Lin Xingwan's eyes widened, staring at the clearly excited face before her, and she felt utterly dreadful.
Especially the dizziness that pulsed through her head, making her feel as if she might faint at any moment.
But Lin Xingwan knew she absolutely could not pass out. If she did, her life would truly be at the mercy of those who had toyed with her for years.
"Hurry onto the boat. Look at how you're frozen. We will absolutely give you a satisfactory outcome for what happened today. We are truly very sorry." The stranger's face was full of remorse, and his eyes held a look of sincerity as he spoke.
Seeing this, Lin Xingwan's head spun even more.
Why were these people apologizing to her for no reason? Weren't they subordinates of Helian Diejin?
Lin Xingwan was half-believing, half-doubting, but was eventually placed on a boat by these people. The small boat drifted towards the riverbank.
After about half an hour, Lin Xingwan was brought into a small tiled house, with small bonfires already burning around.
On the way, Lin Xingwan had already figured out the entire story.
These people had mistaken her for someone else!
Two hours earlier, a tourist had gone missing in this area. The reason for the disappearance was that villagers from this small mountain village had harassed a female tourist, who, failing to get help, had jumped into the river.
Coincidentally, this missing tourist was a celebrity, and her disappearance had caused a huge stir online. Thus, the villagers of this mountain village immediately set out to search under pressure.
Lin Xingwan had accidentally been mistaken for the celebrity, and so she was rescued.
"Village Chief, we found her, we found her..." The villager's voice was full of joy. After he spoke, the people inside the tiled house immediately rushed out.
Lin Xingwan roughly counted at least thirty people.
However, when these people rushed out and saw Lin Xingwan, the expressions on everyone's faces became very strange.
Even a man dressed impeccably shouted, "Is this how you fool people? This is not my daughter!" The worry on the middle-aged man's face turned from joy to anger, and the villagers were instantly stunned.
They cast confused glances at Lin Xingwan. Such a beautiful woman wasn't a celebrity? Just how high were the celebrities' standards?
"Her? Such a beautiful celestial being isn't a celebrity?"
"That's right. We searched the river and only found her. There's no one else anywhere else!"
"I suspect your daughter might not have fallen into the river. Otherwise, how could we not find her?"
The villagers began to chat amongst themselves, while the middle-aged man became even more enraged.
Just then, Lin Xingwan saw a few police officers approaching.
She immediately ran to the police officers and deliberately lied, "I... I am also a tourist here. I accidentally fell into the river today. Can I... can I send a message to my family?" Lin Xingwan's face was full of a pitiable expression. Her intuition told her that these people were likely not bad people, otherwise, they wouldn't have mobilized so many people to search for a woman.
As expected, after Lin Xingwan finished speaking, a police officer immediately handed her his mobile phone.
"Hurry and call your family. Otherwise, they must be worried sick."
"Thank you." Lin Xingwan quickly took the phone and made a call.
At the same time, Zhou Jinbai, who was still searching near the accident site, heard his phone ring.
He took out his phone and looked at it. It was an unknown number.
Zhou Jinbai frowned. This was his private number, and anyone other than those extremely close to him would absolutely not know it.
He immediately answered the call.
"Hello?" The man's voice was clear and cold. On the other end, Lin Xingwan felt as if an eternity had passed upon hearing Zhou Jinbai's voice.
Her voice trembled as she said, "Zhou... Zhou Jinbai, it's me..."
"Wife? Where are you?" The moment before, Zhou Jinbai had been incredibly aloof, but upon hearing Lin Xingwan's voice, he instantly became flustered and anxious. The sudden shift in his attitude was astonishing.
"I don't know. Just track the location of this number. I'll wait for you to rescue me."
Although Lin Xingwan didn't know where she was, she knew that as long as she called Zhou Jinbai, with his capabilities, it would be easy for him to find her current location.
"Okay, wait there for us. No matter what happens, ensure your safety."
Zhou Jinbai hurriedly finished giving his instructions and then had his subordinates locate the position from which Lin Xingwan had called him.
As for Lin Xingwan, she remained in the small tiled house.
The group of people who had just brought Lin Xingwan back, having found the wrong person, now turned back the way they came to search for the middle-aged man's daughter.
"Little girl, you must have been scared. Have some ginger soup to warm yourself up."
The police officer who had lent Lin Xingwan his phone saw her sitting alone in a corner and felt a surge of protective instinct. After all, the woman before him looked so pitiful. Any man would not want to see such a beauty looking so dejected.
"Thank you." Lin Xingwan held the scalding ginger tea in her hands, her mind racing.
She had fallen in with Helian Diejin. If she could survive, then Helian Diejin also had a high chance of survival!
However, Lin Xingwan absolutely did not want the wicked Helian Diejin to be alive.
If she were still alive, more people would die because of Helian Diejin.
Thinking of this, Lin Xingwan couldn't help but ask, "Officer, are there many people who fall into that river every year and survive?"
The man first nodded, then shook his head. "That river is considered a river with a river god by the villagers here. Many people fall into it every year. Although most survive, a few have died. Of course, according to the superstitions of the local people, the river god demands a few people to serve him each year."
The police officer's words left Lin Xingwan momentarily stunned.
But she thought that the more remote the place, the more superstitious it would be, so Lin Xingwan continued, "Before me, did you not find any other people who fell in?"
The police officer cast an inquisitive gaze at Lin Xingwan and then asked, "Young lady, what is it you wish to know?"
Lin Xingwan coughed awkwardly. She hadn't realized her intentions were so obvious.
"Actually, to be honest, Officer, my sister fell into the water with me. I slipped and fell, and then my sister jumped in to save me. Now I am very worried about my sister's condition, but I'm too embarrassed to trouble them to look for her."
Lin Xingwan's face was full of a troubled expression. After hearing Lin Xingwan's words, the police officer became agitated. "What? Someone else fell into the river? Why didn't you say so sooner!"
The police officer quickly went to his colleagues and informed them of the news.
So, several police officers began making calls to summon more people, as for them, time was money.
While these people were making calls, Lin Xingwan's gaze fell upon a fruit knife not far from her.
A chilling expression appeared in her eyes!
Lin Xingwan, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to her, quickly hid the fruit knife inside her clothes. Then, when the police officers sent others to search, Lin Xingwan, using the excuse of worrying about her sister, followed them out to search.
After all, she was their own sister. The police officers eventually allowed Lin Xingwan to join the search.
With so many people together, nothing unexpected should happen.
When Zhou Jinbai and his group arrived, they couldn't find Lin Xingwan anywhere.
Instead, the police officers in the small tiled house became even more serious upon seeing Zhou Jinbai and his entourage.
Although they were police officers, they were still ordinary people.
They hadn't expected this group to arrive in a helicopter, exuding an aura of such unattainable superiority, as if the blood flowing in their veins was noble. Seeing Zhou Jinbai and his group, they couldn't help but feel a sense of inferiority and insignificance.
Of course, the villagers of this small mountain village were puzzled. What was happening in their village tonight?
So many important figures had arrived here, it was unbelievable!
"Where is Xingwan? Where is she?" Zhou Jinbai walked up to one of the police officers and asked coldly.
The police officer couldn't help but respectfully reply, "Who is Xingwan?"
Before Zhou Jinbai could speak, Jia Yanzhen directly showed a photo to the police officer, who immediately understood.
"This young lady said she was going to look for her sister, so she left with the villagers. She left about half an hour ago. If you hurry, you might still catch up with them."
Almost as soon as the police officer finished speaking, Zhou Jinbai and his group turned and left.
Meanwhile, Lin Xingwan had already walked along the river from one end to the other.
The small river flowed through shallow and safe areas, which was why she hadn't died despite falling from such a height with Helian Diejin.
However, this also meant that Helian Diejin had a very high chance of survival.
No!
She absolutely could not let Helian Diejin leave here safely. She had to find her before she could contact her people.
Lin Xingwan searched even more meticulously, afraid of missing anything.
But after finding no clues, Lin Xingwan felt that her method was unreliable and too inefficient.
She couldn't help but ask the surrounding villagers which parts of the river were easier to get ashore. After receiving a few answers, Lin Xingwan's gaze locked onto a narrow diversion.
For some reason, upon seeing this diversion, Lin Xingwan had a strong intuition that if Helian Diejin was not dead, she would definitely have left through this diversion.
Because there was a cave not far away.
Looking at the dark cave before her, Lin Xingwan felt as if something was inside.
"Can we go into that cave?" Lin Xingwan asked the person beside her.
"That cave can be entered, but basically, none of us here go in. It's said that many people died in that cave in the past, and the cave connects to a tomb. Anyone who enters the cave ultimately meets their death!"
"Yes, that cave is too inauspicious. It's best not to go in."
Lin Xingwan's confusion grew as she listened to the villagers.
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind Lin Xingwan.
"Wife—"
Lin Xingwan felt as if she had been frozen by magic, her entire body stiff.
Although this was the voice she had longed to hear, the moment she heard it, she felt tears welling up.
She didn't even know how long it had been since this man had called her wife.
Lin Xingwan wanted to turn around, but her body was stiff. In just a few seconds, Zhou Jinbai embraced her from behind.
The man's grip was strong, as if he wanted to meld Lin Xingwan into his very bones.
Zhou Jinbai said nothing. At this moment, the people around them seemed to be automatically ignored. There was only the two of them in the world.
Moses, Jia Yanzhen, Bai Xiao, and others who followed Zhou Jinbai were at a loss for words when they saw this scene.
After all, the journey Lin Xingwan and Zhou Jinbai had been through was indeed very arduous.
However, the villagers standing beside Lin Xingwan showed expressions of extreme confusion upon seeing Zhou Jinbai and his group.
Of course, their expressions were all the same.
When did so many figures, like gods, appear in this small mountain village?
"Cough... cough, cough..." After a long, long time, Jia Yanzhen finally couldn't stand it anymore and began to cough violently.
He could temporarily endure being force-fed dog food, but he had been eating it for so long now, he didn't want to continue.
Lin Xingwan finally came back to her senses and quickly pushed Zhou Jinbai away.
"You finally came." Lin Xingwan didn't know why, but thinking about all the things that had happened after she left Zhou Jinbai, and even her impersonation of Xu Qingdai, made her feel a sense of extreme social awkwardness. It felt as if no matter what she did, she was a failure!
Her initial intention was to seek revenge without implicating Zhou Jinbai.
But now, her revenge wasn't even complete, and she had already exposed her identity. This feeling was truly embarrassing.