On My Way - Chapter 49

Chapter 49 - The Closest Moment to Stockholm Syndrome

I finally figured out what this place was.

It was the coal mine once operated by Chana’s father, where an accident had previously claimed lives. It matched the soil quality of the semi-arid desert region—it had to be the Nari Coal Mine.

It was said that this place had once been glorious due to mining, but due to poor backfilling, large-scale collapses had occurred. Coupled with severe desertification, all the nearby villages had relocated.

This was a no-man’s-land spanning hundreds of miles.

And Chana’s Cullinan was nearly out of gas.

Because his wounds were infected, he had been running a high fever for three or four days, constantly rambling. He talked about how he used to play in this area as a child when it was bustling with people, and about his own little pony. Later, his father insisted on sending him to school in the city, where his classmates all mocked him...

There was no medicine here, so I could only feed him water every now and then.

It wasn’t out of kindness; he was the only one who knew the way out, and I needed to keep him alive.

I was probably suffering from a severe concussion; I felt dizzy and nauseous, but I forced myself to endure it and kept eating. I had to recover quickly to have any hope of escaping.

By the fourth day, Chana finally became slightly more lucid.

I asked him, "What is your plan? The police will track this place down sooner or later."

He gave a light laugh. "What else is there to plan? Isn't it fine to just die here?"

My heart tightened. His complexion was gray, his eyes hollow; he seemed to have lost all will to live.

But I had to live!

I thought for a moment and said, "Don’t you want to see Yu Shixuan?"

He looked up at me, a flicker of life finally returning to his dead eyes before he lowered his head again. "How can I see her in this state?"

"She’s doing well. Over the past two years, she finished the renovation of the villa complex you two had on the hillside. It’s beautiful."

"So she was the one who finished it... I thought it was some creditor." He actually curled the corner of his mouth in a smile.

"Of course she finished it," I said. "She sold it and kept the money for you. She loves you very much."

Chana’s eyes finally regained their luster. I seized the opportunity to continue, "Actually, you can find a way to contact Yu Shixuan. Ask her to come over with a car and your passport, and then we can figure something out."

He remained silent for a long time, leaning against the wall without speaking.

Chana was a very selfish person, and selfish people generally value their lives; they wouldn't give up hope of survival until the very last moment.

And Yu Shixuan, knowing I was missing, would certainly find a way to stall him and then alert the police—she might be a fool for love, but she was absolutely clear-headed and wise.

I suppressed all the anxiety in my heart, slowly guiding him like stroking a wounded tiger: Let's go out, let's go somewhere where you can contact Yu Shixuan.

Only then would I be able to take you down.

On the fifth day, Chana finally stumbled and opened the car door. I fought back the urge to jump for joy and tried to follow him, but unexpectedly, he said, "You’re staying here?"

My heart constricted sharply. I forced a smile and asked, "Aren't you afraid I’ll run away?"

"Run if you want. But I’ll warn you: this is a no-man’s-land, and there are wolves."

He sneered and slammed on the gas, driving away.

I was left alone in that abandoned mining area.

Sand and stone were piled high, barren earth stretched as far as the eye could see, and the wind blew through the iron gate with a sharp, piercing whistle.

I checked my supplies: there were five bottles of water, and the food was all high-calorie puffed snacks. Chana must have treated this as a vacation villa for reminiscing about his childhood, so he had only brought simple snacks; I had no way of knowing how long they would last.

If I ran with these supplies, I would have to make it out within three days...

But how could I find my way? This mining area looked boundless, not to mention the desert beyond it.

That was the closest moment I ever came to Stockholm Syndrome.

I began to feel an insane terror that Chana wouldn't come back. I was going to be driven mad by this endless loneliness and the pervasive presence of death.

In the yellow sand, the sun looked like a pattern pasted onto a picture, slowly sinking into the west.

Right then, I heard the sound of sirens approaching from afar!

I nearly jumped up, running out like a madman while shouting, "I’m here! Help!"

But outside the iron bars, there was no one—only the vast, desolate wilderness.

I stood there blankly for a long time before I realized it was a hallucination.

I had started having hallucinations.

I returned to the mine tunnel, curled up in a corner, and wrapped myself tightly in a tattered carpet.

After I don't know how many more hallucinations, I suddenly heard footsteps that sounded both real and illusory.

Chana appeared at the entrance. The expression on his face was strange—as if he were happy, yet also in pain.

But I was insanely happy; I had thought so many times that he wouldn't come back.

"You’re back!"

"Yeah."

He tossed a bottle of Coke to me. I looked at him hesitantly.

He didn't look at me, instead placing a roasted lamb leg heavily on the table. "Eat."

"How did it go? Did you contact Yu Shixuan?"

"Yeah, she’s coming tomorrow."

I felt the blockage in my chest finally ease a little.

Over the past two years, I had come to know Yu Shixuan too well. She would never go on the run with a fugitive; there was only one reason she agreed to come—she was cooperating with the police.

"Eat. Once you're done, clean up the place. She’s a finicky person."

"Okay, okay, that’s great."

He had bought a crate of beer and a large leg of lamb, roasted until it was fragrant and tender. With the scene of yellow sand swirling outside, there was an unexpectedly strange, epic beauty to it.

"How much do you make in a month?" he suddenly asked.

I didn't know why he asked this, so I answered honestly: "Excluding project bonuses, less than twenty thousand."

He scoffed. "And here I am, with friends, spending more than that on a single meal."

"That’s not comparable." I tried to offer a sycophantic smile.

"Then is it worth it for you to work so hard?"

"It’s worth it. Since I was a child, I lived in a house less than eight square meters, filled with trash, with cockroaches crawling everywhere," I said. "But later, I bought a very spacious house. After the mortgage, I can still afford two good meals a month. My grandma doesn't have to look at my dad’s face anymore, the old lady..."

By this time, I would have already been home. She would have cooked a table full of food and been waiting for me long ago.

Thinking of her lonely figure in the courtyard, my nose stung. No matter what, I had to survive and go back.

Chana was mesmerized, constantly asking questions—asking how I got my first raise, if I had ever played office politics, how many vacation days I had, and what I liked to do in my spare time.

I just assumed he was reminiscing about his father, so I answered one by one.

He drank a lot of alcohol and ate a lot of meat, eventually lying on the ground and saying, "Sounds pretty interesting... Living a life like that in the next life wouldn't be bad."

I said, "We dream of living like rich kids."

"Pfft," he said. "You’ll feel very empty very soon. For instance, when you work hard to go from three thousand to ten thousand, you feel a sense of achievement step by step. Like me—I struggled for ages, but it’s still not as much as the price of one of my dad’s bottles of wine. It’s meaningless..."

This is no reason for you to go insane, I thought to myself.

The atmosphere was so good that for a moment, I had the delusion that we were two people depending on each other for survival.

And so, I finally asked that question: "Did you kill Qinglong?"

"Yeah."

He added, "But not just to disgust you guys. I just couldn't stand the look of that kid."

"...Was that why you tried to kill me, too?"

He scoffed. "I never really meant to kill you. I knew you were a junior executive, I was just trying to scare Old Feng, but I went overboard."

The atmosphere turned silent. We were both probably thinking of Old Feng’s corpse at the same time.

"He killed my dog, undercut my prices, and stole my workers. He should have been dead a long time ago," he sneered. "Right before he died, he was still acting crazy, grabbing my leg. Hey, do you think he was trying to save you?"

...

"Too bad I smashed his head in," he said. "But you’re a good person."

"Why are you so lawless? Just because you have money?"

"It has nothing to do with money. It’s just boring." He stretched and said, "You wouldn't understand."

What wouldn't I understand? He was just a born sociopath.

A wave of intense sleepiness washed over me. I leaned against the stone wall and slowly drifted off to sleep.

I don’t know how much time passed, but the mine tunnel was engulfed in flames.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Chana holding a gas can, laughing while continuing to douse the place.

"Oh, you’re awake? I didn't think you would wake up!"

"What are you doing?"

"Dying," he said. "I can't live anyway, so I might as well die here."

"Why? Aren't you waiting for Yu Shixuan?"

"Her? She didn't answer my call," he said nonchalantly. "Good thing, too. I don't want her to see me in this pathetic state."

I was nearly crushed by a massive wave of despair; I couldn't even stand steadily.

He looked at me and added, "You’re actually quite interesting. It’ll be nice to have someone to chat with on the road to the afterlife."

I shook my head. "If you want to die, go ahead. I’m not dying."

"That’s not for you to decide," he roared with laughter, like a true devil. "I put pesticide in the Coke. You’re going to die whether you like it or not."

I looked up at him, my lips trembling.