Chapter 41
In the dim light of the bedroom, the monitor's brightness was just enough to illuminate the woman's profile.
With a flick of the finger, another line of text appeared on the screen...
At the summit of Moon Cliff Mountain, shrouded in mist, the entire mountain appears like a fairyland, both real and ethereal, possessing an inexplicable allure.
Xiang Wan stood on the mountaintop and looked down. The bottom of the cliff was unfathomable, and even the air seemed colder than elsewhere.
She stood on the edge of the cliff for a while, then headed towards the woods nearby.
The trees were so dense that sunlight couldn't penetrate them. Even though it was midday, the woods felt as gloomy as if the sun had just set.
Xiang Wan stood in the middle of the woods, completely lost.
After several failed attempts to get out on her own, she finally gave up and stood there waiting for rescue.
While she was waiting, she was drawn to a flower blooming on a haystack.
However, when she stepped forward, she accidentally lost her footing and fell into the dry well under the haystack.
Xiang Wan screamed in fright at the sudden drop, and by the time she realized what was happening, she was already at the bottom of the well.
However, before she could even cry for help, she locked eyes with the giant python coiled inside the dry well...
The woman paused on the keyboard at this point, but only hesitated for a moment before continuing: [Xiang Wan had no time to struggle before the giant python devoured her.]
*
On the other hand, Xiang Wan was completely unaware of her impending demise in the book.
She and Chen Yan were climbing the last set of steps, and when they reached the top of the mountain, they both looked relieved.
"We reached the summit."
"Um."
After reaching the top of the mountain, Xiang Wan walked towards the edge of the cliff and looked down at the bottom.
Chen Yan, who was standing nearby, walked towards the wooden house next to the woods, trying to buy a bottle of mineral water to rinse Xiang Wan's wound.
Just now, not far from the mountainside, Xiang Wan tripped over an empty can that a tourist had carelessly discarded on the steps, resulting in some abrasions on her elbow.
He only brought two bottles of water, which he and Xiang Wan had both drunk from. Since there were bacteria in them, he couldn't treat her wound.
Chen Yan remembered that he had brought iodine swabs and band-aids with him before he set off yesterday, but for some reason, he couldn't find them in his backpack.
He entered the wooden house and found that it was a small convenience store. He figured Xiang Wan must be a little hungry, so in addition to water, he also bought a few tea eggs.
When he came out of the convenience store, he saw Xiang Wan standing alone on the mountaintop, looking down at the bottom of the cliff, seemingly gazing at something.
She had her back to him, so Chen Yan couldn't see her expression; he could only see her somewhat desolate and thin back.
Chen Yan, holding a tea egg, slowly walked up behind her: "Sister, what are you looking at?"
Upon hearing his voice, Xiang Wan neither jumped in fright nor turned around, but instead asked him a question: "Chen Yan, have you seen any other tourists along the way?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Yan was initially confused. After thinking about it carefully, his expression gradually became strange: "I remember there were quite a lot of people when we climbed halfway up the mountain, but it seems like we didn't encounter anyone else after that."
He glanced around and saw no one else around, not even the convenience store they had just visited. It was a self-service convenience store.
Combined with the thick fog covering the mountain, it was truly eerie.
What sent chills down his spine even more was that he hadn't even noticed anything amiss before Xiang Wan asked him.
Chen Yan handed the tea egg to Xiang Wan, then stood beside her and looked around warily: "Sister, I feel like something's not right. Let's hurry up and take the cable car down the mountain after you finish your tea egg."
Xiang Wan held the warm tea egg in her hand, seemingly ignoring his words, and even stared blankly for a while.
Whenever she encounters bad luck, her eyelids twitch uncontrollably.
On the morning the four of them caught each other cheating twice in a row, her eyelids started twitching uncontrollably.
This morning too.
The most frightening thing for a person is facing the unknown. Xiang Wan stared at the tea egg for a long time, but in the end, she didn't eat it. Instead, she casually put it into her shirt pocket.
"Let's go, Chen Yan." Chen Yan didn't say anything, but obediently followed behind her.
The cable car is at the end of the forest, and to get down the mountain, they have to go through the forest, unless they want to go back down the way they came.
The two walked through the woods one after the other, only to find that every tree was very similar, making it look like an entire artificially replicated forest.
Moreover, because the branches were dense enough, it felt more like dusk when they entered the woods.
Yueya Mountain has been a scenic area for decades, and no tourist has ever complained about how big the forest they have to walk through to take the cable car down the mountain is.
In other words, this forest should be a place where you could find your way out the moment you entered. But now they're lost.
Chen Yan searched everywhere for an exit, while Xiang Wan stood rooted to the spot, feeling utterly powerless. She knew that this time, it was that unseen force pulling the strings again.
Just like the day she was reborn in Xinbei Town, she had made thorough preparations and asked Uncle Zhang, the driver, to bring a spare tire, but it disappeared into thin air.
When Xiang Wan returned to Beiyi from Lijiacun, she personally checked every car in the villa, but the spare tire had vanished as if it had never been there.
Everyone thought the tire was missing, but only Xiang Wan knew that the person behind the incident was responsible.
And the grove of trees on Yueya Mountain today is the same creation.
Xiang Wan didn't know why the other party had trapped her, but she didn't waste her energy any more and chose to stand still and wait for rescue.
Chen Yan, oblivious to the pushing hand, continued searching for a way out. Xiang Wan didn't stop him; she quietly observed her surroundings, but was drawn to an inconspicuous flower.
A purple-blue flower bloomed on a haystack. Although it was wild, it was growing very vigorously. However, what caught Xiang Wan's attention was not its beauty, but its scientific name.
Cornflowers symbolize pure love. In her previous life, after she passed away, Chen Ruilin also placed a bunch of cornflowers at her grave.
Xiang Wan stared intently at the flowers, feeling that it was no coincidence that they were there.
Like some kind of ritual, the place where the cornflowers bloom is the grave that the one who pushed them forward arranged for her. In other words—
Today, this is her grave.
Realizing this, Xiang Wan was initially terrified, but then gradually calmed down. Her expression was composed as she looked at Chen Yan, who was still searching for a way out, and was about to give him some instructions.
But then he unexpectedly saw a venomous snake at his feet, blending seamlessly into the haystack…
Xiang Wan didn't know much about plants and animals, but the snake with intricate and vibrant patterns was right next to Chen Yan's feet.
The more vibrant the flower's color, the more toxic it tends to be.
For a moment, her scalp tingled, and she wanted to speak up and tell him not to make any rash moves, but it was too late.
In a split second, she ran toward the snake, trying to scare it away with the stick in her hand, but she unexpectedly fell into a trap and stepped on a haystack covered with cornflowers as she rushed over.
Beneath the haystack lay a long-abandoned well. Xiang Wan was startled by the sudden fall and instinctively tried to grab something, but apart from the cornflower, she couldn't grasp anything.
Apart from the sticky feeling on my palms when I fell to the bottom of the well.
Xiang Wan thought the stickiness came from moss growing on the well wall because it hadn't been cleaned for years, until she opened her eyes and met a pair of dark green vertical pupils.
"..."
"!"
"!!!"
Inside the dry well, which was two meters in diameter, the giant python occupied at least half of the space. Half of its body was coiled on the well wall, and the other half was at the bottom.
The python's orifice was a deep, dark green, and its gaze toward Xiang Wan was like that of someone looking at a delicious prey, determined to have her.
After realizing her predicament, Xiang Wan's body remained tense.
She had thought she would die here, but she never imagined her death would be so unglamorous.
Her voice was cut off for several seconds due to extreme fear. It wasn't until Chen Yan heard the sound of her falling that he leaned over the well and anxiously asked, "Xiang Wan, are you alright?"
The well was very dark. Even if Chen Yan completely cleared away the haystack at the entrance, he could only see the general area and not Xiang Wan's exact location.
His voice sounded anxious, and Xiang Wan could infer that he had not been bitten by the venomous snake at his feet.
Or perhaps there was no venomous snake at all, but rather a trap that led her into it. Now, she has dug her own grave, fallen into this dry well, and is about to become the giant python's snack.
As he faced death, Xiang Wan became even calmer than usual.
Seeing that she didn't reply, Chen Yan repeated himself even louder: "Xiang Wan, are you alright?"
Xiang Wan didn't look at him when she heard the sound. Instead, she stared intently at the giant python less than 20 centimeters away from her and said dismissively towards the well opening, "I'm fine."
For some reason, she recalled watching animal documentaries as a child, where panic when encountering a king cobra only hastens the prey's death. Therefore, Xiang Wan dared not make any rash moves, nor dared to look away for even a second.
Hearing her voice, Chen Yan wanted to climb down the ladder by the well to save her, but Xiang Wan stopped him almost scoldingly: "Don't come down!"
She didn't mention the giant python below, firstly because she felt it wouldn't make a difference to tell Chen Yan, and secondly because she worried that he would be too panicked to remember what she was about to tell him.
Chen Yan outside the well paused for a moment, while Xiang Wan inside the well felt her heart leap into her throat. Her eyes were bloodshot from not blinking for so long, but she still dared not close them.
After calming down for a moment, she resumed her usual calm tone: "Chen Yan, you can't save me by yourself. Go down the mountain to find rescue first, and then come back to me with them."
Her voice trembled slightly as she said this.
The dry well was at least five meters high, and there was a giant python beside it. She couldn't escape, and she saw no possibility of survival. Xiang Wan didn't shed tears, but her eyes were red with despair.
After bringing Chen Yan to Bei Yi, apart from initially lying that she was a girl, he always listened to her.
But for some reason, he didn't listen to her and go find help immediately today; instead, he remained outside the well.
Xiang Wan didn't know what he was doing, nor why he hadn't listened to her today. In her dying moments, she thought about how her family and friends would accept the news of her death.
The company has just launched the Automotive Navigator Program. What should be done about the project? It represents the culmination of her efforts in both her past and present lives.
Chen Yan didn't leave, so Xiang Wan seized the opportunity to give him her last words.
"Chen Yan, have you left?"
"No, I'm trying to figure something out..." He was about to say something else when Xiang Wan interrupted him, "Chen Yan, you need to remember what I'm about to say."
"If I die someday, I want my parents to have another child." In her previous life, Xiang's mother had been crying constantly after her death. Xiang Wan hoped that in this life they could shift their focus and live well.
"As for the company, Secretary Huang has been with me since the beginning of the Automotive Navigator Program. My father took over first, and Secretary Huang assisted him."
Xiang Wan spoke almost without hesitation, her voice rapid as she feared she might be devoured by a snake at any moment: "And you and Wang Yidong, I've bought insurance for you. If anything happens to me, you'll receive a sum of money every month starting the month after my death."
Xiang Wan wanted to say more, but Chen Yan from the wellhead interrupted her: "Xiang Shuhan—"
His voice carried a hint of anger, as if he was furious because she was giving her last words.
"..." For the first time, Xiang Wan felt a little wronged. She was only one step away from death, but the person she trusted and entrusted with her last words did not understand her situation.
But she didn't argue anymore; instead, she closed her eyes and stopped talking.
What's the point of making arrangements for what happens after death when a person is about to die?
Facing the giant python's gaping maw, Xiang Wan closed her eyes and quietly awaited death.
She knew her situation; the person who pushed her had probably seen it all, but she didn't beg for mercy. Her inherent pride wouldn't allow her to bend her back, even when facing death.
But the single tear that slid down her cheek betrayed her inner fear. Those few seconds waiting for death felt like an entire year.
Memories flashed through her mind like a fleeting glimpse: there was the scene of her being held in her parents' arms when she was a child, the memory of Wang Yidong accompanying her to and from school, and the scene of her and Chen Yan having a snowball fight in the snow.
Xiang Wan was lost in her memories, as if she had forgotten the giant python facing her, and her body unconsciously relaxed.
She was waiting to die when she heard Chen Yan's voice coming closer and closer from the well: "Xiang Shuhan—don't be afraid, I'll protect you—"
The sound came from the cave entrance, but it was getting closer and closer to her...
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