SES Chapter 153 Part 2

Cao Jinhua finally focused on the two of them.

Why was her customer service coworker here—with the same guy who’d been tied up earlier? Who hit her? Did Yan Hongsha know this guy? Did she hit her?

Noticing the suspicion in her eyes, Yan Hongsha shot up, kicked Cao Yanhua’s backside, and said, “You explain—I’m finding that switch!” Then she marched off.

Cao Yanhua raised his hands defensively. “Jinhua, stay calm! … calm down! Listen, think logically, okay?”

He scrambled for words, then blurted, “Look—if we were bad people, you’d already be dead, right? You were unconscious for hours! But we didn’t hurt you. We even waited till you woke up and explained everything politely! Doesn’t that show good faith? You’re a rational, educated woman—think about it!”

Cao Jinhua wasn’t stupid. What he said made sense, and with two against one, she wouldn’t win a fight anyway. Her head still hurt, and she reached back to touch it again.

“We’ll take responsibility!” Cao Yanhua added quickly. “Medical bills, aftereffects—whatever. We’ll cover it.”

She said nothing, while in the background, Yan Hongsha continued to bang and tap along the cave walls.

The first switch had been hard enough—so the second surely wasn’t simple either. Then she remembered what her grandfather had told her about another case years ago: a woman who could climb the ceiling of a cave like a spider. What if Yafeng could too? What if the other switch is up there?

She looked up.

She wasn’t Mu Dai—she couldn’t cling to walls. Even if she could, it’d be impossible to put her weight into it.

Frustrated, she walked back and pulled Cao Yanhua aside. “No luck. Let’s try the first one again.”

So they did—pressing, stomping, taking turns, trying everything.

Cao Jinhua stared at them like they were insane. “What on earth are you two doing?”

Yan Hongsha didn’t even answer, too annoyed to bother. Cao Yanhua took it upon himself to explain: “We’re trying to push this rock down—it’s a trigger switch, but it won’t budge.”

As he spoke, Yan Hongsha stomped on it again in frustration, nearly in tears.

Cao Jinhua sighed. “You two really have no imagination, do you? There are plenty of heavy rocks on this mountain—just bring one in and drop it on the thing.”

Her words hit them like lightning. They immediately rushed outside, hauling in a big rock together, red-faced and gasping for breath.

When they reached the trapdoor, even Cao Jinhua helped guide them. “Left—no, too far—back a little—perfect.”

Cao Yanhua tensed. Yan Hongsha warned him, “As soon as you drop it, jump aside, you hear me? I’ve got the rope—if I fall, I’ll be fine. If you fall, you’re done. One, two, three—”

Before she could finish counting, he panicked and leapt back early. The sudden movement caught her off guard—the rock slipped, crashed down, and with a thunderous rumble, the floor vanished beneath her.

Yan Hongsha plunged into the darkness, the world flipping upside down. The rope snapped taut around her waist, stopping her fall—but hard enough to nearly wrench her spine.

Above, Cao Yanhua’s voice echoed faintly, “Hongsha! You okay?”

She fumbled for her flashlight, turned it on, and shone it upward to show she was alive—then pointed it downward.

The rope didn’t reach the bottom; there were still ten meters to go. Beneath her stretched a massive underground chamber. As the beam swept across the space, something made her heart jolt.

She quickly turned the light back.

There they were—Luo Ren, standing below with his arms crossed, and Mu Dai beside him, looking up with parted lips, clearly startled.

Yan Hongsha couldn’t believe her eyes.

The cave was deep, and during her fall, she’d had a hundred grim thoughts—what if she saw something she didn’t want to see?

But instead, pure shock and joy. They were alive, right there.

Her excitement surged, though she was slightly offended by their lack of reaction.

Seriously? I just dropped in like a miracle. When Cao Yanhua saw me alive, he cried his eyes out!

She aimed the flashlight straight at Luo Ren. “Well? Don’t I look like a little angel descending from the heavens to save you?”

One hand gripping the rope, the other flapping like a wing for effect.

Luo Ren looked up at her for a long moment, then calmly brushed his arm—once, twice, three times.

And asked, “What kind of angel drops from heaven after throwing down a rock big enough to crush someone?”