Chapter 128 Escape Through the Woods

Chapter 128 Escape Through the Woods

It wasn't until he heard the gunshot that Lin Qi belatedly realized what had just happened.

Just now, a bullet grazed his scalp!

If it weren't for the sudden sense of danger from [Rat's Senses] that made him instinctively dodge, he would probably be dead by now!

"Watch out! Gun!"

Lynch roared and suddenly turned around to pounce on Sylvia. Before Sylvia could react, Lynch tackled her to the ground, and the two rolled into the bushes nearby.

Immediately afterwards, the second, third, and fourth shots rang out in succession, the bullets hitting the spot where the two had stood just a fraction of a second earlier, sending dirt and grass flying everywhere.

Lynch stumbled to his feet, grabbed Sylvia in his arms, and began to run desperately through the bushes. To avoid the constant barrage of bullets, their only way out was to flee deeper into the forest.

Sylvia turned pale with fright, but bit her lip tightly, remaining silent. She knew that any obvious noise she made might help the gunmen pinpoint their location.

The gunshots came from the woods not far behind. The shooter seemed to be alone, hidden in the shadows, and had not revealed himself. Lin Qi could only rely on the sense of danger fed back by his [Rat's Senses] to roughly determine the direction of the attacker, but he could not see the attacker's figure clearly, let alone know where the attacker was.

So they could only keep running. Fortunately, the shadows in the forest soon enveloped them.

However, although they had temporarily escaped into the shadows of the forest, their situation was still far from optimistic.

Gunshots continued to ring out behind them, and every now and then a clump of sawdust would suddenly burst from the trunks of the trees beside them, revealing a fresh bullet hole. Although the dim woods concealed the two men, the suddenness of the attack meant that Lin Qi didn't have time to grab his torch.

Once inside the woods, the surroundings were instantly plunged into complete darkness.

Therefore, they could only wander around the woods like headless flies.

What's worse is that this high-intensity running quickly made Lin Qi realize that his body couldn't take it anymore!

Lin Qi gritted his teeth and persevered desperately.

Lin Qi didn't know how much time had passed—it might have been only a few dozen seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, the gunfire behind him briefly stopped, perhaps because the shooter couldn't find the two of them.

But Lynch couldn't care less about the cause and effect. The moment the gunfire stopped, he stopped abruptly and almost stumbled to the ground, rolling into a clump of bushes along with Sylvia in his arms.

"Huff...ha...huff...ha..."

Lin Qi gasped for breath, inhaling the fresh, oxygen-rich air of the forest almost as if seeking revenge. Only in this way could he gradually recover from the suffocation caused by overexertion.

His lungs burned, and his whole body ached terribly, but even with these injuries, this was the first time he had run so desperately. The gunshots behind him were the most direct threat to his life. When the gunshots rang out, Lin Qi felt only pure fear of death.

Therefore, his body's instinctive reaction overwhelmed all logical thinking, and Lynch had only one thought in his mind:

Survive!

A few seconds later, he finally calmed down a little. After regaining his senses, his first reaction was to look back—it was quiet behind him, as if the series of gunshots had never happened.

Not even the slightest sound of leaves rubbing against each other or footsteps could be heard.

...They didn't give up? No, that's impossible. They had guns and had tracked them down through the wreckage; they wouldn't give up so easily.

Although Lin Qi didn't understand why, he could be certain for a moment that no one was chasing after him.

Taking this opportunity, he quickly tried to check on Sylvia's condition again.

The situation had been so critical that his movements while carrying Sylvia were particularly rough, which made him somewhat worried.

But he soon realized he had lost his mind; it was too dark in the woods for him to see Sylvia's condition clearly.

In the pitch black, he could only see layers of blurry tree shadows, and he could only see Sylvia sitting on the ground in front of him, forming a blurry human figure.

As if noticing Lynch's worry, Sylvia spoke softly, "...I'm fine."

But her voice was extremely weak, and her breathing was shallow and rapid; clearly, her condition was far from good.

After the initial shock of the sudden incident, Sylvia gradually calmed down. However, this only meant she could think clearly; it didn't mean she was free from her fear and anxiety. Enduring the pain, Sylvia managed to speak with difficulty: "They really came after us... What do we do? Can we still escape?"

Although the worst-case scenario had finally arrived, her voice was unusually calm, which surprised Lin Qi.

Lin Qi thought for a moment, then decisively shook his head: "It seems we can't escape. Although we managed to shake off that gunman for a while, carrying you here has already pushed me to my physical limit."

"If we keep running like this, the two of us wounded will definitely not be able to outrun the pursuers behind us."

Upon hearing Lynch's words, Sylvia didn't say anything. After a brief silence, she spoke in a hoarse voice, "So... it really comes to this?"

In the shadows where Lynch couldn't see, she silently forced a pale smile. The despair, extreme pain, and exhaustion within her made the thought of giving up take over again: "In that case, why don't I take the initiative to negotiate with them? Maybe if I meet their demands, they'll let you go, Mr. Lynch."

"I'm so sorry to have dragged you into this."

Sylvia's voice grew softer and softer, her words gradually fading into the rustling of the night wind through the woods. But suddenly, she heard Lynch's voice ring out clearly in her ear.

"No, it's not time yet."

"What? But...?!" Sylvia was completely bewildered, but she still stubbornly asked back. She was almost ready to give up completely; did this man in front of her really have a way?

"Since there's no way to escape, there's no point in running anymore. However, this doesn't mean there's no solution to this problem."

Lynch's voice was low, but carried an undeniable firmness: "During the escape just now, I realized something of paramount importance."

"What?"

"The pattern of gunshots."

Lynch calmly explained, "Those gunshots clearly came from the same gun. Therefore, it's obvious that there's only one tracker who has found us so far."

"It was only because we were walking in the clearing by the stream, exposed to the bright moonlight, that person was able to hide in the shadows among the trees and shoot indiscriminately. But now we've also escaped into the shadows of the dense forest. Even if the other party has a gun, it won't be so easy for them to use it effectively in this intricate forest."

"Then, who the hunter is is no longer up to him to decide."

Lynch gripped the hilt of his hunting knife tightly: "So, since that's the case—"

He was stating a simple fact: "I went and killed him."