"Are you ready?" Qian Ling asked Ariana to make sure she was feeling fine to travel.
"Yes," Ariana responded as she tightened the knot that attached the map to her arm.
"It's around fifteen minutes' walk to the exit. I'll guide you to the exit and let you know when it is safe to sneak out." She said as she checked the time. Around this time, there should be one guard or none around this area.
Raising her hand to her left ear, she took off her earrings. Holding the flower designed earrings, she pushed it into a blackened spot on the landscape wall painting and twisted it. Sounds of rotating parts could be heard behind the wall as she continued turning the flower earring.
Once the sounds had stopped, Qian Ling smiled and said, "Let's go."
"Huh? Go where? I don't see any doors." Ariana looked at her confusedly as if she was suggesting a crazy idea.
"Through the walls, silly." Qian Ling walked straight ahead towards the plain wall. Ariana reached out to prevent her from hurting herself, but saw Qian Ling walking into the wall with no problem at all. It was a shocking discovery as she used her hand to touch the wall in front of her.
Her hand literally passes through the wall with no interruption. Feeling that it was safe to continue, she closed her eyes and walked right through it. Her tightly squeezed eyes opened to see a dim, narrow path in front.
Qian Ling smiled, "Let's go."
Looking back and forth from where she came from to where she was heading; her mind was getting all mixed up already. She whispered lowly as she didn't know whether the walls were soundproof or not. "What happened just now?"
"Oh, that. It was one of the successful coding researches that I've completed. I accidentally created it and after some modification, I managed to make an illusional wall. Of course, you need my flower earrings as the key to open the passageway. Without my earring, it would have been a plain wall." She explained to Ariana as they strolled deeper into the route.
This route was not like the ones that she had encountered before. It was definitely cleaner and easier to walk through. After walking for a while, Qian Ling stopped and asked if she could continue walking.
Ariana nodded in response and wiped off the sweat on her forehead. Finally, they've successfully reached the exit, and it was time for them to separate.
"I can only walk you till here. Be careful on your way out. If you sneak out towards the left direction, it will bring you back to the main road. Find a way to contact your husband and take care of your child. Don't act recklessly. Remember to put your child as your top priority." She reminded Ariana one last time.
"Thank you. I'll remember your words and come back for you. I'll definitely save you." Ariana gave her a tight hug before leaving. Without turning back, she listened to Qian Ling's words and ran towards the left.
"Left... and then, aha, the main road is right there." She smiled and made sure that nobody else was guarding that area before running to the trees. Quickly, she found the tree that she and Chen Nan had marked.
Seeing that the other bag was missing, she knew that he must have escaped safely. Searching through her bag, she found her cellphone and immediately called Chen Nan. When she called using her cellphone, he was packing the necessities for his second trip to the tunnel.
Ringtone~
"Ariana..??" He said loudly, gaining everyone's attention. Swiping his finger on the screen, he picked up the call and said, "Hello?"
"Chen Nan! I just escaped from the tunnel. Can you have someone drive over to the marked tree?" Hearing her nervous whisper, he quickly rushed out with Chen Mu and Lin Que to get her. He had her stay on the call just in case something happens to her.
Within twenty minutes, they managed to arrive at the marked tree and turned off their car lights. "Pssst, Ariana..Come out." The trio left the vehicle to look for her. Crawling out from the bushes, she wrapped her arms around Chen Nan tightly. "I'm here. I'm back."
"Oh, my god. You're safe. You're safe." He repeated to her ears and kissed her cheeks. During the time that she was gone, he acted like a lost soul. Now that she was back in his arms, safe and sound, he could feel himself breathing again.
"Alright. Let's go before someone finds us." Lin Que went back to the driver's seat while Chen Mu sat in the passenger's seat. Opening the door, Chen Nan made sure she got in first before he did. The moment he also settled in the car, Lin Que locked all doors and announced their next destination.
"Back to the hospital we go!"
Chen Nan had his arms around Ariana the entire way as if she would disappear before him again if he let her go. Leaning into his embrace, she whispered, "There's so much that I have to tell you."
"I know, but the most important thing is that you're safe."
"Not just me. Our child is also safe." She lifted her head, smiled and shared the great news to him.
"W..what?"
"I said, our child is safe in my belly. You're about to become a father." Her eyes teared up as she broke the good news to him. He was so happy that he asked Chen Mu and Lin Que if his ears were functioning correctly.
Chen Mu smiled and laughed, "You're not dreaming nor hearing wrong. You're going to be a dad soon. Congratulations!!!"
Lin Que also laughed at his childish reaction, "You're going to be a father. You didn't hear wrong and she said it twice. Congratulations!"
"I'm going to be a father? Dad? Oh my goodness!!! How did you know? If you told me earlier, I wouldn't have let you risk it!!! You need to eat four meals a day! No, no. You need a thorough body check when we get to the hospital! What do you want to eat? I'll go to buy it for you." He chattered nonstop and gently fondled her flat tummy to see if he could feel the baby move.
"You need to calm down! Hahaha, it's still early. You won't be able to feel the baby's movements until later." She covered his warm palms with hers and smiled blissfully.
"Doesn't matter! You need to be careful from now on. You can't go back there either!"
"Sorry, hubby. But I must go back there." The sweet smile on her face turned into a small smile when she said it.
"Why? Our child comes first!" He objected her idea and thought that she just wanted to continue investigating her family's death.
"Because I found Qian Ling, but she is trapped in there. We also have to investigate the Shi family. Qian Ling told me that the main leader of the whole experiment is from the Shi family. " Her determined voice rung everyone's ear in the car.
Right after she mentioned Qian Ling's name, Chen Mu almost hopped to the backseat to ask her for more information. Only when she placed a finger on her lip, did he understand her meaning that this was not the safest place to discuss it.