Standing Next To You
Chapter 124: Stopping By

Chapter 124: Stopping By

Richard paused. He was tired as well, and this goddamn maze had made him lose his calm. He could not help but turn his anger towards Sophia.

"Are you blaming me now? Who is it that’s so damn bent on teaching Sangyun a lesson? Because you’re too impatient, we’ve gotten ourselves into this situation."

"That’s unfair! I only agreed because I listened to you! And you can’t even get us out!"

Richard gave Sophia a dark look. "Then let’s go our separate ways. Let’s see if you can find your way out by yourself." He then quickened his pace.

Sophia turned pale. The sky was already growing dark, the temperature in the mountain was getting colder. She didn’t want to spend the night alone in this creepy mountain!

"W-wait! Wait for me!"

Sophia ran after her brother, but she missed a step and lost her balance, tumbling down the trail.

....

The sky had already darkened when the locals, who came to search for them, found the two.

Sophia and Richard looked haggard and messy. They were shivering from the cold and hunger. Their bodies were covered in mud, dead leaves, and broken branches. They had been left on the mountain for half a day, and it was clear from their disheveled appearance just how much they had suffered.

Sophia, in particular, had a red, tear-stained face from all the crying and sneezing. She had even injured her ankle during the ordeal.

Due to the situation, she allowed the locals to carry her because she couldn’t walk straight anymore. The locals tried to treat her injuries, but because the place was so remote, they could only provide traditional methods of handling injuries.

When Sophia saw a sticky green liquid she had to drink and the acupuncture needles they were going to insert into her ankle, she fainted. All the emotional stress and exhaustion came at once and made her collapse.

Richard was too exhausted to even care for his fainted sister. He immediately asked for water and food. However, even the food was unappealing.

The chicken soup appeared to be made with only water and herbs he did not know. The rice was far from the white rice he was accustomed to. But his hunger overpowered his usual preferences, and he quickly consumed the food without pausing to breathe.

After satisfying his empty stomach, Richard glanced around but couldn’t see Bei Sangyun. He wondered if she was still on the mountain, but at that point, he was too tired to care. He lay down on the thin mattress under the low-quality blanket and quickly fell asleep.

.....

Bei Sangyun leaned on the car’s window, watching the dark shadows of the trees pass by on the side of the road.

Since it was on the way, she decided to stop by ’that’ place.

"Master, what the heck did you do to those two?" Butler Xin’s dumbfounded voice came through the phone.

"Did you receive them already? That’s quite fast."

"You did not answer my question. You said you were just going to make them tired. Why is one of them injured? And both of them can’t even wake up!"

"Calm down. It’s just sedatives. Since they are so tired, the sleeping pill worked well. Let them sleep. They had been circling around that mountain for half a day."

"How can you be so calm? If Mr. Simon finds out what you did, the consequences will be dire!"

"He won’t. Those two won’t have the guts to tell Mr. Simon what happened because it will backfire on them," Bei Sangyun replied nonchalantly. She wasn’t worried at all.

"They might get even angrier and retaliate against me in their own way." She added nonchalantly.

"Master, I really can’t understand you. Why make an enemy out of them instead of allies?" Butler Xin sighed helplessly, seemingly giving up on nagging Bei Sangyun.

"There are people you should not ally with, and they fall under that category. We would suffer more as their allies than as their enemies."

"....." Silence hung on the other end of the line.

After a while, Butler Xin sighed in resignation. "Are you truly 18 years old? Why do you speak like an old man?"

Bei Sangyun simply smiled.

She left the aftermath to Butler Xin. Once the two woke up, they would already be in their respective rooms at the Lin Mansion.

The two might come to her to settle accounts, but she had also gotten ’lost’ thanks to their schemes and was currently resting with a few injuries here and there. A perfect reason not to meet the two for the time being.

Since she had been injured, the two wouldn’t have a choice but to swallow their grievances.

They couldn’t tell anyone what they had done or what happened to them, as it would be very obvious that they had lost their way after leaving Bei Sangyun alone in the mountain. Anyone could piece the story together once they got the details straight.

"Oh, right. I’ve checked the email you sent to me. I can’t believe that after preaching to me about not being greedy and buying everything, your next order to me is to buy a company. Are you sure buying them is worth our money?"

Bei Sangyun found Butler Xin’s question amusing. If he had known he was the one who had suggested acquiring this company little by little until they became the owners, he would surely be startled. The current him was questioning the decision of the past him.

"It’s alright. That company needs to be bought. It may not seem like much now, but once it’s in our hands, we can change where it is growing into." The said company would be her weapon in the future. Bei Sangyun silently thought.

"Is that so? I thought you wanted to own it because it’s the property of your--"

"Not another word." Bei Sangyun’s expression suddenly changed. Her tone turned cold.

The other end of the line fell silent.

With Butler Xin ruining the mood, the call ended in an awkward tone.

"Young Miss, we are here." The car stopped.

The driver looked at the dark and gloomy field in front of him.

"It’s too dark, young miss. Shall I accompany you?"

"No need." Bei Sangyun got out of the car.

The driver watched Bei Sangyun’s back. His eyes then turned to the massive graveyard ahead.

Someone who visits this creepy place at midnight is surely not in their right mind.