Chapter 308: Reunion (3)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Staring at her lifeless body, Gu Beicheng was overwhelmed with grief and agony.
The Gu family, Jin Qingyan, as well as other guests watched as the coffin was covered slowly before being nailed shut. It was then brought to the mountains to be buried in secret.
Chi Rui’er also attended the funeral. Although she appeared to be deep in sorrow on the surface, she was imploding with immense joy deep down.
A smile formed on her face as she watched An Xiaoning’s coffin being lowered into the ground.
Everyone was grief-stricken. All of a sudden, the jade bangle on An Xiaoning’s wrist shattered into pieces.
An Xiaoning, who was p.r.o.nounced dead earlier, opened her eyes abruptly.
An Xiaoning tried to sit up straight, only to hit her head against the cover of the coffin.
She winced in pain and felt that there was something on top of her. She reached a hand out to feel about and realized that it was the shattered jade bangle.
She had long heard about how spiritual ornaments made of jade were like. The shattering of a jade piece signifies the prevention of a great disaster. Could it be that she got a second shot at life all because of the jade bangle?
She touched and groped around her surroundings to discover that she was lying inside her coffin.
It seemed she got buried alive.
She would definitely suffocate to death in the coffin if she does not get out as soon as possible.
She banged on the sides and cover of the coffin with all her might, thinking that there must be someone above watching over her grave.
However, what she did not know was that the tombkeeper was standing a great distance away from her. Moreover, the Gu family had buried her coffin deep under the ground in order to prevent her coffin from being raided.
No matter how hard she banged on the coffin or how much she yelled, the people above would not be able to hear a thing.
An Xiaoning instantly felt like she was dead meat. The bullet hole on her leg began to ache, though not as immensely as before. She began touching the wounded spot on her leg and realized that it had been bandaged. She also did not feel the presence of a foreign object in her leg, which meant the bullet must have been removed.
She fiddled and fumbled about and chanced upon a weapon as well as a gun. She also discovered that her bank card, personal identification card, whip, as well as a set of clothes were beside her. Who was so kind and thoughtful as to have placed these items in here? An Xiaoning wondered.
An Xiaoning was determined to thank the person who placed the items for his saving grace if she managed to get out.
If it were not for the gun and dagger, she would definitely suffocate to death in the coffin.
An Xiaoning aimed the gun at the side of the coffin. She thought that the gun was empty since there was no sound at all. However, she soon found that the bullet had made a small hole in the coffin.
Beaming with joy, she touched the hole with her hand and shot another bullet beside the hole before stabbing it forcefully with the knife. At that instant, a hole about the size of a palm formed, and soil began pouring into the coffin through the hole.
She continued to fire the remaining bullets in the gun around the hole and finally enlarged it to a size big enough for her to crawl out of.
She pushed the soil into the coffin with all her might, creating an empty s.p.a.ce.
She carried her items and climbed up, continuously pus.h.i.+ng the soil downwards while she advanced upwards.
She could not see anything in the dark; neither did she know where she was going. However, she continued to dig fervently in a random direction and soon made it above ground.
Why was it pitch dark? she wondered.
She climbed up above ground, only to realize that she was in a huge cave.
She could not see anything and had no clue as to where she was.
She walked towards the inside of the cave and soon reached the end of it.
She touched the walls around her to find that they were made of cement.
All of a sudden, it struck her that it was the cave where the grave-robbers who attempted to raid Nun Jingxin’s coffin were caught.
Could it be that Gu Beicheng’s men had only sealed the two openings previously?
Brilliant.
She was buried here.
Fortunately…
The bunch of grave-robbers did not bring anything with them while they were in a hurry to escape. Could their belongings be lying around here then?
Mobile phone?
Torchlight?
An Xiaoning got extremely worked up at the thought of the many possibilities, though she was annoyed at the wound on her leg.
She could feel blood gus.h.i.+ng out of her wound.
Due to the freezing temperature in the cave, she began to s.h.i.+ver uncontrollably in the cold.
She could not see anything at all.
She had been getting around with her sense of touch.
At last, her efforts paid off.
She managed to get a hold of an electric lamp.
She was temporarily blinded at the instant that she switched on the light, though she soon managed to adjust to the light and see her surroundings clearly.
She noticed a bunch of blankets at a distance away, which clearly belonged to the grave-robbers who once lived here.
She hurriedly laid a few blankets on the ground and placed a few torchlights on top of them.
To her surprise, there were a few pots and pans around, along with some vegetables and rice, two large pails of water, and a gas stove.
There were also tools used for digging. An Xiaoning was relieved to know that it would not be a problem for her to escape with these necessary tools and items.
However, she was beyond exhausted at this point and tucked herself beneath the sheets. Although the blankets reeked strongly of a moldy stench, it did not bother her as long as they could keep her warm.
She closed her eyes and laid down to get some rest.
A million thoughts crossed An Xiaoning’s mind. Since she had already made it back to S Nation, Xi Bolai must have been dealt with.
How would others react when they see her making it out alive?
They ought to be surprised, wouldn’t they?
A smile formed on her face at the thought of giving everyone a surprise.
She was filled with immense joy and excitement.
She decided to get some quality sleep to replenish her energy before executing her next move.
The day after, the weather had turned merry and warm rays of the sun shone brightly at the ground.
Gu Dongcheng was stopped by the police as soon as he exited his house. “Mr. Gu, do you know Xu Jingwen?”
Taken aback, he asked, “Yes, what’s the matter?”
“Her family has made a police report to claim that she’s missing because they can’t seem to reach her. You were the last and most frequent person she contacted, that’s why we need your help in the investigations.”
“Alright.” Gu Dongcheng agreed and followed the policemen to the police station to a.s.sist in the investigations.
He revealed everything he knew about Xu Jingwen. He had initially planned to hide the truth about his relations.h.i.+p with Xu Jingwen, but decided to come clean in the end after realizing that he could not keep it under wraps any further. He reiterated that he did not murder her and revealed the content of the last few text messages they had sent each other.
He even spilled the beans about the rented apartment he stayed at together with Xu Jingwen. Since the rental period was not up yet, the apartment was still empty, and thus, the police decided to head there to investigate. They also asked to view the footage of all the surveillance cameras within the estate, only to hear that they were unable to do so because the surveillance cameras were faulty at the time of the suspected murder.
The police had no choice but to carry out investigations within the vicinity of Xu Jingwen’s apartment. To their disappointment, there were no clues at all. There was not a single strand of hair in sight, let alone footprints.
Evidently, the apartment had been cleaned up thoroughly.
The degree of cleanliness within the apartment did not appear to be left behind by a person who travelled elsewhere. Firstly, Xu Jingwen could not have gone anywhere without contacting her family at all. Secondly, being the careless person she was, there was no way Xu Jingwen would have tidied and cleaned the place until it was spick and span. The only possible answer was that she was murdered.
Gu Dongcheng’s heart sank upon hearing the conclusion. At the thought of the sudden text message she had last sent him, Gu Dongcheng and the police immediately thought of Chi Rui’er as the main suspect.
Thus, the police proceeded to call Chi Rui’er to the police station for interrogations, though she did not appear in the least bit fl.u.s.tered at all.
“When did you find out about their relations.h.i.+p?”