Chapter 288
In that moment, a thought she had never had before suddenly sprang up in little Liu Woxing’s heart.
If she ran toward that night sky, would she also become a free star?
She cautiously peeked at the two people in the back seat through the rearview mirror.
No one was paying attention to her.
Even when she pushed open the car door and stepped one foot outside, they didn’t react.
Watching nervously for signs from the back seat, Liu Woxing carefully closed the door again, then slipped past the driver still repairing the car, moving quietly.
Once she was a good distance away, she finally let loose, running forward in excitement.
She had escaped! This was free—
“Ah!”
Halfway through her carefree run, Liu Woxing was suddenly scooped up around the waist. Above her head came an excited shout:
“Got her, got her, let’s go!”
A second childish voice piped up from the side:
“Sixth Sister, are you stealing a child?”
“What stealing? This is called saving! I was just about to take her back.”
Back?
Liu Woxing froze, realizing the strange person was carrying her right back the way she had just come.
“No, I’m not going back!”
The child wedged under an armpit began struggling wildly, body wriggling like crazy, arms and legs flailing like an electric fan.
Xie Mi opened her mouth to reason with her, but was caught off guard and slapped twice in the face.
Little Shen Moqing rushed up to help—only to be slapped twice as well.
“I’m not going back! Not going back! Not going back!”
“Okay okay, I get it, stop slapping me—ow!”
Helpless, Xie Mi began tickling Liu Woxing’s sides.
“Hahaha… I’m not going back! Hahaha… I’m not! Hahahaha… I’m not!”
“Stubborn little mule!!”
After exhausting every ounce of strength, she finally carried Liu Woxing back to where the car had been parked—
Only to see the luxury car already driving away into the distance.
Xie Mi: “…”
Shen Moqing: “…”
Still under her arm, little Liu Woxing raised two fingers in victory. “Yay.”
“Sixth Sister, I have a phone watch.”
Shen Moqing reacted the fastest, raising his wrist. “We can call the police and say we found a lost elementary schooler.”
Xie Mi slapped her thigh.
“Good idea! Perfect chance to send you, this lost elementary schooler, back too.”
Shen Moqing: “…”
[Xu Shuangrong: Why hasn’t she come yet?]
[System: That’s impossible. You’re lying in wait on her only route. She has to pass by.]
[System: Maybe go check. The Liu family’s car broke down just ahead. If you walk further, you’ll see it.]
Xie Mi’s heart jolted. Without another thought, she scooped up Shen Moqing—still on the phone—and bolted.
One under each arm, she ran at top speed.
The two little ones under her arms started talking.
“Who are you really—kidnappers?” Liu Woxing asked sharply from the left.
“Kidnappers don’t call the police to take you home,” Shen Moqing answered seriously from the right.
“But normal people don’t wear jackets tied over their heads.”
“…” This time Shen Moqing couldn’t come up with a rebuttal.
He didn’t know why Sixth Sister tied her jacket on her head. He did it only to avoid being noticed when he secretly followed her. Though now, he’d already been caught.
“You really are kidnappers! Hel—mmmph!”
Before Liu Woxing could scream for help, Shen Moqing quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.
By now they had entered Xiqing Mountain from another path—since the open highway below offered no cover.
[Xu Shuangrong: I hear Liu Woxing’s voice!]
[System: Why does it sound like she’s being restrained?]
[System: Could she have run into bad people?!]
[Xu Shuangrong: Was this part in the original novel?]
[System: Not at all.]
[Xu Shuangrong: …]
[Xu Shuangrong: So this is another accident like last time.]
Following the voices, Xu Shuangrong ran uphill. The broken branches and footprints in the mud confirmed to her that there were others here.
Her expression darkened as she chased further.
Behind a slope.
Only after making sure Xu Shuangrong had left did Xie Mi finally turn to Liu Woxing.
“You know we’re not kidnappers, don’t you?”
Liu Woxing, mouth still covered, glared angrily at her.
Xie Mi continued:
“You yelled for help earlier because you were afraid we’d send you home, right?”
Liu Woxing puffed her cheeks and turned her head away.
Xie Mi sighed.
“Actually, I’m a police officer.”
“!”
Liu Woxing looked at her in surprise.
“!”
Shen Moqing also looked at her in surprise.
Liu Woxing pointed at Shen Moqing, questioning with her eyes: Why is he so surprised too?
“Because I just rescued him from kidnappers.” Xie Mi lied smoothly without blinking.
“…” Shen Moqing was silent a moment, then nodded. “Right.”
“Did you see that masked woman earlier? She’s a trafficker. I’ve already saved eighteen kids from her. You’re the nineteenth.”
Liu Woxing’s expression changed.
“Do you know what happens if traffickers take you? They’ll break your legs and force you to beg on the streets. They’ll cut out your organs and sell them to rich people. They’ll—”
Liu Woxing shrank closer to Xie Mi.
Satisfied, Xie Mi patted her shoulder. “Good, as long as you’re scared. Next time, don’t run away from home.”
“…”
At the mention of “home,” Liu Woxing’s eyes dimmed and she lowered her gaze.
Xie Mi removed her hand from her mouth.
“Still don’t want to go back?”
“…”
She didn’t answer. Xie Mi didn’t get upset, just looked up at the night sky and kept talking.
“Right now, being at home feels suffocating, so you want to escape.
But have you thought about what happens after escaping?”
“At twelve years old, can you really survive in this world alone?”
Liu Woxing lifted her eyes, sadness pooling in them.
Xie Mi patted her head.
“Grow up well in that home.
When one day your wings are strong and full, when you can face everything on your own—
Then tell them.
The voice that cannot be heard now, by then, they will hear it.”
Liu Woxing’s heart trembled. The sorrow filling her pupils was gradually replaced with hope.
Suddenly, a bright streak of white flashed across her eyes.
“A meteor shower!” Shen Moqing whispered excitedly, unable to hide it.
Liu Woxing quickly looked up at the sky too.
Silver streaks slashed through the night sky, reflected deeply in her pupils.
Starlight illuminated her young face. At that moment, a seed named “freedom” was planted in her heart.
“Hey, it really is a meteor shower.”
Xie Mi waved them closer coaxingly. “Quick, quick, make a wish.”
“Mm!”
Liu Woxing obediently pressed her hands together and shut her eyes.
But Shen Moqing didn’t react.
Puzzled, Xie Mi glanced at him—only to see the little coat spirit bent over, seriously writing something on a slip of paper.
When she saw what he had written, she froze for a moment.
Then her lips curved into a smile.
“So this is when you wrote it.”
