The two of them chatted in low voices, recovering their spent strength.
Just then, lights flashed in the distance.
The sudden light tore through the darkness like a sharp sword. Wu Zhihua and He Jinxuan, who had been resting, were startled, their bodies instantly tensing as they quickly scrambled to their feet.
Then, like two startled rabbits, they darted into the small grove nearby.
After the two of them left, about six or seven minutes passed before investigators carrying flashlights patrolled to this spot. Their beams swept over the surrounding area.
Since they found no traces left behind by Wu Zhihua and He Jinxuan, the investigators continued searching along the lakeshore for the escaped convicts, their footsteps gradually fading into the distance.
Inside the small grove, the night hung low. Silvery moonlight struggled to pierce the dense branches and leaves, sprinkling mottled shadows across the ground carpeted with withered yellow leaves.
The thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground was like a soft carpet, yet the erosion of time had left it dry and fragile.
Two bedraggled figures trampled wildly across this carpet. Every footfall landed with a crisp, hurried crack-crack.
The unbroken noise echoed through the forest, so silent it was almost deathly still, adding several degrees of eerie chill to the atmosphere.
Although Wu Zhihua and He Jinxuan had not clearly seen what the person in the distance looked like, someone suddenly appearing in such a remote, deserted place in the dead of night was most likely a member of law enforcement.
The instant an ominous premonition welled up in their hearts, they chose to run without hesitation.
Fortunately, they had rested for a while, and much of their strength had returned.
If they had encountered law enforcement immediately after climbing out of the freezing water,
then,