Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Song Qingxiao noticed that number two—the office lady—wore an unmistakable grin because of the doctor’s choice. After the situation progressed to that stage, they were past the point of no return. No one would be willing to show mercy.
They were too focused on preserving their own lives.
Even though only the last person alive could leave the place, her alliance with number two was highly fragile. Hence, she could only focus on saving her own life. She could not rely on someone else to save her.
Running away was not an option for Song Qingxiao. If she gave up and ran away then, the office lady would retreat as well, and their impromptu alliance would be completely destroyed. It would be highly disadvantageous for her.
As soon as Song Qingxiao thought of that, her eyes flashed with determination. All she hoped for was for the office lady to be more intelligent and realize that it would help the doctor conserve energy if she died too quickly. It would not be advantageous for the office lady whatsoever.
If the doctor could conserve his energy, the office lady would not be in a good position. If number two could piece all of that together before the doctor prepared to kill Song Qingxiao, she could help her get some respite and buy her some precious time.
“Number two…”
Song Qingxiao had just begun to speak when the doctor made up his mind. He would not give her another chance to complete her sentence. After all, his carelessness earlier allowed Song Qingxiao to influence number two and caused no end of trouble for the doctor. Hence, as soon as Song Qingxiao’s lips began to move, the doctor lunged towards her.
When she killed number six, Song Qingxiao had only managed to succeed because she ambushed him with her dagger when he was not paying attention. Since she faced a true opponent, Song Qingxiao truly felt what being under real pressure was like. Her body had already reached its limit a long time ago, and she barely kept it together through sheer willpower. Her legs felt like lead blocks—heavy and immobile.
The doctor finally took out his hand, which he had kept inside his pocket during the entire ordeal, and clenched it into a fist. He looked like he was about to aim for her eye. In her panic, Song Qingxiao turned her head and planned to flee from his attack. However, her exhausted legs were not up for that level of exertion.
In that moment of crisis, Song Qingxiao held the mouse in her left hand and aimed it at the doctor’s fist. She hoped that she could take advantage of the doctor’s attacking force to stabilize herself.
In their first exchange, Song Qingxiao revealed that she was in a state of complete weakness, showing the doctor that she was entirely out of energy. Even though the doctor’s first attack did not make its mark, Song Qingxiao did not gain any advantage from it either. The sharp edge of the broken mouse merely left several bloodstains on the back of his hand.
Even though she had managed to avoid the doctor’s punch aimed at her eyes, his fist managed to brush against her cheek. The doctor staggered forward. Song Qingxiao turned around warily and took two deep breaths. She then took a step in the direction of the office lady only to notice a dull tingling sensation in her cheek.
At that moment, she did not dare to reach out and touch her cheek. She could faintly feel that the skin on her cheek was grazed and that blood was gushing out of the wound. When the doctor attacked her, she vaguely noticed the object that the doctor was holding onto. It was likely the secret weapon that the doctor had been hiding the whole time, only to reveal it then.
Song Qingxiao resisted the urge to reach for her dagger. She panted breathlessly. The doctor’s attacks did not achieve its intended outcome. As he brought his momentum to a halt, he turned about, and she could see that he wielded an uncapped fountain pen in his right hand. The fountain pen’s tip was covered in blood and skin. He must have used that pen to scratch her cheek.
After she noticed that, Song Qingxiao realized how dangerous the situation was. The doctor had rushed towards her, aiming for her eye. Luckily, she had avoided his attack. Otherwise, the outcome would be too gruesome to imagine.
The both of them had swapped positions. The doctor did not rest and once again lunged towards Song Qingxiao. He learned from his previous mistake and crashed into her with his body. Song Qingxiao was less fortunate that time. Her body was utterly unable to keep up with her mind. As soon as the doctor collided with her, she collapsed and fell backward.
If she was knocked to the ground, there was no need to explain what would happen next. Thankfully she stood not too far away from the large water tank where number six’s body was kept. When the doctor crashed into her, she fell backward, and her head knocked against the tank, making a loud noise.
Even though it was a pretty bad fall, the tank was able to support her body. The doctor bent his arm and heavily pressed his elbow into her. Her instinct to survive was triggered. She hit the doctor in the face with the mouse and the phone in her hands. However, her strength was so weak that it had a negligible effect on the doctor.
The doctor pinned Song Qingxiao down to prevent her from struggling and forcing him to expend more energy. The doctor hit her temples forcefully, causing Song Qingxiao to go dizzy. Her hand that held the phone began to go limp.
The phone fell to the ground, and the doctor reached out to remove the mouse from her other hand. For some strange reason, her grip in that hand was unyielding. The doctor tugged at the mouse forcefully a couple of times before he retrieved it.
Her head was super dizzy from being hit. The factory seemed to spin around her, and her stomach felt incredibly upset. She could hear the pulsing of her arteries in her head. At that moment, she had a vivid feeling that her death was imminent.
Her eyes must have been filled with blood because she could not see the doctor’s savage face clearly. His features seemed to merge with her killer’s in her memory, the one who stabbed her to death with a dagger in the dark alley.
She was in two life-threatening situations in one day. She did not think that anyone else in the history of time would ever experience such an extraordinary encounter. Her arms felt like they weighed a ton, and her body felt like it did not belong to her. Her consciousness seemed about to leave her body. If it were not for her last remaining breath, Song Qingxiao felt like she would have fainted long ago. She would already have died in the hands of the doctor.
The hand around her neck began to squeeze tighter. It felt like the force of it was about to snap her neck. The choking feeling seemed familiar. She moved her fingers which were dangling at her sides, towards the dagger hidden in her sleeve.
She opened her mouth and tried to breathe. Her chest heaved slightly as she tried to push the doctor off her to give herself a chance to breathe. However, her struggles were so pitifully weak that the doctor completely disregarded them.
On the contrary, the office lady who stood aside was shocked as she watched the scene unfold. She was an intelligent woman, and her thought process was precisely what Song Qingxiao had thought before.
She knew that once Song Qingxiao was dead, she would be next on the kill list for the doctor. Even if the rules allowed more than one person to get out alive, the doctor would not let her escape alive since she had witnessed his murder. She needed to seize the opportunity to save Song Qingxiao and work together to deal with the doctor.
That was her initial plan. However, after seeing the scene in front of her, her determination began to waver. The doctor seemed to retain his strength. He had kept his hand in his pockets not because it was injured. Instead, it was because he hid a fountain pen that could be used as a weapon.
She looked indecisive, and in the next moment, she began to step back. Even though she expected that outcome for Song Qingxiao, it sent chills down her spine since it was happening.
Song Qingxiao felt extremely resentful at the office lady’s cold feet at the last minute. However, at that moment, she could neither shout nor scold because her chest had begun to ache from the lack of oxygen. She moved her arms, and she felt that the dagger hidden in her sleeve had started to slide downwards.
If her trump card was revealed then, she would be in hot water. However, Song Qingxiao had no other choice. If she continued to endure it, she feared that she would die in the hands of the doctor before she could take the dagger out!
Since the situation unraveled that way, all she could do was give it her best shot. Whether she lived or died, it would be up to fate. However, in the next second, everything changed.
Luck was once again on her side.
Based on the doctor’s assessment, Song Qingxiao was not a threat to him at all. Since she was in that situation, there was no way that she could retaliate with a powerful attack. Hence, the doctor had let down his guard and loosened his grip on her arm to stop the office lady who tried to escape!