Brother suddenly woke up from his stupor, his limbs stiffened and spread out, his pupils dilated as he glared at Gu Sang, then passed out again.
A pool of blood slowly flowed from his lower body.
Foreshadowing another addition to the ranks of those cursed with no offspring.
Gu Sang kicked the woman's face again, picked up the remaining tree branch and intended to pierce the woman's eyes, but rationality stopped her action:
"No, no, that won't be easy to explain."
"Here it is."
"Squelch, squelch—"
Gu Sang forcefully stabbed the woman's chest, her skin immediately torn open, flesh and blood a tangled mess.
After finishing this, Gu Sang took a few seconds to survey the outside environment.
Confirming no one was around.
She immediately locked the door and frantically fled up the mountain!
The ancient people watching the live stream were overjoyed to witness Gu Sang's successful escape and leaving the two beaten to a bloody pulp!
Those empathizing with the innocent girl cheered: "Haha, I knew the Celestial Lady would escape! Good, well done!"
Those empathizing with the brother expressed: "This, this robbed him of his ability to continue his lineage, isn't that too cruel? He didn't do anything to her, is such viciousness really necessary?"
"Can't say that, if anything happened, the Celestial would be ruined!"
"But continuing the lineage is paramount, a woman's purity is nowhere as important as a man's descendants! Although this family was in the wrong, she only lost her purity, whereas he lost his very foundation!"
"........."
The surrounding ancients debated fiercely, some disagreeing, others agreeing, this scene shaking the fundamental beliefs of ancient women!
Robbing a man of his foundation is cruel?
Then a woman being defiled isn't cruel?!
What do you mean she only lost her purity!!
They lowered their heads, a terrible thought suddenly flashing through their minds, they wanted to overthrow these terrible male ideologies.
They wanted to change this era, to achieve equality, to end the tragic fate of women being subordinate to men!
Pei Changying had not slept yet.
These past few days he had been staying in Xuyang Palace, seeing Gu Sang successfully escape, he immediately shouted: "Gu Sang, don't go into the deep mountains."
"It's so dark out, you might easily get lost in the deep mountains and encounter danger."
"You'd be better off seeking help directly from the villagers, as long as you offer them generous money, they will surely rescue you."
How can a lofty emperor understand the hardships? He only knows how to wave his hands and bark orders!
Anyone who heard this suggestion would curse him as an idiot!
The situation of being captured and brought back, the wolfish gazes of the men in the village, was still vivid in Gu Sang's mind.
Let her go seek help?
That's sending her to her death!
After entering the deep mountains, Gu Sang lost her sense of direction, the tall dense trees blocking out the moonlight completely, making it so dark that she could barely see her own fingers stretched out, frighteningly pitch black.
Gu Sang dared not approach the road, according to the map, she deliberately avoided the direction they came from.
Within this week, a large number of villagers would surely surround the approaching village, and if they discovered even a trace of her, they would make a massive effort to capture her.
Hiding cautiously, three days went by in a flash.
During these three days, Gu Sang did not dare run too far in case she encountered an accident due to unfamiliarity with the terrain, nor did she dare approach the main road, preferring to survive for a few days first before assessing her options to escape.
Around four in the morning, Gu Sang took advantage of the faint light to drink water at the edge of the deep mountains.
Suddenly!
She ran straight into the Tattooed Woman heading up the mountain.
Gu Sang was truly ruthless, she picked up a large rock at her feet and prepared to crack open the woman's skull, but was stopped by the Tattooed Woman who spoke first:
"I won't scream."
The woman looked at Gu Sang with eyes devoid of any light.
All that remained was the lifeless husk of someone who had lost all hope.
She said dully: "You're smarter than me, you didn't seek help from others who were abducted like us, nor did you run along the main road, hiding here for three days instead."
"But it's useless, just give up."
"I've been here for ten years, ten years. If I hadn't met him at the factory back then, if I hadn't stubbornly cut ties with my parents to marry into this rural village, if I hadn't insisted on suffering alongside my husband to build our life, I'd probably be very happy now, heh, no more what-ifs."
"There's no signal here, it's hundreds of miles from the nearest town, you can't walk out in a few days, unless the police come to rescue you, but that's impossible."
"Those girls who tried to escape and were caught, their fates were very tragic, you should just accept it and go back."
Gu Sang never accepted her fate.
Even if she couldn't rely on officials, she could escape by herself!
She just couldn't rush, she had to take it slow and steady!
She stared coldly at the woman, then picked up a slightly smaller rock, sighed and said: "Sorry, I don't trust anyone."
"When I escape, I'll expose what's happening here and rescue you all."
"I learned a bit about pressure points, this will just knock you out, it won't be too painful, and there are no wild beasts near the mountainside to hurt you, so just bear with it for a bit."
With that—
"Thump!"
Gu Sang accurately struck the pressure point at the back of the Tattooed Woman's neck, only breaking the skin a little, leaving no major injury, and the woman's eyes closed as she passed out.
Gu Sang looked deeply at the fallen body, then turned and ran in another direction.
The ancients who witnessed this were all shocked.
Even the women expressed disagreement with soft hearts: "Celestial Lady, you, how could you?"
"She said she wouldn't scream, why did you still knock her out?"
The soldiers also frowned: "Right, she was kindly advising you, couldn't you have brought her along to escape? Why did you have to knock her out?"
"You're both suffering the same plight, if you brought her along at least you'd have someone to keep you company on the journey."
Gu Sang glanced at the ancients on the screen and sneered: "Company? More like a ticking bomb! That's the kind of thinking that prevented any women from escaping this village all these years when they tried to run away."
"Only an idiot would easily trust anyone, I only trust myself!"
"Especially you women of this era, if you want to change your fate, don't be soft-hearted, don't hesitate, struggle with all your might, pinning your hopes on anyone is a dead end. Only by relying on yourself can you be saved!"
-
"Mr. Lu, the car had fake plates, so we can't confirm the owner's information, and there are over three hundred similar vans just in our city."
"We've reviewed the videos you provided, and the van disappears here at the end......"
"Give us a bit more time, we've started running facial recognition comparisons, we'll see if the database has any matches, the results will be out soon."
Five whole days had passed!
Those human traffickers vanished like they evaporated into thin air, leaving no trace whatsoever.
The traffic surveillance footage showed the vehicle last disappearing near Pei County.
Pei County was a major transportation hub, and heading north would lead into the undulating deep mountains, where finding someone would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
But Lu Mufei and Gu Qing remained undeterred. Sitting in the car bound for Pei County, they discussed in a tense atmosphere, "I pulled some strings and found a guy called Old Wang."
"He's a middleman in a village in Pei County, specializing in these kinds of jobs."
"You'll pretend to be my girlfriend, from a wealthy family, and say you can't conceive, so you need to find a clean college student as a surrogate."
