The Fog (2)

Unscrewing the lid, Chen Zizhen held the bottle to the woman's cracked lips and said, "Here, drink some water."

The woman shook her head again and pushed the bottle away, trying to suppress her coughing by covering her mouth with her hands, but her effort was useless.

Tears streamed down her cheeks from all the coughing. A second later, she suddenly coughed up blood. 

"Cough!"

Chen Zizhen froze as he saw blood seeping between her thin fingers. Before he could react, the woman fainted, and she collapsed heavily to the ground.

Thud!

As her hand fell limply beside her face, Chen Zizhen noticed something strange mixed in the blood. Though scared, he forced himself to move closer. When he finally saw clearly what it was, he was so shocked, leaving him paralyzed with fear.

When he came back to his senses, Chen Zizhen hurriedly grabbed the rope that had fallen to the ground and tugged it hard several times with trembling hands.