Chapter 14: A Chance of Life

Edited by Lord Immortal

The pig cage fell into the river with Xie Mengxuan inside. Clinging to the ground, Geng Zhishan made a desperate effort to shake off the shackles but failed as others strained to keep him down.

What Xie Mengxuan saw before drowning was that Geng Zhishan, who had no choice but to act dumb, shouted ‘darling’ in great pain. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed. It was apparent that she had lost the bet.

Seeing Xie Mengxuan treating her impending death calmly as if “going home”, Geng Zhishan was terrified out of his wits. He immediately got rid of others and stood up with all his might. Although he stumbled a little at first, he still made a dash for the riverside.

He clearly saw something drop from the sleeve of Xie Mengxuan. It was a dagger as long as a thumb! The instant he pounced to catch hold of it, the Zhao brothers took the hint from Aunt Cui and pressed upon him tightly together with other strong men.

“Stop him, and don’t let him halt the trial of River God!” clapped Aunt Cui, who was watching the pig cage being washed away by the swift current.

Within the blink of an eye, the girl in red inside the pig cage disappeared in the rushing water.

Geng Zhishan struggled to get free, but more and more people pounced on him. He yelled and screamed, but nothing changed.

Until he was finally tired out and the pig cage completely disappeared from sight, Aunt Cui waved her hand, “Well, it seems that Mrs. Geng has been deemed guilty by Rive God. Don’t be sad, Geng Zhishan. There are a number of beautiful girls in our village. As your auntie, I’ll be the matchmaker to find you a pretty wife with fertility.”

The Zhao brothers and other muscular men climbed up while being out of breath. With his eyes red from anger, Geng Zhishan looked up at Aunt Cui and stumbled to his feet. Gasping, as tears crossed his face, he said in a hoarse voice, “If anything untoward should happen to my wife, all of you present would be murderers!”

Having finished speaking, he speeded down the riverside.

Since the current was swift and she was trapped in such a narrow space of the pig cage, Xie Mengxuan nearly gave up while feeling the pain as the current exerted an impact against her injured leg.

However, due to her survival instincts, Xie Mengxuan endured the impact of the current around her and managed to open her eyes under the river. Unbearable though the stabbing pain was, she still struggled to keep her eyes open to observe the surroundings in order to seize a chance to live.

The pig cage swung in the rushing waters randomly. Xie Mengxuan reached into her sleeve to look for the thumb-sized dagger only to find nothing. A flash of desperation appeared in her eyes. With a wobble, the pig cage hit an underwater rock.

Due to the agonizing pain, Xie Mengxuan could not help giving out a breath but held it shortly afterward.

Considering the fact that she was a poor swimmer, she couldn’t hold the breath for a long time. It was vital for her to get out of the pig cage as soon as possible. Otherwise, she would die.

With effort, Xie Mengxuan struggled to untie the string at the top of the pig cage. Due to her shaky movements, she almost strained herself to the limit before successfully undoing the rope with her weak hands.

Under the strong will to survive, she forced herself to hold her breath for a relatively longer duration. She preferred to live rather than die here.

Holding this firm belief, she successfully untied the string. With a sweep of her hands, she managed to float up. Unfortunately, her injured leg got stuck in the pig cage.

Lowering her head, Xie Mengxuan finally reached her limit, bursting bubbles from her mouth. Due to a deep sense of unease, she could not help taking a breath. The moment the water entered her nose, she felt suffocated with her eyes opened wide. Purely on instinct, she began to struggle only to undermine the strength.

She ran out of oxygen and felt dizzy soon after. Instead of struggling, she flew along with the current.

“Am I going to die?”

Xie Mengxuan slowly lifted her hand and found everything vague and blurry. In a daze, she seemed to see a white figure come straight to her.

Before she could make out who the white figure was, she fell into the deep darkness.

Geng Zhishan didn’t know Xie Mengxuan was struggling between life and death under the river. He ran like the wind along the riverside but was soon stopped by a man.

The man was a mystery, garbed in a large black robe with his face and body so well covered that he didn’t expose even a little bit of his skin.

“You can’t.” The man in black robe said in a low and deep voice as if he had experienced many vicissitudes of life.

Standing with his back straight, Geng Zhishan took a deep breath, “She’ll die.”

“She won’t.” The man in black gave a quick response.

Geng Zhishan looked up at him and went forward with hope in his eyes. “Where is she?”

“It doesn’t matter where she is. She won’t die, and very soon, she’ll be back. Keep in mind your identity, Geng Zhishan!”

His last words meant a warning. With a heavy breath, Geng Zhishan clenched his fists, and his veins protruded in anger. “If I can’t protect those I love and care, why should I keep my identity in mind?”

“Stupid!” The man in black waved his sleeve to force him back and then scolded him. “If you are exposed, our plan over all these years will be disrupted.”

Still worried about Xie Mengxuan, Geng Zhishan hesitated. “But she…”

“Beauty tends to confuse the mind. A heavy burden still lies on your shoulders, Geng Zhishan.” The man in black softened his voice. “I can guarantee her safety. The one who set up this pitfall has saved her life.”

“It’s a trap?” Geng Zhishan was amazed. Was that man the one who set up this ploy? Why did he do this? What was his purpose?

Having noticed that he was absent-minded, the man in black gave a displeased snort and said in a low voice, “It seems that it was wrong for the master to order you to protect Xie Mengxuan since you haven’t found that it was a scheme.”

“It’s due to my ignorance.” Geng Zhishan restrained himself and lowered his head with his hands folded.

With a sweep of his sleeve, the man in black robe said, “You’d better be aware of this point. Go, and continue to play the role of Geng Zhishan.”

Having finished speaking, the man disappeared. Standing still, Geng Zhishan took a deep breath. What should he do? Go ahead to look for Xie Mengxuan? Or, go back to being Geng Zhishan?

He should have already known the answer, but looking at the current, he finally put his hand close to his lips and imitated several notes of birds.

After three notes, there was nothing but silence. After a long while during which one could have a cup of tea, a black figure jumped from the top of a tree and went down on his knee. “My young master, here I am.”

Now that the man in black, his top-notch bodyguard, had appeared, Geng Zhishan became aware that it was safe all around.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Geng Zhishan seemed to be from a noble family regardless of the coarse clothes he was wearing. “Go look for her together with me.”

“According to the teacher’s order, you are not allowed to save her.” The man in black said by instinct.

Pissed off with his response, Geng Zhishan gave him a slap. “Since you are now under my charge, you should obey my order. If not, I’ll call another bodyguard.”

Nevertheless, the man in black maintained the kneeling posture. “My young master, you can’t. At present, you can only be Geng Zhishan, an incompetent peasant.”

Geng Zhishan’s eyes darkened, and all of a sudden, he seized the bodyguard by the throat and gradually tightened his grip.