The Zhu family started arguing again soon after.

  "No way!" "He's a madman, don't listen to him!" "Dad, I have to save Xiao Han, must save Xiao Han..." "Who are you going to chop? No one can be chopped!" "What should we do then?"

  "What kind of person are you? Why do you want to deal with our family?"

  ……

  He brandished his knife, watching them laugh. It was a bitter and difficult laughter. Suddenly, as if he had been provoked to the extreme, he let out a loud roar: "Shut up!"

  The family at the bottom of the pit was eerily quiet.

  "Choose, can't choose, right?" he said. "Can't bear to part with... three people, right? Then I'll give you another way out... Choose one person to die! And I'll let the others go, and the child! This time, there's no chance to regret it! No other choice!"

  My heart skipped a beat.

  He pointed the knife at the child.

  This time, the Zhu family had a relatively quiet period.

  Then Zhu Zihan's mother burst into tears: "Husband, think of a way! Think of a solution! What to do! Child, my child, please don't kill him!"

  "Please, we'll give you all our money, every penny in the house, just let the child go!"

  He, of course, remains unmoved.

  "Haven't you seen? He has a knife in his hand! We can kill the child first, then one by one kill us!" It was the voice of old man Zhu Fengxian.

  "Must someone really die?" Zhu Jihui cried out.

  "One man's death can save us all! Otherwise we'll all die!" Zhu Fengxian shouted.

  The bottom of the pit was quiet for a while.

  Although I couldn't see their situation, I felt every hair on my body standing up. Although no killing had occurred yet, it was the most terrifying night I've ever experienced!

  At this time, the son-in-law who had been silent all along suddenly spoke up: "You... what are you looking at me for?"

  The person at the entrance of the cave stared at them, seemingly in a trance.

  "Are you too selfish, too inhumane? To save the child of your Zhu family, let me go die? If we're going to make an exchange, it should be one of you who goes instead! That's not my child!"

  The distant voice almost pierced the quiet night sky, startling several flying birds. And I can imagine that Zhu Jihui must be in front of him at this moment, because she shouted: "A yuan cannot die! What should I do if he dies? Second brother and second sister-in-law, this is your child, you should replace him yourself! Dad, dad, where is the reason for this? Say something, dad!"

  Zhu Fengxian didn't speak up until after a while: "Old Three, you and he aren't married, in the end he's an outsider!"

  Zhu Jirui: "No—"

  Yan Yuan shouted: "If we're talking about dying, old man, it should be you! We're still young, but you're almost 70 years old. The child was also lost under your care, why shouldn't you sacrifice yourself?"

  The bottom of the pit suddenly fell silent.

  Then came Zhu Fengxian's trembling voice: "Old three, listen to this, this is the good son-in-law you've been looking for! He has a vicious heart, he thinks I'm living too long, and wants me to die so that his grandson can come back!"

  The scene below seemed chaotic, with the sounds of pushing and shoving, as well as Zhu Jihui's crying. Zhu Zhongling shouted: "Jihui, come here!" His wife yelled: "You go die!" Apparently she was helping Zhu Fengxian deal with Yan Yuan alone.

  I didn't expect things would turn out this way. Was it within "his" expectations?

  What does he want after all?

  "Shut up!" he bellowed, then burst out laughing, his mouth wide open in a huge grin, as if he had just encountered the most hilarious thing in the world.

  "Really... is it still like this?" He seemed to be muttering to himself, staring straight at the people in the pit, "You family, what do you take children as? Children are born by you, what do you take them as? Not one of you is willing to save the child, letting outsiders... make sacrifices. Twenty-five years ago it was like this, twenty-five years later... is it still like this?"

  "It's... I said it... unclearly... One of you Zhū family members must die in exchange for the child. But instead, you chose an outsider. You didn't pass the test! None of you will survive!"

  "Zhu Fengxian, then... let's start with you. Tell me, twenty-five years ago, another child who was lost by you... 5-year-old Zhu Shuyun, wasn't he... even more worthless? He was kidnapped, and you all searched for a few days, but then stopped searching... Was it because he was dumber than the other kids, that at 5 years old, he still couldn't speak, so... you wanted to get rid of him? Do you know that he always... wanted to find his own home. But over the years, you all... never looked for him, never looked for him. Yet he always wanted to go back home."

  So... so I came back to find you all. Looking for me are... Dad, Mom, hehe, and also older brother and younger sister.”