Chapter 111: Chapter 106: The Reason for the Deception At night, Chen Na waited for her mom, Wang Yan, to fall asleep before sneaking out.
At nine o’clock, the car arrived as promised.
"Get in, Chen Na," the short-haired woman said, rolling down the window.
"Okay."
Chen Na got into the back seat. After the car started moving, she asked nervously, "Miss, where are we going?"
"To a factory in the suburbs."
"A factory?"
"Yes. Put this on."
The short-haired woman handed her a round mask that only exposed the eyes.
Chen Na didn’t know why she had to wear a mask, but she did as she was told and put it on.
Soon, the car arrived at a factory in the suburbs. The place looked long-abandoned; it didn’t even have a main gate.
Chen Na followed the short-haired woman into a large hall inside the factory, where quite a few people had already gathered.
Some of them, like her, were wearing masks that only showed their eyes. Surrounding them were two rings of people in black hoods, holding guns. They looked like terrorists from a movie, which scared her a little.
As soon as the short-haired woman arrived, the other masked people looked at Chen Na, whom she had brought, with great surprise.
"The last one is a kid?"
"What the hell? A kid is here for the selection too!"
"The selection doesn’t distinguish between adults and children," the short-haired woman said calmly. "There are only participants. I will now explain the selection process."
"See those armed people around you? For this selection, your task is to use this factory as your field of activity and evade their pursuit. If you haven’t been caught after three hours, you’ve passed the selection."
Everyone nodded. The rules were clear and easy to understand.
The short-haired woman then looked down and asked Chen Na specifically, "Did you understand what I said?"
Chen Na nodded. "I get it! Don’t get caught by the people with the guns!"
"Good."
"So, we can only run?" a masked man asked. "If they find us, can’t we just take them out?"
The short-haired woman glanced at him. "You can. But if you attack the armed personnel, they will attack you back. Any death or injury will be your own responsibility."
The man sneered. "No problem."
Hearing their exchange, Chen Na couldn’t help but feel nervous. ’Why would a selection like this involve the risk of death or injury?’
"If there are no other questions, you may begin."
The short-haired woman glanced at her watch.
"You have a five-minute head start. After that, the armed personnel will start looking for you."
The masked participants immediately scattered, and Chen Na broke into a run at once.
She’d seen on her way in that the factory was huge. ’As long as I’m careful and use my ability, I can definitely pass this!’
Five minutes later, the short-haired woman nodded to the armed personnel. "Begin."
...
A sharp pain flared in her stomach. Wang Yan frowned, groggily opening her eyes.
She knew the pain from her cancer was starting again. It was an excruciating agony that could now only be suppressed by large doses of painkillers, but even those were becoming less and less effective.
Wang Yan fumbled for the pills on the bedside table. The glass of water on the table was full. She took the pills and whispered, "Nana."
There was no response. At first, Wang Yan thought her daughter had just gone to the bathroom, but after waiting a long while for her to return, she started to get anxious.
"Nana!"
Wang Yan raised her voice, but still, there was no reply.
Fighting through the pain, she got out of bed and searched the house, only to find her daughter was nowhere inside. She didn’t know if Nana had run out on her own or if someone had taken her.
Panic seized her.
She hurried back to her room, grabbed the phone from the table, and prepared to call the police to report a missing person.
But when she opened the phone’s call log, she found a record of a call from yesterday evening. The duration was only a little over ten seconds.
She distinctly remembered not having made any calls yesterday. Wondering if it was connected to her daughter’s disappearance, she immediately dialed the number back.
BUZZ... BUZZ...
Guan Tong, who was meditating cross-legged, heard his phone vibrate and opened his eyes.
He picked it up and glanced at the screen. It was a call from Wang Yan. He had saved her number with a note after they spoke yesterday.
He answered, and Wang Yan’s anxious voice immediately came through the receiver.
"Who are you? What did you say to my daughter yesterday?"
"...Wang? This is Guan Tong."