What was going on?
Xia Qingtian felt a dull ache in the back of her head and her elbow.
Her back was pressed against cold sheet metal, feeling quite uncomfortable.
Her hazy mind gradually cleared with the jolting.
Her vision was the first to return—pitch black.
Then came her hearing—a clanging sound.
Followed by her sense of smell—a rather unpleasant gasoline odor.
Only then did Xia Qingtian regain control of her body. She subtly moved her limbs, finding her wrists seemingly bound behind her back, and her ankles tied as well.
Stretching her legs forward, she roughly gauged the confined space she was in.
This was likely the rear compartment of a small van.
How did she end up here?
Her memory finally returned.
It was shortly after Ling Feng Han had left. She had applied medication to her elbow and was about to text Xiaoxiao to thank her for the medicine box.
At that moment, she heard a knock. She thought it was Ling Feng Han returning, so she asked through the door. A gentle female voice replied, identifying herself as hotel reception.
She claimed someone had delivered something to reception while Xia Qingtian was out, and she was now bringing it to her.
Only then did Xia Qingtian open the door.
The moment she opened it, Xia Qingtian caught a whiff of a pungent odor, and then she knew nothing more.
Before she fainted, she had seen a man and a woman, both wearing hotel staff uniforms.
Xia Qingtian cursed herself for being foolish.
Her mind was filled with thoughts of how to help Ling Feng Han, and she had overlooked the hidden danger and the system's earlier hints.
Thinking about it now was useless; her priority was figuring out how to escape.
Xia Qingtian had no idea how long she had been unconscious or what time it was.
Just then, the vehicle jolted and stopped.
She curled her legs and huddled into a ball, feigning unconsciousness.
Xia Qingtian heard the van's rear compartment being opened, followed by a blast of cold air.
A November night, the sea breeze felt like a knife against her face, a serious matter indeed.
Wait a minute!
Sea breeze?
Xia Qingtian hadn't moved, but her heart pounded rapidly.
This wind smelled like the sea. Were they bringing her to the seaside? Were they going to throw her into the ocean?
The thought sent a chill through half her body.
She had only been reborn for a few months, she had just been accepted into university, her dreams were just starting to bloom, and now…
Was it all over?
[System! Don't play dead on me now!] Xia Qingtian thought, yelling into her mind. [Didn't you say you were the Son of Heaven system? Are you this useless?]
Now she couldn't see anything, her hands and feet were bound, how could this be alright!
Due to the anesthetic, her mind was still hazy, and her thoughts were sluggish.
The system was quite exasperated. There wasn't much it could directly interfere with; it largely depended on Xia Qingtian's own choices.
Back then, after being struck by heavenly lightning and falling into that well, it had already expended considerable cultivation and spiritual energy to bring Xia Qingtian back to life and help her escape.
It hadn't even broken even yet!
It was still weak and unable to undergo tribulation, nor could it truly jump out and help Xia Qingtian.
After all, that scoundrel Heavenly Dao couldn't wait to strike it down.
It had to lie low.
But if it simply watched Xia Qingtian drown, its remaining cultivation and spiritual energy wouldn't be enough to bring another soul back to life. At that point, its own life would be completely forfeit.
Thinking of this, the system finally spoke. [Son of Heaven System activated. Currently detecting an unused clairvoyance function in the inventory.]
Xia Qingtian only then remembered that she had stocked up on items in the system mall.
[Use clairvoyance function.] Xia Qingtian immediately felt more confident and commanded in her mind.
At that moment, Xia Qingtian could finally see the situation outside.
She was indeed by the sea. After being lifted from the van, she was carelessly placed near a reef.
Within her line of sight, a man and a woman were setting up a makeshift campfire with their backs to her.
Xia Qingtian didn't believe these two were preparing for a bonfire party; it was more likely they intended to burn her to death.
Burn her to death!
Xia Qingtian shivered at the thought, a terrifying possibility dawning on her.
Perhaps these two truly intended to burn her to death, and in a few hours, the tide would rise, and the waves would wash everything away completely.
Even if her body were recovered later, it would only be a charred corpse, and it might not even be possible to identify her from it…
With this thought, Xia Qingtian felt her mind clear considerably.
Seeing that the two were nearly done, she immediately opened the Son of Heaven Mall in her mind and used the last adrenaline shot.
With this adrenaline shot, Xia Qingtian gritted her teeth and with a surge of strength, broke free from the ropes binding her.
Just then, a large wave crashed against the reef, masking the sound of Xia Qingtian breaking free.
Pulling down the loose cloth strip covering her eyes and draping it around her neck, Xia Qingtian found her opportunity, leaped off the reef, and ran towards the shore as if her life depended on it.
Xia Qingtian caught a glimpse of the car parked on the shore from the corner of her eye.
Glancing back at the two lighting the fire, Xia Qingtian made a sharp turn and sprinted towards the car.
Her clairvoyance hadn't expired yet.
She clearly saw a man sitting in the driver's seat of the now-still car, engrossed in watching short videos on his phone.
Xia Qingtian cautiously circled to the back of the car, tore off the long cloth strip that had been covering her eyes from her neck, and quickly wrapped it around a wooden stick, shoving it directly into the car's exhaust pipe.
After she finished, only then did the two realize Xia Qingtian was gone.
The woman pointed at Xia Qingtian, who was running away from behind the car, and shouted, "She's there!"
The man beside her immediately rushed towards Xia Qingtian, only to find her speed astonishing, making him marvel as a grown man.
Seeing that he wouldn't be able to catch up, the man immediately turned, opened the passenger door, and said, "Drive! Hurry!"
"What the heck! It won't start!" The man in the driver's seat was also dumbfounded. Repeated attempts to start the engine failed, making him increasingly anxious.
"Damn it!" The woman pulled open the car door, cursed softly upon seeing this, and could only dial her phone to report, "She got away."
"Idiot!" A curse came from the other end of the phone. "I'm sending the third team to assist you as quickly as possible. Anyone who messes up the boss's business must die!"
"Yes."
Meanwhile, Xia Qingtian was still running at full speed.
She dared not stop, and if she encountered anyone, she would run around them.
The hotel slippers on her feet were long gone, and the pain in her feet had become numb.
But Xia Qingtian knew she couldn't stop.
If she stopped, she would die.