Noting his pursuer nursing his sprained ankle, Damian felt relieved and sat on a big stone to take a rest. He had run for a long time and his mouth was dry.
He took a rest for a while and followed the sound of water to find a stream, ignoring Barry's shouts.
Fortunately, the stream was clear. He couldn't wait around long. He drank two mouthfuls of water to moisten his throat, and then washed his face.
As soon as he washed his face, he heard faint footsteps behind him. He suddenly turned and spotted Barry.
Barry dragged his injured ankle behind him and chased Damian, and was closing fast. He was three meters away, and showed no signs of slowing down.
Startled, Damian stood up in a hurry, balanced on the pebbles in the stream and crossed to the other side.
Barry made his way down to the stream as well. He picked up a mouthful of water and took a couple sips. "You guys really must be part of the Huo family. I've never seen kids as resourceful as you two."
They were only three years old, but sometimes their intelligence seemed to dwarf that of a teenager. It was terrifying!
Damian blinked his eyes and answered proudly, "Of course we're smart. We're as smart as Dad!" To be honest, sometimes he felt that he took after his mother more, because he felt he was not quite as smart as his brothers.
Everyone knew who Matthew Huo was, and they knew that angering him was dangerous. However, Barry had no other choice but to kidnap these two kids. But as dangerous as Matthew was, his boss was the more immediate threat. He wouldn't disobey him. Not if he wanted to live, at any rate. He sighed, "You brat, if you keep running like this, we'll be trapped in this forest overnight. Ever think about that?"
In fact, Damian didn't care. "Yeah, I don't like it either. How about you let me go? You can't catch up with me anyway!" he said.
Damian was right. Not only was Damian smarter, the man had sprained his ankle. There was no way he could keep up with the cunning, energetic little boy.
But a light bulb came on in Barry's head. He was going to trick the boy. "Okay!" he agreed.
Damian didn't move and sat still. "You mean it? If you go back on your word, you'll be a cheating dog."
"I mean it! Scram!" Barry nodded without hesitation. Who cared what a little boy called him? If he couldn't bring this boy back, he would be dead.
Of course, Damian didn't believe him. His father had told them not to trust anyone. The only ones he could safely rely on were his family members. Anyone else might want something from him. This man was not his family. Why should he believe him?
Then Damian turned and continued to run. Barry was a little confused. Didn't he just agree to let him go? Why would the boy scamper off like that? If he lost him, he'd be in big trouble.
Because one of his feet was injured, he couldn't jump over the stream, so he had to walk through it, soaking his socks and shoes.
But when he got to the other side, the child had disappeared into the forest. Damian was nowhere to be seen. It looked like Damian had tricked him, rather than the other way around. Barry continued to search for the boy in the forest, looking this way and that, moving branches out of the way as he continued on. It was getting dark, and the sounds of the night creatures fouled any chance he might hear Damian.
At the entrance of the forest
Gifford was trying to track down the kids when he came upon the minibus stopped at the entrance to the forest. He asked his men to bust the window of the minibus, and there were ropes strewn on a couple of the seats inside.
His intuition told him that the ropes were used to tie up the kids. They were probably brought here. He looked at the forest briefly, wondering exactly where the children were.
He formed two teams from the men he brought with him, and had them go in different directions. He figured if they carved up the forest, they'd eventually find the children. He contacted Sheffield and Joshua.
Later, the forest was disturbed by a vehicle making its way up he road. Various nocturnal creatures found quieter places to be. Wesley hopped out of the hum-vee. But by the time he got here, more than a dozen search and rescue teams had already entered the forest to search for the boys.
Someone was waiting for him at the entrance. "Mr. Li, the chief said the children are inside. They have already entered the target area and he asked you to wait for them here!"
Wesley nodded with a sullen face and asked, "Did you send for a helicopter?"
"Our chief has arranged it. The helicopter will be here soon!"
"Good!"
On the other side, Boswell was chased by two adults at the same time. He didn't dare stop, because he didn't want to be caught. Fortunately, he was more nimble than they were. But their legs were longer, and they were organized. Before long, one of his pursuers popped out of the brush and stood in his way. He thought about doubling back, and saw the other behind him.
The three of them stood in a stalemate, out of breath. They were only a few meters away from each other.
After resting for a while, the man with tattooed arms threatened him. "Caught at last!" he said ferociously. "I'm so tired. I'll kick your ass for this!"
Absent-mindedly, Boswell plucked a leaf from a green plant. He didn't bother to respond. He was hatching plans about how he might escape from these two men.
Two minutes later, the tattooed man walked towards him, an evil smile on his face.
Suddenly, Boswell leapt into the grass nearby. The tattooed man immediately followed him. Rather than climb the hill, he stopped and reached into the tall grass. The man immediately stumbled backwards when an iridescent black serpent reared up. The tattooed man screamed. In response, it spread its hood and sank its fangs deep into the man's inked up arm.
Then the thing who had bitten the man slithered past him. He could see a horseshoe shape on its hood as it made its escape. He wanted to kill it, but it had already slithered away.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Boswell rushed out of the grass, made a face at them and ran down another path.
The tattooed man wanted to catch up, but the venom was starting to do its work. He felt faint, and his limbs felt rubbery. He was having difficulty standing, much less running.
When his partner saw what was going on, he didn't know whether he should stay here and take care of his buddy or continue his pursuit.
However, the tattooed man scolded him, "Find him! If the child runs away, we're both dead!"
The man nodded and left in a hurry.
The man with tattoos knelt on the ground. Their phones had already been lost because of the chase. At this moment, he could do nothing but let his body fall into the dirt.
Boswell could only run as fast as he could. she didn't know how long he had run before he came to the edge of a cliff.
He looked down, and saw a deep chasm. He stood beside it and shivered. There was another cliffside near him, though, with roots he could hang on to and he could climb it.
There was no way back, so he had to bite the bullet and climb up the side of the other cliff.
Before the enemy caught up with him, he hid his little body behind a large stone. The man stood at the foot of the cliff and looked up, but didn't see a thing.
Then he walked to the edge of chasm and looked down, wondering if the boy had fallen.
Luckless in his search, he retraced his steps and left.
However, it was getting dark and fluffy clouds of fog clung to the trees. The man soon lost his way. He searched for a long time, trying to find his friend, but he didn't know where he was.
In the private hospital of ZL Group
Finding out that Erica was sent to the resuscitation room, Matthew finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Terilynn was taking care of the kids at the Huo family manor. Debbie and Evelyn rushed to the hospital to meet Matthew.
Matthew stood at the door of the resuscitation room. His suit jacket was little more than rags and ashes. It was late autumn, so he only wore a thin white shirt. It was splattered with blood and soot.
The mother and daughter rushed to the door of the resuscitation room. "Matthew, how's Rika?" Debbie asked in an anxious voice.
Frowning, Evelyn waited for Matthew's answer.
Seeing them, the man's thin lips moved slightly. "She tried to save me, and a beam fell on her. I think it might have damaged her ribs." His voice was hoarse. He trembled when he thought of Erica.