Chapter 154: Highway
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The river’s rapid currents churned noisily, filling Xia Xin with unease. She had a deep-seated fear of water and knew she couldn’t possibly swim across. The path she had just taken was the only one in sight—no other way to go.
Surveying the surroundings, she realized that although there were no roads wide enough for a vehicle, there were some narrower trails that a person could traverse. Trees and waist-high grass would provide her with cover. If she could just make it to the forest, she’d be effectively concealed from the twins hunting her.
Resolute, Xia Xin braved the thorny path. Her clothing snagged and her skin was scratched, the pain turning her complexion ashen. Finding a secluded spot, she redeemed some healing ointments and bandages from her system, tending to her wounds first.
Just when she thought she was safe, the sound of an engine revved in the distance. ‘It must be Xu Ping and Xu An!’ Xia Xin thought. She couldn’t afford to move recklessly now. Every step she took would rustle the grass around her, giving away her location. Even if she had consumed a Mighty Tonic, she couldn’t guarantee victory against the twins. The tonic had a time limit, and once it wore off, she’d be helpless, possibly falling into a deep sleep.
Xu Ping and Xu An, meanwhile, had their car stalled by the river. They got out but found no trace of Xia Xin.
“The woman has actually escaped!” Xu An snarled, incredulous that despite frisking Xia Xin and confirming she had nothing, the latter had still managed to drug her.
“What should we do now?” Xu Ping frowned.
After some thought, Xu An declared, “We’ll call for reinforcements and search the other side of the river. We can’t give up looking around here either.”
Trusting her gut, Xu An was convinced that Xia Xin was a woman full of guile and needed to be apprehended with extreme caution.
Having issued their orders over the phone, the pair drove off, allowing Xia Xin to breathe a sigh of relief. She decided her first move would be to find a populated area and borrow a phone to call the police. Everything else could wait until she reached the station.
The police arrived at the show’s filming location right after Jing MO had left. For a brief moment, the director felt a surge of panic, but it quickly vanished. Convincing himself that Xia Xin, being an adult, bore the primary responsibility for her own disappearance, he thought that compensating financially would be the worst-case scenario. Conflict and drama were, after all, the key to attracting audiences.
The police started taking statements to gather clues. When they learned an actor named Jing MO had left the scene, they sent a team to find him.
Zhao Nan, learning of Xia Xin’s disappearance, became frantic. Calls to Xia
Xin’s phone were met with a notification that the device was off. ‘What to do? What to do?’ Zhao Nan pondered, just as a police officer approached her for her statement.
“Miss Zhao, is it convenient for you to record your statement now?” The police officer walked to Zhao Nan’s side.
When Zhao Nan saw the police, she quickly said, “Yes, yes. Officer, please find Xia Xin. She is my good friend. I beg you!”
“Miss Zhao, we understand how you feel. Please cooperate with us and record your statement.” said the police officer who followed the procedures. He had to record her statement first. Only when he had clues would he know how to find her.
Unbeknownst to Xia Xin, her disappearance had caused quite a stir. After walking for a while, she discovered a winding mountain highway. Opting not to walk on the open road, where she could easily be pursued by a car, she stuck to the concealment offered by the tree line, hoping to flag down any passerby for help. But time wore on and she encountered no one. “What’s that on the human’s feet? It looks odd.
“Hmm, I smell medicine on her. Is she hurt”
“Hey there, magpie, since when have you been so interested in humans?’
Hearing the chatter, Xia Xin’s face lit up and thought, ‘I’d finally encountered animals!’
Without missing a beat, she communicated with the little birds.
“A human who can talk to me?” The magpie flew right up to Xia Xin, visibly astonished.
“Yes, I’ve run into some difficulties. Is there any way you could assist me?”
“What can we do to help you?”
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