In the wilderness, pitch black.
Who would come here in the dead of night?
Lin Wanyi's heart pounded. This wasn't normal—absolutely not normal.
She listened carefully to the direction of the sounds, then quickly found a place to hide.
Sure enough, she soon heard the voices of two men and the beam of a flashlight:
"Hey, didn't we just hear a woman's voice? Why don't we see anyone?"
"She might be scared, running around somewhere. Let's split up and search. If you find her, call me."
"Alright. Just from the sound of her voice, I can tell she's a pretty one. Tonight, we're gonna have ourselves some real fun, hahahaha."
"This is a godsend, a beauty falling right into our laps! Bro, do you want first dibs, or should I?"
"What do you mean first or second? Going at it together is even better, isn't it?"
Lin Wanyi didn't even dare to breathe. She clamped her hand tightly over her own mouth.
Who were these men? How did they know she was here?
She had no time to think. She only knew she couldn't let them find her.
She had already called Liu Renzhi. He would come. He would come soon.
She just needed to hide well.
Over there, Liu Renzhi's heart raced with anxiety after receiving Lin Wanyi's call.
What was she afraid of? What had she encountered?
He immediately got into the car to pick her up, but just as he started the engine, he received a call from Zhou Chenyu:
"Brother, my mom collapsed again. You need to come quickly!"
Liu Renzhi's hand on the steering wheel trembled slightly.
"What happened? Why did she suddenly collapse?"
"I don't know."
Zhou Chenyu was frantic, her voice turning tearful:
"She just collapsed out of nowhere. I don't know why either. Please, just come quickly!"
Liu Renzhi only hesitated for a second before telling Zhou Chenyu:
"Call 120 first. I'll have someone go to the hospital."
"You're not coming?"
Zhou Chenyu was furious:
"My mom collapsed, and you're not coming?"
Liu Renzhi didn't bother explaining another word to Zhou Chenyu. He hung up directly.
His mind was now filled entirely with Lin Wanyi—with her single word: "afraid."
She was afraid.
Whenever she was afraid, Liu Renzhi had to rush to her side. He had to go.
Nanny Wu couldn't compare to Lin Wanyi.
He drove like mad. On the way, he contacted the crew's production assistant through his assistant.
But none of them knew where Lin Wanyi was. They even swore she had already gone back.
He then called Li Suhua and Lin Jiajun.
His heart grew more frantic.
It was so late, so dark.
Lin Wanyi must be terrified in a place like that.
He floored the accelerator, but kept calling Lin Wanyi—only to get no answer.
On the other end, Zhou Chenyu heard the busy tone and smashed her phone.
She didn't understand: "Mom, I told him you collapsed. Why didn't Liu Renzhi come to see you?"
"Does he care about Lin Wanyi more than you now, in his heart?"
"How can that be? Years ago, if it weren't for you, his own mother would have abused him to death. He wouldn't have lived this decent life!"
"He's changed. He really has. Ever since Lin Wanyi appeared."
Nanny Wu stared into the darkness outside the window with clouded eyes:
"It's fine. When he arrives and sees Lin Wanyi disheveled, in bed with other men, I don't believe he'll still like her."
"Since he looks down on my daughter, I'll make sure he looks down on all women."
"I'll leave him scarred, make him lose interest in any woman. As long as he doesn't marry or have kids, most of his fortune will eventually go to you."
"Chenyu, when the time comes, find a good man who listens to you, have a child."
"As for Liu Renzhi, just think of him as working for you."
She paused, then added:
"Tell those two men to do whatever it takes to disgust him. Make sure Liu Renzhi sees everything clearly, got it?"
She stopped again, then let out a long sigh:
"So it's true—once a man takes a wife, he forgets his mother. I never thought Renzhi would be that kind of person."
Zhou Chenyu curled her lips into a venomous smile:
"Mom, don't worry. I've arranged everything."
"Lin Wanyi won't escape tonight."
"Damn it—fighting me for a man? I'll destroy her. I'll break her."
Liu Renzhi and Lin Jiajun were both racing toward the scene.
Lin Wanyi hid in the grass, barely daring to breathe.
The two men shined their flashlights everywhere, searching:
"Damn it, where the hell is that bitch hiding?"
"When I find her, I'll strip her naked and make her kneel in front of me, begging... Brother, just thinking about it gets me excited."
The flashlight beams swept closer and closer, inch by inch toward Lin Wanyi.
She was drenched in sweat from tension.
Fortunately, the two men walked right past her without noticing anything.
She was about to breathe a sigh of relief when she suddenly felt something crawl past her leg.
A chill ran through her.
When she realized what it was, she screamed in terror:
"Ah! A snake! There's a snake!"
Oh, god.
She was terrified of snakes—her worst fear since childhood.
At that moment, her mind blanked out all danger from the two men, focusing only on the cold snake.
She leaped out of the grass and bolted away.
As she ran, she screamed in her heart:
"Snake! Snake!"
Even though she only let out one scream, in the pitch-black silence of the night, it was still unmistakable.
The two men heard it. They immediately aimed their flashlights at her face.
The light stabbed into Lin Wanyi's eyes. She raised her hand to shield herself:
"Who are you? Who?"
She tried to keep running, her mind overwhelmed by primal fear of the snake.
She couldn't be caught by the snake—absolutely not. She'd rather die.
But she didn't realize the snake wasn't chasing her—the men were.
She ran frantically, unable to see anything, just relying on instinct.
Behind her, the men's flashlights gave off a faint glow, revealing the main road.
The men chased and shouted:
"Stop! It's pitch black out here in the wilderness. Where can you run?"
"Let me tell you, we're from around here. Even if you run for another hour, you won't see a soul."
"Why don't you just stop and let us have some fun? We promise we won't make you suffer. In fact, we'll make you feel real good."
"Just lie back and enjoy, hahahaha!"
Lin Wanyi wasn't about to listen to them.
Only one thought filled her mind: Don't stop.
A snake. And bad men.
She was Liu Renzhi's woman. She wouldn't let these scumbags have their way.
If they caught her, she would rather die.
With that resolve, she kept running.
But it was too dark. She didn't see the rock in front of her and tripped hard, crashing to the ground.
Her head hit the dirt, knocking her almost senseless.
The next moment, she felt warmth trickling from her forehead to her lips.
She tasted it—blood.
She was bleeding.
But she couldn't care about that. Just a little blood. Just a wound.
She struggled to get up and keep running.
But the two men were already standing right in front of her.
"Hahaha, little beauty, where do you think you're running to? Go on, keep running."
"Damn it, you refused the toast only to drink the penalty. In this pitch-black wilderness, where do you think you can go?"
"Look at this pretty face, covered in so much blood. It breaks my heart, little brother.
"Here, let me wipe it clean for you. Then I'll strip you clean too, hahaha."
