Chapter 373

Chapter 373

When people find themselves in desperate situations, they always fantasize about something better.

Several times, the pain made me pass out. Each time, I dreamed that Seventh Master and Song Xiaotian came to save me. They trampled my tormentors underfoot, avenged me, and took me home.

Then I woke and discovered it had only been a dream.

But now I wasn’t just dreaming. Someone really had come to save me!

And that person was Anning!

The pain had numbed my nerves, and my brain could barely function. I couldn’t understand how Anning had hidden inside that room or when she had gotten in there.

She picked up the broadsword and walked toward me.

I watched her, unable to tell whether I was excited or overwhelmed, as tears streamed down my face.

When she saw how badly they had tortured me, she froze.

“I’m not dreaming, am I…?” I choked out.

“No. I’m here to save you!”

Anning swung the blade and cut through the ropes binding me, then helped me down from the wooden table.

But I couldn’t stand at all. My left knee immediately hit the floor, while the excruciating pain in my right leg made me suck in a sharp breath.

I had been imprisoned for at least five or six days. I had barely drunk any water and had survived entirely on nutritional IVs. I no longer had the strength to walk.

“Can you still walk?” Anning asked.

I told her I was fine and could walk.

Now that Anning had come to rescue me, getting out of here was all that mattered. No matter what happened, even if I had to die, I would hold on long enough to die outside.

“How did you end up hiding in there?” I asked.

I wasn’t asking out of idle curiosity. I needed to analyze our situation as quickly as possible. If we rushed out without knowing what awaited us, we could easily be captured again. Then Anning would be imprisoned as well.

Anning said that several nights ago, she had a dream. In it, a young man told her that if she wanted to save me, she should go to the rear entrance of a factory owned by Weihai Group at eight o’clock the following night. A vehicle there would take her to the place where I was being held.

Anning had never seen the young man in her dream, and it had only been a dream. Even so, she went the next night without hesitation.

When she arrived, there really was a cargo truck waiting there.

Several crates sat in the truck’s cargo compartment. She had no idea what they contained. She only knew the truck might be heading to the place where I was imprisoned. While the workers were distracted, she climbed into one of the crates with her broadsword and hid inside.

The truck then drove for nearly two hours before stopping.

Anning remained inside the crate. She had no idea where the truck had stopped and did not dare make a sound.

Later, someone carried the crate into a room.

At the time, she heard people wondering what was inside and why it was so heavy. They said they should open it and look.

The moment Anning heard that, she tightened her grip on the broadsword. No matter who opened the crate, she intended to slash first and ask questions later.

But the man never opened it. Just then, someone called him away to answer the phone.

After the call, he did not return to inspect the crate. He simply shut the room’s door and locked it.

The door remained closed after that.

Anning was trapped inside for two full days. She kept the broadsword in her hands the entire time, waiting for the door to open again.

Moments ago, it finally had, and she struck the man down.

Anning also told me that after hiding inside the crate and waiting for the truck to leave the factory, she immediately texted Seventh Master. He wanted her to come back so they could make a proper plan, but she could not possibly climb out once she was already inside. Besides, she had never intended to wait and plan.
Originally, she had planned to send her location to Seventh Master as soon as they arrived. But after the truck stopped, she discovered there was no signal anywhere nearby. It had probably been jammed.

After hearing Anning’s account, I didn’t even have time to think about who had appeared in her dream.

What stunned me was that she had come alone to save me simply because of a dream. With no idea what she would face, knowing it might be extremely dangerous, she had still come armed with nothing but a broadsword.

The crates in the room contained nutritional fluids, medicine, and items needed for rituals. There was no food. She had gone nearly three days without eating as well.

I was deeply moved, but there was no time to dwell on it. I immediately told her, “There are at most three or four people guarding this place, and you just killed one of them.”

Qingyuan wasn’t here, either. The only faces I had seen coming and going were those same three or four men.

I asked whether the crate had been carried over any bumps when they brought her inside.

She said it hadn’t.

“This room should be on the ground floor. We’re somewhere in a rural county, probably in a village with no one nearby.”

“There’s an empty hall outside this room, and no one’s in it right now. They don’t usually sleep upstairs, so there should be another house beside this one.”

“The man you just killed reeked of garlic. He must have just finished eating. It’s mealtime now, so the others are probably still at the table.”

I used the last of my mental clarity to analyze the situation outside.

Taken together, everything suggested that now was our best chance to escape.

Anning was exhausted as well. She was no match for several grown men, and any other response carried too many risks.

Supporting me, she led me out of the dark room that had imprisoned me for so many days.

The instant we crossed the threshold, light filled my vision.

Outside was indeed an empty hall, though it wasn’t very large.

Anning helped me to the entrance. Instead of rushing outside, we crouched there and secretly observed our surroundings.

One glance made it obvious that we were in the countryside. Beside us stood a dilapidated three-story building with a flat roof.

The building we were in had only one story and was even more run-down.

The two structures probably belonged to the same family.

Voices came from the other building, but no one was visible.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Anning helped me outside. We planned to circle behind the building and escape along a narrow path.

Those were probably the tensest few seconds of my life. I wasn’t merely nervous. I was terrified that someone would spot us and drag me back.

I had no strength left to walk. Bracing myself against the wall, I struggled desperately around the back of the house.

By then, I was completely spent. I couldn’t take another step, and blood kept seeping from the wound in my right leg. My body finally gave out, and I collapsed before Anning could hold me up.

“Hold on a little longer! We’ve already escaped!”

Cold sweat poured off Anning as she pulled with all her strength, but she couldn’t lift me.

I grabbed her arm. “Go without me. Find somewhere with a signal and send our location to Seventh Master and Song Xiaotian immediately. Tell them to come save me. If we keep moving like this, neither of us will get away.”

Anning stared at me blankly, hesitating. “No. If they capture you again, I might never find you…”

Then she hoisted me directly onto her back.