Return to the City: The Strongest King
Chapter 646 - 647: Escape to Heaven

Chapter 646: Chapter 647: Escape to Heaven

Everyone rushed to the slope, only to see Shui Qingyue and not Song Xiaodong. At this moment, Shui Qingyue was face-up, rushing down the slope rapidly, screams of terror incessantly escaping her lips, clearly terrified to the core.

The man who was originally aiming his gun now lost his target.

However, the expert immediately noticed someone else under Shui Qingyue, and their speed being so fast because they were lying atop a piece of bark, which had become an improvised snowboard. He bellowed furiously, "Cunning little brat," and then leaped down the slope, hoping to catch up using his own movement technique.

But as soon as he landed, before he could muster another jump, he sank into the deep snow, right up to his knees. It was not just about jumping up anymore; even pulling his feet out was extremely difficult. All he could do was to lie on his belly in the snow and roll to free his legs.

By the time he got up, Shui Qingyue had already slid quite a distance away. He tried to pursue with all his might, but his speed in the snow was just too slow. He could only watch helplessly as Song Xiaodong, carrying a hostage, rapidly descended the slope and disappeared, the trees obstructing his view.

Song Xiaodong, taking Shui Qingyue with him, was a decision made out of necessity. If he had gone down the slope alone, he might have been fast, but with the pursuers armed, and with decent marksmanship, he would have turned into a sitting duck. So, before leaping down, he took Shui Qingyue with him, using her as a shield to prevent the pursuers from daring to shoot.

The slope was three to four hundred meters long. When they had slid down more than a hundred meters, they were mostly out of the range of the pursuers’ guns. Song Xiaodong flipped over and pressed Shui Qingyue beneath him, using both hands and feet to adjust their direction. With many large trees up the slope, failing to change their trajectory would mean crashing into a tree and knocking themselves unconscious.

Finally reaching the bottom of the slope, Song Xiaodong did not get up but instead had two dry branches in his hands. With his arms propped against the branches, he leveraged the momentum from the slide to swiftly weave through the trees.

Luckily, the snow here was very thick, covering all bushes and smaller plants. Plus, the thick piece of tree bark was sturdy enough not to worry about being scratched by anything.

Carrying someone obviously slowed him down a bit, but Song Xiaodong really dared not let go of this woman now. All the pursuers were masters, and having a hostage would ensure his safety.

Thinking about how he had carried out numerous hostage rescue missions in the past, and now he himself was using a hostage to ensure his own safety, it was a bitter irony.

"Help! Help!" Shui Qingyue suddenly shouted from underneath him.

This startled Song Xiaodong, who looked down and threatened, "If you scream again, I’ll kill you!"

"Go ahead and kill me! I’d rather die than be with a lecher like you," Shui Qingyue realized, if Song Xiaodong managed to escape with her, she would end up in a far worse situation. She preferred death over being taken away by someone who could harm his own sister, so she kept on screaming for help.

Song Xiaodong was at his wit’s end; of course, he couldn’t kill her. Now, he dared not drop her, but to escape, he couldn’t let her keep screaming. The only option left was to promise, "I swear, as long as you don’t scream, I’ll let you go when we reach a safe place."

"Help! Help!" Shui Qingyue responded with more loud cries instead of words.

"If you don’t stop screaming, damn it, I’ll rape you right now!" Negotiation failed, so Song Xiaodong resorted to threats.

"Help..."

In this situation, it was obvious that Song Xiaodong couldn’t really do what he threatened. Feeling foolish for even saying it, he shifted tactics, threatening instead, "If you scream again, I’m going to kiss you!"

The screaming stopped abruptly, and a look of terror appeared on Shui Qingyue’s face.

Song Xiaodong quietly breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could relax completely, Shui Qingyue started screaming again. To her, a kiss from him was preferable to being defiled in a secluded place.

Damn! Song Xiaodong suddenly realized that it wasn’t easy being the bad guy. Truly bad guys were ruthless and cold-blooded, and he was simply not that kind of person. All he was doing was trying to save his own life; he couldn’t justify harming an innocent person just to save himself.

However, he really couldn’t allow Shui Qingyue to keep screaming; if she did, it was only a matter of time before they were caught, and he would be a dead man.

Making a split-second decision, Song Xiaodong stopped the makeshift snowboard and quickly jabbed two silver needles into Shui Qingyue’s head. If it had been any other time, he would have been able to do this on the move, but under the current circumstances, he had to stop to ensure precision.

"You think..." Shui Qingyue managed only two words before she couldn’t make a sound anymore and then lost consciousness.

At last, Shui Qingyue was quiet, and Song Xiaodong resumed his escape.

In the beginning, Song Xiaodong was chased by one expert, but soon, three or four people were pursuing him. If it wasn’t for his extensive knowledge of surviving in the wild, he would have been caught long ago.

Suddenly, a heavy snow began to fall from the sky, turning the world into a blurry expanse of gray.

This delighted Song Xiaodong; it was a godsend. The heavy snow would cover his tracks and he would soon be able to shake off his pursuers.

When night fell, Song Xiaodong finally found refuge in a valley, which he remembered was not far from the hot spring he was searching for. Fleeing for his life, he unexpectedly headed in the right direction—perhaps this was a case of a blessing in disguise after surviving a great disaster.

However, Song Xiaodong now faced a dilemma: the woman he had taken hostage had become a burden. He could simply abandon her and make a clean escape, but in such a primeval forest, if she wasn’t found by her pursuers, she would surely freeze or starve to death.

To keep her, on the other hand, would mean dragging her along indefinitely.

Shaking his head, Song Xiaodong conceded that being a villain always came with a price. Regardless, he had to take this woman with him.

Clenching his teeth, Song Xiaodong braved the heavy snow and hurried until he slipped into a well-hidden cave. Once inside, he camouflaged the entrance, passed through a thousand meters of the cave, and climbed down from the exit some ten-plus meters from the ground using a rope, which he then shook off.

Letting out a long breath and looking at the nearly four to five hundred meters of cliff above him, Song Xiaodong knew he was safe.