Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

There was a large rock on Gu Nianzhi’s right side, and she planned to shift herself to sit against it, as it would be more comfortable than lying on the grass. Gently nudging her leg, a searing pain shot up from her left calf. She tried to press her hand on the wound, but because she didn’t control the pressure, she yelped out in pain. It hurt too much! This time she was certain she had a fracture. But what should she do? Ligament and bone injuries took a hundred days to heal, but how could she recuperate in a place like this? She’d better call for help right now…

As Gu Nianzhi contemplated it, she began dialing Smith’s number. It rang for a long time but no one picked up. She could only leave a voicemail, “Smith, I got lost near the Königssee. I already called the police, so can you pick me up at the police station? I’ll share the location with you.” As she spoke, she opened up the messaging on her iPhone to share her location with Smith via text. Smith should immediately go to the police station to pick her up when he saw this, right? To be safe, Gu Nianzhi also made the same calls to her other three colleagues. The strange thing was that they also didn’t pick up, so she had to leave voicemails. What were they doing that all four of them weren’t picking up?

The four men really couldn’t take calls because they were in a famous club in Munich called “Happy.” Glamorous women from Central Europe who came to Germany to make a living surrounded them, encouraging them to drink. The men were having an especially great time. They were playing a strip beer-drinking game where the person losing the bet would have to take off one piece of clothing. They weren’t wearing much to begin with, since it was late summer and early autumn, so losing two rounds left them half-naked already.

With golden hair, fair skin, deep set features, and voluptuous figures, the girls dazzled by merely stretching their long legs. Although these four American lawyers had wives or long-term girlfriends and fiancees, they were completely enamored of these beautiful women. Just as the four American lawyers were living a dream, their cellphones were secretly infiltrated, and a Trojan virus burrowed itself. Any call that came from Gu Nianzhi would be automatically forwarded to another voicemail system. They would never be able to take her calls.

…

After making the calls, Gu Nianzhi carefully put her phone back into her bag. She didn’t know when they’d pick her up, so she had to use her phone carefully so the battery didn’t die before they found her. By then, she would be completely stranded and helpless. Holding the bucket bag against her chest, she tried to stand up from the grass but didn’t have enough strength. Her left leg was still weak, so she could only kneel her right leg on the grass and crawl towards the large rock. Even though the distance was only a few steps, Gu Nianzhi crawled for a full five minutes to get to the large rock.

When she sat against it, she began to pant and felt that her heart rate was especially fast, but there wasn’t a trace of sweat on her forehead. She thought it was a little strange and felt her forehead to find she was running a high fever… No wonder she felt weak and sore. It was because she injured her leg and also had a high fever. Gu Nianzhi sighed and helplessly closed her eyes against the large rock. It was already late at night, and she felt drowsy. Coupled with the fever and dizziness, she couldn’t support herself anymore and drifted into sleep. Although she was very hungry, nothing could stop her sleepiness.

She slept the entire night against the large rock and didn’t wake until afternoon the next day. When she woke up, the sun was filtered through the tree leaves and sparkled on the little stream like nuggets of gold. The foliage was thick, so there wasn’t much sunlight, but it was enough for her to assess the surroundings. Although it had rained there last night, the humidity evaporated quickly under the sun’s rays. The grass was dry and didn’t appear to have been rained on at all.

Anxiety rose in her heart like the climbing temperature. This was too deep down the cliff. She couldn’t see the tops of the tall trees, and even if someone came to rescue her, how would they get down? Would they have to hang down from ropes? Looking up, she saw that there were no forged paths for her to go up, and of course, no way down. She had rolled down, and because it was so dangerous, she had fractured her leg and passed out. That was how she had ended up there.

Furrowing her brows, she couldn’t understand it, even after thinking for a long time, so she decided to forget about it. If she looked at it differently, even though it would be hard to rescue her from such a hidden and rugged place, it would also be hard for the people trying to harm her to get in! So she was temporarily safe. Gu Nianzhi tried to make the best of it and touched her forehead. Her fever raged last night but had somehow subsided already. This was fine as well, but it had made her body even more weak and helpless. She felt sore from just raising her arms, but this was a normal effect after running a high fever. Gu Nianzhi didn’t mind it and supported one hand on the large rock and pushed her right hand and leg. This time, she was able to stand up right away.

Touching where she had fractured her right calf, it didn’t burn with pain anymore, but it still hurt a bit, and she couldn’t support herself on it. Gu Nianzhi rubbed her kneecap and slowly stood up, her vision expanding. But what was the point of expanding her vision? The ravine was filled with trees–tall, short, green, red, brown, yellow. There was no end in sight. It was practically a primeval forest. The cliffs on either side were at a 90-degree angle like walls, surrounding the tall trees and small creek. Gu Nianzhi suddenly felt like a frog looking up a well all day, completely surrounded by tall walls with only the sky visible above her.

When she thought of fogs, Gu Nianzi’s stomach grumbled from hunger. She hadn’t eaten properly since early morning the day before. Because she was in a rush to leave, she only had one tiny Weisswurst and one sip of coconut juice. Now Gu Nianzhi was not only starving but also very thirsty. Licking her chapped lips, her originally plump and moisturized lips had started to peel. Gu Nianzhi missed nothing more than the unfinished can of coconut juice in the hotel fridge… The more she thought about it, the hungrier and thirstier she felt.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked around and found a target. She hopped on one leg to a shorter tree. The lucky thing was that tree was a willow. It was only a bit taller than Gu Nianzhi, and its branches were reachable when she stretched her arms. Gu Nianzhi chose a branch about a meter long and five centimeters wide that felt pliable. She pulled hard, but it was very elastic, and the bark remained on the tree, so she couldn’t pull it off no matter what. Unperturbed, Gu Nianzhi took out her keys from the bucket bag hanging on her chest. On it was a Swiss Army knife Huo Shaoheng had given her. She always had it on her keyring.