Chapter 203 - Fail to Escape

Chapter 203 Fail to Escape

Whether it was a hallucination or not, there was no time for her to hesitate.

Tang Xia shook her head, and kicked the image of that man out from her mind.

Perhaps Chu Tianjiao had already noticed that she had escaped, and was coming over with his people. She must make a decision as soon as possible.

Thinking about this, without any hesitation, Tang Xia climbed onto the windowsill once again. But this time around, she was not going to jump into the sea. Instead, she would make her way down, inch by inch.

Tang Xia had already thought about this clearly. Since she was not afraid of death, what could this mere distance do?

No matter how bad the outcome might be, it would be better than returning to Chu Tianjiao’s palace.

As long as she climbed down, she would regain her freedom. Tang Xia looked down at the blue sea and took in a deep breath. Then, she climbed out of the window, without any second thoughts.

She had thought it through already. Although this cliff was high, it was not very steep. Instead, it inclined outwards slightly. Also, there were many protruding rocks that she could step on.

Tang Xia used to be in the school’s mountain climbing club when she was in university, so she had some experience. As long as she utilized the geographical bearings to her advantage, it was not impossible to escape from this place.

Tang Xia carefully climbed onto the part of the window sill that was protruding outwards. She was now completely outside the window, and only her hands were hanging onto the window sill.

Looking down from this angle, it felt much steeper than when she looked down from the auditorium’s window. Tang Xia stepped onto a piece of protruding rock and her legs went soft.

For Tang Xia, there was no way back now.

Tang Xia psyched herself in her heart and mind. Then, she moved downwards slowly. The coarse rocks tore at her unprotected hands. It was very painful, but she could not afford to let this bother her.

There was only one thought in her mind right now. Climb down and get out of here!

With only these thoughts firmly in her mind, Tang Xia’s potential was gradually ignited. Although her movements were slow, her small steps were closing the distance between the and herself, gradually.

Her hands were already badly bruised. Every tiny movement produced a knife like pain. However, Tang Xia did not care at all. She was like a robot, and only focused on moving downwards, one step at a time.

The sea breeze that occasionally blew against her, was the best comfort she could get.

After an unknown period of time, Tang Xia was already halfway down. Looking at the nearing distance between herself and the blue sea, the corners of her lips curled into a heart-warming smile.

At this moment, all the pain and tiredness were worth it.

As long as she continued at this pace, before long, she would be able to reach the bottom of the cliff, and escape from the Garden of Eden!

When she thought about it, her legs felt reenergized. After pausing for a while, she continued her descent rapidly. Very soon, she arrived at the middle-bottom part. She had already completed two-thirds of the distance.

She was only left with the last one-third of the climb. Tang Xia gritted her teeth tightly. Actually, her body had already reached its limit, but she relied on her inner strength and persevered on.

When she climbed in her college days, it was less than 100 meters, and it was always with safety equipment. And now, Tang Xia was climbing from the window in the auditorium to the bottom of the cliff, a direct distance of nearly 100 meters. She did not have any equipment to aid her climb at all.

Tang Xia had already reached her physical limit, by this time.

Just as she was about to continue her descent, she suddenly heard a whirling sound of a helicopter’s blades, from a distance. Following which, a helicopter suddenly came into view.

It was Chu Tianjiao! He had found out about her escape! A voice exploded in Tang Xia’s mind, and her face turned pale.

No, she could not let her efforts go to waste! Tang Xia responded by continuing to climb down, regardless of the situation.

There was only a bit of distance left. She bit her lips hard, and tried to quicken her pace. Her aim was to get to the bottom before Chu Tianjiao arrived. However, no matter how fast she was, how could she beat a helicopter?

“Aren’t you going to stop?” Chu Tianjiao’s voice screamed at her from a megaphone, echoing loudly in her ears, like the voice of something evil, causing her to stop in her tracks.

Tang Xia then realized that there was a red dot moving on her body. She turned around instantly, and saw that Chu Tianjiao was aiming at her, with a sniper rifle.

She could not see his face clearly but she could feel that cold and harsh glare on his handsome face. That glare contained a tinge of anger, as if he wanted to eat her alive.

This was apparently the last warning he was giving her. If she did not stop now, he would shoot her, without hesitation.

If she continued to climb down, she would be shot to death. If she gave up, she would be brought back. What awaited her was an unknown yet equally terrifying, punishment.

No matter which choice she made, Tang Xia was getting even more stressed, in this already distressing situation. Right now, she was pushed into an abyss of despair. The only thing that she could see, was a darkness that had no end.

“Oh shit!”. This was the last thought in her mind.

In the next instant, all the strength drained from her hands, that were holding tightly onto the rocks. Then, her thin body slid down the cliff, like a kite with a broken string.

There were bloodstains on her pure white dress, which gave off a bitter yet decisive aesthetic look, as it flapped in the air.

She was already so close, yet freedom seemed so far. Tang Xia looked at the seawater that was so close to her. There was a faint sparkle of tears in her clear eyes.

She could only use this method to finish the last leg of her journey. Tang Xia closed her eyes and lost consciousness.

At the same time, the audience watching the scene in the broadcast room, flooded the screen with their comments.

“Oh my god, did Tang Xia fall off the cliff?” Someone gasped.

“She should be fine, isn’t Chu Tianjiao right beside her? I just don’t know what kind of punishment she will suffer after she’s dragged back,” someone analyzed calmly.

Someone covered his eyes. “This is too heart-wrenching, I can’t bear to continue watching.”

Somone sighed, “What a pity, she was so close.”

“What’s there to pity? She’s just dumb.”

“She didn’t even think it through properly. The cliff is so high, how could she possibly climb to the bottom? She has no brains.”

“She’s a newbie for sure. Even if she was lucky and shot to fame very quickly, she still lacks the potential.”

Some even sneered.

Most of these people who gave harsh comments, were Li Xianxian’s fans. They looked down on newbie streamers like Tang Xia, who shot to fame, purely due to luck. Seeing Tang Xia fall off the cliff, they started to throw stones at her.

“Even so, she’s still better than Li Xianxian, resorting to using dirty tricks to gain fame!” Tang Xia’s fans were not ready to admit defeat, and quickly fought back.

“……”

Tang Xia, who was in a coma, naturally was not aware of the heated discussion in the broadcast room.

When Tang Xia finally opened her eyes, she found herself lying in a dark and damp dungeon. Sunlight could not come into the room, and there was a rotten and turbid smell in the air.

Needless to say, she had been captured by Chu Tianjiao and brought back. Tang Xia’s eyes darkened as she lifted herself up. This move caused her to realize that her whole body was very sore.

This was apparently the outcome of Tang Xia’s continuous attempt to push her body to its limit. Old wounds meeting new ones, and given the dark and humid environment, Tang Xia could not help, but cough twice. Her voice was extremely dry and hoarse.

“You’re awake?” A suprised voice coming from nearby, could be heard. Tang Xia then realized that there was a small figure crouching in the corner.

It was Pearl.

The light in the dungeon was dim. Tang Xia only saw her face clearly when she walked towards her. Pearl’s clean and white face had become much paler. She was obviously having a hard time in the dungeon.

Tang Xia conveyed her disbelief through her eyes. “Pearl? What are you doing here?”

Needless to say, Tang Xia was kept here, because of her failed attempt at escaping. But Pearl had not done anything, why was she kept here too?

Hearing that, a dark look fell on Pearl’s pale face, but she did not say anything. She only opened up softly, after Tang Xia repeatedly questioned her.

“Chu Tianjiao was very furious after he brought you back. He ordered his people to ‘take care of’ you. I can’t bear to let that happen, so I pleaded for you desperately. In the end, Chu Tianjiao became mad at me, and he locked us both in the dungeon.”

As she reached the end of her sentence, her expression turned a little bitter. She only wanted to plead for Tang Xia, but not only did Chu Tianjiao not let Tang Xia go, but she herself was also dragged into the dungeon.

After listening, Tang Xia also became scared. She naturally knew what Chu Tianjiao meant by ‘take care of’. It seemed like she had really hit rock bottom this time around.

“I’m sorry for dragging you into this.” Tang Xia looked at Pearl, and her gaze was filled with gratitude and apologies. Pearl was fine on her own, she was only involved, because she spoke up for Tang Xia.

Pearl pretended that it was nothing and smiled. “What dragging are you talking about? In this garden, we are bound to be scared every day. It would not be any better, even if I was not locked up here.”

Needless to say, the difference between a dark, humid dungeon and a bright, warm room was huge. The more Pearl tried to talk of it lightly, the more Tang Xia felt bad for her.

She knew that Pearl was only saying that, to make her feel better.

At this point in time, Pearl was still concerned for her. Even though Tang Xia knew that Pearl was just a set of data in a virtual story world, she still gave in to her weak self, and her eyes turned red.

“Pearl, thank you,” Tang Xia said sincerely, while her eyes turned a little moist.

Pearl was a little startled. She then smiled and said, “What’s there to thank? Isn’t this what friends should do?” Her tone was so natural, and the emotions she portrayed seemed so real.

Tang Xia could not help sobbing and nodded, “Yes, friend, we can get through this for sure.”

Based on Chu Tianjiao’s character, throwing them into the dungeon was not the whole punishment. Instead, it was just the beginning.

What awaited them were punishments that would surely be more cruel and harder to survive.

But with a friend to go through the difficulties together, the originally dark and humid dungeon seemed to become a little bit warmer. Pearl looked at Tang Xia and also firmly replied with a ‘hmm!’. This short exclamation was filled with determination.

The two girls had built up a most memorable friendship, amidst the worst situation.