Another Chance

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of gunfire resounded through the silent night, and the sound of footsteps became clearer by seconds. Heavy gasps were clearly heard amidst men's shouting.

"You guys go there! The rest of you go over there and have a look! Don't let her get away!"

"Yes, sir!"

A petite woman poked her head out from behind the bushes, and saw men in black military uniforms and armed with weapons scattered around, checking the bushes. After waiting for a while, she saw a gap, quickly rushed out of the bushes, and rushed towards the only way out of their encirclement.

Although she was very careful, she was still found by one of the men who was chasing her.

"She's there!"

As soon as she turned around, the petite woman saw that those men had chased after her again.

"Damn it!"

Unable to restrain herself from cursing, she ran as fast as she could. Unfortunately, the end of the road is not the official road, but a cliff. She stopped running and looked at the vast sea in front of her. Behind her, those men had pointed their guns at her and surrounded her.

The leader took a step forward, still aiming at her with the weapon in his hand, and said, "Miss Xu, please hand over the ring and we will let you die with an intact corpse."

Xu Xiang looked at the man with a sneer, and turned around to see the high cliff behind her. There was no way she could survive if she fell to the ocean from there. Not wanting to hand over her family heirloom to those white-eyed wolves, she looked back at those men.

With a smile on her face, she took off the ring on her left ring finger and asked, "Is this what they want?"

The leader saw the ring on her fingers and smiled at her. "That's right. As long as you hand over the ring, we will let you die without pain. Otherwise…"

Sneering at his threatening words, she said, "Inside this ring, is all what I have collected over more than ten years. On what basis did those bastards want me to hand over this ring? They should thank me for letting them join me. Who knows that all of them are not better than a dog!"

Listening to her words, the faces of those men darkened. The leader took a few steps forward and said, "Miss Xu, you better hand over the ring while I'm still speaking nicely!"

Xu Xiang sneered and said to the leader, "In your dream!"

Without hesitation, she swallowed the ring and leaped off from the cliff.

"No!!" The leader screamed in despair when he saw her jumping down.

She saw the leader and those men watched her fall with despair clear on their faces. As her body was nearly engulfed by the raging ocean below, there was only one thing on her mind.

'When the end of the world comes tomorrow, you all should just go to hell!'

Splash!

Those men who were still standing on the edge of the cliff turned pale when they saw her disappear. But none of this has anything to do with her anymore.

******

"Young lady, young lady. Can you hear me?"

Xu Xiang felt someone pat her cheek, and her head hurt so much that she let out a muffled groan. When the one who called her saw that her eyelashes moved, she stopped patting her cheek.

"Er Lang, quickly bring the water."

"Yes, mother."

After a while, Xu Xiang felt someone feeding her water. She coughed as the water entered her dry throat, before she slowly opened her eyes. In front of her, she saw a beautiful middle-aged woman and a boy about fourteen or fifteen years old, looking at her.

Seeing her wake up, the woman handed the water bag made from animal leather to the boy and helped her sit up. Xu Xiang leaned against a dry tree, looked at her and smiled.

She opened her pale lips and said hoarsely: "Thank you."

Although she didn't understand why the woman and the boy were wearing weird clothes, she knew that they had saved her life just now. Looking around, she found herself sitting on the dry and cracked ground. It looks like a forest, but all the trees are dead.

'Didn't I fall into the ocean? How did I wake up here?'

She looked at the woman and the boy. The pair looked thin and dirty, with patched clothing. Looking at their graceful movements, she was a little puzzled.

'They look like beggars, but their graceful movements show that they are not beggars.'

Seeing her watching them warily, the woman gave her a gentle smile. Patting her hand, she said, "Don't worry. We didn't come to hurt you. When I was looking for wild vegetables, I found you lying unconscious on the ground, so I came to see if you were still alive."

Xu Xiang hid her emotions, smiled gratefully at her, and said, "Thank you, Madam for saving me. May I ask, where am I?"

The woman glanced at her black combat uniform for a second and said, "We are on our way to the northern border of the Shang Empire. Judging by your clothes, you must be coming from another country."

'The northern border of the Shang Empire? I've never heard of an empire with this name before.'

Xu Xiang's mind was full of countless questions at this time, but she just smiled at the woman and asked, "Do you know how to get to the Space Union Office?"

The woman looked at the boy, and the boy shook his head to indicate he didn't know. Seeing that they didn't know, she asked again: "Then do you know what day it is today?"

This time, the woman answered her with a smile. "Today is the first day of the fifth month."

'First day of the fifth month… In other words, today is the first of May. But why isn't she telling me it's the first of May, but talking in this weird way?'