relaxed, as if she didn’t seem to be wary of Sergey next to her.
The campfire made a crackling sound, and the flickering flames blurred Sergey’s face. He could clearly see just now that Irina’s black notebook was placed next to her, instead of being stuffed into her backpack. This made him feel relieved. After all, the huge backpack was carefully held under Irina’s body, as if fearing that it would be moved. Since it was not stuffed in, it would be much easier. Sergey observed for a while, and after confirming that Irina had fallen into a deep sleep, he stood up and tiptoed to her side. With the most careful gesture, he pulled the black notebook from Irina’s side.
“Huh…” Sergey let out a long breath and quickly took out the special gloves from his backpack. After putting them on, he opened the first page of the notebook.
It clearly recorded Irina’s handwriting. She was a lovely girl. She recorded the date and even drew a small sun next to it.
***
On the evening of May 25th, the weather was fine.
On the first day we entered here, we saw an empty village. All the villagers in the village were missing. We searched all afternoon but found nothing, so we were forced to spend one night here. I’m a little uneasy, but this is obviously normal. I feel uneasy every time I do a task. There are no extra clues today. This seems to be just an ordinary small village which was suddenly abandoned. Oh, if there is no one, it can be considered abnormal.
On the morning of May 26th, the weather was sunny.
When I woke up in the morning, I learned that an accident had occurred where I stayed last night. Alexei discovered that the owners of this house appeared on the TV. The cutest Chinese guy with the chestnut hair took off the back cover of the TV set, and found a piece of terrible, screaming sludge inside the back cover. I felt strong discomfort and secretly went to the toilet to vomit for a while. If you think about it carefully, maybe it’s not nausea, but morning sickness. Oh my god, my dear child, you have to be brave. Li Ye, who had been out for a night, discovered a swamp next to the village. We will have to go there later. Oh God, he actually picked up an eaten human head. How could there be such a thing in the world? So scary! Oh, I’m not talking about the human skull, it’s Li Ye.
On the evening of May 26th, the weather was fine.
The situation was not good. I got separated from the group. After passing through the swamp, we encountered a huge bear. It’s hard for me to describe the appearance of this bear. If I must say it, it is a hybrid born from a bear and a swamp. On its body, I also saw the same kind of black liquid that can scream. What is that? Is it a human being, or something else? Well, I shouldn’t care about this now. I got separated from the main force. I lost my backpack of supplies when I was escaping. In the small bag I carried with me, there was only this notebook and half a pack of leftover biscuits. Bless me, hope I can find my backpack of supplies before I starve to death.
On the evening of May 27th, the weather was fine.
I was lost in the forest and found nothing. It was quiet around me, not even a bug. I was so thirsty and wanted to drink water.
The weather was fine in the evening on May 28th.
No food, no water, nothing.
It was sunny in the evening on May 29th.
I’m dying.
It was sunny in the evening on May 30th.
I heard the cry of the child in my belly. It wasn’t just me who was dying, it was us. We would die together. So hungry, so hungry, so hungry, so hungry, so hungry…
When Sergey saw this, a thick layer of cold sweat formed on his back. He swallowed and quickly recalled the physiological knowledge of the human body.
How many days can a pregnant woman live without water or food? Irina had been without water for three days. Could she really survive until the fourth day? But even if she made it to the fourth day, and found her backpack, only to find that it was empty…
Sergey slowly turned to the next page and saw the record of May 31st.
The date and weather were written neatly on it, but it was the content that made Sergey’s scalp crawl.
So hungry, so hungry, so hungry, so hungry. Countless ‘so hungry’ were densely written in every corner of the notebook. Through these words, Sergey seemed to be able to see a soul that was already on the verge of death. While wailing for survival, her consciousness began to blur, and her thirst even caused her to hallucinate. She could only continue to use her pen to make a final struggle, even though she knew in her heart that these struggles were useless.
Sergey swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his hands trembled slightly, and continued to read the next content. He thought that he would see some changes in the future, but he did not expect that from the day of May 31st, until Tonight, in Irina’s notebook, there were only three words that kept repeating – I’m so hungry.
So hungry. She was sitting by the campfire tonight and wrote the same thing with a smile.
After Sergei saw the records of the last day, he slowly closed the notebook, turned his head, and looked at Irina beside him.
She was still sleeping soundly, her sleeping face sweet and peaceful, as if she had entered a beautiful dream, but the notebook in Sergey’s hand was like her still wailing soul, and those writings were like evil ghosts, making Sergey’s blood gradually run cold.
What happened to Irina? Was she still alive? In other words, was the person in front of him still Irina? Countless thoughts popped up in Sergey’s mind, but there was no answer.
The bonfire was crackling again, as if this was the only sound left in the whole world. Some strange whispers appeared in Sergey’s ears. He was completely cold. He shook his head hard, trying to get himself out of the strange state. He carefully placed the black notebook next to Irina, then sat back by the campfire and fell silent for a long time.
After an unknown amount of time, Irina woke up from her deep sleep.
The author has something to say:
Lin Banxia: I saw Song Qingluo appearing in front of me wearing golden armor and riding on colorful auspicious clouds!!!
Li Su: Let’s get to the point.
Lin Banxia: Golden Armor.
Song Qingluo:???
Translator’s comments:
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