Time passed slowly, so slowly that Dong Enyu’s breathing became gentle.
She blinked her sore eyes, teetering between madness and collapse, her head dizzy.
The nicotine she inhaled couldn’t lift her spirits; instead, it felt like poison, dragging her deeper into a miserable abyss.
The white smoke she exhaled rose slowly, ash falling on her worn-out shirt, until the ember neared her lips and Luo Ye took the cigarette away.
Her rough fingertips pinched Dong Enyu’s chin, lifting her face to plant a kiss on her lips.
Not too light, not too heavy, it landed and left, but in that brief second, Dong Enyu’s heart skipped a beat.
Damn it.
Dong Enyu pressed her lips together, turning her eyes away to extinguish the lingering warmth on her mouth.
“Does everyone know about Qi Ge’s embezzlement?” Dong Enyu turned her head slightly, asking in a low voice.
Even though knowing the truth now was useless, she couldn’t help but blurt it out.
Because Dong Enyu wanted to know, self-mockingly wanting to dig out the whole truth.
Luo Ye was silent, nodding in response.
Yes, everyone knew, the brothers on the street knew, the Manager knew… Yong Le, Luo Ye, probably even Zhao Han knew.
Only she was the clueless fool, kept in the dark and played around, thinking she could stand firm, thinking she could climb up… She, who squeezed into Wutang halfway, was never taken seriously by anyone, only treated as a joke.
“Is that so? So everyone was just waiting for a scapegoat to appear, to take over the place Qi Ge emptied, and then when things go south, let the successor take the blame?”
Dong Enyu almost muttered to herself, speaking to herself, convincing herself to accept this fact, “Only I didn’t know, only I didn’t know the truth.”
“Yes.”
Luo Ye spoke then, responding to Dong Enyu.
Yes, a single word hit Dong Enyu hard.
Indeed, only Dong Enyu didn’t know about all the schemes, perhaps it was a consensus on the street?
Qi Ge’s embezzlement wasn’t a one-day or two-day thing; his spending power was astonishing, yet he didn’t run goods.
The goods he handled for the Boss could at most earn him a small cut, and relying solely on the venue and protection fees couldn’t possibly cover his extravagant expenses, so he emptied the funds within the organization.
Those funds used for paying for drinks and rent were all secretly embezzled by Qi Ge.
Luo Ye knew but didn’t speak, the Manager knew but didn’t dare to mention it, and those who saw but didn’t have the guts to accuse him were all waiting for a scapegoat to appear.
And that sheep was Dong Enyu.
…Despair, there was nothing more despairing than this.
She bit her lower lip and remained silent.
At this moment, Luo Ye’s phone rang.
She glanced at Dong Enyu and then slowly walked out.
Dong Enyu knew it was those old foxes coming over, to see if Qi Ge was dead, and to see if Dong Enyu had been caught.
Run! She had to run! Things weren’t over yet, and if she was handed over now, it would be a dead end! Dong Enyu gripped the fruit knife in her hand, listening as Luo Ye walked out of the Iron Factory.
She immediately swung her arm; her wrist was tightly bound with hemp rope, but time was limited, and she couldn’t hesitate.
At that moment, Dong Enyu desperately twisted her wrist, the rough rope almost embedding into her skin, the barbs on the rope injuring her hand.
After the blood lubricated it, it finally loosened a bit.
She held her breath, carefully listening to the sounds outside.
Luo Ye’s footsteps seemed to be moving away.
Dong Enyu bit her lower lip, enduring the pain, and clumsily cut the rope with the fruit knife.
In the process, she accidentally made several cuts on the back of her hand, the pain almost making her cry out.
In a critical situation, she had no choice; even cutting off her hand was better than death.
Dong Enyu took some time but finally cut the rope.
She bent down to free her feet from the restraints, cautiously glancing back at the door.
Luo Ye was not there.
Perfect.
Dong Enyu took a deep breath, dragging her body to the window.
The glass was already broken.
She took the fruit knife with her just in case, propping herself up and quickly jumping out the window.
Outside the factory was pitch black, only the faint moonlight guiding her way.
Dong Enyu hid in the bushes, crouching and moving slowly.
The rustling sound of stepping on the grass made Dong Enyu look back nervously, fearing Luo Ye would chase after her.
She wasn’t foolish enough to walk on the main road, but she didn’t stray too far from it either, to avoid getting lost in the Mountain Area.
The thick fog at night served as a perfect cover.
Her descent was slow, partly because she was constantly on guard for anyone approaching, and partly because her injuries had drained her strength.
If someone were to chase her now, she wasn’t confident she could escape.
Dong Enyu wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, accidentally brushing against the bruise at the corner of her eye, the pain making her bend over and tremble.
Tired, so tired.
The cut on her arm wasn’t deep but was long and narrow, causing her to lose a lot of blood, slowing her movements.
Her whole body was cold, her breathing growing heavier.
She stopped to rest against a tree trunk.
At that moment, several beams of light suddenly swept over, scaring Dong Enyu into immediately dropping to the ground, disregarding the injury on her arm, and lying flat on the ground.
“Hiss…” Dong Enyu gasped, gripping her arm tightly.
She saw three black sedans heading towards the mountain top, the taillights sweeping past, and she caught a glimpse of Brother Hu’s profile through the car window, fleeting.
They were here to deal with Dong Enyu, and Luo Ye must have gone to notify them to come up the mountain.
She took out her phone, the screen already broken, but the time showed four in the morning.
From the time of the incident until now, only a few hours had passed, yet the situation had completely turned around.
…Truly remarkable.
Dong Enyu forced a bitter smile, praising Luo Ye’s silence and not defending herself, because everything was already scripted.
She was just an actor, following the changes in the situation to decide her fate.
If she didn’t play along, Luo Ye might find another way to kick her out of the group, or find a way to use her.
No matter how Dong Enyu tried to escape, she couldn’t avoid Luo Ye’s meticulous design.
She snapped back to reality, tearing off her shirt sleeve to bind the long wound.
The series of actions left her panting heavily.
She needed to get down the mountain now, at least to avoid those guys.
Dong Enyu gripped her phone tightly, then decisively threw it into the woods.
She couldn’t call for help now; doing so would only make things worse.
It was best to discard the phone and not let Luo Ye find her.
“Damn it! Let’s block the road at the bottom of the mountain!” A black sedan roared past on the road.
Since the car window was open, Dong Enyu clearly heard a few men talking on the phone.
They had discovered Dong Enyu’s escape and were now starting to hunt her down, which was a very bad sign.
Bzzz… Bzzz… At the same time, Dong Enyu heard the sound of her phone vibrating.
She bit her lower lip, not looking to see who was calling her.
It’s probably Luo Ye, right? Dong Enyu sat dejectedly on the ground.
It seemed she couldn’t take the main road down the mountain.
She assessed the danger of the mountain path, straying further from the road, now lost in the dark forest.
In her youth, she had followed the army and played guerrilla warfare a few times, so the mountains weren’t unfamiliar to her.
But now, she was physically exhausted, panting heavily after a few steps, not to mention the dim vision making it hard to navigate.
Several stumbles made her fall, but she had to get up after each collision.
Especially when the human body is fragile, emotions are particularly hard to control.
Dong Enyu pursed her lips, brushing off the branches and dead leaves from her body, sniffing with a bit of a sob.
She was made of flesh, not a superhero from a movie who could fall without a scratch.
She was on the verge of being driven mad, even feeling dazed while walking.
Why her… why her… Along the way, this question echoed in Dong Enyu’s mind.
Why did she take on this task? If she hadn’t, she might be comfortably lying in bed sleeping now, or chatting with friends until dawn.
But she took it on, this terrible and dangerous task, making her feel an urge to give up.
The human heart is weak, and the heart beating in an undercover agent’s chest is also human, but she had to pretend to be strong.
…I really want to cry out loud.
But Dong Enyu murmured to herself, unknowingly laughing, choking out a few laughs.
Crying is a sign of weakness; she couldn’t cry, at least not until she left here alive.
Dong Enyu didn’t know how long she had been walking.
She looked up, the sky was already turning light, almost dawn.
At this moment, she saw a narrow path in the overgrown forest, seemingly unused for a long time.
Without a word, she took the small path, following the dirt trail down the mountain.
It seemed to be a path once used by mountain folks.
As the sunlight filtered through the leaves, Dong Enyu felt a glimmer of hope.
She walked faster, dragging her steps to get down the mountain quickly.
When she emerged from the path, what greeted her was the asphalt road at the foot of the mountain.
She stood on a small hill, the dense forest shielding her.
Dong Enyu crouched down to catch her breath, cautiously checking the road’s situation.
She didn’t know how far she was from those chasing her, only that the current situation seemed okay, with no signs or sounds of others.
…Great.
She breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, propping up her tired body to walk down, but suddenly held her breath.
As the car lights flashed by, Dong Enyu lay flat on the ground.
Not far away, a black sedan slowly approached, stopping precisely ten feet away from Dong Enyu on the road.
In that brief moment, she clearly saw the person in the driver’s seat was Luo Ye.
Dong Enyu lowered her head, simultaneously hearing the sound of several people getting out of the car.
…Damn! Although it was only a brief moment, she wasn’t sure if Luo Ye had seen her.
Dong Enyu covered her wildly beating heart, fearing the sound of her heartbeat would attract the attention of wild wolves.
Maybe she saw her, or maybe not? Dong Enyu didn’t know.
She didn’t dare make any move, lying stiffly on the ground, breathing lightly.
“Sister Ye, we’ve been searching all night and haven’t found her. Could she have fallen into the valley?”
Not far away, a subordinate spoke with some frustration.
They had searched all night but hadn’t found a trace.
“Yeah, anyway, Brother Hu said to leave this matter to the Boss. If that woman isn’t dead, she wouldn’t dare show up in the North District.”
Another man stretched lazily, speaking in a muffled voice.
Dong Enyu forced a faint smile.
Yes, she was now the murderer of Qi Ge, probably unable to appear in the North District anymore.
She slightly raised her head, vaguely seeing the sedan parked not far away through the grass.
A few men were smoking outside the car, while Luo Ye leaned against the car door with arms crossed.
Whether by coincidence or intention, she was facing Dong Enyu’s direction, making Dong Enyu’s hair stand on end.
“Let’s go.” After a long time, Luo Ye finally said calmly.
The subordinates quickly got into the car, but she remained still.
Dong Enyu watched her take something out of her pocket and suddenly throw it in her direction.
That seemingly casual action made Dong Enyu tremble all over.
What Luo Ye threw was a phone, the one Dong Enyu had discarded.
The beige phone case landed on the muddy ground, just a foot away from Dong Enyu.
…Did she find out? But Luo Ye drove away.
Dong Enyu wasn’t sure.
Cold sweat dripped down her face.
She waited until Luo Ye’s car was out of sight before standing up from the grass.
She didn’t take the phone, quickly heading down the mountain.
Stumbling along the way, her vision blurred, the pressure weighing on her making her dizzy.
No matter what, she couldn’t be caught.
If she was caught, everything would be ruined…
Honk!!－－
A piercing horn sounded in her ears, like slow motion, as a car came crashing into Dong Enyu.
She had no sense of how much it hurt.
The moment her body was hit, Dong Enyu completely lost consciousness.
