Chapter 15: The Rescue of Clara Hu

Wang Po and Dazhuang meticulously prepared the evening meal, then pretended to knock politely before enthusiastically welcoming Skylar Vance to the small table.

“Please, sit. We only have simple food in the mountains. Please don’t mind the plainness, Miss Vance,” Wang Po said, her old face contorted into a mask of false hospitality.

Skylar gave them a sweet, obedient smile and delicately ate a small portion of the food, giving the impression that she was oblivious to Dazhuang’s intense, perverted staring.

After consuming a bowl of gruel—which she had secretly rendered harmless using her Spatial Ability—Skylar announced that she was overcome by fatigue and needed to sleep. She retreated to the inner room, lay down on the heated brick bed (the kang), and immediately went silent.

Wang Po, satisfied the drug should have taken effect, nudged her son. “Go in and fetch her. Take her down to the cellar first. We don't want the neighbors to see her.”

“Yes, Mother.” Dazhuang eagerly agreed. He stumbled into the room, his eyes instantly fixing on Skylar’s legs, which were encased in delicate black stockings. His lust flared, and he could barely move, ready to violate her right there.

Wang Po, worried about his recklessness, quickly followed and stopped him. “You cannot touch this girl! Look at her clothing. She’s not from a common family. We will bring trouble on ourselves if you defile her before the sale!”

“What does it matter, Mother? She’s unconscious! I’ll dress her afterward!” Dazhuang protested, his greedy hand reaching out again.

Wang Po roughly pulled him back. “The big buyer is coming tonight! This girl will fetch an exceptional price! That money will be your ticket to the city! Don’t be stupid! Get her to the cellar, now!”

Dazhuang grumbled, but he dared not disobey. He carefully lifted Skylar’s seemingly limp body and headed toward the hidden cellar.

Screech! As the cellar door began to close, Skylar’s eyes snapped open. She quickly pulled a sturdy iron rod from her spatial dimension and jammed it into the frame, preventing the door from locking completely. Once Dazhuang’s retreating footsteps faded, she released the rod. She then turned her head and met the vacant gaze of a pair of eyes in the gloom.

The earthen cellar was perpetually dark, permeated by a stench of sourness, mold, and rot. Dry straw covered the dirt floor, and on that decaying bed, a woman lay in ripped, tattered clothing.

The fabric was crudely torn; the exposed skin on her fragile body was a roadmap of violent bruises. Her hair was a tangled mess, concealing a face that, even in the darkness, was visible in its heartbreaking fragility. Her eyes, fixed on Skylar, were utterly devoid of hope.

Skylar knelt beside her. Unzipping her own thick, expensive jacket, she wrapped the woman in the garment, pulling her gently into her arms. She whispered the name that had been a silent, heavy weight in her soul for over a decade.

“Clara姐.”

Clara Hu.

Thirteen years had passed, yet Skylar vividly remembered their time together in this very mountain, a shared existence bound by terror and despair. At that age, Skylar had been equally helpless, contemplating self-destruction after her own violation.

It was Clara Hu who had saved her. Clara had offered herself up to Dazhuang to become his ‘wife,’ enduring the beatings and abuse in Skylar’s stead, ensuring the younger girl received a meager share of food and safety.

Two years later, during their desperate escape attempt, Clara had died on the path, sacrificing her life for Skylar’s freedom, only for Skylar to be recaptured and sold to the next wretched location.

Reborn, Skylar would not allow that tragedy to repeat.

She held the woman who felt like a broken, feather-light doll, a hard knot of guilt and rage tightening in her chest. After a long silence, she finally spoke, her voice thick with emotion. “I am so sorry, Clara. I should have come sooner.”

Perhaps that phrase—I should have come sooner—stirred a dormant memory. Clara’s vacant eyes slowly focused on Skylar’s face. She stared intently, her voice raspy and barely audible, asking the inevitable question. “Who… are you?”

Skylar smoothed the woman’s matted hair, offering a small, beautiful smile—one that carried both promise and deadly certainty. “I am Skylar Vance. You can call me Skye. I am here to rescue you. We are leaving, together.”

We are leaving, together.

It was the same promise Clara had made to her all those years ago. Spoken now by Skylar, it resonated with a mature, unflinching resolution.

Whether it was the chilling conviction in Skylar’s expression or the overwhelming seduction of the promise, Clara’s previously numb nerves were instantly shocked awake. The emptiness in her eyes filled with a desperate, reflected light. She reached out her emaciated hands, gripping Skylar’s shoulders with surprising, desperate strength. “Save me…”

Skylar felt the pain in her heart. She held Clara tightly as tears soaked her coat, the line of her mouth tightening into a look of absolute, cold-blooded ferocity directed at the village above.

Night had fully fallen. The scent of cooking wafted down from outside, and Skylar could detect no patrolling footsteps.

She used the iron rod to lever the cellar door open and helped Clara climb out.

Earlier, she had carefully mapped out the escape route. Evening, being dinner time, meant the trails were deserted. The two moved quickly, slipping past the entire village unseen.

“Skye,” Clara whispered, her kind nature resurfacing despite her trauma. “There are other girls here. Should we try to save them…?”

Skylar gently cut her off. “First, we focus on us. I will return for them if I can.” Even with her Spatial Ability, startling the entire village now could jeopardize their escape. She was not so great a humanitarian that she would risk her own, and more importantly Clara’s, safety for strangers.

Clara was kind but not foolish. She understood the gravity of their situation, and seeing Skylar’s resolve, she remained silent.

The two women moved cautiously under the dim, sickly light, hugging the walls as they crept toward the exit. The wind howled through the passes, adding to the desolate atmosphere.

Just as they were about to step out of the village perimeter, a small clink rang out, startling them both.

Skylar instantly located the source and looked over, locking eyes with a pair of round, intelligent eyes.

It was a girl, covered in grime, her ankles bound by crude iron shackles. She was hiding beneath a cooking stand, furtively eating stolen food. Her eyes, like her demeanor, were sharp and perceptive. After a quick assessment of Clara, she darted forward, grabbing a few more handfuls of food, and clutched Clara’s arm with startling speed.

“Sister! Take me with you, please! Please, I beg you!”

Clara winced at the painful grip on her bruised arm, but her compassion prevented her from shaking the girl off. She turned to Skylar for guidance, but Skylar’s voice was already firm and cold.

“Not now. You go back. I will return for you later.”

The girl met Skylar’s icy gaze and flinched, fear replacing her cunning.

Clara stayed silent, her heart aching, but she knew she was powerless. As Skylar gently separated the desperate girl’s hand from Clara’s arm, Clara took a reluctant step back, ready to leave.

But before they could move, the girl’s voice, now laced with vicious calculation, hissed from behind them.

“If you don't take me, I will scream and alert the whole village, right now!”

“No!” Clara gasped, turning back immediately, her voice strained with desperation.

Skylar looked back at the girl. That outwardly innocent face was now a mask of ruthless blackmail. She saw the calculating cunning in the girl’s eyes.

Receiving Clara’s pleading look, Skylar made a split-second decision. This girl was a dangerous variable, but leaving her alive and hostile was a greater risk than taking her along.

“Fine. You’re coming.”

The two-person escape was now a three-person flight. They broke past the village boundaries and immediately plunged into the dense woods.

In the complete darkness, the shadows of the trees danced like phantoms. They ran blindly until they were deep in the wilderness. It was only then, far behind them in the secluded valley, that they heard the cold, distinct, and shattering sound of a gunshot.