Chapter 600 Three Possibilities
Nan Chen held onto Ning Ran’s shoulder for support and skipped with his right leg. Ning Ran tried her best to support Nan Chen’s weight, but it was hard to walk on the muddy riverbank, which was also covered with brambles.
“Forget it. We can’t make it if we continue like this. We need to think of something else.” Panting, they sat down. Nan Chen said little. It was evident that he was in pain, judging from his forehead full of sweat.
“Wait for me here. I’ll walk down alone and see if I can get help. If I can’t, I’ll find a flatter cliff to climb up to the road and get help,” Ning Ran told Nan Chen. “No!” Nan Chen immediately disagreed with her idea.
“Why not? That’s the only option we have left. You can’t walk with that broken leg at all. Even if this place is not muddy and hard to walk, you can’t make it that far in an hour. I can go further alone.” “That’s too dangerous. What if you come across bad people?”
The thought had occurred to Ning Ran that she might bump into a bad guy and end up getting into a worse situation despite there being hardly anyone in the barren mountains.
She was a beautiful woman. Should someone have evil intentions for her, she wouldn’t be able to get help in such an environment. However, Ning Ran had to try despite the risks because Nan Chen needed to get medical aid as soon as possible.
She couldn’t bear the thought of him being crippled for life because of the delay in curing him. Besides, Erbao was still waiting for them to return with the doctor at Livingsfill. Without the mobile phones, they were uncontactable. She must be worried and anxious at home.
“I don’t think there’s so many bad guys in this world. I have to try this. We need to get help before the sunset, or else…”
“Don’t go. Let’s wait here.” Nan Chen grabbed Ning Ran’s wrist firmly. “Calm down and think properly, Nan Chen. We can’t sit and do nothing right now because we have no food, no medicine, and no ointment. If we wait for help here, we’re going to die!” Ning Ran yelled.
“I can’t let you go alone. It’s too dangerous! What if someone rows a boat pass here? Let’s wait until tomorrow morning.” Nan Chen refused to let go of her. “We can’t wait any longer–”
“We have to. It’s really dangerous for you to go alone. And I need you to help me with something,” he said. “What is it?”
“I’m not sure if my leg is broken or dislocated. If it’s dislocated, we can still fix it. Hold my leg still against the stone.” Despite being confused about what he was planning to do, Ning Ran followed his instructions.
After groping at his joints, Nan Chen stopped and gripped a part of his leg firmly. “Push me from the back. Hard.” “Can you push it back to its place?” Ning Ran winced at the thought of it.
“I won’t know if I don’t try.”
She had no choice but to push him from the back.
He winced in pain and continued, “Try using all of your strength this time.”
Ning Ran did as she was told.
However, Nan Chen didn’t even blink this time.
Turning around, he asked, “Did you hear a cracking sound?”
Ning Ran shook her head. “No. Did you hear it?”
“Me neither.”
“If you didn’t hear it, how is it possible for me to hear it? Do you feel your joints reconnecting?”
“I don’t know,” he replied.
“What’s the point of trying this if we don’t know anything?”
“I thought I can fix this. I’m not like Dabao, who knows about this knowledge. Let’s rest for a while.”
Nan Chen’s forehead was covered in sweat when he lay down. He must be in pain.
Ning Ran lay down beside him. The sky above was blue and bright.
Ironically, it had been a while since she had the time to admire the scenery.
“What should we do now?” She started to get anxious again.
“We can only wait,” Nan Chen said.
“What if no one comes to our rescue?”
“Is it just me, or did the truck crash into us purposely?” he suddenly asked.
Ning Ran realized she hadn’t thought of it before.
Recalling the car crash, she said, “He was driving very fast and so you slowed down to let him pass. He should have made it past without crashing into us because the road was wide enough. I think he might do it on purpose, but why would he? He doesn’t even know us!”
“Did you notice him following us?” Nan Chen asked another question.
“I don’t remember. I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “I can’t be sure because there are many similar trucks on the road because of the reconstruction,” she concluded.
“There are three possibilities now. One, it was totally an accident. However, it’s quite unlikely for that to be true because the road wasn’t steep, and the truck wasn’t loaded. Let’s assume that he crashed into us accidentally. Wouldn’t he have called the police? If he did that, the police would find us soon and save us in a while,” Nan Chen said.
Ning Ran nodded in agreement with his reasoning. “It makes sense. How about the second possibility?”
“He might have lost control of the truck and crashed into us. After that, he was too afraid to call the police because he thought we were dead. Since there wasn’t any witness around, he bailed and left us on our own. If this is true, no one will be here to save us. We need to come up with another plan tomorrow.”
She nodded again. “How about the third possibility? Could it be he crashed into us purposely?”
“Yes. If that’s the case, things are more complicated than it seems. Since we’re not from around here, we can’t have made any enemies here. Why is he doing this, then? He must have been ordered or paid to do so.”
Nan Chen paused before continuing, “If that’s the case, the perpetrator will want to know if we are dead or alive. That means he or she will send someone to check on us. If we wait here, they’ll find us.”
Terrified, Ning Ran exclaimed, “Wouldn’t it be the bad guys then?”
“It’s possible, but it’s better than no one coming down. As long as someone comes here, I don’t care if they’re here to help us or to check if we’re dead.”
“But how are you going to handle the bad guys in this state?” Ning Ran questioned.
“Can’t you protect me?” Nan Chen asked.
“I can’t believe you still have the nerve to joke! How am I, a frail woman, supposed to protect you? Who wants us dead so badly?”
“Nonsense. You’re the only person by my side and my leg is broken. If you don’t protect me, who will?” He smiled before continuing, “I don’t know who wants to harm us. If I knew, I would have prevented it.”
“We should have brought Qiao Zhan with us.”
“No, we shouldn’t have brought him so that he could protect our kids. I already have enough things to worry about,” Nan Chen said.
“Are you saying that the kids could be in danger, too?” Ning Ran was even more scared.
“I’m not sure, but they will be fine with Qiao Zhan and Nan Xing taking care of them. Qiao Zhan is a professional bodyguard. He will ensure the kids are out of harm’s way.”
