HBWMA -Chapter 85 The Real Crisis

Tears welled up in Fu Sui’er’s eyes. She tried to kick her legs, but still couldn’t exert any strength. After a moment of daze, she lowered her head and looked at the water surface.

The water, stained a muddy yellow as if dyed with paint, suddenly revealed a faint streak of crimson before it was quickly washed away.

Fu Sui’er felt uneasy.

“It’s fine, just a scratch,” Jiang Huashan said as she lifted Fu Sui’er’s arm and hooked it over her own neck. “Hurry, we need to get out of here first.”

Fu Sui’er looked at her with a complicated expression, blankly staring as if she wanted to cry but was holding it back.

Jiang Huashan immediately understood and raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, I scratched your leg, not mine.”

“Pfft!” Fu Sui’er burst out laughing through her tears.

By then, rainwater had already risen to their chests. Jiang Huashan didn’t dare delay any longer. She climbed up the slope and then dragged Fu Sui’er up as well.

Fu Sui’er’s leg had been trapped for nearly four hours, so it would take time to recover. Jiang Huashan could only lend her half her shoulder, and the two supported each other as they moved forward.

“Let’s go,” Fu Sui’er said. The mountain was full of violent winds and heavy rain, and all she wanted was to leave immediately.

“Wait,” Jiang Huashan pulled her back and looked toward the deep ditch behind them.

Confused, Fu Sui’er followed her gaze. “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Huashan looked at the rising water level. “Do you still think it’s terrifying now?”

Fu Sui’er froze slightly. Something clicked in her mind. She widened her view—and only then did she realize that the mountain ravine that had scared her half to death was just a narrow crack in the hillside. It wasn’t even as deep as a swimming pool at home.

She seemed to understand something, but couldn’t fully grasp it—half-understanding, half-lost.

Fu Sui’er turned to Jiang Huashan, her eyes suddenly bright.

Jiang Huashan patted her head. “Sui’er, remember this. When facing anything that tries to kill you or trample you, don’t look up at it—look down on it.”

“Look down?”

Fu Sui’er’s eyelids trembled, and the tears in her eyes finally spilled over.

Jiang Huashan nodded. “And one more thing. I can’t always show up in time. So if something like this happens again, don’t give up on saving yourself until the very last moment of your life. Understand?”

The tears were wiped away, leaving behind a reborn courage in her eyes.

Fu Sui’er nodded. “I understand.”

What she had just failed to grasp was exactly this realization.

At three in the afternoon, the Shen family arrived at the mountain road.

Because the situation was extremely severe, the entire area had already been cordoned off by local authorities.

Shen Zhuang did not go to meet Shen Lanxi in Xiangying; instead, he went directly to the incident site.

Heavy rain poured down, thunder and lightning intensified, and the weather was terrifyingly harsh.

Shen Zhi was directing personnel on-site when he turned and saw a familiar license plate. He froze, then quickly took an umbrella from a bodyguard and ran forward.

Shen Zhuang pushed open the car door, and as his foot hit the ground, a large umbrella was immediately held over his head.

“Old Master,” someone said.

Shen Zhuang had already heard how bad the weather was over the phone, but seeing it with his own eyes now, his expression turned even darker.

“No news yet?”

With thunder cracking and rain lashing down, the late-August mountain wind cut like ice. How could those two children endure this?!

Shen Zhi didn’t even dare breathe loudly. “Five hundred people have been deployed in waves, but…”

“But what? If five hundred aren’t enough, then five thousand! Even if we have to dig up this entire mountain, we will find them.”

“Steward Shen,” before Shen Zhi could respond, Shen Jiao rushed out of the car. “Where is Sui’er? Still no news at all?”

Shen Che scanned the surroundings and looked at Shen Zhuang. “Dad! Something’s not right. Normally, search operations are difficult because there’s no target and it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. But the fall zones of the children have already been locked in—logically, with so many people, they should have been found already.”

Shen Zhi nodded. “That’s true. So we believe the two young ladies may have been moving, which expanded the search area.”

Shen Che frowned, clearly unsatisfied with the explanation. In such harsh conditions, how could two girls possibly keep moving? Even if they did, their movement range couldn’t possibly exceed that of trained rescuers. If they still hadn’t been found after five hours, either something was missed—or the search direction was wrong.

But saying that now would only increase panic.

Shen Che turned and signaled Shen Rang with his eyes. Shen Rang understood and stepped aside.

Shen Che leaned in. “Are the Shadow Hall people all in position?”

Shen Rang nodded.

“Send them beyond the search perimeter. Be careful.”

Shen Rang’s round face tightened, a trace of killing intent flashing in his eyes. “If that group really went down the mountain and laid hands on those two girls, I’ll personally smash their skulls open.”

In Shen Rang’s eyes, Shen Lanxi was the future head of the Shen family. To wear the crown, one must bear its weight. If he died to assassination or conspiracy, it would only prove he was unfit to be the family head.

But Fu Sui’er and Jiang Huashan were different. They were both daughters of the Shen family—killing them would not shake the distribution of power within the Shen family. If the assassin was still fixated on these two young girls at this time, it clearly meant there was ulterior intent.

Shen Family Old Residence.

Dark clouds pressed down over the city. Even in the middle of the day, the inner courtyard had already lit up its lamps.

In the main hall, the lotus flowers in the water vat could not withstand the pounding of the storm. They were shattered and scattered across the surface, while the vat kept filling and overflowing in cycles.

Old Lady Wu knelt in the ancestral hall of the Shen family with her hands clasped in prayer, unmoving.

The atmosphere in the old residence was suffocating. Even the bright and lively Ming Hall that had enjoyed an entire summer was now cast in gloom.

Outside the window, the rain from the eaves formed a vast, roaring curtain. Shen Lanxi tilted his face slightly, his slender fingers lightly tapping the shell of the “little poor thing” in his hand.

“Young Master.” Gao Zhi put down his umbrella and pushed the door open.

The boy’s fingertips paused slightly as he raised his eyes.

“Old Master has arrived,” Gao Zhi said.

Shen Lanxi looked faintly surprised. “Grandfather is here?”

Gao Zhi nodded. “The third branch of the Shen family has all come as well. They’re currently on the mountain road.”

Shen Lanxi thought for a moment, then stood up. “Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

“Wait.” Just as he stepped over the threshold, he seemed to think of something and turned back to glance toward the window. “Take it with you.”

Gao Zhi froze. There was no one else in the room. He looked around in confusion, only then noticing a turtle crawling on the table.

Wasn’t this the little freak who secretly stuffed it into his pocket?

This was what the young master meant by “it”?

Before Gao Zhi could confirm, Shen Lanxi had already disappeared. He didn’t hesitate further and carefully put the little turtle into his pocket before rushing out after him.

Mountain forest path.

Jiang Huashan and Fu Sui’er supported each other as they moved through the forest trail.

They had originally wanted to find shelter from the rain, but the mountains were full of trees—and in a storm like this, they didn’t dare stop anywhere.

By now, both were completely exhausted, but neither of them said it out loud.

Fu Sui’er kept talking to try to lighten the mood.

“So you just jumped down to find me like that? What about the little poor thing?”

“The little poor thing?”

Jiang Huashan smiled faintly. “I already arranged it.”

Earlier, when she was acting wildly up there, she had secretly stuffed the turtle into Gao Zhi’s pocket while he wasn’t paying attention.

That big, stiff guy—cold and ruthless—but strangely helpless against small animals. The turtle would be safe with him.

Fu Sui’er looked ahead blankly. “I wonder how long it’s been now. Grandpa should come looking for us, right?”

Jiang Huashan glanced at the “execution countdown” above Fu Sui’er’s head and said calmly:

“5 hours, 16 minutes, 48 seconds.”

【Execution Countdown: 19:44:12】

Since the moment she saw Fu Sui’er, the countdown in her mind had shifted to her.

Jiang Huashan scanned the surroundings warily. She had originally thought the countdown would disappear once they climbed out of the water pit—but it hadn’t. That meant the danger still hadn’t been resolved.

But what exactly was the real crisis?

Just as she was lost in thought, a man in camouflage stepped out from behind a large tree.

They ran straight into each other at close range.

All three of them froze at the same time—especially the man, who looked like he had just seen a ghost.

The eerie silence lasted three seconds.

Jiang Huashan reacted first, grabbing Fu Sui’er and running.

That man had a gun. And instead of looking surprised, he looked shocked—meaning he wasn’t sent by the Shen family to find them.

So…

He was the real trigger for Fu Sui’er’s death.

The man scratched the side of his head in annoyance, then calmly took the sniper rifle off his back.

“Hey? Boss, it’s me. They saw my face.”

After saying whatever was on the other end of the line, he hung up.

A teasing smile curved his lips as he raised the gun and took aim at the two fleeing prey.