"Why would a young person like him choose to become a trafficker? Of all things, why engage in such despicable, illegal activities? Isn't he afraid of karma?"
"Karma? If everyone believed in karma, would they still commit these awful crimes?"
"To people like him, karma means nothing. All they care about is living the good life now. Who cares about the afterlife?"
Sun Wenli lay motionless in the bushes, too afraid to move. Meanwhile, Xu Chao had finished his call and was about to leave, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
But right at that moment, Sun Wenli's phone rang. Though she had dimmed the brightness and muted all sounds, she couldn't stop the vibration. In the dead silence of the forest, the buzzing seemed deafening.
Frantically, Sun Wenli ended the call from "Mom," her eyes wide with terror as she looked in Xu Chao's direction.
Xu Chao's footsteps froze. He turned sharply toward the sound.
Then, a loud voice from the livestream erupted: "Run! He's onto you!"
Indeed, Xu Chao had spotted her. He started sprinting in her direction, calling out in a voice that sent chills down her spine: "Wenli, Lili, did you hear something just now? I can explain everything…"
There was no room for romantic feelings in Sun Wenli's heart anymore. The man she had shared her bed with for the past three months was nothing more than a wolf in sheep's clothing, waiting for the right moment to sell her off like a package.
She leapt out of the bushes and bolted in the opposite direction.
The audience in the livestream collectively held their breath as Xu Chao's steps pounded closer. Meanwhile, Xiang Wan urged calmly: "Run into the shadows where the moonlight doesn't reach. If you stay in the open, he'll catch up to you in no time with his stamina."
"Yes, hide where he can't see you!" a viewer commented.
Earlier, after resting in the bushes for a bit, Sun Wenli had been lying in wait to watch Xu Chao reveal his true colors on camera. But who could have predicted that her mother would call at such a critical moment, alerting Xu Chao? Now, like a hungry wolf, he was closing in on her, his voice twisted with malice.
"Lili, didn't you say you loved me the most? Why are you running? Are you trying to leave me?"
"Do you know where the last girl who tried to escape me ended up? She's buried just ahead of you, under that little mound. She died unwillingly, but it's her own fault for being too clever, figuring out my plans. At least she had more guts than you—she didn't just run, she tried to turn the tables on me. You asked about the scar on my neck, didn't you? She gave me that. Came this close to slicing my artery!"
Sun Wenli didn't slow down or respond. She cursed that girl for not aiming better—if only she had finished the job back then!
"Sun Wenli, this is your last warning—stop!" Xu Chao shouted.
But Sun Wenli ignored him, keeping her head down and running for her life.
"Bang!" The sudden gunshot nearly scared her soul out of her body. Just then, she stepped into a hole in the ground and twisted her ankle, causing her to roll down the slope.
"Ah!" Sun Wenli screamed as stones and gravel scraped painfully against her body, and her face was marked with blood from the sharp branches she hit along the way.
At this point, even without Xu Chao's urging, she found it hard to stop. The world around her spun, and through the moonlight, she saw Xu Chao chasing after her. Instead of slowing down, he carefully followed her down the slope.
She almost forgot that she was worth half a million—a human commodity that Xu Chao was planning to sell today. No matter what, she couldn't let herself die.
She rolled down much faster than Xu Chao could search for her. By the time he reached the gully area, his flashlight revealed nothing but a few faint footprints leading away.
"Damn it, this b*tch is tougher than she looks. She didn't even fall hard!" Xu Chao cursed as he followed the footprints.
At that moment, Sun Wenli was hiding less than a meter away from him. The footprints he was following were intentionally left by her to confuse him and buy herself some time to escape.
When she finally saw Xu Chao's silhouette far enough away in the hazy moonlight, she cautiously shifted her position, pulled her phone out of her pocket, and was relieved she had zipped it up earlier. If she had dropped it now, it would be a disaster—no help from above or below.
"I can feel her helplessness and fear even through the screen."
"Fortunately, she still has us and the host with her. My only concern is her phone battery. If it dies, she won't be able to call for help when she needs it most."
Sun Wenli checked her phone battery: "94% left. I always carry a power bank with me for peace of mind. I bought this new Huapai 60, which has a standby time of up to 72 hours and is in power-saving mode."
"If we weren't in Butterfly's livestream, I would reasonably suspect you were advertising that phone."
"A user of the Huapai 60 is here to tell you—it really works well!"
Sun Wenli felt completely lost in this unfamiliar place, surrounded by mountains. Under the moonlight, all she could see was a sea of trees. She couldn't tell which direction was which, let alone find a way down. Panic rising, she leaned closer to the camera and asked Xiang Wan, "Host, how... how do I get out of here?"
The viewers in the livestream offered her advice: "Try to see if you can get a location!"
Sun Wenli followed their suggestion, but the location only returned a vague name—Thunder God Mountain—with nearby peaks like Dragon Head Mountain, Lin Xiu Mountain, and A Jie Mountain...
She shook her head: "No good, I can't find a way down from the mountains at all."
It was no wonder only locals dared to venture into these mountains; outsiders would definitely get lost. It was also clear why Xu Chao felt so bold bringing her here for a deal.
Just then, the rustling of leaves startled her again, and Sun Wenli quickly shoved her phone back into her pocket: "I can't talk now; I'll look for a way down."
Stumbling through the underbrush, she maintained a distance of several hundred meters from the source of the sound and crouched down, hiding in the thick grass and bushes that concealed her slender body completely. When Xu Chao's flashlight swept across the grassy area, it revealed nothing amiss.
After seeing Xu Chao leave again, she cautiously backed away, crawled out of the bushes, and began to run down the mountain path.
Although she didn't know which route would lead to safety, heading downhill was definitely the right choice. Staying on the mountain would only increase her chances of being discovered by Xu Chao, and if he continued searching, he might guess her intentions and come looking for her below.
"Huff, huff!" The coldness of the mountain air seeped in at night. Sun Wenli, dressed in a windbreaker, was drenched in sweat but dared not let her guard down.