With a “thud,” the snow next to his feet suddenly caved in. Cu Yun was startled! Alexander had started shooting! His average shooting score was 9.45! Cu Yun pressed the box against his back to protect his vital areas and, gripping Dong Qin’s hand, ran forward desperately. “Thud,” another shot! Dong Qin let out a small cry, her face turned pale, and she stumbled. Cu Yun ignored it, dragging her out of the backyard and into the forest, only stopping once they were out of Alexander’s shooting range. “I, the ace spy, have totally lost face today!” He gave a bitter smile, pulling Dong Qin to hide under a slope, “This is the first time I’ve had to escape from someone of Alexander’s caliber.” He suddenly noticed Dong Qin’s hand trembling slightly, “Are you afraid now? Isn’t it a bit late?” He laughed, brushing off the snow on her. Dong Qin let out another “ah,” her face turning deathly white. Cu Yun’s expression changed instantly, recalling the second shot. He thought she was just scared of the bullet, but could she have been hit?! “Why didn’t you say anything?!” He roared, moving her aside, and sure enough, there was a pool of bright red blood on the snow. Cu Yun quickly stood up, examining the path they had taken to make sure there was no blood trail left, then cursed as he crouched down to examine her clothes. “If it’s a critical hit, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to die here! I don’t want to drag a doomed burden!” He whispered, peeling off her down jacket. Her shoulder was stained with blood, and her white sweater was soaked. Cu Yun slapped her, “Can you speak?! Did the bullet go in?!” Dong Qin gasped heavily, her breath misting his eyes. “It’s okay!… It seems like it just grazed me, doesn’t hurt anymore!” She bit her lip, opening her sweater to reveal the wound. It was indeed a graze, narrowly missing her neck; if it had hit an artery, she would have been dead on the spot. Cu Yun stared at her for a long while, unsure of what to feel. Even a withering flower could burst into vibrant colors, simply because she wanted to live. Was she living for Lu Tuo? He hurriedly opened the black box, unsurprisingly finding Lu Tuo’s newly assembled eight-round semi-automatic pistol, with steel-capped bullets, slender and sharp. In the corner of the box was a small pouch; according to their organization’s custom, every weapon storage would have some first aid supplies, implying that while you might hurt others, you could also get hurt, and survival was equally important. He pulled out a roll of bandages, tightly wrapping her neck, then placed a gauze pad over the three-centimeter-long wound. “Keep your neck tight, it’ll reduce the bleeding. Bear with it. Now’s not the time for treatment. We’ll take care of it when we get further away.” He said, removing his scarf and wrapping it around her neck, tying it into a bow. “You’ll feel cold soon, but you’ll have to bear it!” He scattered the bloodstain with his foot, covering it with snow, then took out a small telescope from his pocket to survey the situation from the slope. As expected, Alexander wouldn’t give up; he and John were already in pursuit. Cu Yun cursed under his breath; in the snowy weather, there was no way to erase their footprints; they would catch up soon! “No choice, we’ll have to gamble.” He murmured, tightly gripping Dong Qin’s hand, “We need to follow this path. If my intuition is right, Lu Jinhao should have a car parked halfway up the mountain. Our people in the organization always plan a perfect escape route; Lu Jinhao would do the same. Once we’re in the car, we’re safe. But we can’t make a sound, and we need to be very careful. I estimate our chances of success are… forty percent. Do you want a quick death here or to take a gamble with me?” He turned, locking eyes with Dong Qin. Perhaps this was his true color, Dong Qin thought, the dark blue eyes no longer filled with mocking coldness but bursting with a vibrant light, a mix of focus and the thrill of danger. “I’ll gamble.” Her response was simple, to see if Lady Luck had indeed abandoned her. Wasn’t it the god’s birthday today? She remembered the blooming flames in the sky last night, a fleeting yet magnificent sight. She didn’t want to die like this, euthanized in the snow, her body to be defiled. She’d rather gamble, exhausting all the energy left in her life. She was tired of retreating; this time, her life should be her own choice.
20. Alive
Cu Yun laughed, his first genuine smile. He tousled Dong Qin’s hair, “Luckily it’s cold now; your wound won’t get infected. Tell me honestly, how good are you at sports? And… aren’t you afraid?” Dong Qin said, “My sports performance… average.”
