Chapter 6: I Know There Is Another Path

It was her!

Shen Chaoxi’s eyes darkened.

Why was Gong Xiali here?

In the instant their gazes met, the woman below curled her lips into a visible smile.

“What? She’s not the young lady?”

Many among W Group’s people exchanged glances, uncertainty flickering in their eyes as they looked at Shen Chaoxi, who was being held hostage. They could all see confusion reflected in each other’s faces.

“But she clearly…” The sentence was never finished. With a single glance from Gong Xiali, dozens of tall men in black suits surged forward. Their movements were sharp and decisive; catching the others off guard, they cut their throats and swiftly dragged the bodies away.

Those on the rooftop were left utterly stunned.

Gong Xiali’s voice was cold as ice. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“There is no young lady of W Group here.”

Only the bandits who attacked this desert city’s experimental base. Not a single one of them will leave alive today.

“Open fire!” she commanded coldly.

That chilling smile, red lips curled, chin slightly raised, the sneer directed at the girl on the rooftop—it all fell into Shen Chaoxi’s eyes.

Shen Chaoxi frowned, about to speak.

Opposite, a black long-range sniper rifle was aimed at her from a high building. The moment Gong Xiali’s order was given, the weapon fired at Shen Chaoxi on the rooftop.

Bang!

In that instant, the flash was silenced, the bullet flew forth.

In the silence of the desert city, under the drunken red glow of the setting sun, the bullet reflected in Shen Chaoxi’s eyes sped straight for her chest.

It was as if it meant to pierce through her body, and indirectly, to claim the life of the man behind her.

Lu Yunzhou’s expression grew grim!

Chen Yu called out anxiously, “Captain!” They all knew how fast that bullet would strike.

But Shen Chaoxi had already anticipated Gong Xiali’s intent.

The moment the shot was fired, she spun sideways, using her elbow to ram into the man behind her.

In moments of danger, people always act on instinct—seeking escape, and their minds racing for ways to survive.

In that moment, she tried to push Lu Yunzhou away.

But there wasn’t enough time.

The bullet struck her arm.

A spatter of hot blood splashed onto Lu Yunzhou’s face.

His eyes turned even darker as he swiftly wrapped an arm around Shen Chaoxi’s waist, dragging her down to the ground.

As they dodged the bullet, the two of them tumbled together.

Then Chen Yu, Qin Hu, and the others arrived, crouching behind the wall, whispering urgently.

“Captain? They’re not planning to trade her for our lives?”

None of the team had expected anything like this.

But how was it possible?

“She’s the W Group’s young lady! Aren’t those people surrounding us downstairs supposed to be her people?”

By rights, with her held hostage, the other side should be cautious.

“How could they just open fire while she’s in our hands?”

“Unless…” Suddenly, someone looked up at Lu Yunzhou, shock written on his face. “Captain! Unless they don’t want to save her at all.”

“They want her dead?”

After this deduction, Chen Yu frowned and glanced at Shen Chaoxi, injured and hiding behind the wall. Her dark eyes flashed with a shadowy light—almost pity.

Yes, it was pity. The young man couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for her.

“Why are you looking at me?”

Shen Chaoxi gritted her teeth against the pain, closed her eyes, then opened them again with a smile, glancing at Chen Yu, who was watching her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is my face that pretty?”

Her hair was in disarray, her face pale with pain, a fine sheen of sweat on her white brow, the corners of her eyes tinged red.

Perhaps trying to distract herself from the pain, she made a joke, her weak and hoarse voice sounding in Lu Yunzhou’s ear as she leaned against the wall.

He saw the girl turn her head, her expression suddenly innocent and pure, the mischievous smile from before gone without a trace.

Lu Yunzhou’s gaze was icy as it settled on her face. When Shen Chaoxi looked away, she found herself meeting his fathomless eyes.

Shen Chaoxi raised an eyebrow.

The whole building was now surrounded.

Their plan to use her as leverage, to negotiate an exchange, had fallen through. The situation was perilous.

They had only a dozen or so people.

Their opponents numbered in the hundreds.

If they chose to fight head-on, it would be a massacre—a hopeless battle.

“Second Miss, they’re still alive!”

Downstairs, the ones surrounding them reported to Gong Xiali.

“Search the building!” Gong Xiali sneered at the abandoned structure ahead, giving orders to her subordinates.

“I don’t believe Gong Shenxi will walk out of here alive today.”

Falling into the hands of those people, if they refused to acknowledge her as the W Group’s young lady, Gong Shenxi would lose her value for negotiation—she’d be of no further use, and those people would not hesitate to kill her.

Whether her own people found her first, or the ones who captured her made a move, Gong Shenxi would meet only one end—death.

At that thought, a flash of cold malice passed through Gong Xiali’s eyes.

“Remember, no one is to breathe a word of what happened here today.”

“If anyone dares…”

The threat of murder hung in the air, terrifying her subordinates into hurried compliance.

“Yes, Second Miss! Understood!”

“Captain, they’re sending people in!”

Suddenly, inside the abandoned building shrouded in black smoke and the lingering scent of gunpowder, footsteps echoed.

Gazing down at those reporting from below, Lu Yunzhou’s expression remained impassive.

No matter how skilled their special forces team was, they couldn’t match the enemy’s hundreds of men.

If all those people came up and engaged them in battle, it would be a brutal fight.

They couldn’t say they would lose for certain—but with such a disparity in numbers, victory was almost impossible.

Their adversaries were armed with advanced weapons, picking their way through the debris and black smoke as they entered the abandoned building.

“Captain, what do we do now?” Qin Hu’s face was grim as he tried to count their opponents.

“They’re too many. We can’t fight them head-on.”

“A direct charge is impossible, but there’s no other way out.”

Hearing the commotion from below, the enemy already on the stairs, the situation was dire. Lu Yunzhou frowned and looked at Shen Chaoxi’s wounded arm.

Her left hand, stained with blood, rested on his arm. Lu Yunzhou’s cool features tensed as he glanced at her.

Then she spoke. “I know another way out.”

“If you don’t want to die here, you can choose to trust me and follow my lead.”

After all, there was no other way.

She raised her hand, dabbed some blood with her fingertip, and smeared it on her lips—a crimson as vivid and bewitching as a soul-stealing devil, nothing like the fragile girl from moments before.

With her own strength, she leaned against the wall and stood up, ignoring the looks from the men around her. Lu Yunzhou’s brow furrowed tightly, but he simply watched her, then ordered his people to follow.

At this moment, they had no choice but to trust her.

No one expected that taking the elevator down would lead them into the previously exploded experimental base, where the lighting was dim and darkness reigned.

Wasn’t this a dead end?

“Captain! Can we trust her?” Qin Hu, supporting the girl as she coughed from the smoke, voiced his displeasure.

“Maybe you’d like to try going out on your own?”

Shen Chaoxi turned back in the darkness, eyebrow arched, her tone low and mocking as she addressed him coldly.

“If you have the nerve, go ahead. If not, save your breath.”

“Captain, look at her—” Qin Hu, quick-tempered, wanted to protest, but the man walking behind Shen Chaoxi only set his dark eyes on her slender back.

He knew she couldn’t possibly be seeking her own death.

He parted his thin lips and spoke in a low, cold voice: “Follow her.”

“Yes, Captain.”

With Lu Yunzhou’s orders, everyone could only comply, keeping their doubts to themselves.

In this desert city, the entire underground experimental base was constructed from reinforced steel, the walls thick and airtight.

Within the laboratory were all manner of scientific instruments and devices.

Even after the control station had self-destructed, engulfed in waves of heat, the walls remained unbreached—impossible to break through, impossible to escape.

“Anyone have grenades?” Shen Chaoxi suddenly asked in the darkness.