Chapter 124: The Great Escape

Huang Xiaotao and I arrived at her place. I was still injured, so she told me to sleep on the bed. I chuckled, "You're the host, I'm the guest. There's no way the host sleeps on the sofa."

She frowned and snapped, "Guests follow the host's lead. I said you sleep on the bed, then that's where you sleep!"

I had no choice but to obey respectfully and lay down to rest. Outside, I could hear Huang Xiaotao taking a shower — the sound of water running made my mind wander. On top of that, there was a faint, pleasant scent lingering in the room from her shampoo. No matter how I tried, I just couldn't fall asleep.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened. Huang Xiaotao appeared in a nightgown at the doorway. I quickly pretended to be asleep. To my surprise, she climbed into bed beside me and wrapped her arms around me from behind. Her soft chest pressed against my back, sending my thoughts spinning.

Then, unexpectedly, she began to quietly sob. Startled, I asked, "What's wrong?"

She didn't answer, just kept crying. I knew she must have been shaken badly tonight, especially after a police officer died because of her. So I turned over and gently patted her with my uninjured hand. "Don't be sad. It's not your fault."

Like a delicate bird, she curled up in my arms. The scent of her freshly washed hair filled the air. I knew words wouldn't help much, so I just kept patting her gently until she finally fell asleep.

Due to blood loss and the effects of anesthesia, I began to feel sleepy as well. Just as I was about to drift off, a heavy banging suddenly came from outside — Bam! Bam!

Huang Xiaotao jolted awake and shouted, "Who's out there?!"

...

The knocks were too heavy, they didn't sound like normal knocks. Alarmed, I said, "This isn't knocking — someone's trying to break in!"

We scrambled up quickly. Huang Xiaotao slipped out of her nightgown, revealing her stunning figure. I froze for a moment, then realized she must be changing clothes. Thankfully, the lights were off, so I quietly said, "I'll go check."

The iron gate of her house was dented badly, with several big bulges where it had been hit. Outside, someone was chopping at the door with an axe. Fortunately, it was a sturdy iron gate — if it had been wood, it would've been broken open by now.

Soon Huang Xiaotao appeared, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Her brows furrowed as she glared, "How dare they break my door? Who's out there?"

No response. The axe kept pounding. We exchanged a glance — it had to be one of those hypnotized by Teacher Li again.

Huang Xiaotao grabbed her gun holster and slipped it on, gripping her gun with both hands. She gave me a look, signaling me to open the door.

I took a deep breath and approached. The broken iron shards grazed my face, stinging sharply. Spotting a gap, I yanked the door open and stepped back just in time as an axe swung in. Huang Xiaotao shouted, "Freeze!"

Then she froze herself, whispering, "Grandpa Zhang?!"

It was Grandpa Zhang, the seventy-something old man who guarded bicycles downstairs. But now he looked like a walking corpse — his eyes blank, drool running from his mouth. The axe blade was already dull from chopping the door.

He swung the axe wildly, rushing inside. Huang Xiaotao and I dodged just in time. The glass coffee table in the living room shattered under one strike. He spun the axe horizontally, forcing Huang Xiaotao to jump back with a scream. Relentlessly, he smashed the furniture, driving us back toward the door.

Huang Xiaotao quickly grabbed a coat from the rack. "We have to get out of here!"

"What about your house?" I asked.

"Saving our lives comes first!" she urged.

We stepped outside and closed the door behind us. Suddenly, all the noise inside stopped. We waited silently, and after a few tense seconds, Huang Xiaotao pulled a small device from her coat pocket — a peephole viewer used by the police to see inside without opening the door.

She pressed it to the peephole and whispered, "Song Yang, look!"

I peered through. Grandpa Zhang stood motionless, axe in hand — like a broken robot. His mission must have been to break in and kill Huang Xiaotao. Now that she was gone, he was stuck, like a bugged machine.

To think someone could be controlled like this — hypnosis was terrifying.

Suddenly, the elevator on the first floor started moving, floor numbers flashing upwards. Huang Xiaotao's face paled. "More are coming! Let's take the stairs down — quickly!"

We hurried down. Around the fifth floor, we heard shouting — a group was rushing up.

Panicked, Huang Xiaotao whispered for me to retreat. We made it to the sixth floor. Footsteps grew louder and closer. Our hearts pounded in our throats until the footsteps passed us and continued upwards.

I said, "I'll go ahead and scout. If their orders are only to kill you, they probably won't attack me. Grandpa Zhang didn't."

Huang Xiaotao shook her head. "No way. What if you're a target too?"

"Unlikely. If Teacher Li wanted me dead, she would've acted at school," I said.

"Alright… be careful," she said anxiously.

I moved forward, Huang Xiaotao trailing five or six meters behind. On the third floor, I spotted a man carrying a machete, expressionless, climbing up. I shouted, "Hide!"

He passed right through me as if I were invisible. Only after he went upstairs did Huang Xiaotao peek out.

God only knows how many people Teacher Li hypnotized at once. This woman was insane.

We safely reached the first floor. The elevator lobby was empty. I motioned to Huang Xiaotao, "First floor's safe. Come out."

She gripped her gun tightly and crept out of the stairwell. But when we reached the front door, we found the stairwell door had been hacked apart. A few neighborhood committee ladies were standing there, chatting.

"Who's this? Such rude behavior!"

"Sounds like someone breaking in. Should we call the police?"

I thought they were innocent bystanders. But when Huang Xiaotao stepped into view, their eyes suddenly turned wild and hostile. They lunged at her, claws out.

"Don't move!" Huang Xiaotao shouted and fired a warning shot at the ceiling. The deafening bang didn't faze them.

Clearly, Teacher Li had implanted a command in them. When Huang Xiaotao wasn't around, they acted normal, unaware they were hypnotized. But the moment they saw her, they attacked on sight — diabolical!

Huang Xiaotao kicked one woman in the stomach. The woman staggered back two steps, then charged forward again like nothing happened. Surrounded by four or five enraged ladies, Huang Xiaotao fought fiercely, her skills capable of handling several attackers, but she was overwhelmed by their irrational fury.

I panicked, not knowing what to do. I grabbed one lady by the collar, but she was like a mountain, impossible to move.

One of them grabbed Huang Xiaotao's neck, pressing her hard against the ground. I screamed, "Stop! Stop!" and rushed forward to kick the woman away. But the others blocked me, ignoring my presence.

Huang Xiaotao's eyes rolled back, struggling to raise her gun to defend herself. In the end, she didn't shoot. Her right hand went limp, her legs kicked once, then she stopped breathing.

I stared in shock — Huang Xiaotao was dead.

"Ah! Someone died!" yelled the lady who strangled her. Suddenly, the others snapped out of their trance, their minds wiped clean of what they'd done.

They looked at me and asked, "Young man, did you see who did this?"

I roared with grief, "Get lost! All of you, get out of here!"

"Hey, what's your attitude?"

"You're the killer!"

I snatched the gun from Huang Xiaotao's hand and fired another shot into the ceiling, teeth clenched, "If you don't leave now, I'll kill you all!"

The women screamed and scattered. Huang Xiaotao lay there, her head tilted, eyes rolled back, blood flowing from her mouth, scratches all over her face and neck.

I wept uncontrollably, trying with all my strength to lift her, but my hand was weak. After several failed attempts, I collapsed to my knees, sobbing helplessly, my heart torn to shreds.