Chapter 3 — The Flight of No Return

Tu Phong looked at me with joyful anticipation, his eyes bright in the dim light.

My dear, what do you think about this? he asked, his voice dripping with an eager sweetness that now made my skin crawl.

I stared at him in unblinking silence, my mind racing as every single event of the past few weeks unspooled before me with terrifying clarity. It was all too convenient, too meticulously orchestrated. I had just demanded a break from Tu Phong when suddenly, out of nowhere, my father was thrust into a fabricated crisis. And by sheer coincidence, Tu Phong—a man with virtually no local roots or political capital—happened to possess just enough clandestine connections to pull my father out of the fire. I had quietly investigated the matter beforehand and discovered that the entire sudden resolution was triggered by the accuser miraculously dropping all charges overnight. My father was a cautious, law-abiding man who lived strictly by the book; why would anyone suddenly accuse him of such grave misconduct? And why would that same accuser mysteriously vanish? Now, Tu Phong had materialized like a phantom, presenting me with a fresh plane ticket. It was an early morning flight for tomorrow, scheduled for a trip back to his hometown alongside his entire family. The destination printed on the ticket was a remote, obscure city nestled within Province G. I had spent hours searching for geographical details on my phone: the entire urban expanse was swallowed by an endless chain of mountains. Valleys and peaks hemmed it in from all four cardinal directions, forming a vast, suffocating labyrinth of stone and wilderness. Yet, despite the cold knot of dread tightening in my chest, I looked straight into Tu Phong’s eager eyes, accepted the airline ticket, and slowly nodded.

Alright, I whispered.

The entire Tu Phong clan was beside themselves with elation. The dining table hummed with a festive, vibrant atmosphere, overflowing with laughter and celebratory toasts. But beneath the table, my palms remained ice-cold, frozen in a silent panic. Inside my head, a sorrowful, piercing female wail echoed incessantly, desperately shrieking at me to turn back, to run while I still could. I sat rigidly among them, pretending to be deaf to the phantom screams. Once I had finally seen Tu Phong and his family off to their quarters, I retrieved my phone from my coat pocket and dialed a familiar number with steady fingers.

Uncle Liu, everything on my end is fully prepared.

The next morning, dawn broke pale and cold as I boarded the flight alongside Tu Phong’s family, heading deep into his ancestral territory. After the plane touched down, we transitioned to a series of cramped buses, followed by bone-rattling motorcycle rides along winding dirt tracks. We traveled tirelessly for an entire day, the modern world steadily peeling away until only raw, unforgiving wilderness remained. By the time night swallowed the sky, we finally reached the foot of the massive mountain range where his family resided. The paths winding up the jagged slopes were entirely impassable for motor vehicles. I had no choice but to trudge on foot, following closely behind Tu Phong’s family as we climbed higher into the freezing dark. Deep past midnight, we finally reached the isolated compound of the Tu clan. Tu Phong’s parents greeted me with an overwhelming, almost suffocating hospitality, fretting endlessly that I might have grown famished along the arduous journey. Disregarding her own exhaustion, his mother bustled into the dark kitchen and personally boiled a steaming bowl of noodles for me, generously topping it with a rich, fatty goose leg. Tu Phong chuckled warmly, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

Normally, whenever I return home alone, my mother refuses to slaughter even a single goose from the backyard flock, he beamed. Yet the moment you arrive, she butchered one right in the middle of the night. Nhan Thu, just look at how deeply my mother values you.

His parents beamed back, their smiles stretching wide across their wrinkled faces. I forced the corners of my lips upward into a pleasant smile and began eating the noodles without a trace of hesitation. Once I finished the meal, Tu Phong’s mother showed me to a hastily prepared guest room. The moment my head sank into the lumpy pillow, a sudden, heavy wave of dizziness washed over me, blurring my vision. Before I could even process the sensation, a profound, suffocating darkness dragged me under. In my hazy, semi-conscious state, I heard the soft, deliberate creak of the bedroom door slowly pushing open, accompanied by the stale, heavy stench of aged sweat and decaying earth drifting into the space. It was not Tu Phong. Yet, from just outside the threshold, his familiar voice murmured softly into the gloom.

Father, you can rest easy now; she is completely knocked out.

The shadowy figure shuffling toward my bedside was none other than Tu Phong’s father. A low, wet chuckle rattled in his throat as his greedy gaze raked shamelessly over my motionless form.

I am leaving her entirely in your hands; I still need to head back to the city tonight, Tu Phong’s voice drifted from the hallway.

The old man by the bed gave a dismissive wave of his hand. A moment later, the door clicked shut, sealing the room back into absolute silence and pitch darkness. Immediately, a heavy, calloused hand pressed roughly against my cheek—rough, dry, and utterly revolting.

Such a rare, delicate beauty... the old man wheezed, his laughter dripping with vile satisfaction.

The mattress dipped heavily to one side as he planted his weight upon it, a foul-smelling breath washing over my face. His fingers fumbled eagerly toward the collar of my shirt. My eyes snapped wide open, flashing with cold fury.

You—

He choked out a gasp of sheer terror, jolting backward as the realization struck him like a physical blow: I was entirely, fiercely awake. Before he could muster the wits to defend himself, I whipped out a high-voltage stun gun hidden beneath the blankets and drove it squarely against his chest. A blinding blue arc of electricity snapped through the air, and his eyes instantly rolled back into his skull as he collapsed onto the wooden floorboards in a heavy, lifeless heap.

Father? What was that noise?

Tu Phong had not yet departed. Hearing the muffled commotion, he spun around and rushed back down the corridor. The bedroom door flew open, and Tu Phong froze dead in his tracks upon discovering me standing upright in the center of the room, completely alert.

You... you didn't pass out? he stammered, his color draining.

I stared at him with an icy glare that could freeze fire.

Tu Phong, exactly what game are you playing here? Do you have any idea that what you are doing is a severe criminal offense? I can call the police right now!

He stood paralyzed for a single heartbeat before his face twisted into a cruel, mocking sneer. He threw his head back and laughed aloud.

Call the police? Nhan Thu, do you honestly believe that once you’ve stepped foot in this place, you will ever see the outside world again?

The gentle, considerate facade he had worn for months shattered entirely, stripping away to reveal a vicious, feral malice in his eyes.

Let me spell it out for you clearly! Any woman who crosses this threshold need never entertain the delusion of leaving! Calling the police? You city girls are utterly, laughably naive! In this place, mountain connects to endless mountain, and every surrounding village is populated by our blood relatives. Even if you managed to call the authorities, the police lack the reach and the will to meddle here! Since you’ve foolishly delivered yourself to our doorstep, you might as well resign yourself to rotting and dying right here for the rest of your days!

My fingers tightened around the handle of the stun gun until my knuckles turned white.

So your entire courtship, every ounce of supposed affection, was nothing more than a trap to lure me out here?

He smirked, unbothered.

Well, obviously. If it weren't to secure wives for the men of our village, why on earth would I lower myself to groveling over a pampered miss like you?

In a low, steely voice, I demanded, Exactly how many women have you tricked using this exact method?

He let out a cold, derisive huff. That is none of your concern, Nhan Thu. Let me give you one final piece of advice: since you are already here, abandon all thoughts of resistance. Obey quietly, and you might at least salvage a miserable breathing path for yourself. But if you dare to fight back—

He took a menacing step forward, his expression contorting into pure rage as he lunged directly toward me. Without a second hesitation, I thrust the crackling stun gun forward. The moment the electrical prongs made contact, his entire body instantly locked rigid, pitching forward onto the floor where he lay paralyzed, twitching violently in silent agony. I spun on my heel and bolted frantically toward the door, while he desperately clawed at the dirt floor, trying to muster a final scrap of strength to stop me.