"Tat-tat... tat-tat..."
In the Primitive Forest near the southern border of Huaxia, gunshots erupted, startled birds took flight, and several figures dashed through the dappled tree shadows of the dense jungle. Their guns mercilessly spat deadly bullets, periodically felling someone, yet those who remained never paused for even a moment as they continued their relentless sprint.
These people resembled a pack of wild beasts, completely unfazed by the life or death of their comrades. Those in front were desperate to shake off their pursuers, while those behind sought only to claim the lives of the fleeing victims.
"Another one's down! What do we do, what do we do?" Now only four people remained in the front group, but only three were running; one of them carried a woman on his back. The woman, seeing another person fall beside her, suddenly cried out in shock.
The three running men were clad in camouflaged attire, agile and swift. They zigzagged irregularly, using trees and other objects to shield themselves from bullets while continuously returning fire.
The woman was dressed in a light green long dress, now tattered and stained with blood, particularly around her right lower leg. Barefoot, she appeared quite wretched.
"Miss Su, we will definitely escort you back..." A burly man beside her had just uttered these words when several bullets tore holes into him. His body lurched forward a few steps, crashing into a sapling, before falling silent.
This time, the woman did not cry out. The group that had been escorting her had started with six members, but now they were dwindling, reduced to merely the last two. Although their pursuers had suffered more casualties, they simply outnumbered them by far. With more than ten still on their tail, it seemed unlikely they would make it across the border before they would all meet their end in this place.
"Give me a dagger," the woman said softly to the man carrying her.
"They're very strong." Without pausing his stride, the man carrying her replied tersely, abruptly sidestepping as several new bullet holes appeared in a tree where they had just been.
"I want it for suicide," the woman replied coldly.
"I will get you out of here," the man confidently responded, firing a shot backward; an enemy fell at the sound.
"Now only three are left... it's just the two of us now. Are you still sure you can get me out? Give me the dagger!" As the woman spoke, another of their companions fell.
"I can!" In the midst of speaking, the man had already sprinted another thirty meters. Carrying somebody on his back, his pace was not the slightest bit hindered.
"You... I can die, but I absolutely cannot die in disgrace."
"If I truly can't get you out, I will kill you."
There was not a hint of emotion in the man's words, but it brought a measure of reassurance to the woman. Her name was Su Mengxin, a beauty unparalleled and of eminent standing, celebrated as the most beautiful woman in Huaxia. Even in death, she refused a humiliating end.
Bullets whizzed continually by Su Mengxin's ears but never struck her, which she found almost inconceivable. Now that they were the sole targets, the enemy's gunfire was entirely focused on them. The man maneuvered, sometimes ducking low, sometimes sprinting swiftly, sometimes turning sharply. Despite nearly ten minutes of this, she was still alive—miraculously so.
This reignited her hope once again, perhaps this man could truly take her back.
However, her hope was quickly dashed by a raging river ahead, five to six meters wide. Although the current wasn't swift, crossing the river would definitely slow them down compared to moving on land, making them living targets.
"Splash!" All Su Mengxin felt was a sudden chill, and she was already in the river, inwardly cursing the man's stupidity. They should be running along the riverbank, not jumping into the river.
What happened next angered her even more. With a ripping sound, her skirt was torn off by the man. Although they were underwater and her modesty wasn't completely compromised, it was certainly not something she could tolerate.
"Hold your breath and dive," the man ordered, and had already pulled her under the water before Su Mengxin could even respond.
The man held Su Mengxin close and swiftly swam upstream. After covering more than thirty meters, he stopped, still not surfacing.
By then, Su Mengxin had been underwater for almost a minute. The extreme lack of air made her lightheaded, and she instinctively clung onto the man—a natural reaction for someone drowning, inevitable even for a proud woman like Mengxin.
Suddenly, air rushed into her mouth, and she eagerly inhaled, her mind slowly clearing up. She realized her mouth was sealed by another mouth, the air being transferred from his to her.
As she tipped her head back, Su Mengxin broke away from the man's lips, struggling to push him away, but he held her tightly, immobilizing her.
Su Mengxin was infuriated, not expecting that the person who had been protecting her this whole time would be the first to dishonor her in such a moment.
"Ratatat..." A burst of gunfire reached her ears. She immediately stopped moving, and realized that what she perceived as a violation was only the protective man preventing her from drowning.
The sound of gunfire continued without pause; she could even feel several bullets whizzing past them. Clearly, being under the water was far safer than being on land.
Once again, as the oxygen was about to run out, Su Mengxin's chest felt like it was going to explode. The man's mouth approached her again, and after resisting for a moment, she surrendered to her desperate need for air, pressing her lips against his and greedily sucking in the oxygen.
Finally, the gunfire slowly faded away. Su Mengxin tried to surface, but the man still held her tightly, not letting her out, which made her suspect that he was taking the opportunity to kiss her a few more times.
"Ratatat..." Another round of gunfire was followed by voices. Su Mengxin's heart shook violently. Thankfully, she hadn't surfaced just then, or she would have turned into a real target. It was clear now that the shooters had been waiting for them on the shore, only leaving after confirming that the pair was not there.
By the time they reached the opposite bank, Su Mengxin felt extremely embarrassed. She was now only in her underwear and being held by a man, a feeling that left her mortified.
"Here you are!" The man set her down and took off his camouflage jacket for her, leaving his muscular torso clad in just a tight black tank top.
Su Mengxin hurriedly put on the jacket. Although it was somewhat large for her tall, five-foot-seven frame, it fit well enough. Unfortunately, a long wound on her left leg was strikingly visible, marring her elegance.