elevator
Tao Chu was waiting for the elevator when someone suddenly called.
This is a new cell phone that Grandma just bought yesterday. She only used it to contact Wen Yunsheng to ask how he was recovering—but this caller ID doesn't belong to him.
Tao Chu glanced at the elevator, which was stopped on the 14th floor and hadn't come up yet, so he answered the phone first, but didn't speak.
After a few seconds of silence, the other person finally spoke: "Tao Chu, it's me."
Shen Yingchang!
Tao Chu squinted, but still didn't speak.
"I have something I want to tell you. Are you free now?"
His voice was low and tired, as if he didn't have the energy to explain over the phone, so he went straight to the point and asked to meet.
He probably still thought that Tao Chu was kept in the dark and regarded him as a teammate.
The thought of Cen Le's death and the old phone that most likely ended up in his hands made Tao Chu's suppressed resentment about to burst forth.
But since he went to the trouble of finding out her newly registered phone number, he probably also knows that she lives at her grandmother's house, so she can't easily break off relations.
As long as she continues to delay until Tao Guohua agrees to report Wen Tao and stirs up an even bigger storm, she will have the opportunity to pry open a deeper crack.
"You haven't sent a single word to me for so many days. Where have you been hiding? Didn't you accompany Cen Le to the hospital? I haven't seen you since."
Shen Yingchang chuckled softly, a laugh that made Tao Chu feel a little uneasy.
She watched the elevator head up to the 19th floor, estimating it would take about half a minute.
"I'm about to get into the elevator. If anything comes up, I'll contact you later."
“Tao Chu, I know you went back to Cen Le’s house.” Shen Yingchang paused, then continued, “Your mother’s phone is with me. Let’s meet and talk.”
Tao Chu, seeing that the elevator was about to come down, said, "Let's talk about it later."
Before she could hang up, Shen Yingchang left with the words, "I'm on your side!"
Tao Chu put down his phone, stepped into the elevator that had just opened, pressed the button for the first floor, and thought about what Shen Yingchang had just said.
The elevator stopped after going down a few floors. Tao Chu glanced at it and saw it was the 14th floor again.
She instinctively took two steps back to make room near the door. The two men entered the elevator one after the other, both staring intently at her.
Tao Chu sensed something was wrong and tried to squeeze out of the elevator, but they blocked her way. One of the men, who had a small mustache, reached out and pressed the close button on the elevator.
Tao Chu shoved aside the tallest man who was closest to him, causing him to crash into the side of the elevator, which shook violently.
Seeing that the elevator doors were already halfway closed, Tao Chu stretched out his arm to block them.
But before her hand could even reach the area where the elevator door could be detected, the bearded man had already drawn his knife and turned around to intercept her.
Seeing the blade aimed directly at her wrist, Tao Chu could only quickly pull her hand back and take a step back to create room to maneuver.
The door closed slowly, and the elevator descended at a steady speed.
The tall man she had just pushed away also pulled out a dagger and stabbed at her from the side.
Tao Chu knew he couldn't be cornered, so he stepped forward to the right and swept his leg, taking the initiative to attack the bearded man standing in front of the elevator buttons.
The bearded man was kicked in the shin by her, and as he stumbled, he raised his knife and tried to stab her from above.
Tao Chu reached out to grab the knife, and in the struggle, the tall man stabbed her in the side in the exposed waist and abdomen, sending a sharp pain through her.
The knife was pulled out, and then it was about to be stabbed into her body again.
She glanced down at her wound, where blood was gushing out. But caught in the stalemate, she couldn't turn around to fight back. So, she endured the pain and kicked the bearded man in a vital spot, taking his knife from him.
While he was bent over and wailing, Tao Chu lunged forward and pressed all the floor buttons.
As long as the elevator doors open again, she can call for help or escape.
She remained huddled in the cramped elevator, surrounded by the two of them. Even with two more hands, she wouldn't have been able to defend herself.
She covered her wound with one hand, held the knife up to them with the other, and pressed her back against the elevator wall to avoid being attacked from both sides.
The tall man lunged forward without hesitation, but Tao Chu brandished the knife he had snatched to stop him from getting close.
The bearded man, now unarmed, dared not make a move. He stared intently at her, then moved toward the elevator door, preparing to ambush Tao Chu.
The gleaming blade, the swaying sedan chair—in the blink of an eye, Tao Chu was stabbed several more times in the arm, but fortunately none of them were fatal.
"bite--"
The elevator stopped, and Tao Chu tried to squeeze out, but the bearded man used his body as a shield and bumped straight into her. She immediately sheathed her knife and stabbed him in the heart and lungs.
He couldn't block with his arm in time. After being stabbed, his face contorted in a ferocious expression, like a mountain of flesh pressing down on Tao Chu, reaching out to grab her neck.
Tao Chu was squeezed into the corner of the elevator buttons, watching as the elevator doors slowly closed again.
She cried out for help, struggling to push the bearded man away in a desperate attempt to save her life, which aggravated her wounds and made her veins throb with pain.
Before she could even lift the mountain of flesh, the tall man, realizing she was trapped, stabbed at her exposed neck without hesitation.
Tao Chu had nowhere to escape, so he could only raise his hand holding the knife to defend himself. The sound of the blades grinding against each other was so loud it made one's teeth ache and one's heart race.
When his first attack missed, he sheathed his sword and struck again, racing against time to take her life.
Tao Chu bent her arms to protect her head and neck while kicking away the bearded man who was lying on top of her. Bright red blood was spilled all over the ground, and it was unclear whether it was hers or the bearded man's.
The excruciating pain in her arms and abdomen left her without the strength to even cry for help, let alone get up and fight back.
The elevator stopped two or three more times, but the bearded man's body was still blocking the doorway. Tao Chu could only curl up in the corner and use her bloodied arms to protect her vitals.
Finally, she heard a scream as the elevator doors opened—they had arrived at the first floor.
"Get out!" The tall man, his eyes bloodshot, roared as he brandished his blood-stained knife.
The two people waiting for the elevator outside scattered like birds when they saw this scene, and no one noticed that there was a girl in the corner.
Just as the elevator doors were about to close again, Tao Chu, conserving her strength, gritted her teeth, pushed off the ground, stood up, bent over, took two steps, stepped over the fallen bearded man, and rushed out.
The tall man, who had thought she was half-dead, was shocked and hurriedly chased after her with a knife.
Tao Chu covered her wound and stumbled out, blood seeping from between her fingers and dripping all the way.
She was in a daze, only remembering that turning left after exiting the building entrance led to the west gate of the complex, where there might be security guards...
But when he looked down, a dark figure had already caught up from behind.
The man grabbed her long hair and pulled her into his arms, then held the knife horizontally, ready to slit her throat.
But the hair in my hand suddenly slipped—it was a wig!
He looked at the short-haired girl in front of him in surprise.
Tao Chu turned around and used her last bit of strength to kick him, then fell down on the steps in front of the building entrance.
"Help—" she screamed desperately, but her voice was so weak it was almost inaudible.
Shen Yingchang waited for several days, and today he finally saw Tao Chu come out.
He guessed that the information online was from Tao Chu himself, and although the counterattack was powerful, it was also very dangerous.
In addition, his progress was not going smoothly, and he needed to communicate further with Tao Chu to reach an agreement.
However, Tao Chu had already become wary of him and seemed unlikely to see him easily.
After hanging up the phone, he got out of the silver sedan and paced back and forth beside Tao Chu's car, waiting for his prey to come to him.
But after waiting for several minutes, she still hadn't arrived.
They just said they were going into the elevator—could they have already seen me? Shen Yingchang looked up at the lit entrance to the building.
"It scared me to death, there was blood everywhere—"
"That person was lying at the elevator entrance, is he already dead?"
Two people hurried past him, looking panicked.
After hearing their conversation, Shen Yingchang immediately ran towards the apartment building.
He saw a figure crawling with difficulty on the ground, while a man on the steps chased after him with a knife.
He first shouted angrily to attract attention: "Stop!"
Then, instinctively reaching for his gun at his lower back, he remembered he had been suspended from duty. So he took out his extendable baton, unfolded it, and rushed forward to fight.
The tall man's knife was knocked from his hand by the stick, and Shen Yingchang stabbed him in the abdomen with the stick, shoving him backward.
After forcing him back, Shen Yingchang kicked the knife away before he could even turn around and glance at the people below the steps.
Tao Chu crawled halfway into the nearby bushes, as if trying to hide inside.
But at this moment she lay motionless, the other half of her body still on the concrete ground.
Under the streetlights, a trail of blood remained behind her.
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