Chapter 29 — Escape
By the time Evelyn, terrified by Hua Mian’s verbal threats, repeated the opening procedure for the sixth time, she finally managed to get the glass door unlocked.
Seeing Evelyn’s hopeful gaze, Hua Mian gave a small nod.
Evelyn let out a long breath of relief and wiped the cold sweat beading on the tip of her nose from sheer nervousness.
“There’s definitely more than just us locked up here. In a bit, you open the doors, and I’ll keep watch.”
“Okay.” Evelyn took a deep, steadying breath.
Hua Mian turned her head when she heard movement. “Don’t be nervous. Just focus on opening the door.”
They hadn’t walked far before spotting another glass cage.
Evelyn obediently stepped forward to open it. Fortunately, everything went smoothly. The delicate-looking female inside covered her own mouth as instructed. Even when she saw the severed finger and the eyeball used for verification, she didn’t scream—though her face turned noticeably pale.
“I—”
“Don’t talk. We were captured too. Just follow us quietly.” Evelyn spoke quickly.
The female nodded. After glancing at Hua Mian’s fragile appearance, she chose instead to follow behind Evelyn, who was taller and looked more reliable.
Hua Mian had changed into Evelyn’s light blue dress earlier. Compared to the newly rescued female—Annie—she appeared even more delicate and weak.
They continued forward, soon finding yet another cage.
Evelyn entered the code. It was correct. But just as she leaned in for the iris scan using the eyeball, an alarm suddenly blared.
The sharp siren pierced their ears.
Evelyn froze and looked back in shock.
“Go!” Hua Mian made the decision instantly.
“But she—” Evelyn looked at the female behind the glass—tear-streaked, gaze full of desperate hope—and her heart twisted.
Hua Mian didn’t look back. She turned and sprinted away.
Evelyn gritted her teeth, then followed, dragging along a stunned and unwilling Annie.
Hua Mian kept scanning their surroundings. Based on the layout, she deduced she must have been held in the deepest part of the facility—because the farther out they ran, the more long, narrow corridors appeared.
On both sides of each corridor were glass cages, each containing a terrified female.
She had expected this to be a trafficking organization—but not that they had kidnapped so many females. It was a fully developed industrial chain, treating females as merchandise.
Hua Mian hadn’t been running long before a familiar tightness clenched her chest again. She knew she couldn’t keep this up. But all around her were transparent glass cages—no place to hide.
She could only run.
“Please save me!”
“Uuu… I want to go home…”
“Help!”
“Take me with you!”
…
Voices of desperate pleas echoed around them.
Evelyn faltered. Overwhelmed by the cries, she attempted to open the cages using the severed finger and eyeball.
“Don’t move!” Hua Mian snapped.
“I just… want to save them.” Evelyn whispered in protest.
Annie, unable to hold back, cried out, “How can you be so selfish?! Evelyn wants to help them, and you’re stopping her?!”
Faced with baseless accusations, Hua Mian remained expressionless. “There’s a ninety-nine percent chance you’ll trigger an alarm. And they will suffer a terrible price for your actions.”
After speaking, Hua Mian didn’t bother looking at the two brainless females behind her. All she wanted was to escape. If she got out, she could save them all.
Evelyn hesitated at Hua Mian’s words.
Annie was outraged. “She’s awful! Evelyn, let’s help them!”
Evelyn looked at Hua Mian’s fading silhouette, then at Annie clutching her arm, and reluctantly nodded.
Hua Mian ignored them. Minutes later, another piercing alarm sounded from behind.
She continued down the corridor. Soon the cages became old, empty ones.
Panting, she leaned against one. That was when she noticed a half-torn, worn-out label stuck to the side of the cage.
Sea Sand Ore, 21 pounds:
21-year-old female
Red, shoulder-length short hair
Green eyes
Height: 165 cm
Weight: 49 kg
…
The rest was missing, but one thing she was certain of—her own cage had no such label.
Yet this half label revealed far too much.
Thoughts flashed rapidly through her mind—those gemstones at the auction, each priced far beyond their worth, yet still fought over fiercely. Now she understood what the “small weight stones” had really been referring to.
And she—had already gone from a bystander to merchandise.
How long had this trafficking operated? How many females had suffered? Why had no news ever leaked? Who was covering it up?
Her chaotic thoughts eventually condensed into just one:
Escape. She must escape.
Hua Mian froze.
That desperate cry in her dreams—“Escape”… it felt too familiar, as though she had screamed it countless times in reality.
If that dream was real… had the original owner of her body also been imprisoned before? Had that despair carved this instinctive craving for freedom into her very bones?
Before she could think further, she suddenly heard footsteps—heavy, synchronized—and the distinct clinking of metal weapons.
She bit her lip, muscles tense, holding her breath as she tried to slip into another corridor.
No time! No time! What do I do?!
In her panic, her hand brushed against a panel on the wall—one that had a hidden opening.
She turned. The panel could slide open and shut, revealing a dark hollow space inside.
A miracle.
She quickly slipped inside.
Curled up, she pressed her ear to the panel. Her heart pounded wildly.
The sound of marching boots grew smaller, moving away.
Hua Mian exhaled shakily, her taut nerves loosening.
Only then did she notice the sting at her fingertips from prying the panel open. Pulling her hand back, she brushed against something cold—metal.
What… was this?
A gun?
Hua Mian’s blood ran cold.
Right.
Why would there be a perfectly placed movable wall panel here? One that led to a perfectly sized hiding space?
When coincidences piled up, they were no longer coincidences.
Her fingers twitched, reaching for the dagger strapped to her thigh.
“Who’s there?” she whispered, voice low and strained.
A cold gun barrel pressed hard against her temple.
Hua Mian silently sucked in a breath.
She didn’t move. The other person didn’t move. The tension between them grew thick and suffocating.
“You—”
“Shut up.”
The man’s voice was low and slightly hoarse—like aged wine.
But she had no room to appreciate it. Only raw, bone-deep fear remained.
She had barely escaped the wolf’s den, only to fall straight into a tiger’s jaws.
Hua Mian didn’t dare speak. The metal barrel pressed into her temple throbbed with pain, but she stayed absolutely still. Her fingers pressed instinctively tighter around the hilt of her dagger, grounding herself, forcing her mind to stay clear.
Two minutes later, another wave of footsteps thundered outside—uniform, accompanied by the clatter of guns. Her heart raced violently.
In the Empire, raising private soldiers was illegal. The more fully equipped they were, the heavier the crime.
Years ago, the Federation had secretly trained private armies across the Empire. When their numbers grew, they revolted—tiny ants overwhelming an elephant—and nearly toppled the Imperial government. Since then, the Empire strictly forbade such forces.
Hua Mian’s thoughts were chaotic. The gun at her head sent her adrenaline surging, to the point of a strange, manic clarity.
Nangong Zheng suddenly inhaled—catching a familiar sweet rose scent.
It was exactly the same fragrance as the top-grade soothing serum he had purchased at the gemstone auction.
But according to every report he investigated, the S-rank soother who produced that serum had died three years ago.
Which made the scent on this female… deeply suspicious.
