204: Chapter 204 Okay, I'll send you down tomorrow morning.

"I want to say, if we really can't go back," Xu Zhixia turned her head, looking into Su Qingxue's eyes, "that intern from your company might be the only person we can rely on."

If it were two months ago, Su Qingxue would definitely have said Xu Zhixia was crazy, but over the course of two months, Su Qingxue had slowly accepted this fact.

Xu Zhixia spoke on her own, "Women in a place like this have no right of choice."

"Have you ever thought about it? Yang Ningcong is tied up here right now, and that equipment downstairs cannot be used."

"Wang Laoliu, the bodyguards, and all those people are still immersed in an illusion. The signal flare was fired, the PLB is still there, so sooner or later it can be activated, and sooner or later someone will come."

"As long as this illusion exists, they are still human."

"They will still exercise restraint, listen to commands, and maintain the most basic order."

Su Qingxue's fingers clenched tightly on her knees.

Xu Zhixia squatted down, looking at her at eye level.

"But have you thought about it? If we let Yang Ningcong go down and he presses the PLB—"

"And then?"

"Half a month, no ships come."

"One month, no planes."

"Two months, nothing at all."

Xu Zhixia's voice was spoken almost right against Su Qingxue's ear.

"Those people are just stray dogs with broken ropes."

"Right now they still have hope, still feeling that if they endure a bit longer they can go back. The signal has been sent, just wait. This thought stringing them along is more effective than any rule."

"Once this thought is broken..."

Xu Zhixia did not finish the rest of her words.

But Su Qingxue already understood.

Having mixed in the business world for so many years, she had seen the ugliest side of human nature.

Middle-aged men who got female subordinates drunk at dinner tables, business partners who slipped their hands under skirts during contract signings, and drunkards who blocked the hallways after annual meetings.

Those were still in a civilized society, with surveillance, laws, and public opinion.

Here, there was nothing.

"As for Lin Fan..." Xu Zhixia continued.

"To him, a gamble is just a gamble," Xu Zhixia said. "He is a man, he has a gun, he has a knife, and those people can't do anything to him. If we really offend him, to him it would just mean losing a way to pass the time..."

She looked at Su Qingxue.

"But we are different. The people down below are even more devoid of humanity than that intern..."

Su Qingxue closed her eyes.

Xu Zhixia didn't continue any further. Some things were enough when hinted at; spelling them out completely would only make them cheap.

After a long time, Su Qingxue opened her eyes.

"I understand."

Four words, spoken in a very soft voice, representing Su Qingxue's compromise.

Xu Zhixia felt around in her canvas bag for a strip of pills, snapped one off, and placed it in Su Qingxue's palm.

"What is this?"

"Diazepam, to relieve anxiety and help you sleep."

Su Qingxue looked at the small white pill in her palm.

"Take it and get some sleep," Xu Zhixia said. "Perhaps you're under too much pressure and haven't thought many things through clearly... When you wake up, think carefully about whether what I said was wrong."

Su Qingxue didn't hesitate for long.

She put the pill into her mouth and swallowed it with half a mouthful of water handed over by Xu Zhixia.

Xu Zhixia helped her lie back down on the cushion and covered her properly with her outer garment.

"Zhixia."

"Hmm."

"Thank you for coming."

Xu Zhixia did not reply.

She brushed aside the stray hairs clinging to Su Qingxue's forehead and rested the back of her hand against her forehead for two seconds to confirm she wasn't running a fever.

Then she stood up, lifted the curtain, and went outside.

...

Outside, the people in the cave each harbored their own thoughts.

Separated by a layer of ragged cloth curtain, most people heard bits and pieces of the first half of Xu Zhixia and Su Qingxue's conversation.

Five billion, two months of search and rescue, the signal unable to be sent out—the amount of information was too large, and everyone digested it at a different pace.

What was said in lowered voices during the second half, no one heard.

Yang Ningcong sat by a rock, his hands tied in front of him, bandages wrapped around his neck, and his stomach still aching faintly.

He watched Xu Zhixia come out of the compartment, his lips moving slightly.

An ungrateful turncoat.

Taking money from the Yang Family while speaking for outsiders.

He had heard all the bad things she said about him, and Yang Ningcong wanted to curse.

The words reached his throat, but then he remembered those three punches from half an hour ago.

His stomach was still hurting.

He shut his mouth.

Xu Zhixia walked past him without even sparing him a glance.

Yang Ningcong turned his head toward the rock wall, his teeth grinding audibly.

...

The night grew deep.

The wind outside the cave grew stronger, pouring in from the slope entrance and making the embers of the campfire flicker erratically.

Lin Fan sat at the cave entrance, leaning against the rock wall, his handgun placed to his right and his sniper rifle standing to his left. He was not asleep.

Looking down from the slope, a faint firelight shone from inside the canvas shed on the beach.

Coming from a mercenary background, starting a fire was not difficult.

Not a single one of Wang Laoliu and his men was asleep.

Separated by a stretch of the slope, the two sides could see each other's firelight and hear the sound of the wind.

Neither side made a move.

Lin Fan didn't know if Wang Laoliu and his men would sneak up under the cover of darkness, so he could not lower his guard.

Meanwhile, for Yang Ningcong, it was the worst night he had spent since birth.

Ever since he was little, his worst accommodation condition had been a hotel costing several thousand yuan.

Now he was lying on the gravel ground, cushioned underneath by half a piece of ragged canvas, red marks chafed into his wrists by the rope, the wound on his neck burning with pain, and the lingering aftershocks of those three punches still churning in his stomach.

Mosquitoes buzzed around his ears, and he couldn't swat them.

Stones pressed into his back, and he couldn't turn over.

The urge to urinate rose, but he didn't dare call out to anyone.

Yang Ningcong stared at the cave ceiling, his eye sockets stinging.

He thought of his own bed.

A 3.2-meter custom-made large bed, Egyptian long-staple cotton bedding, constant-temperature air conditioning, and outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was the night view of the entire city.

Half a cup of warm water was always placed on the bedside table, but now he had to look at others' expressions just to take a sip of water.

He thought of his mother.

Yang Ningcong's nose soured, and he almost broke down.

He bit down hard on his tongue, forcing that urge back down.

He couldn't cry, absolutely couldn't cry.

Liu Feifei was nearby, and Su Qingxue was inside. If he cried and word got out, where would the Yang Family save face?

But he was truly scared.

Afraid that tomorrow Lin Fan would be in a bad mood and beat him up again.

Afraid that Wang Laoliu would grow impatient downstairs and leave him to die.

Afraid that his wound would get infected and run a fever, afraid of rotting away in this crappy cave.

And even more afraid of not being able to go back.

As for what Xu Zhixia said in the compartment just now, although he hadn't heard it all clearly, he caught the words "five billion" and "can't find it."

The Su Family spent five billion and still couldn't find this island.

Then what about his Yang Family?

Although he was an only son, could the Yang Family accomplish something that the Su Family couldn't do no matter what?

If he had known earlier, he shouldn't have gone out to sea; if he had known earlier, he should have listened to his mother's words.

Yang Ningcong didn't dare think any further.

He turned over, and a stone struck his ribs, hurting him so much that he gasped sharply.

Over at the cave entrance, Lin Fan's silhouette remained motionless in the dim light.

Yang Ningcong stared at that back for a very long time.

He still couldn't help speaking up, "Um, Brother Lin..."

His voice was very soft, carrying a hint of probing.

Lin Fan didn't move.

"Mas... Master Lin."

Lin Fan's head tilted slightly.

Yang Ningcong hurriedly chimed in, "If you let me down, I'll turn on the PLB."

Lin Fan didn't speak.

Yang Ningcong scooted forward a couple of times, the rope dragging across the ground with a harsh scratching sound.

"I can write a statement in blood. Whether we go back or not, I won't do anything to you."

His voice grew more and more anxious.

"Think about it, what's the use of tying me up here? I can't fight, I can't work, and I'm just wasting your water and food. If I go down and turn on the equipment, everyone will have a way out."

"Brother Lin, I mean it sincerely."

"Whatever you want me to write, I'll write it. A statement in blood, a guarantee letter, an IOU—you name the amount, and I'll wire it to you after we go back."

Lin Fan turned around. "Fine, I'll send you down tomorrow morning."