Originally, Qian Ling wanted to bring them to her room where she could use the same route she had shown Ariana last time. Unfortunately, with the crowd chasing after them, it would be impossible for them to escape without getting caught. At the same time, she had to consider Ariana's condition.
Instead of turning the corner which would eventually lead to her room, Qian Ling instructed Chen Nan to go the opposite direction. The hallways were shorter for certain hallways and there were tricks she could use to delay their pace. After turning a few more turns, Qian Ling noticed they had lost the group for a short while.
"Hold on. Stop here for a few seconds." Gently carrying Ariana by the waist, Qian Ling monitored her pulse and realized her body was still affected by the venom effects. Although she had removed all of it from her body, it was already affecting her system beforehand. These symptoms won't cause harm to her and her child, but her system was already to its limit.
Due to the recent kidnap and stressful situation burdening her mentally, her body had been forcing itself to remain conscious. Ariana was pregnant and needed more rest compared to others. Along with the venom's influence, her energy had already drained away with all this walking.
"She can't walk anymore. If we continue like this, none of us will be able to escape. Chen Nan, switch with me. You carry her in your arms, and I can support Alexander on my own." Qian Ling said as she moved closer to Chen Nan. He hesitantly complied as he glanced at her pale complexion worriedly.
At the end, Chen Nan moved much faster with Ariana in his arms. Qian Ling felt the effects of the venom kicking in and knew she may not last long. With the parasite still active in her system, it was basically a dream for her to escape without getting tracked down.
"Let's take a break." Alexander whispered as he noticed her sweat filled body. When Qian Ling thought nobody was looking at her treat Ariana, she failed to realize he was watching every move she made. He knew very well how the venom was transferred near the end of the treatment.
He had been using his sensitive hearing to keep track of people within their range. Since it was quiet and no steps could be heard, he suggested for them to rest for two minutes before continuing. "I'm fine." Qian Ling wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"You're not. Give yourself a little rest. We're almost there." He reassured her that everything would be okay.
While resting, Chen Nan still hugged Ariana in his arms. He looked at Qian Ling with many questions. "The video you showed..."
"That video was a fake." Qian Ling said before he completed his inquiry. She knew this question would pop up sooner or later. If she had this kind of blackmail tool, she would have used it since the beginning.
"But how..." Chen Nan's voice trailed away as he felt Ariana's finger brush against the back of his hands. He lowered his gaze to meet her half-awakened eyes.
"I was supposed to attack using fake poison gas when she gives me the signal. This was the original plan of escaping, but it changed. Whatever video she showed earlier was out of impulse. I saw the video when I was held hostage by them. Even though I was a bit far from her screen, the person in the video never moved." She forced her heavy eyelids opened with great difficulty.
"Then why would Shi Kow Wan fall for such tricks? He could send someone to look for that man, and your lie would be exposed." Chen Nan realized things were not as simple as it looked from the surface. If Shi Kow Wan ordered a guard to look for the boney man, then he could easily discover her lie.
Followed by his words was an inquiry that made everyone widen their eyes. Ariana asked, "Is it because the boney man isn't human? The video you showed earlier was not the arrogant man who attacked us, but supposedly his corpse or something?"
When Ariana exchanged moves during the attack, she noticed the lifelessness in the boney man's eyes. His hands were ice cold. She had long suspected something wrong with him, but never had any evidence against it. Until she saw the video from Qian Ling's phone, the thought of him not being human started lingering in her mind.
Qian Ling sighed at her sharpness. "Yes. That man had died long ago, but his desire to live had made him into a vengeful spirit. He caused restless nights for Shi Kow Wan, resulting in the hire of many people who could conduct black magic, witchcraft and other rituals to revive the dead. At the end, one of them successfully made his spirit come back in human form."
"Right now, the boney man that we all see isn't human. He depended on human blood baths to maintain his physical shape. The video I showed was something I created after meeting Ariana. During the lab researches I was forced to do, I was given the boney man's DNA sample. I created a clone that looked like him and took a short video of it in case it becomes handy in the future."
"Then how do we kill him?" Chen Nan gritted his teeth at the awful thought of fighting this monster.
"Find his corpse and burn every part of it. Destroy it completely. This task cannot be done easily, though." She sighed and shook her head as she took a quick glance at Alexander whose eyes were closed.
His hand subconsciously tightened around hers when their discussion grew more sensitive. Qian Ling said, "We need to get going. The path is around the corner." She wrapped Alexander's arm around her shoulder and got up. Once again, she made Chen Nan stay in front of her as they continued walking.
When they turned the next corner, they met a dead end. Chen Nan faced Qian Ling with a confused expression.
"We're here. Step back." Qian Ling said as she leaned Alexander to the wall behind them and bit down on her finger until blood came out. Locating a hidden X on the wall, she pressed her blood fingertip against it. Instantly, the drip of blood was absorbed, leaving no traces behind.
At the same time, a passage opened up for them. "Go. Only the two of you could leave. We'll distract the group to give you guys some time to escape." She lightly pushed Chen Nan into the passageway and smiled bitterly at them.