The Last Chance to Escape

"No... impossible! How could this happen?"

Just as Li Mucheng and Su Yuxin, escorted by security personnel, were making their way up the mountain, Li Mucheng froze in place as if struck by lightning the moment she saw the blinking red dot on her phone disappear.

Su Yuxin, who had been walking with her head down, noticed Li Mucheng’s abrupt halt and sensed something was wrong. It seemed likely that Ye Feng was facing another crisis, so she stepped closer and asked softly, "Wh-what’s wrong, Mucheng?"

Li Mucheng ignored Su Yuxin’s question, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared fixedly at her phone screen.

"No... no, it must just be a minor glitch. I just need to restart the program."

She muttered to herself, clearly unable to accept what had just happened.

"That device was so well hidden—there’s no way Xie Yuyan could’ve found it... No way... This can’t be..."

"Mucheng, can you tell me what’s going on? Maybe I can help."

Seeing Li Mucheng shift from calm to frantic, Su Yuxin grew increasingly uneasy and leaned in to look at the phone. Once she saw what was happening, she understood the reason for Li Mucheng’s distress.

"Mucheng... did you put a tracker on Ye Feng?"

"How... how did you know?"

At the mention of the tracker, Li Mucheng snapped out of her daze. A suspicion formed in her mind—Su Yuxin seemed to know about this. Maybe...

"Actually, I... I also put a similar device in the stuffed toy I gave Ye Feng. But I haven’t had the chance to activate it yet."

Hearing that Su Yuxin had done the same, Li Mucheng didn’t bother arguing. She quickly stuffed her phone back into her pocket and grabbed Su Yuxin’s shoulders urgently.

"Yuxin! Please, can you find out where he is? I promised to protect him... I promised..."

"Mucheng..."

Su Yuxin had never seen Li Mucheng like this before. In her mind, Li Mucheng had always been the epitome of cool, composed intelligence. But now, her expression was downright frightening.

Still, Su Yuxin quickly snapped out of her own shock and pulled out a small smart tablet from her bag. She had originally planned to test the tracking device in the strawberry plushie while making an excuse to step away, but things had escalated too suddenly. Now was the time to use it.

Beep.

With a few taps from Su Yuxin, the screen lit up with a soft chime. Meanwhile, a distraught Li Mucheng leaned in closer.

"Please... we have to find him..."

As the screen flickered, Su Yuxin expected to see Ye Feng’s location appear on the map. Instead, all that showed up was static—a mess of white noise.

"Wh-what?! Xie Yuyan even accounted for this?!"

Her fingers trembled as she frantically tapped the controls, but the tracker refused to respond. It was then that both of them realized Xie Yuyan had likely cut off every possible way to track Ye Feng.

"How... how is this possible? How did Xie Yuyan know I tampered with the strawberry plushie? How did she figure it out?!"

With no way left to locate Ye Feng, Su Yuxin turned to Li Mucheng with desperate eyes. Clearly, she had no idea what to do—after all, Ye Feng had never taught her these skills.

"No! I can’t give up! He’s still waiting for me. I won’t let him down!"

Having lost all other options, Li Mucheng didn’t even glance back at Su Yuxin, who stood frozen in place. She simply turned and marched up the mountain with her team, leaving Su Yuxin behind.

But just as she had gone a few dozen meters, Su Yuxin’s voice called out from behind.

"Mucheng! Wait... I might still have another way!"

"Another way?"

......

Thud.

A heavy sound echoed as Xie Yuyan dumped Ye Feng inside a natural cave. Watching him panting weakly, she crouched down and gently stroked his head.

"Ye Feng, why won’t you just yield? Do you really care about those so-called students of yours? Don’t you see? I’m the one who loves you the most..."

"Ha... ha..."

Ye Feng glared at her from the corner of his eye, his expression complicated as he spoke.

"Xie Yuyan, you still don’t understand where you went wrong, do you? My heart never changed. It was you... you who pushed me away, step by step."

"You’re lying!"

At his words, Xie Yuyan’s calm demeanor shattered instantly, her voice erupting into uncontrolled fury.

"You’re the one who kept getting close to those women! You never gave your heart to me!"

"No... Xie Yuyan, you’re wrong. I’ve always... always loved you..."

"Enough!"

Her scream reverberated through the cave, followed by an oppressive silence.

"Do you really think a few sweet words will make me believe you? The old me might’ve fallen for your lies, but not anymore."

"......"

Seeing her reaction, Ye Feng sighed deeply. He knew nothing he said would convince her. Better to save his strength and wait for a chance to escape.

"Hah... now you’re silent? Finally realizing your tricks won’t work?"

When he didn’t respond, Xie Yuyan sneered, though her body trembled involuntarily.

"Say something! Why won’t you speak?! You must be guilty... you must be!"

Her voice shook as she shouted, knowing full well that her loud accusations only betrayed her own insecurity.

She couldn’t accept the truth—that Ye Feng had loved her all along. Because deep down, she knew she had already crossed a point of no return. There was no turning back now.

"Ye Feng... just wait here quietly. I’ll be back soon."

After one last glance at his motionless form, Xie Yuyan turned and left, though unease still gnawed at her. The search teams were closing in, and if she didn’t intervene, they’d find her hideout soon.

Only when her footsteps faded did Ye Feng finally relax. To avoid falling for another one of Xie Yuyan’s traps, he decided to stay put for a while, biding his time. After all, this might be his last chance to escape.