Chapter 191: Naivety

So naive.

A bitter grimace twisted Gao Sijin’s face. He wanted to laugh out loud in self-mockery, but didn’t dare.

Tsukiyuki Rio letting him go home that easily? How could that ever be anything but a wild fantasy?

She had driven him to this remote place as part of her carefully laid plan from the very start. Her goal was to lift him to the peak of hope, let him taste that moment of joy and surprise, and then shove him off the cliff to plummet straight into the depths of despair.

If Tsukiyuki Rio wanted to see his ridiculous expression, she had clearly succeeded.

For a fleeting instant, Gao Sijin had truly allowed himself to imagine that he and Tsukiyuki Rio might share a normal, mutually respectful love.

Now it was obvious that was nothing but wishful thinking. The relationship between hunter and prey never changes. Gao Sijin felt as if sticky, viscous strands of love were tightening around him like spider silk—Tsukiyuki Rio was trying to wrap him into a cocoon.

He couldn’t let her have her way.

Legs—please, just move a little faster!

Gao Sijin gasped for breath, the sky and earth spinning into darkness, the light of sun and moon extinguishing.

Ever since he was small, Gao Sijin had never been good at running. To make matters worse, this mountain path was rugged, the sand and gravel underfoot cruelly abrasive. And just moments ago, Tsukiyuki Rio had forced herself on him, binding him in carnal acts that left his legs limp and his strength hollow. After less than seven minutes of running, sweat drenched his forehead. He felt his physical limits closing in.

He paused for roughly ten seconds, looking around. The sky was a pristine blue, rich leafy canopies clustered overhead in overlapping parasols. Fences and low currant bushes bordered the path, tender green willows swaying in the breeze—all of it shimmering with vivid color. Yet his gaze was not captivated by the lush beauty around him; he was searching desperately for a place to hide and catch his breath.

But no such place existed.

With every second that passed, Gao Sijin’s heart grew more anxious. Tsukiyuki Rio had said she would stay in place for ten minutes and not use any vehicle. But could he really trust her not to break her word? She had just told him he would have his freedom, when in truth she never intended that at all.

Besides, hiding felt like a passive strategy to Gao Sijin. Those dark crimson eyes might be staring intently at his back even now.

Hiding was useless.

Only ceaseless running could break him out of this predicament. What he had to do was painfully simple—just place one foot in front of the other as fast as possible. A task so simple it was almost laughable.

Try to push past your limits, Gao Sijin.

Your family is waiting for you to come home. Feng Xiaohe is surely waiting to meet you again. And all those readers who love your work—they’re waiting too…

Even if he had to die, he would escape Tsukiyuki Rio’s devil claws.

Gao Sijin started moving again, even though every second was as precious as gold.

Mentally counting to six hundred seconds, he knew she should be moving by now. Although there was still no sound of her behind him, his heart suddenly lurched.

Could she really pinpoint his escape direction so precisely?

He had left misleading footprints and snapped branches at several forks in the path. First he ran westward, then veered south. If he could misdirect her to the opposite direction, he would be truly grateful to heaven and earth.

Maybe he really was overthinking this.

In a mere twenty minutes, Gao Sijin had covered five kilometers.

The bad news was he still couldn’t see any sign of the city. The good news: no sign of Tsukiyuki Rio either.

Gao Sijin leaned against a stout tree trunk, rested for a minute, and strained his hearing.

Not a single sound.

From now on, he had to stick to smaller trails and keep as quiet as possible; otherwise, he might draw Tsukiyuki Rio straight to him.

It really was like a ghost-catching game—tense, terrifying, and filled with the ache of desperate hope.

His obsession with home drove Gao Sijin forward.

She couldn’t catch him again.

Not in thirty minutes, an hour, a day, a year, a lifetime.

She was destined to lose.

From now on, she would never again be able to restrict his freedom.

Bright sunlight streamed through the trees, the air carrying a sweet, soft fragrance.

So why wouldn’t his erratic, thundering heartbeat calm down?

Suddenly, a faint rustling noise. Gao Sijin startled violently and whipped around—nothing there. The sound seemed to come from the bushes. He pushed aside the leaves.

Just a squirrel.

So he really was jumping at shadows.

He’d already regained his freedom.

Thirty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of her. That meant she had fallen for his traps. To think that the seemingly flawless Tsukiyuki Rio could be fooled by such clumsy tricks. She must be wandering in circles now, full of regret.

He kept walking.

First, leave the forest. Once he reached the city, he would surely find a way back to his hometown.

Following the sound of the stream, he spotted white, shimmering ripples down the slope. In its water, he could see smooth pebbles.

“Let me wash my face.”

Gao Sijin crouched down and cleaned away the sticky, dried remnants of their earlier intense encounter. Splashing cool water onto his face instantly refreshed him.

In the distance he could already see the shape of the city—even a sidewalk, and a shop selling tricolor dumplings perched on the mountain. He would win the moment he descended the slope.

Looking back, his experience of being snatched from Bincheng to Tokyo really had been… unforgettable.

At least the ending was a good one.

Gao Sijin slowed his pace. There were no pursuing footsteps behind him or from any other direction, and no one calling out “Gao-kun.”

Success was right before his eyes.

“Hahahaha…”

Gao Sijin suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter. He laughed at Rio’s lack of cunning and at Yu Qingxue’s scarcity of wits.

Who told them to underestimate him like this, to be so arrogant as to play a game of ghost-catching? Now any attempt to recapture him would only make them a laughingstock.

The city drew closer and closer. Streetlights and benches lined the roadside. Just a little farther and he would leave the forest.

Then Gao Sijin spotted a graceful figure sitting on a distant bench—white hoodie, black tights, canvas sneakers.

She really had an amazing figure, he had to admit. Girls who enjoy sports really do end up with model-perfect bodies.

But she was still too far away for him to make out her face. Probably just some athletic, sport-loving girl out for a run.

“Hey, friend up ahead! Where am I right now?”

Gao Sijin shouted toward her in Japanese.

“Come closer! I can’t hear what you’re saying!”

The girl shouted back. Her voice was soft and lilting, crisp and pleasant like an oriole in the forest.

That voice was frighteningly familiar.

Oh no!

Gao Sijin’s mind blanked. He immediately spun around and bolted.

At the same time, he heard the sound of rapid footsteps and delighted laughter bursting from behind him.

The mingled sounds approached fast, the wind shrieking with a crushing pressure that threatened to destroy him entirely…