The Wealthy Heiress Wants to Date Me - Chapter 8

The branches let out a mournful creak before crashing to the ground.

Cui Fu held Xie Changran as they rolled down the slope, leading her in a frantic dash toward the marshland.

Shallow river water washed over the ground as the two began another desperate sprint.

“Head down.” The brush ahead was dense, filled with low-hanging branches.

Xie Changran obediently ducked her head. Fortunately, there was moonlight in the sky, allowing them to see the path.

The sound of their footsteps splashing in the water echoed as they moved through the woods, leaves rustling loudly.

The pursuers standing above fired blindly, completely disregarding Xie Changran’s life. After a minute of suppressing fire with submachine guns, they continued their descent. By using this “suppress-as-you-go” method, they controlled the speed of the pair’s flight, though the dense trees occasionally made it impossible to track their sounds.

“Damn it, this Roque is as agile as a monkey.” The eight men who had come to hunt them in the middle of the night cursed in frustration.

“Luther, shut your damn mouth.” Roque, annoyed by the pursuit, shot a sideways glare at the man who kept babbling.

The others finally felt the silence was necessary. They had found the trail of these two with great difficulty; they couldn’t afford to lose them because of complaints. Whether they could retire or not depended entirely on this one play.

Half an hour later, a torrential downpour suddenly began, making the path even more difficult. The infrared thermal imaging scanner also started to lose its effectiveness.

Cui Fu hid with Xie Changran on a slope. Watching the curtain of rain obscure all silhouettes, she led Xie Changran quietly toward the rear.

The burly Roque gripped his submachine gun, observing the surroundings. The rain was too heavy, masking their tracks. The infrared scanner had lost its intended function, unable to lock onto a signature, and the night vision wasn’t clear enough.

“Roque, are we still chasing?” the remaining seven men asked, surrounding him.

Roque scanned the group, narrowed his eyes, and said coldly, “Yes.”

All squad members used only code names.

“It’s a pity the hunting dogs are still behind. If they had kept up, these two wouldn’t have been able to run at all,” Ruth said amidst the downpour, the rain clattering against her hat.

The rain beat down just as hard on Xie Changran and Cui Fu’s windbreakers. Fortunately, the jackets were waterproof enough that they hadn’t felt the chill yet. However, with the rain came a drop in temperature, and the icy droplets felt like pebbles hitting their bodies.

Another half hour passed, and the rain showed no signs of letting up. The pursuers stopped; going further risked encountering a sudden flash flood. Heavy storms could cause river levels to explode, sending torrents of water—and even dislodged rocks and trees—down from the upper channels. The variables were too dangerous, and Roque decided not to push further.

“Fall back.” Roque led the group back to the downed tree to wait out the rain, as that spot happened to be on an uphill incline.

Roque silently watched the water accumulating on the hillside. This person they were hunting knew the jungle, had extensive experience, and was a dead shot; he had lost two squad members in a single encounter. Roque felt the danger and the difficulty—this was far more perilous than anything they had faced before. The opponent’s reaction speed was simply too fast.

“We wait for the people behind to rendezvous,” Roque decided, setting the plan for the next phase of the operation. He also arranged for men to go back and retrieve their fallen comrades.

Cui Fu led Xie Changran through the rain with great difficulty, the water soaking their hair and clothes. Xie Changran followed behind, her tears mixing with the rain. There was the stinging pain of raindrops hitting her eyes, as well as the fear and grievance of running for her life.

She wanted to go home so badly.

Cui Fu’s night vision goggles couldn’t see far now; the wall of water blocked the view, leaving visibility at only thirty to fifty meters. She needed to lead Xie Changran to higher ground. The water reaching her calves gave her a very bad premonition.

“I… I can’t walk anymore…”

Her shoes were filled with water. After several days of continuous running, Xie Changran’s legs were powerless, so sore she could barely lift them.

“Hold on a bit longer. I’ll find a place to stop and hide from the rain.” Cui Fu looked back at Xie Changran. Xie Changran couldn’t see her eyes, but she remembered those sharp, cold pupils and nodded instinctively.

The rain remained heavy. They passed a wild plantain grove, where several withered, blackened plantain trees had collapsed.

“Stand here. I’ll cut some leaves for cover.” Cui Fu didn’t have time to set up a camp. No one knew when the rain would stop or if the pursuers were catching up. They could only hide temporarily and move as the situation dictated.

Cui Fu quickly hacked off several large green leaves and handed them to Xie Changran. “Hold these.”

Simultaneously, Cui Fu turned to cut more leaves. Raindrops thudded against her back and the foliage; the entire rainforest was singing. The pitter-patter was pleasant in a way, possessing a silence and cacophony unique to the jungle. The moment the rain fell, all other sounds vanished, replaced only by the voice of the storm—which was, in its own way, a form of quiet.

Xie Changran held the plantain leaf, over a meter long, standing to the side and watching the silhouette moving through the mist, vanishing and reappearing.

Cui Fu didn’t want the rain soaking the inside of her backpack. Coincidentally, the plantain hearts could serve as food—a source of high-quality carbohydrates that provided energy, water, and fiber. It was a perfect survival food.

The tender white plantain hearts were washed clean by the rain. “Eat this, it’ll line your stomach.” Cui Fu handed the pieces to Xie Changran.

Xie Changran saw two sections of tender white plantain heart in Cui Fu’s long, powerful palm. She was holding the plantain leaf with both hands and didn’t know how to take them, so she balanced the leaf on her head to reach out. Unexpectedly, Cui Fu reached up to hold the other half of the drooping leaf for her, and the two huddled together under the tree to hide from the rain.

Xie Changran put the plantain heart in her mouth. The crisp, tender texture had a faint plantain flavor, and every bite was full of moisture. She had just been about to ask for a drink of water, and now she had it.

Cui Fu ate her portions in large, efficient bites. The crunching sound was audible as they sat together on the leaves, munching away. The temperature in the jungle wasn’t freezing; aside from the initial chill of the rain hitting them, it was bearable.

Cui Fu still wore her helmet, casually scanning the surroundings. While nibbling on her plantain heart, Xie Changran shifted closer to Cui Fu until their shoulders were pressed tight against each other.

Cui Fu glanced sideways at her, seeing her like a startled little rabbit, but she didn’t move away. She slowed down as she finished the last of her food.

“You can lean on me and sleep for a while. We’ll continue once the rain stops,” Cui Fu said.

Xie Changran nodded and whispered, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Cui Fu rarely offered a smile. “It’s nothing.”

That smile left Xie Changran dazed. Cui Fu had been cold-faced and incredibly stern this whole time, but this sudden smile made her look surprisingly gentle.

After the brief moment, Cui Fu retracted her smile and returned her focus to the surroundings, her gaze patrolling their territory like a falcon.

Xie Changran looked curiously at the helmet. The matte black gear covered her face completely, giving off an intensely cool vibe. It fit Cui Fu’s face perfectly, making her look inexplicably handsome and intimidating.

The people tracking her were merciless. Several times, the flashes of fire had nearly struck her. Was it intentional or accidental? Was someone using these people to get rid of her?

Names flashed through Xie Changran’s mind, one after another. In her memory, their faces were all full of sincere kindness and closeness. But now, every one of them seemed loathsome. She had never been particularly close to them, but she had never failed to respect them.