Chapter 271: Can’t Survive, Can’t Die
The moonlight instantly shone through the window, and the night breeze brushed against her face. Xu Chaomu felt for the first time that being alive was a beautiful thing.
Luckily, she had done plenty of climbing through windows and up trees as a child, so now she grabbed the window ledge with her hands and jumped up onto the windowsill in one swift motion.
As she sat on the windowsill, suddenly, she saw that man returning in a car!
Xu Chaomu, frightened, hurriedly jumped down and squatted on the ground.
She didn’t dare to move until the man drove the car inside, then she ran forward as fast as she could!
Run! Run! Run!
She was using every bit of strength she had!
Guided by the moonlight, she found the exit from the abandoned factory!
She ran out of the exit like a little rabbit!
She was unfamiliar with the place, but she knew that as long as she got away, there was hope for survival.
The gym classes she often skipped finally made her realize the importance of the 800-meter run.
Midway, her shoe came off, so she quickly bent down to pick it up and continued running barefoot.
Not far from the factory was a highway, and beside the highway was a small grove of trees planted for greening.
Xu Chaomu ran into the woods, using the dense foliage to conceal herself!
It was the summer, and the leaves were thick and lush. Xu Chaomu stepped on the fallen leaves, unable to see beyond the forest.
But under the silent night sky, every step she took on the leaves made a “crunch” sound!
Fearing making more noise, she had to slow down and walk on the soft earth.
Indeed, after parking the car in the factory, the third brother brought a box of food to open the door.
As soon as the door opened and his flashlight illuminated the area, all he found was a snapped rope and a mess on the floor!
“Damn it!” The third brother, filled with rage, swore, tossed the box of food away, and quickly jumped into the car!
“You little brat, if I catch you, I’ll fucking slaughter you!” The third brother cursed filthily.
He stepped on the gas, and the car sped out of the factory.
There were two directions outside the factory, and the third brother couldn’t guess which way Xu Chaomu had gone, so he hurriedly made a call to the second brother.
“Second brother, the little rabbit escaped, hurry up and drive over to help me look! I reckon she can’t have gone far, we’ll find her quickly!”
“How can you be so careless? You can’t even keep an eye on a girl? What are you good for?” The second brother erupted.
“Second brother, can you just come over? It’s my fault, but if you help me find her, won’t everything be resolved? If we don’t find her, we’re both dead! Don’t forget, we’re grasshoppers tied to the same rope!”
“Alright, stop blabbering, I’m on my way!”
“Good, then I’ll search the southern side of the factory, you head north!”
“Fine.”
The third brother hung up and started searching south along the main road.
Xu Chaomu had gone north and kept running without a moment’s pause.
She knew that if she kept running like this, she would quickly be caught again.
Suddenly, she saw a truck parked at the intersection ahead.
The truck driver seemed to be on the phone. Seizing the opportunity, Xu Chaomu ran along the edge of the woods to the intersection, and quietly climbed onto the truck.
She felt a bit grateful to her younger self now, climbing was no issue for her.
Moreover, the driver didn’t even notice when she climbed up.
Xu Chaomu ducked down at the back of the truck, making herself virtually undetectable.
Even more so, she curled up into a ball, lying there as still as a little kitten.
After the driver finished his call, he started the truck.
The vehicle sped away, and Xu Chaomu soon faced a serious problem—it was very cold!
Really very cold!
The wind howled past her ears as she buried her head into her body, curling up in the corner of the truck.
Xu Chaomu’s blood felt like it was freezing over.
The bone-chilling wind poured into her body, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. Yet, there was no way for her to jump down.
But at least, she had managed to escape from that factory.
At this moment, the place she most wanted to return to was the Shen Family home.
Not having experienced the cruelty of the world before, she found that although the Shen Family’s gaze was cold, it still offered warmth.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t, nor did she want to return there.
Huddled at the back of the truck, for the first time, she felt as if it would be better to be dead than alive.
Desiring life but unable to live, desiring death, but unable to die.
She clutched her head with one hand and gripped the truck’s rope tightly with the other. She was afraid that in an unguarded moment, she would be flung off the truck and suffer a terrible fall.
She did not want to die.
Finally, when the truck stopped at a gas station, she was able to get down.
Xu Chaomu’s lips were purple, and her hands were trembling non-stop.
She clenched her teeth and refused to let the tears fall.
She climbed down from the truck cautiously and, like a little cat, bowed and walked away.
She was safe, she was finally safe.
Just as she picked up her shoes and ran toward where there were more people, suddenly, someone called out to her.
“Chaomu!”
Xu Chaomu was startled; her nerves had been on edge the entire night.
“Chaomu, why are you here, why is there so much blood on your face and hands?”
It turned out to be Mo Shuifu. Xu Chaomu’s sight darkened, her legs went weak, and she almost fell over.
“Shui Fu, how, how is it you? What are you doing here?”
“I was planning to leave C City. My ride was queuing at the gas station to get fuel, and I came down to get some air. I didn’t expect to run into you here.”
“Shui Fu, don’t worry about me, I’m alright, you go back to the car, I want to leave this place.”
“What happened? Why are you covered in blood? Tell me quickly.”
“No, it’s really nothing, Shui Fu, don’t bother, I need to leave quickly.”
“Leave? Where do you want to go? It’s four in the morning, why are you out at this hour? Where is Shen Chi? Where is your brother?”
To Mo Shuifu, it seemed incomprehensible for Shen Chi, who adored Xu Chaomu, to allow her to be out alone so late.
And she was covered in blood.
What on earth had happened?
“Shui Fu, just leave it, please don’t get involved. Go back to the car, I can manage on my own.”
“How can I ignore this, I’ll call a hospital, I’ll take you there.”
Mo Shuifu was frantic. She quickly took out a handkerchief to stop Xu Chaomu’s bleeding.
In the light, Xu Chaomu saw that she was indeed covered in blood. Although the bleeding had mostly stopped, she touched her face and wondered if she would be scarred.
If she were left with scars, it would be unseemly, and she might not be able to marry.
“Shui Fu, don’t call, I’m going to the airport. I can get there by car right now.”
“Why do you need to go to the airport, Chaomu? Tell me clearly. Why have you turned out like this after not seeing each other for so many days?” Mo Shuifu was distressed.
Why hadn’t Shen Chi treated Chaomu well?
Even though he was marrying Miss Bai, Xu Chaomu was still his sister after all.
Could it be that Shen Chi was unaware?
“If you really want to know, then take me to the airport, and I’ll tell you,” Xu Chaomu said.
“Alright, I’ll take you, and you must tell me everything, no hiding anything.”
After saying this, Mo Shuifu stepped out and hailed a taxi!