Chapter 2: Cliff Jumping
At this moment, the sky was already bright.
She had already escaped from the deep mountains, had even seen the highway—just following that road would take her out of the mountains. Continuing on, she would reach the main road where cars occasionally passed by. Once she caught a ride, she would truly be free!
But listening to the barking of the dogs, Jiang Mengyu, utterly exhausted, knew very well that she could not run anymore.
Right after the barking, human voices could be heard distantly:
"Look, that woman is over there."
"Don't let her get to the highway, catch her quickly!"
"She has a child and still runs away; such a heartless woman."
"Ah Huang, chase!"
"Catch that damned woman, break her legs."
These voices were like curses that made Jiang Mengyu's already weary body weaken even more: those people had still followed.
Although they were still on the mountain top, it would take some time for them to reach her, but they were coming with hunting dogs, and would soon catch up. She, who had been running all night, could not outrun the hunting dogs!
Looking back longingly at the nearby road leading out of the mountains, she then decisively charged towards a large boulder, stood on top of it, steeled her heart, closed her eyes, and jumped.
Jiang Mengyu had no intention of returning this time after escaping.
Because she knew, the punishment for the third escape attempt was to have her legs broken, with no medical treatment.
Because a woman who had run away three times was judged as someone who would not stay put; breaking her legs meant she could no longer run away.
Jiang Mengyu's ten years of endurance were all for this one escape attempt.
If she couldn't escape, then she'd rather die than go back and accept the punishment of having her legs broken.
When those people saw her jump off the cliff, they yelled angrily, bellowed, and threatened, but to no avail.
Amidst those voices, she heard the old woman's voice, which surprised her a bit—hadn't she drunk the orange drink mixed with something and fallen asleep?
But no matter how the old woman threatened, it couldn't stop Jiang Mengyu's actions.
Because when a person is willing to give up their life, no amount of threatening will work.
Jiang Mengyu heard the whistling of the wind by her ears, and then, she felt something brush against her, something seemed to be rushing toward her—or rather, she was plunging towards something. A pain shot through her head, and she plunged into darkness.
Was she finally going to die?
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Mengyu opened her eyes. She hadn't died?
She tried to get up but felt an excruciating pain in her legs; looking down, she realized that her leg was actually broken.
Looking further, she had multiple cuts on her face, hands, and legs.
She bitterly smiled to herself—escaping for the third time, she would have had her leg broken by the human traffickers, yet they hadn't even started to punish her, and she had already received her punishment.
However, even with a broken leg, she still wanted freedom!
Fortunately, her ten years living in the mountains were not in vain.
The people of Tiger Valley did not know if it was because they were far from the health clinic or for some other reason, but everyone knew a bit of martial arts and how to concoct herbal medicines.
Whenever villagers were sick or in pain, they would use their own herbal concoctions, even knowing a bit about setting bones.
After Mengyu gave birth to a child at the Zhou Family's home, when complications arose, it was her mother-in-law who administered herbal medicine that healed her. However, though her health recovered, she lost her ability to bear children.
The cloth bag slung over her shoulder was still there, containing food and water. She drank a bit of water first. Tearing the hem of her clothes, she wrapped her broken leg, then surveyed her surroundings.
Above her was the cliff she had jumped from, and below, there were still dozens of meters to the bottom!
Should she climb upwards or leap downwards?