After living through two lifetimes, Xiao Mandong missed her family terribly.
She wondered whether the work they had to do every day was too strenuous, whether they were getting enough to eat, and how her grandmother was holding up. Although her grandfather was highly skilled in medicine, they had no medicinal herbs.
She remembered her eldest aunt saying that, back then, their movements had been restricted. They were not even allowed to go into the mountains, while the better medicinal herbs could only be found deep in the wilderness.
The winter her grandmother became seriously ill, her eldest uncle and father had secretly gone into the mountains in the middle of the night to gather herbs. They did not even dare take the mountain paths, and could only force their way through the dense forest. In the end, her eldest uncle had stepped into empty space and tumbled down a steep slope, breaking his leg. With no medicine available, he could only endure the pain. He lay in bed for more than half a year. Although he survived, he was never able to walk properly again.
Her grandfather knew exactly how to treat her grandmother’s illness, yet he had been powerless to do anything. He could only watch helplessly as she suffered. That sense of powerlessness had burdened him with tremendous regret. Even on his deathbed, he had kept repeating apologies to her grandmother.
Under the moonlight, Xiao Mandong entered the forest. Only then did she take a flashlight out of her space and rub some powder on herself to ward off snakes and insects. She proceeded cautiously toward the graveyard where her grandmother had been buried in her previous life.
She did not know the exact location to which her family had been sent down. But in her previous life, she remembered her father saying that, from the cowshed, they could see her grandmother’s earthen grave mound. Every day, her grandfather would sit at the entrance and stare blankly at it. If the family had been rehabilitated a year later, her grandfather probably would not have survived long enough to return home.
Fortunately, she had followed her grandfather since childhood to gather herbs and hunt. She knew how to find her bearings and was not entirely unfamiliar with the mountains and forests.
Relying on her memories of coming to relocate her grandmother’s grave in her previous life, she proceeded warily along the narrow path. She was immensely grateful to have her space; otherwise, even if someone had offered her ten times her courage, she would never have dared climb the mountain alone in the middle of the night.
The path led all the way to the back of the mountain. The night wind rustled the branches, and now and then an unknown night bird let out a strange cry. The faint snap of dead branches beneath her feet sounded especially clear in the silent mountains. From time to time, the whimpering of wild animals mingled with the chirping of insects, making Xiao Mandong’s heart tighten.
It was a lie to say she was not afraid. The closer she got to the graveyard, the more she felt as though a pair of eyes were watching her from the darkness. Whenever she passed by, it even seemed as if hands were reaching out toward her. Several times, she was so frightened that she nearly turned and ran. At one point, she seriously considered going back the way she had come.
She did not dare shine the flashlight too high, allowing its beam to fall only a few steps ahead of her feet. She remained ready at all times to slip into her space the moment anything went wrong.
When she checked the time, an hour had already passed. After turning around a low slope ahead, she would arrive at the place where her grandmother had been buried in her previous life.
Just as she was preparing to rest for a moment, that feeling of being watched struck again—and this time, it was even stronger than before.
It was not the wind or the insects. Every time she took a step, the sound behind her followed a step later. Someone was deliberately muffling their footsteps and matching her pace.
Xiao Mandong’s heart sank, and a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out across her back.
She did not dare turn around. Her breathing unconsciously grew lighter, while her fingers clenched tightly around the flashlight. Her other hand had already reached into her space and closed around the pistol, her index finger resting on the trigger.
No matter how loudly the wind blew, it could not cover the thunderous pounding of her heart.
She quickly scanned her surroundings, searching for a spot that could block the other person’s line of sight and allow her to enter her space in an instant.
Xiao Mandong had already guessed who was behind her—Sun Wenbin.
She had the urge to deal with Sun Wenbin once and for all. If she did not get rid of him, he would be like a maggot that had crawled into her clothes: slimy, writhing against her skin, impossible to shake off or crush, and disgusting enough to make her panic.
Just as Xiao Mandong was at a loss for what to do, Sun Wenbin stepped out from behind a tree and let out a sinister snicker. It sounded like a venomous snake flicking its tongue, making her scalp prickle.
A blade of grass hung from his mouth. He held a knife in one hand and tapped it against his palm again and again.
“You noticed me? You’re pretty sharp. Tell me, where did you come from? How did you spot me so quickly? Have you received training?”
Sun Wenbin had been fooling around with Wang Yuanyuan in the woods when he noticed someone going up the mountain. He had sent Wang Yuanyuan away and wanted to see who would be climbing the mountain so late at night. He had not expected to find Xiao Mandong, so he had followed her for more than an hour.
He considered himself quite skilled at tracking, but he had not expected this young woman to be so alert and discover him so quickly.
Since she had noticed him, there was no need for him to keep hiding. In these deep mountains, he could kill her and conceal the body without anyone ever finding out. With that thought, he simply stepped out into the open.
At Sun Wenbin’s words, Xiao Mandong’s back tensed, but she forced herself to remain calm.
“Sun Wenbin, you’ve been following me all this way. What do you want?”
Sun Wenbin let out a mocking laugh and took a step forward. “What do you think? Look at us—deep in the mountains, a man and a woman alone. Didn’t you lure me here so I could give you a good time? Don’t worry. I promise I’ll make you feel wonderful.”
Even after living two lifetimes, Xiao Mandong had never heard anything so filthy. She instinctively took two steps back.
Sun Wenbin’s gaze roamed over her body as he drawled, “What’s wrong? Are you scared? Don’t be. With a pretty little thing like you, I’ll be too busy pampering you to hurt you.”
Looking at Xiao Mandong beneath the moonlight, Sun Wenbin’s lust grew. He imagined tying her up and throwing her into a cave, where he could enjoy himself for quite some time.
Sun Wenbin lifted his chin toward the foot of the mountain. “There’s a sent-down family named Xiao down there. You know them?”
He pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, an obscene grin spreading across his face. “Hand over what you have, and spend a few days with me. I guarantee I won’t make things difficult for them. Otherwise…”
Xiao Mandong’s heart nearly leapt out of her throat. She had thought that since Sun Wenbin had been unable to find Old Kai, he would have no way of discovering where her family was. She had never expected him to investigate and uncover their whereabouts.
She had been too naive. What else were agents like him capable of? They could steal national secrets, let alone investigate the whereabouts of a sent-down family.
Sun Wenbin advanced step by step, forcing her backward. His face was filled with lecherous intent, his sticky gaze sliding over her body.
Xiao Mandong’s back remained taut as she retreated inch by inch. Her hand was behind her, gripping the pistol so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
Her face had gone pale, and there was still a trace of fear in her eyes.
In the distant grass, Shen Linzhou’s pistol was already aimed at Sun Wenbin.
Zhou Qichuan had previously said that there were suspicious aspects to Xiao Mandong. But after spending this period of time with her, Shen Linzhou did not believe she was a bad person. They had just captured Old Kai and had planned to take Sun Wenbin down that very night. They had not expected to see Xiao Mandong enter the mountains.
Sun Wenbin had followed behind Xiao Mandong, and they could not tell whether the two were connected. Even so, the situation was highly suspicious. The two men had followed Sun Wenbin all the way here, but Sun Wenbin was fairly perceptive, so they had not dared get too close. As a result, they could not hear what he and Xiao Mandong had been saying.
