Chapter 118 - Knee Deep In Trouble (1)

She raised her arm, trying to reach him even though she thought it was a fruitless attempt. It was too late. She was going to fall. Just as she was about to stumble down, Zhiyuan caught her hand as he crashed on his knees. "Xinyi! Don't leave my hand!"

She dazedly looked at him and faintly smiled. She knew it was fruitless. At the end of the passage, there was no steady hold to the ground. The mud was slippery and it formed a swamp around that was pulling his feet underneath. It could be dangerous if he got stuck. Plus, at the edge, there was no support to hold onto. 

"Zhiyuan…"

For a moment, she felt as if she was in a dream. But the heat of his palm on her cold hand made this all real for her. Suddenly, she snapped out of her dizziness. She fought her blurry gaze to look. Her eyes widened as she saw Zhiyuan struggling to hold onto her. Without any support, he would be pulled inside with her as well.

She shrieked. "Zhiyuan! L-let go of me! What are you doing!?"

Zhiyuan tried to pull her out, but the slippery swamp made things difficult for him. "Pulling you out!"

"No! Can you not see that you will fall with me if you keep this going? Forget about me and let go!"

"Are you crazy, Xinyi!? So am I just supposed to do nothing and let you die! Bullishit!"

Xinyi was frustrated. "You are not understanding the situation! We will both fall at this rate! It's impossible for me-"

"Shut up!" Zhiyuan glared at her. His voice thundered in the forest amidst the loud, roaring waves that made her jolt. "Stop talking nonsense! Whatever happens, I will not let you go. Understood? Like hell, I will let you die!"

She stared at him in a daze, her heart jumping in her chest. Zhiyuan tightly clenched his fingers on her hand and pulled her, but he felt that something was stopping her from coming to his side. Time was running out.

"Xinyi, are you stuck somewhere?" He urgently asked.

She furrowed her brows. As she moved her body, she realized that her left foot was stuck somewhere. It was entangled in something. "I-It is...I think," she gasped in breathlessness, "it is a vine or a plant underwater…"

Zhiyuan gritted his teeth. At that distance, he was unable to help her. If he got inside the water, Xinyi would lose her support. "Xinyi, try to free yourself."

She did her best but it didn't work. Zhiyuan kept his hold and tried pulling her but to no avail. Suddenly, she saw that the swamp was collapsing under his weight. If it fully disintegrated, Zhiyuan, too, would stumble inside with her.

I cannot let this happen...she paled as she realized the predicament. It's because I am stuck here that things are getting difficult. I cannot drag Zhiyuan with me.

She will be only freed from the entanglement when the strong water current and gravity would force her to fall, inevitably breaking the entanglement. There was no other option.

Hot tears stung her eyes even though she felt chilled inside the water.

"Zhiyuan please let me go…" she burst into tears, "It's impossible. I am unable to get out and I cannot drag you down with me."

Zhiyuan shot a deadly glare at her. "Will you stop talking so negatively? You will get out of this."

She bit her lip hard. 

Zhiyuan suddenly lost his balance and stumbled on his knee. The swamp was disintegrating at an alarming rate. Xinyi was horrified.

No, no, no...I-I cannot…

She saw his hand tightly holding onto hers which was also slowly slipping away due to the wetness. She looked at his determined gaze which expressed how obviously, he won't let go of her.

In that case, she had only one choice.

Xinyi smiled at him and suddenly shook off her hand so hard in an instant that they got separated. Without any warning, she twisted her wrist and released her hand from his. Zhiyuan's eyes widened in horror as he saw his palm holding onto nothing.

One moment, it was Xinyi and then it was thin air.

The water current strongly crashed onto her, breaking the vine with a great tension that entangled her foot. With nothing to hold onto, the waves carried Xinyi away as she fell.

"Xinyi!!!!" He shouted at the top of his voice.

He felt as if his heart stopped beating. The moment she fell was gravely imprinted in his mind and at that moment, his entire world shattered. That one second felt as long as a century in which he saw his world crumble into pieces. But he refused to believe the worst. He was stubborn to save her at any cost.

"I want Xinyi back!" He roared.

His legs moved on his own and in the next second, he jumped into the water without any hesitation.

That was the moment when Liang, Ah Cy and the others arrived. Liang saw him jumping in the water and he froze.

But the one who was the most traumatized was none other than Siying. He saw his father jumping into the water and his mother was nowhere to be seen. His small body trembled in fear. His eyes shone in tears. His heart raced in panic.

As tears plopped down his cheeks, he choked, "Mama...Dada…"

---

As Caihong slowly got up with the pain tearing apart her ankles, she heard some noise from behind her. She turned and froze to see three bandits staring at her. They were whispering and talking among themselves. 

With one look, she understood that these men were bad news. There were dangerous weapons that they hung all over their clothes. Their gazes and expressions sent a shiver down her spine. 

A woman's intuition is never wrong; she quickly realized that she had to escape at any cost.

The man standing in the middle smiled at her and took a step forward. She slightly stiffened.

"You seem to be lost. Should we show you the way? We know the ins and outs of this forest really well."

His dialect was a little different perhaps because this area was on the outskirts of the city. The local guides here spoke in the same dialect as this bandit.

Caihong's heart thudded in fear. Of course, she knew it was a trap. They were acting friendly and approachable, taking advantage of the situation. Instead of taking her back to the camp, they were definitely going to take her to some remote location and kidnap her.

Extortion, murder, sexual assault... anything could happen that turned her pale the more she thought about it. She constantly peeked behind them to see if anyone from the camp would come to help her. But there was nobody in sight.

The man took another step ahead, and she jolted. "Why don't you come with us? We will show you the way." The other two nodded.

"No thanks," she tried to smile with the fear rising in her chest. "I know the way out."

The man frowned. "No, you don't."

She stiffened.

"I mean everybody feels that they know their way in this forest and believe that they would get out of it, but instead they just keep getting into deep trouble. You don't know. This forest is really dense with many dangerous wild animals living here. We have lived here for a long time now, so we know everything about this forest and the animals."

"No like I said…" she slowly took a few steps back, stumbling a little. If not for her twisted ankle, she would have already ran away. "I don't need your help."

The men were getting impatient. "Mam, you can trust us. We are not suspicious."

Of course you will say that! She gritted her teeth.

She maintained her smile to not provoke them. "No, really I don't-"

The men slowly began to approach her. 

"I-I am here with my husband! He will be arriving at any moment anyway. So you don't have to feel bothered by me." In utter panic and hysteria, she tried to shake them off by mentioning Xiaosi. 

"It's of no use, Mam. Your husband would lose his way too and you will be helplessly waiting here for him. It will soon get dark and things will get more difficult when the sun sets."

Caihong said, "Thank you for your concern but I am just fine."

Her heart was pounding in her chest. These bandits were not giving up and the tiny hope that they might leave her alone vanished into thin air. 

The bandits fastened their steps towards her. "Why aren't you listening to us? We are telling this for your own good."

"Please leave me. The camp is near. It won't take much time before my husband comes here."

The bandits narrowed their eyes and shared a glance. If what she said was true, then they didn't have much time. Maybe somebody would really reach before they could get their hands on her.