Xiu Mei's body was almost at its limit. She was barely holding on to her senses when the door of the room opened once again.

Her vision was already hazy with the fatigue and her panic attack combined. She sensed quite several people outside the room. She gritted her teeth and made up her mind.

Back then when she was kidnapped with Ying Yue, she chose to stay put and waited for her family to rescue them. And look at what that resulted to. It was the decision she deeply regrets.

And she's not going to choose that option the second time around.

Xiu Mei would have to escape.

She has to save herself on her own for now.

If she doesn't do anything right now, she knew that her ending is already set by then. With her body's current situation, she won't be able to fight back against all of them. She'll be like a fish waiting to be chopped and cooked under their mercy.

Grabbing the nearest object she could put her hands on, she pushed herself up to stand upright and walked over to the entrance. As soon as the first guy tried to step inside, she immediately smashed the wood on his head and pushed him away.

She was going to lose if she really faced all of them, so she gritted her teeth, and using all her energy left, she sprinted away from those men.

Thank god that she really grew up with her brothers. Running in this uneven ground and speeding up is quite an easy feat since she often played tag in the secluded areas back when they were young.

Xiu Mei heard them screaming behind her and she quickly picked up her speed.

She can't stop.

She must not stop.

She mustn't look back.

She has to look forward.

Else, all that attempt of her escape would go down the drain.

She won't be able to push them away nor fight them.

So, Xiu Mei, you have to run.

This is what Xiu Mei repeated inside her head as she continued running away. She was running barefooted, but Xiu Mei pressed on and ignored the sharp small rocks and branches that she stepped on.

Somehow, she felt that she was already completely numb with pain with all the pain she was having all over her body. Or maybe it was the adrenaline rush.

She stayed away from the sound of water that she could hear from afar.

That path is too predictable. Wan Wan and the others would surely look for her near any body of water since it's a person's instinct to stay close to the waters if they want to live.

But she won't do it.

Both options will get her killed. Hence, she ran opposite to the sound of water.

She didn't know how long she had been running but she thought she must already be pretty far since she couldn't hear any voices from behind her anymore. All she could hear was her heavy breathing and panting as she continued to go down the slope.

Ten minutes of continuous running later, her body completely gave up on her.

She tripped and fell multiple times. She hissed in pain while looking at the infected large gash on her knee.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the moon hanging on the night sky.

"Lu Chen… where are you?

" She murmured to herself as she held onto the hope that Lu Chen would find her soon.

She knew that the moment she went missing, Lu Chen would definitely look for her and save her as soon as possible.

She trusted him so much that she was confident that he would be able to find her very soon. That's why she dared to escape from that imprisonment and stayed away from her basic need which is water.

Xiu Mei is an independent woman that would never bend her back to anyone. But she was Lu Chen's wife. It didn't matter if their foundation isn't about love, because what they developed over the years was trust.

It may have been shaken quite recently but it would never crumble.

And Lu Chen never let her down even if it's about work or family.

Hence, Xiu Mei willingly placed her cards for Lu Chen. He will find her.

He will.

So while waiting for him to come, she needs to hide first.

Xiu Mei scanned her surroundings. She was thankful that the place she was brought to was near the forest. At least it would prove difficult for them to look for her especially in the dark.

She looked for a large trunk that could hide her body and leaned back on it. Her panic attack that seemed to disappear temporarily a while ago was coming back.

She bit her lip and took continuous deep breaths. Tears were already coming out of her eyes and the pain that she couldn't feel before was attacking her full force.

It hurts!

Xiu Mei whimpered in pain as she struggled which part of her body to soothe.

It really hurts!

She couldn't breathe and her body was hurting all over.

Goddamit, it fudging hurts!

Xiu Mei opened her eyes and looked at the plants growing beside the roots of the tree she was leaning on. Without much thought, she grabbed a nearby plant and forcibly pulled it causing it to be uprooted.

She looked at it closely and examined whether she could recognize it or not if this was safe for consumption. Thankfully, it was one of the edible ones she could recognize.

She didn't worry whether the plant was dirty or anything at all. After all, the plant looked cleaner than her as of the moment. Her clothes were tattered and since she was forced on the ground several times by Wan Wan, Xiu Mei was already disheveled and covered with mad. Her open wounds were probably already infected by now.

Xiu Mei ate the plant to fill her belly and at least to gain some energy. She couldn't find the energy to move or stand up anymore so Xiu Mei ate whatever was within her reach that's edible.

After eating, she laid still under the tree. She closed her eyes but she didn't sleep. Her guard is still on high alert on any small noises or people that might suddenly appear. If that happens, she needs to run away immediately. She can't let herself be found or all the effort will all for naught.

She sat motionless like to for almost an hour. With her body in a state of rest, her eyes felt heavy. She was too exhausted hence her body already wanted to sleep but her mind screamed that she cannot just sleep randomly here.

This time, her body won.

Xiu Mei didn't notice that she had already fallen asleep in the middle of the wilderness.

On the other side of the forest, what Xiu Mei didn't know was that the person she had been calling for countless times has already appeared near her.

"Ying Wan Wan already disappeared when we arrived at the scene, Boss.

" Lu Shao reported to Lu Chen through the wireless communicator.

"Keep looking for her.

" Lu Chen coldly said.

"Don't stop until you find her. Bring her back to the headquarters once you find her.

"

"Understood.

"

And then their line cut off.

"Did you find any clues?

" Lu Chen turned to Lee In who was designated to look for Xiu Mei who disappeared in the locked room. After killing the six men who seemed to be running back then, she didn't hesitate to kill five of the men and kept the other one barely alive. She interrogated that person to ask nicely where Xiu Mei was and that person happily answered her before she twisted his neck so he could sleep forever.

She informed Lu Chen that the Young Madame disappeared and that she was suspected to be somewhere in the forest so Lee In mobilized her men to scatter and look for her.

After following the trail of the six men, she looked for some clues to where she might have gone. Lu Chen followed after her as soon as he received the report as well.

Lee In reported the clues she found at the scene.

"I found some blood in some of the rocks on the ground. The metallic smell is quite faint but I can confirm that it's the scent of blood.

"

Lu Chen's blood ran cold.

The smell of blood? Countless possibilities already appeared in his mind and all of them were Xiu Mei either injured or dead while covered in her blood.

Did she get too injured? Or was she… Lu Chen didn't dare to think anymore.

He followed Lee In to where she was talking about and took a deep breath to smell the air.

Indeed. There's still a hint of that familiar metallic smell. Lu Chen slightly relaxed when he realized that it didn't smell strong at all.

He also saw the trail of blood that Lee In was talking about and based on these, at least he could conclude that Xiu Mei was probably not extremely injured as he thought she was.

She was still able to escape from the clutches of the six men and ran away along this difficult path.

Despite that, Lu Chen's fist still tightened.

Still, that doesn't change the fact that his wife was injured somewhere in the forest, alone.