Guide Her to Nowhere (NPH) - Chapter 29: Escape and Get Caught
Chapter 29: Escape and Get Caught
On the hilltop, there were over a dozen tents, big and small. People were constantly going up and down the mountain, most of them ordinary folk, with a few sentinels mixed in.
Qu Tang’s gaze swept across the distance, spotting a tall, 3-meter electric fence surrounding the cultivated fields, with armed guards posted at intervals along it.
The chances of escaping were virtually zero. No wonder no one was watching her.
Qu Tang stood in the wind, her body and mind growing cold.
She suspected she had offended the heavens somehow, for how else could she be so unlucky – out of the tiger’s den, only to fall into the wolf’s.
Qu Tang had barely returned to the tent when Shen Qi came back with a bowl of white porridge and steamed buns.
“Thank you.”
It was now late morning of the second day, and she hadn’t eaten since the previous afternoon – she was indeed quite hungry.
After finishing half a bun, her hunger subsided and her body warmed up. Qu Tang began to ponder how she could get some information out of Shen Qi, but when she looked up, she realized he had silently left the tent at some point.
His presence was terrifyingly low.
Over the next few days, Shi Xi did not return, and the ones bringing her meals were ordinary people, both men and women, that she didn’t recognize.
Qu Tang tried to glean some information from them, but they all kept tight-lipped, not saying a word more than necessary.
On the third day of her captivity, something happened down in the fields.
Qu Tang first heard a commotion and cries of anguish. She rushed out of the tent to look down the mountain, and saw a massive vine-like plant rampaging through the fields, wreaking havoc.
Two farm workers were unable to escape in time – one was enveloped by the vines and torn into pieces, the other was cocooned and crushed to a pulp, with the remains raining down haphazardly after the vines released their grip.
This was Qu Tang’s first time witnessing an aberrant harming people in such a bloody, direct manner – she was greatly frightened.
After tasting human bl00d, the aberrant began moving towards the crowd, but was quickly eliminated by the arriving sentinels, as it had just mutated and was not yet of high threat level.
Two workers had died, but were immediately replaced by new ones, who even went to work in the exact spot where the aberrant had appeared, without even spraying the purifying, mutation-suppressing agents.
The fields soon returned to a calm state, as if nothing had happened.
Qu Tang felt a deep sorrow.
The crops being grown were all medicinal herbs. In this post-apocalyptic world where plants had mutated, herbs were scarce, making their cultivation a lucrative business – she was not at all surprised by such ruthlessness.
On the fifth day of her captivity, the sky darkened with ominous clouds, and heavy rain fell all day, only tapering off towards evening.
Qu Tang stayed awake, slipping out of the tent in the pitch black before dawn – no moon tonight, just darkness and rain, a heaven-sent opportunity to escape.
Apparently, since Qu Tang was Shi Xi’s person, as long as she didn’t enter other people’s tents or go down the mountain, no one bothered her. So these past few days, she had explored the area thoroughly, mapping out her escape route.
She would avoid the patrolling guards and head for the checkpoint, where the guards were ordinary people. She could use her spiritual powers to control them, making them open the gates and let her out.
Qu Tang successfully navigated through the tent area. She just needed to cross the last stretch, taking advantage of the gaps between the sweeps of the spotlights, and she’d reach the checkpoint.
3, 2, 1…
As Qu Tang stepped out, a hand suddenly clamped over her mouth from behind, yanking her back into the darkness.
Qu Tang reacted quickly, grabbing her knife and stabbing behind her, but her wrist was seized, and there was a sickening ‘crack’ as the joint was dislocated.
The pain made Qu Tang’s vision go black.
She felt the wind as she was quickly moved through the darkness between the tents. In just moments, she was thrown down onto a carpeted floor of another tent.
Qu Tang pushed herself up, glaring hatefully at the towering, white-haired man standing there – Shen Qi, still the same aloof, detached demeanor, even after catching her escape attempt.