In the suffocating stillness of the coffin, the surrounding wooden planks stood motionless, like a cold prison, trapping me within.
From the phone, Xu Ze's movements were clearly audible.
He had gotten into the car again, followed by the roar of the engine, the accelerator pressed hard to the floor.
Moments later, I heard him answer another call. After a brief exchange, he quickly hung up.
"Once we locate her, I'll arrange for the phone bombardment to stop. I've already given the embassy the numbers of those small-time bosses," he spoke with steady composure, "They've agreed to release you after some negotiation."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm on my way to you now, bringing the hard drive for them, to exchange for your release."
It seemed strange—the hard drive, originally containing the blood money earned from the dead, had now become the key to my salvation.
"I'll be there in about twenty minutes," Xu Ze went on, "But don't strain yourself too much longer. Someone is already digging you up!"
Doubt stirred within me—could I really make it? I had no confidence left.
At that moment, my vision had become blurred, almost nothing was discernible, and the voice coming from the phone sounded so distant, as though from another world.
My daughter was gone, my vengeance had been exacted, yet I could barely muster the strength to hold onto any hope of survival.
My body was in excruciating weakness, each breath a battle.
"If you fall asleep now, it's all over! You will die for sure!" Xu Ze suddenly shouted into the phone, his voice tinged with desperation. "Don't sleep! Don't sleep!"
But my body had truly reached its limit. I could feel every nerve within me flickering, losing vitality by the second.
"Did you know, I saw the chat records on her phone? They really planned to keep going with that filthy business of making money off the dead!" Xu Ze's voice now carried an edge of righteous anger. "You stopped them, saved those people!"
Is that so... I thought, growing ever more disoriented.
At that moment, I felt the coffin shake slightly, as if the heavy earth above was being dug away, one shovel of dirt after another.
But my eyelids grew heavier, uncontrollably rolling upward, and before me was only an endless sea of darkness, slowly consuming me.
"Don't sleep! Damn you! Damn you! Don't sleep!" Xu Ze's voice cracked as he shouted, throwing back all my previous curses at him, desperately trying to rouse me.
"I haven't found your daughter's body yet. If you fall asleep, I'll bring her back and bury her in National Security!" His voice hardened, "You want us buried together, right? I'll tell you, no way! You'll never see her again, not in death!"
"Forget the embassy, it's useless! If you sleep, I will make sure you two are buried separately! You'll never see her again! I swear on my life!"
It was truly…
"Damn… you…" I summoned every last bit of strength to force these words out, muffled, a final response to him, a faint encouragement to myself.
To keep from succumbing to sleep, I bit down hard on my finger, feeling it bleed and mangle under my teeth. The searing pain shot through my nerves like electricity, sparking just enough awareness to keep me conscious.
The tremors in the coffin grew more violent. One finger was numb from biting, so I switched to another.
"Wait for me," Xu Ze's voice came again, softer now, laced with some form of reassurance, "We'll find the children together."
At that moment, a faint glimmer of light struggled through the cracks and into the darkness.
I knew it then—I had to hold on, I had to wait for him.