Chapter 1172: My Way Is to Force My Way Through
The thought of the corridors outside being filled with guards made Lin Sanjiu freeze instantly. She instinctively held her breath and listened for a while, but like her vision, her ears were also enveloped in chaotic darkness not far away. The vague sounds she faintly caught were also difficult for her to discern.
After a moment of silence, she began to relax and focus on the next steps they needed to take. They couldn"t stay in the pantry cupboard indefinitely until the danger pa.s.sed. She didn"t know how long it would take for the hospital to "forget" about the theft, but even the alarm had been on for several hours, not to mention being wanted. The top priority was to find the exit from the bas.e.m.e.nt.
"Oh, by the way," Lin Sanjiu suddenly remembered, "I was unconscious for so long; the lava outside should have already..."
"Already have gone through one round," was what she was going to say when something pounced from the darkness and pressed against her face, covering her mouth. The other party"s speed outpaced her reaction, so when her mouth was firmly held down by Hei Zeji, her scalp tingled as if to the rhythm of a slow-beating metronome. Without moving, she endured, feeling her own warm breath against the edge of his hand, her lips pressed tightly to his palm.
Hei Zeji covered her mouth, remaining silent. He raised an index finger, removing the warmth from Lin Sanjiu"s face; then, it descended gently, landing perfectly in one second"s length. He silently tapped his fingers four times in a one-second rhythm. Lin Sanjiu heard the pantry door being pushed open.
Footsteps moved around the pantry, unhurried, before stopping in front of the cabinet where they hid.
"Is everything okay?" came a voice from outside the pantry door, indicating the person hadn"t entered.
The person in front of the cabinet spoke, their voice much louder, "Hmm, empty."
"Right, it"s empty. Please leave!" Lin Sanjiu silently urged.
No wonder Hei Zeji had squeezed them into this narrow cabinet. These security guards patrolled the corridor and also entered rooms for inspection.
"Do fugitives really hide in the management area? This is the management area, you know," remarked the security guard outside, sounding like an ordinary person. Listening to them, Lin Sanjiu felt they resembled office workers from before the doomsday. Her thoughts were interrupted when the person at the door muttered and walked in, saying, "Well, there"s nothing happening right now; we might as well make a cup of tea."
1
So humane, taking a tea break during work hours!
The pressure of the palm on her face increased slightly, causing her cheek to slightly ache. Lin Sanjiu lightly touched Hei Zeji"s hand, and he withdrew it.
"Do we have cups and tea bags?" the person in front of the cabinet wondered aloud, his voice nearing the cabinet door. "I don"t know if they"re here."
Lin Sanjiu froze. The cabinet door was right beside her right shoulder, and Hei Zeji was sitting across from her. If the cabinet door opened even slightly, they would be immediately seen.
"Oh, never mind. The cups are under the water dispenser," the second guard spoke in time. Through the cabinet door, Lin Sanjiu could sense the person outside pausing.
Fortunately, her luck proved useful at critical moments.
The voice continued, "Check if there are any tea bags in the cabinet."
Before the last word of that sentence had even settled, just as Lin Sanjiu"s hair was about to stand on end, both she and Hei Zeji made their move simultaneously.
Her fingers quickly slid along the right cabinet door, finding a small metal protrusion at the bottom. Realizing it was the back clasp used to keep the old-style cabinet closed, she immediately clamped onto the metal tab. At the same time, Hei Zeji"s hand firmly grasped the same part on the left cabinet door.
The cabinet door was pulled outward by the person outside but didn"t open. "Why won"t it open?" complained the person.
They exerted more force, pulling and tugging on the cabinet door with increasing strength. Struggling to hold on, Lin Sanjiu desperately clung to the cabinet door. As a result, while the left cabinet door remained firmly shut, her side of the cabinet started to shake back and forth, the dim light from outside flickering through the slightly opened door.
"Did someone in the office lock it?" asked another guard.
"Does this old cabinet even have a lock?" mumbled the person by the cabinet door, stopping their efforts. "I didn"t see any lock holes."
"Forget it if it won"t open," said another guard, sounding like he was answering Lin Sanjiu"s prayers. "Let"s just get some water and leave."
The person at the cabinet door walked away, and only then did Lin Sanjiu feel a cold sweat trickle down her back. She listened to the guards pouring water, chatting while they drank, and throwing the cups in the trash. When they pushed the door open and left, she finally let out the breath she had been holding.
"Come on," Hei Zeji said softly, lifting his hand to quietly push open the cabinet door. The pitch-black darkness in front of her was instantly diluted by the dim light, and her vision cleared up just enough for her to see Hei Zeji crouching out of the cabinet. But the sensation of a body on her left remained. Lin Sanjiu pushed open the cabinet door, using the light to turn her head and see Wus.h.i.+ Ming"s unconscious and astonis.h.i.+ngly ugly face resting next to her shoulder.
When climbing out, Lin Sanjiu couldn"t help but admire Hei Zeji. She had no idea how he managed to be so strong and flexible, just like a big cat, fitting his entire body into such a small cabinet. When she stood up again, her joints creaked, and her whole body ached.
"What did you come out for?" she asked, leaving Wus.h.i.+ Ming in the cabinet, as it was too c.u.mbersome to carry him. Straightening up like an old lady, she asked in a tired voice, "Won"t they come in to patrol?"
"Every ten minutes," Hei Zeji replied, tilting his head, stretching his shoulders, and moving his joints a few times. "When you were unconscious, I couldn"t do anything. Now we can use this time to get out."
"Get out?" Lin Sanjiu tried to keep her voice down. After fainting once and waking up to this situation, her courage and adrenaline seemed to have disappeared completely. "But aren"t there guards all over the corridors outside?"
"Let"s take a look first," Hei Zeji suggested. "Their patrols in the corridors might follow a pattern. If we find an opening, we"ll rush out. What do you say?"
Lin Sanjiu sighed and nodded listlessly. "Alright."