What was going on?
Xia Qingtian felt a sharper pain in the back of her head, and her elbow too.
Her back was coldly pressed against the sheet metal, making her uncomfortable.
Her muddled brain gradually cleared due to the bouncing.
Her vision was the first to return—complete darkness.
Then her hearing returned—clanging sounds.
After that, her sense of smell—an unpleasant gasoline odor.
Only then did Xia Qingtian regain control of her body. She moved her hands and feet slightly, discovering that her wrists seemed to be bound behind her back, and her feet were also tied.
She extended her legs forward, roughly measuring the space she was confined in.
This should be the back of a small truck.
How did she end up here?
Her memories finally returned to her mind.
It was not long after Ling Feng Han had left. She had applied medicine to her elbow and was about to send a message to Xiaoxiao, thanking her for the first-aid kit she had prepared.
Just then, she heard a knock on the door. She thought it was Ling Feng Han returning, and asked through the door. A gentle female voice answered, claiming to be from the hotel reception.
She said someone had sent something to the reception while Xia Qingtian was out, and she was now bringing it to her.
Xia Qingtian opened the door.
As soon as she opened the door, Xia Qingtian smelled a pungent odor, and then she knew nothing more.
She only saw a man and a woman, both wearing hotel staff uniforms, before she fainted.
Xia Qingtian cursed herself for being foolish.
Her mind was so focused on how to help Ling Feng Han that she ignored the lurking danger and the system's earlier hints.
It was useless to think about that now; she needed to focus on how to escape.
Xia Qingtian didn't know how long she had been unconscious, nor what time it was.
At that moment, the vehicle bumped and then stopped.
She curled up her legs, shrinking herself into a ball, feigning that she was still asleep.
Xia Qingtian heard the cargo area of the truck being opened, followed by a blast of cold air.
On a November night, the sea breeze on her face felt like knives, truly no joke.
Wait a minute!
Sea breeze?
Xia Qingtian hadn't moved, but her heart was pounding rapidly.
The wind smelled like sea breeze, no doubt. Were they taking her to the seaside? Could it be they were going to throw her directly into the sea?
As this thought arose, half of Xia Qingtian's body went cold.
She had only been reborn for a few months, had just been admitted to university, and her dreams were just beginning to sprout, and now…
It was over?
[System! Don't play dead on me now!] Xia Qingtian thought of her system and howled in her mind, [Didn't you say you were a Chosen One system? Are you this useless?]
Now she couldn't see anything, and her hands and feet were bound. This wouldn't do at all!
Due to the anesthetic, her mind was still groggy, her thoughts lagging a good beat behind.
The system was very speechless at this moment. It could only intervene in a limited capacity; it primarily depended on the host Xia Qingtian's own choices.
When it was struck by heavenly lightning and fell into that well, it had already consumed a considerable amount of cultivation and spiritual energy to bring Xia Qingtian back to life and escape.
It hadn't even recouped its losses yet!
It was still weak and couldn't undergo tribulation, nor could it truly jump out to help Xia Qingtian.
After all, that scoundrel Heavenly Dao couldn't wait to strike it dead.
It had to lie low.
But if it just watched Xia Qingtian drown, its remaining cultivation and spiritual energy wouldn't be enough to bring another soul back to life, and its own life would be completely lost.
Thinking of this, the system finally spoke, [Chosen One System activated. Detecting unsused X-ray vision function in inventory.]
Xia Qingtian finally remembered that she had stocked up on items in the system mall.
[Use X-ray vision.] Xia Qingtian immediately felt more confident and commanded it in her mind.
At this moment, Xia Qingtian finally saw the situation outside.
She was indeed by the sea. After being taken out of the vehicle, she was casually placed next to a reef.
Within her line of sight, a man and a woman were setting up a simple bonfire, their backs to her.
Xia Qingtian didn't think these two were preparing for a bonfire party; she thought it was more likely they intended to burn her to death.
Burned to death!
Xia Qingtian's mind shuddered at the thought, and she instantly thought of a possibility.
Perhaps these two really wanted to burn her to death, and then after a few hours, the tide would come in, and with a big wave, everything would be gone.
Even if someone found her later, she would only be a charred corpse, and it might not even be possible to identify her from the charred remains…
With this thought, Xia Qingtian felt her mind clear considerably.
Seeing that the two were almost finished, she immediately opened the Chosen One Mall in her mind and used the last dose of adrenaline.
With this adrenaline, Xia Qingtian gritted her teeth and exerted more force, breaking free from the ropes binding her.
Just then, a large wave crashed against the reef, masking the sound of Xia Qingtian breaking free from the ropes.
Pulling down the long cloth strip that had been covering her eyes and hanging it around her neck, Xia Qingtian found an 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 out of the corner of her eye.
Glancing back at the two people starting the fire, Xia Qingtian made a turn and ran towards the car.
Her X-ray vision had not yet expired.
She clearly saw that a man was sitting in the driver's seat of the now-offline car, looking at a short video on his phone.
Xia Qingtian carefully went around to the back of the car, pulled off the long cloth strip that had been covering her eyes, quickly wrapped it around a wooden stick, and stuffed it into the car's exhaust pipe.
After she did this, the two people realized Xia Qingtian was gone.
The woman pointed at Xia Qingtian, who was running away from the back of the car, and shouted, "She's there!"
The man beside her immediately charged towards Xia Qingtian, but found that Xia Qingtian's speed was astonishingly fast, so much so that he, a grown man, clicked his tongue.
Seeing that he couldn't catch up, the man immediately took a turn, opened the passenger door, and said, "Drive! Hurry up and chase!"
"What the hell! It won't start!" The man in the driver's seat was also dumbfounded. Multiple 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 call her phone to report, "She got away."
"Idiot!" A curse came from the other end of the phone, "I've asked Team Three to assist you as soon as possible. Anyone who ruins the boss's business must die!"
"Yes."
Meanwhile, Xia Qingtian was still sprinting.
She dared not stop, and she ran around anyone she encountered.
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.