A faint rattling noise suddenly echoed in the forest. The sound gradually got louder and louder until it reached Xiu Mei's ears startling her awake from the sound.

"W-Wha—!

" She flinched from the sound. Her heart almost jumped from surprise as soon as she woke up.

Fudge, what was she doing ah? How can she sleep like that?! Or did she faint?

Goodness. Thankfully they hadn't found her yet. Maybe they ran towards the stream?

Xiu Mei didn't know how long she had been napping and wit her body still in pain, she slightly shifted into a more comfortable position while leaning on the tree.

Then she heard the rattling sound again.

This time, her senses were on full alert.

She turned her head from side to side to observe whether someone was nearby but she couldn't even see a shadow at all.

The rattling sound returned.

Xiu Mei flinched. Her instincts finally kicked in as she realized that the sound may not be from a human at all.

She took a deep breath as she listened carefully at the approaching sound again. The longer she listened to it, the more profanities appeared inside her head.

Shit.

Of all times, why did it have to be right now?

Xiu Mei finally recognized what the sound was. Her uncle from her mother's side had a weird hobby of taking care of wild pets. There was one time he introduced her to his pets, one of which was a snake. He had quite a number of pet snakes, and she heard this familiar sound back then as well.

It was the sound… of a rattlesnake.

The rattlesnake she saw at her uncle's was quite big but there's one important thing that she recalled when she listened to his lessons.

Rattlesnakes are venomous creatures as well. With her body completely weak at the moment, any venom can probably kill her.

Goddamit. Is fate really playing a trick on her today? Of all animals to meet in this place, why did it have to be a rattlesnake?

Xiu Mei was torn between moving to a different spot or staying still hoping that the snake won't approach her.

Right now, she wasn't sure whether she could even outrun a snake if she wanted to. If she stayed still, she couldn't even bet if the snake won't bite her so suddenly.

Fudge. Seriously. Either option won't save her.

She roamed her eyes around the stuff that she could reach out. She can see quite a lot of fallen leaves, small branches, and rocks laying around.

If she threw the stones at the snake… would it make it angrier instead?

Xiu Mei bit her lips as she thought it all over again. After contemplating for a few seconds, she finally made her decision.

It's still better to move somewhere far away from the snake.

She gritted her teeth as her body ached in pain when she attempted to stand up again. Holding the trunk for support, she barely accomplished her mission to stand up. Leaning more than half of her weight on the trunk, Xiu Mei felt like cursing again.

Damn it. It's so painful. If she was in so much pain before, then this time, the pain was making her go crazy. Maybe it was because her wounds were all infected and they sting so bad right now.

Xiu Mei closed her eyes and listened to the direction of the rattle noise again. After identifying that it was coming from the west direction, Xiu Mei started moving towards the opposite direction.

She carefully and briskly walked away without making any noise. She lightly stepped on the leaves and branches so as not to attract the attention of the snake..or snakes.

She just started moving for five minutes when she heard a different sound again. This time, she quickly recognized what it was. It was the sound of footsteps.

Her blood ran cold as she picked up her speed. Did they finally caught up with her?!

Xiu Mei started running faster to increase her distance from the people behind her. But her mind was screaming in fear as she heard the footsteps continue to get louder and it sounded as if it was catching up quick this time around.

Dang it! Was she running slower than before?

Gritting her teeth, she ignored the pain in her legs and tried to run faster again. Maybe because she was panicking or because she wasn't looking at where she was looking at anymore, she didn't notice a large root on her path.

What happened next was inevitable. Xiu Mei's foot got caught on the tree root and she immediately lost her balance.

"Ah—!

" She cried out as she braced herself from the impact. She tried to stretch out her arms to stop her momentum but she was still weak, her arm barely supported her body. It did soften the fall though.

Xiu Mei completely fell facedown on the ground while the people who were going after her eventually caught up to her and paused a few meters away from her fallen figure.

Xiu Mei flinched and propped herself up to start running again when a voice halted her movement.

"Xiu Mei!

" Lu Chen yelled out. His voice was mixed with surprise and relief when he said her name. But seeing his wife almost crawling on the ground, his heart squeezed in pain. Just by looking at her back figure, he could see that she looked very disheveled and the bruises at the back of her legs.

His fists tightened as he quickly rushed to her side.

Hearing Lu Chen's voice, Xiu Mei's hanging heart was finally put down. She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, pulling her up and turning her body.

After calling out his name multiple times, he was finally here. Lu Chen was finally here.

He really came for her. He finally found her.

As soon as she saw his familiar face, Xiu Mei suddenly burst into tears. She didn't know if she was crying because she was in so much pain or because she suddenly felt relieved knowing that he was finally here.

Her sobbed so heartbreaking in Lu Chen's ears. Just by her cry, he could almost feel the grievances that she went through when he was still looking for her. Her arms subconsciously wrapped around his neck as she buried her head into his chest and continued crying. Her grip on his clothes tightened as if she was scared that he will suddenly disappear.

At first, Xiu Mei thought that she was hallucinating. Because she was desperately wishing for Lu Chen to appear before her and save her, she thought that her desperation must have resulted in her to suddenly hear Lu Chen's voice in the forest. Since she had a previous case of hallucinating back when she was being treated for her PTSD right after her kidnapping ten years ago, Xiu Mei actually thought that this time she must be hallucinating again.

But when she felt a warm hand hug her shoulder and when she saw that person's face in front of her, Xiu Mei realized that she wasn't hallucinating at all. As she sobbed in his arms, she clung to him tightly, as if trying to prove that he was real and that he wouldn't just suddenly disappear like smoke in front of her.

Because if he really was just her hallucination, she didn't know what to do. She might get crazy.

Lu Chen felt like his heart was being torn to pieces as he listened to her cries.

What did his wife go through that she cried like this?

And the scratches and wounds all over her body, did they do this to her?

The anger in his heart increased as his desire to suddenly kill the person who did this grew.

He would never let this matter go. To kidnap his wife under his eyes, that person must be asking for death to have the gall to kidnap Xiu Mei.

His hold on her unconsciously tightened as he lowered his head and peppered her with kisses on her hair. He stroked her head and back trying to soothe and calm her down.

He whispered gently in her ears.

"I'm sorry. I was late, wasn't I?

" He uttered.

Because he made her wait too long, she turned out like this. If he had just found her sooner, no, if he had just protected her better, then she wouldn't be in this situation at all.

She wouldn't be kidnapped. Her trauma about being kidnapped won't be opened again. And she won't be this hurt if he had properly protected her.

He promised that he would protect her, but look at how did that turnout. He completely failed her.

He didn't hear any response from the woman in his arms, but instead, he felt her breathing turned heavier and heavier suddenly alarming him.

"Lee In, the medicine kit!

" He ordered. While waiting for Lee In to finish setting up, she handed Lu Chen a small brown paper bag for Xiu Mei to breathe into. He quickly pulled away from Xiu Mei and placed the opening around her mouth and nose as he coaxed her to open her mouth and breathe in it.

But Xiu Mei's body was at its limit and her body was finally released from the tension she was feeling before.

Even after breathing through the paper bag, Xiu Mei's situation didn't get better. And her grip on Lu Chen finally loosened, slipping away from his neck, and falling limp on the ground.