She had been buried alive and compelled to break out of her own coffin before. Hence, the situation was no issue to her at all.
“We must start moving immediately if we want to get out now. Move all of these obstructions away. You two follow me while I lead the way.”
Donggong Lianzhi said coldly, “I’m a man, after all, how can I let you take the lead? Your subordinate and I shall stay at the front while you walk behind us.”
“I’m afraid we’re really going to die of suffocation if I let you two lead the way. There’s too much debris and we’re going to take a long time based on the speed that you two are moving at. Let’s stop wasting any more time. I reckon this is only the first step of your family’s plan.”
“I can’t figure out why they wanted to do that…”
An Xiaoning looked at him and said, “From the moment I learned that your last name was ‘Wu’ in your previous lifetime, I had already smelled a rat. After what the mastermind has just done, I find that the situation is as clear as day. The truth should be out very soon.”
Although he did not quite understand what she meant, he decided not to probe further since it wasn’t the time to ask such questions right now.
An Xiaoning decided not to keep her powers from him anymore. Donggong Lianzhi was frightened beyond words the moment he saw her moving the debris away effortlessly.
He immediately figured out why she dared to bring just two of her bodyguards.
Just as they were about to reach the exit, they heard some noises coming from above.
They could not hear the voices clearly since they were too soft. However, they knew for a fact that there were more than two people upstairs.
In order to avoid attracting unnecessary attention, An Xiaoning gently moved the stone brick in front of her away from the exit.
As soon as she moved it, one of the men from above dived into the basement with the aid of a rope. The trio kept their backs against the wall and held their breaths while standing side by side.
“Okay, okay, all clear,” the man said fluently in a foreign language while wearing a safety helmet.
At the same time, An Xiaoning caught sight of a thick rope being lowered into the basement.
The man had even secured it in place to prevent it from falling off.
He checked it again a few times before climbing back up.
As soon as he climbed up, An Xiaoning rapidly burrowed through the debris with the help of Fan Shixin and Donggong Lianzhi.
They slowly got out of the basement, only to discover that there seemed to be no one else above.
Fan Shixin touched An Xiaoning gently and pointed at the rope in a bid to seek her opinion on what to do about. An Xiaoning waved her hand, signaling for him to leave it alone.
Fan Shixin and Donggong Lianzhi then helped An Xiaoning up. She peeked inside the house to see that there was no longer anyone around.
An Xiaoning hurriedly climbed up aboveground and uncoiled the rope around her waist. She cast the rope into the basement and said, “Grab it.”
Fan Shixin made his way up, followed by Donggong Lianzhi.
After the two of them made their way aboveground, an unbearable stench began to waft up from the basement.
“Just like I had expected. They released some poisonous gas in an attempt to kill us,” said An Xiaoning.
A sullen expression formed on Donggong Lianzhi’s face. He reached out in a bid to open the door. Unfortunately, it was already locked.
Thinking that they probably would not return any time soon, An Xiaoning walked toward the wall at the back and pushed it forward with all her might.
Thus, there was now an opening for them to exit from.
Although the sky had already turned dark, it was obvious that there hadn’t been an earthquake at all.
An Xiaoning pointed at a small, blinking red light and said, “Do you see that? That’s a surveillance camera.”
Donggong Lianzhi took a closer look to see that it was indeed a surveillance camera. He could not help but feel embarrassed, especially in front of a woman.
There were lots of similar surveillance cameras in the vicinity.
After discussing their next step and mapping out a route, An Xiaoning and Fan Shixin decided to take a detour in order to avoid the surveillance cameras.
They returned to where the car was parked and heaved a sigh of relief once they got inside it.
Donggong Lianzhi said, “Thank you.”
An Xiaoning looked at him and said, “I don’t like hearing ‘thank you.’ If you’d like to thank me, let your actions speak louder than words. You just have to promise me one thing.”
Donggong Lianzhi asked in puzzlement, “What is it? Feel free to speak your mind.”
“We’ll talk again once we return to your home. Do you have any abodes that are meant for servants? If you do, let’s go there instead.”
“Sure.”
….
Donggong Lianzhi brought them to a luxurious estate in the city. “I do own a property here but I haven’t lived here in a long while. I haven’t cleaned it either.”
“It’s alright. Doesn’t matter as long as we can stay inside.”
He nodded and alighted from the car.
They entered the apartment to see that it was well furnished and spacious.
An Xiaoning sprawled herself across the couch and said, “Shixin, you two go and pick Xiao Bai up. Before you come upstairs, please also help me buy some silicon-free shampoo and hair serum. I’m going to take a shower.”
“Alright.”
An Xiaoning headed to the bathroom of one of the rooms and took out a pair of slippers, a bathrobe, and a towel.
She would usually refrain from using the bathtub in someone else’s home. However, she decided to spread some disposable plastic film that she had found across the bathtub and filled it with water before taking a bath.
Due to the fact that she had expended lots of her inner energy tonight, she felt a little feeble and lethargic. Blisters had also formed all over her hands due to the friction from moving the stone bricks.
She only realized it now.
An Xiaoning exited the bathroom in a bathrobe with her damp hair draped across her shoulders. She then sat on the couch and began wiping her hair dry with a towel.
At the same time, they returned.
“Use the hairdryer to dry your hair instead. It’s placed inside the cabinet below the sink.”
“Okay.” She picked up a fresh set of clothes before entering the bathroom. Her hair was already dry when she exited again fifteen minutes later.
Fan Shixin and Donggong Lianzhi were already lying on the couch in fresh clothes.
“Your family will definitely find out that we’re still alive. Their plan has failed and they might not take any further action for now. Hence, I’ve already come up with a plan and I’ll need your cooperation. That’s what I wanted you to promise me.”
“Go ahead and tell me.”
“I’ll need you to give me an identity that I can assume. I want you to allow me to show up in your family’s territory as a stranger. I’ll be wearing a mask.” She then said to Xiao Bai, “Xiao Bai, bring me the mask from my luggage.”
“Yes.” Having already understood what she meant, Donggong Lianzhi asked, “Could you tell me what your plan is, then?”
“Do you think I still need any special plan now? They tried to murder me with no rhyme or reason. The random mural of me is also puzzling enough. I need to find out the reasons for those.”
He had the same qualms as her. “I already have a fiancée, but I can arrange for you to pretend to be my girlfriend who’s in a clandestine relationship with me, if you don’t mind.”
