46: Chapter 46 Desperate Situation

Qin Ruoxi turned her head with difficulty, seeing Xiao Bei covered in blood, but his chest was still rising and falling.

"Sister... don't move..."

Xiao Bei said with a thread of voice, "The car... could... fall down at any moment..."

Qin Ruoxi tried to unbuckle her seatbelt, but found the buckle was deformed and wouldn't open.

She reached for the phone in her pocket; the screen was shattered, but it could still be used, though there was no signal.

Rain poured in through the shattered roof, mixing with blood and flowing inside the car.

Qin Ruoxi heard the groaning of twisting metal; the car was slowly sliding down.

"Xiao Bei, can you get the emergency kit under my seat?"

Qin Ruoxi tried to keep her voice steady.

Xiao Bei reached out with difficulty, and after several attempts, finally hooked the small emergency kit.

Qin Ruoxi took out a multi-tool knife from it and began to saw through her seatbelt.

"Mayor Qin... this wasn't... an accident..."

Xiao Bei said suddenly, "Someone must have been to the garage yesterday..."

Qin Ruoxi's hand paused for a second, then she sawed harder at the seatbelt:

"I know."

As the last fiber snapped, Qin Ruoxi's body lurched forward, nearly hitting the front seat.

She quickly steadied herself, then helped Xiao Bei unbuckle his seatbelt.

"We have to get out; the car won't hold for much longer."

Qin Ruoxi pushed against the deformed car door, but it wouldn't budge. The rear window glass was completely shattered, but the opening was too small.

The groaning of the metal grew louder. The car suddenly slid down a bit, making a teeth-grinding sound when it stopped.

Qin Ruoxi and Xiao Bei exchanged a look—they had to risk climbing out through the window.

"You go first."

Qin Ruoxi commanded.

Xiao Bei shook his head:

"You go first..."

"That's an order!"

Qin Ruoxi said sternly, "Once you get out, you can pull me up."

Xiao Bei did not argue further. Enduring his pain, he crawled from the front row to the back and carefully squeezed out through the shattered rear window.

When his body was halfway out of the car, it slid down another notch.

"Hurry!"

Qin Ruoxi urged.

Xiao Bei climbed fully out of the car, grabbed a protruding branch, and reached out to Qin Ruoxi.

Just then, the metal connecting the car to the tree let out a final groan—

Qin Ruoxi leaped, grabbing Xiao Bei's hand the moment the car plunged into the abyss.

The two hung from a tree on the edge of the cliff, with a hundred-meter drop and a roaring river below.

Rain washed over their tightly clasped hands, and blood made the grip slippery.

Xiao Bei gritted his teeth and used all his strength to pull Qin Ruoxi up.

When the two finally collapsed onto a relatively flat rock, they were both exhausted.

Qin Ruoxi lay on her back in the rain, looking up at the gray sky.

Her phone had been lost during the fall, and so had Xiao Bei's.

They were at least ten kilometers away from the nearest village, and it was nearly impossible to reach it on foot in this weather.

"They must think we're dead."

Qin Ruoxi said softly.

Xiao Bei managed to sit up to check their injuries.

Rain dripped from Qin Ruoxi's hair. She gritted her teeth and tried to stand up, but as soon as her right foot touched the ground, she gasped in pain and pitched forward.

"Careful!"

Xiao Bei was quick to steady her shoulders, the warmth of his palm seeping through her soaked shirt, "Your foot?"

"I think I sprained it."

Qin Ruoxi answered briefly, her forehead covered in what could have been rain or cold sweat.

She tried to support herself with her left foot again, but stumbled due to the slippery hillside.

Xiao Bei crouched down and, without a word, rolled up her pant leg.

Qin Ruoxi instinctively wanted to pull her foot back, but he held her ankle firmly. His hand was rough and strong, yet unexpectedly gentle.

"It's quite swollen."

Xiao Bei frowned, his thumb gently pressing around the ankle joint, "The ligament might be injured; you can't walk."

"No, I can do it."

Qin Ruoxi said stubbornly, though her face turned deathly pale from the pain when she tried to stand straight.

Xiao Bei suddenly turned his back to her and crouched down:

"Sister, get on."

"No!"

Qin Ruoxi's voice rose sharply, "This is improper!"

Xiao Bei turned his head, rain streaming down his brow bone. Those eyes, usually so deferential, were now exceptionally resolute:

"Mayor Qin, do you want to wait for them to come and identify our bodies?"

Crack!

A flash of lightning split the sky. Qin Ruoxi's heart tightened—Deputy Party Secretary Tang Jianhui's men might be at the accident site. If they didn't leave soon, it would all be over if they were caught.

Before she could react, Xiao Bei had grabbed her wrist and, with a deft motion, pulled her onto his back.

"Ah!"

Qin Ruoxi exclaimed, her body suspended in the air, her hands instinctively wrapping around his neck.

"Put me down!"

She said sternly, though the tips of her ears burned from this overly intimate contact. In over thirty years, no one had ever dared to treat her like this.

Xiao Bei ignored her and strode into the rain:

"Hold on tighter."

The muddy mountain path had turned into a swamp in the downpour, and every step was incredibly difficult.

Qin Ruoxi could feel the tension in Xiao Bei's back muscles. His breathing was heavy, yet his steps were steady, like a yak carrying a heavy load.

"Xiao Bei, you..."

Qin Ruoxi had just started to speak when she was interrupted by a stumble.

Xiao Bei slipped, dropping to one knee, yet he used his arms to firmly protect the back of her knees, not letting her touch the ground.

"Are you okay?"

The two spoke in unison, then fell silent at the same time.

It was then that Qin Ruoxi noticed the shirt on Xiao Bei's right shoulder was soaked with blood, a gruesome wound faintly visible.

"You're hurt!"

Her voice tightened.

"It's nothing, just a flesh wound."

Xiao Bei stood up nonchalantly and adjusted his posture, "There seems to be a light ahead."

Through the curtain of rain, there was indeed a faint, yellowish light on the distant hillside.

Qin Ruoxi stopped struggling, but she couldn't relax—she was pressed against a man's back, smelling the scent of pine mixed with blood on him, which made her feel uneasy.

"Sister, you're too light."

Xiao Bei said suddenly, "Do you not eat usually?"

This unconventional banter caught Qin Ruoxi off guard, and she then irritably pinched his shoulder:

"Focus on the road!"

Xiao Bei chuckled, the sound vibrating against her chest.

For some reason, this laughter diluted the awkwardness a little.

Qin Ruoxi quietly leaned her upper body back, trying to reduce the contact area, but was startled by a steep slope and hugged his neck tightly again.

"Don't move around."

Xiao Bei's voice was hoarse, "Otherwise, I'll fall."

Qin Ruoxi, angry, tapped him lightly, "Shut up!"

At this moment, the rain was pouring, and the mountain road was muddy.

Xiao Bei carried Qin Ruoxi, every step feeling like walking on cotton. His legs had long since lost all feeling, leaving only mechanical forward movements.

"Xiao Bei, put me down."

Qin Ruoxi's voice sounded in his ear, carrying a rare hesitation, "You've been carrying me for almost an hour."

Xiao Bei shook his head, rain flicking off his hair:

"We're almost there; that light doesn't look far."