Chapter 114: Escape
The two of them sat in silence, resting their eyes for a few hours. Luo Mei was the first to open his eyes, "Linlang—it's time to act!"
Linlang also woke up suddenly and listened to the noise outside the warehouse. The two guards were snoring and it seemed that they had fallen asleep long ago.
"Come, spread the cloth on the ground and pour water on it."
Although their arms were tied, they were still able to do this with their backs to each other. In this way, they cooperated with each other, soaked a long piece of cloth, and each of them held one end and twisted the long cloth into a rope.
"Next comes the box."
As planned, the two men lifted the two wooden boxes to the iron-barred window. Luo Mei, using her nimble body, stepped on the boxes to reach the window and tied the middle section of a wet cloth rope to the two iron bars on either side of the window. Lin Lang, on the other hand, secured the two boxes at either end, so that one of them was suspended in the air below the window, about half a person's height.
"Is this okay?" Luo Mei asked.
"Hmm... one more stick is missing." Linlang spotted the rake standing by the wall. It was two meters long, its pole made of sturdy old elm wood. With their backs to each other, Linlang and Luo Mei tied the rake pole diagonally to the underside of the iron fence, firmly pressing it into the mesh.
"Okay, everything is ready, next..."
Luo Mei approached the hanging box and said, "I'm heavier than you. I'll pry open the window."
Linlang nodded, "Then I'll help you up."
As she spoke, Linlang squatted down, letting Luo Mei climb up on her shoulders. When she stood up again, she had supported Luo Mei to a height of nearly 1.7 meters. Luo Mei steadied himself, took aim at the box, and leaped upwards. The box, under immense force, sank suddenly downward. The elm bar stuck in the iron window bars barely broke, but the screws securing the window to the gable wall were pried loose, and the window was yanked free from the wall.
The two were very excited, thinking that this would allow them to escape. However, they did not expect that the collapse of the iron window would cause a huge noise.
A dull loud noise of "warehouse" suddenly woke up the two guards who were dozing off at the warehouse door.
"What's going on?" "What happened?"
The two ghost-faced men, awakened by the loud noise, walked towards the window. Linlang and Luo Mei were startled, knowing that it was impossible to escape quietly.
"Linlang, they will definitely report to the leader, and then it will be too late for us to leave!" Luo Mei said gritting his teeth.
"But... we haven't had time to untie the ropes that bind us yet!"
"No, if we're tied up like this, neither of us can get far!" Luo Mei thought for a moment, "How about this, you run to the weeds, and I'll run to the garden in the other direction. It's better for us to separate than to be caught together."
Linlang was still a little hesitant, but the two men with ghost faces had already discovered them.
"There he is! He's trying to run! Catch him back quickly!"
Luo Mei was anxious, "Don't dawdle, just do as I say and run!"
Linlang had no choice but to obey Luo Mei's instructions and ran towards the dense wormwood bushes without looking back. As for Luo Mei, she could only pray in her heart that she could escape safely.
The wormwood bushes on the northeast side of the garden, adjacent to a tributary of the canal, grew tall and dense, allowing Linlang to hide within them. However, Luo Mei chose to flee toward the garden, clearly exposing her whereabouts to the enemy's sight, drawing the Ghost-Faced Man's full attention to her and buying her ample time.
Linlang knew that Luo Mei had sacrificed her chance of escape to ensure she could escape the Ghost-Faced Man's grasp. She couldn't help but feel grateful, and secretly resolved to rescue her from his clutches.
The entire wormwood patch covered a large area on the north side of the stream and the garden. Someone had dug a water channel from the stream directly to the garden, and it ran across the middle of the flower bed, dividing the garden area into four parts. The water outlet was the water hole that Linlang had followed.
Linlang hid in the weeds for the entire night. She heard no more sounds outside, and it was almost dawn. If she waited until daybreak, even if she hid in the weeds, she would be discovered quickly. The most urgent thing was to find another hiding place.
Just as she was pondering where she could go to avoid capture and how she could find out about Luo Mei's situation, she suddenly noticed two people talking under a banyan tree in the center of a nearby flowerbed. Upon closer inspection, they were the female doctor, Vina Yun, and a short, elderly man. Linlang could clearly hear what they were saying.
"Uncle Ma, can't you help her? She looks so pitiful." Vina Yun's tone was sincere.
"It's not that I don't want to help. You saw those people, too. They're all ruthless. I wouldn't dare mess with them. But that girl wasn't hurt either."
"Although it seems those people won't do anything to her for now, there's no telling when they'll strike! Uncle Ma, after all, you can come and go freely, and you have the opportunity to rescue her. If anything happens to her, I'll not only let down my friend, but also bring shame to the merciful Lord."
The old man kept shaking his head. "No, no! You'd better find another way. I have to go take care of the flower garden, um... take care of the flower garden..."
After saying this, the old man ignored Vina Yun's pleading and walked to the other side of the flower garden without looking back.
Vina Yun looked very lost, sighed deeply, and unknowingly walked towards the wormwood bush where Linlang lived.
Linlang pondered Vina Yun's words, figuring she was planning to rescue the captured Luo Mei, and the "friend" she was referring to was probably herself. If that was the case, she might as well take a gamble and ask her to help her out of this predicament.
Thinking of this, Linlang inched her way from the depths of the wormwood bush to the edge. Just then, Vina Yun, looking distraught, approached. She summoned her courage and softly called out, "Doctor Yun!"
Vina Yun was startled by the sudden voice, "Who?"
Linlang emerged from the weeds and came to her side, "It's me!"
"Ms. Lin? Why are you here?"
"I escaped from the warehouse last night and have been hiding here."
Vina Yun looked around and saw that there was no one around, so she pulled Linlang and walked quickly to the shade of the tree beside the back wall of the hospital.
"Those people are looking for you now. As soon as the sun comes up, they will search the wormwood bushes thoroughly."
"How is my friend Luo Mei? Has she been captured?" Linlang asked anxiously.
"Yes! They've got your friend tied up in the church basement, gagged, and hanging from a beam. There's no way she'll get away this time."
Linlang felt sad, thinking that Luo Mei had suffered so much in order to save her and escape. She couldn't just stand by and do nothing!
"Just now I heard you talking to that old woman, asking her for help?"
Vina Yun sighed. "That old man is a gardener in the flower garden. His name is Ma Lao Ba, and he's almost sixty years old. I asked him for help because he can come and go freely between the hospital and the church. No one is restricting him. Even those who believe in Satan don't care about his comings and goings."
I see. Asking him for help is indeed a good idea.
"But he doesn't seem to want to lend a helping hand..." Linlang said.
"Yes, that Ma Lao Ba is aloof and indifferent by nature. He always seems to be indifferent to everything and is always afraid of getting into trouble. It seems that it is difficult to rely on him for help..." Vina Yun frowned, "How about you hide in my place for a while, wait until the storm has died down, and then find a way to save your friend."
"Where do you live?"
Vina Yun pointed in the direction of the residential area not far from the hospital. "There are several buildings there that are dormitories for the hospital's doctors and nurses. I live in a more remote, independent room. Not many people come here, so it should be safer."
In this case, Linlang couldn't refuse, and there was no other way at the moment, so she had to follow her and carefully hide in a house on the edge of the town.
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