Ning Beichen naturally wouldn't listen to them. Landing now would be suicidal. He kept his speed up, piloting the plane forward, only to find a mountain ahead.
Now he had two options: either increase his altitude and fly over the peak, or crash directly into it.
However, a fighter jet was above him, preventing his plane from ascending, and another fighter jet was trailing him, locking onto his aircraft with its fire control radar throughout.
He was not as fast as them, nor as powerful in firepower. To escape the pursuit of these two fighter jets, Ning Beichen had to find another way.
But Ning Beichen was sure they wouldn't shoot him down. The treatment they wanted most was in his hands; if the plane was destroyed, the data would be lost as well.
This was why Ning Beichen dared to play a game of cat and mouse with them in the sky.
"Ning Beichen, you're going to hit... we're going to hit the mountain."
Liu Yilin saw their plane hurtling straight towards the mountain peak and was terrified.
"Ah!!!"
But Ning Beichen ignored her, continuing to fly the plane straight towards the mountain. Liu Yilin screamed, closing her eyes in despair, reliving memories in her mind.
"Am I going to die here?"
"I don't want to!"
"I don't want to die, I haven't even gotten married and had kids yet."
"I haven't achieved my dreams yet."
What Liu Yilin found strange was that at the brink of death, the person she thought of was Ning Beichen, that scoundrel, not her parents.
Following a high-pitched scream, Liu Yilin closed her eyes, bracing for impact. After a long while without hearing the crash, she cautiously opened her eyes and saw she was still in the plane. The aircraft was flying within a narrow mountain gorge at a forty-five-degree angle.
One of the two intercepting fighter jets had crashed into the mountain for failing to evade, while the other, unwilling to follow Ning Beichen's plane into the gorge, had managed to pull up in time and avoid the crash.
However, after flying over the mountain, the fighter jet couldn't find Ning Beichen's plane. Strangely, Ning Beichen's plane was on his radar, very close, yet he couldn't see it.
The pilot searched back and forth several times, his expression akin to seeing a ghost. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation and had no idea what was happening.
Just as he was utterly perplexed, a massive shadow suddenly loomed over him, causing him to panic. Before he could react, his fighter jet let out a tremendous boom, followed by a loss of control, sending it plummeting towards the ground.
In the blink of an eye, a huge ball of fire appeared on the ground, with black smoke billowing into the sky.
Ning Beichen, with his damaged aircraft, continued to fly forward. Though the plane was a bit wobbly, it didn't crash. It wasn't until after crossing the border that the plane was forced to land on a desolate black soil plain.
Ning Beichen, with a shaken Liu Yilin, emerged from the damaged plane, also bringing along some food and water.
"Boss, we've left the Las Vegas border. We're safe now. Even if those people are audacious, they won't dare to cause trouble here, at least not openly. However, this is a desolate area, so you might have to endure some hardship for a while."
Ning Beichen said to her, and he proactively carried all the luggage himself, not letting Liu Yilin lift anything.
Liu Yilin, having survived a near-death experience, no longer cared about such things. She had never dreamed of surviving and desperately wanted to share the news with her best friend.
So she took out her phone and took a couple of selfies next to the wrecked plane. However, she discovered her phone had no signal here, meaning there were no cell towers in this area. She had to give up helplessly.
Just then, a cold wind blew, causing Liu Yilin to shiver uncontrollably. At this time of year, the temperature here was only a few degrees, and it was already nearing dark. At night, the temperature would likely drop even lower.
Ning Beichen thoughtfully draped his only jacket over her shoulders, deeply moving Liu Yilin.
"Ning Beichen, you gave me your jacket, but what about you? You'll be cold too?"
Liu Yilin said sheepishly, seeing Ning Beichen wearing only a thin t-shirt.
"I'm fine, men have strong inner fire."
Ning Beichen replied.
He wasn't being affected by the cold, nor was he trying to please Liu Yilin. This bit of cold was truly nothing to him.
Years ago, to train, his master had made him stand naked in ice water in freezing blizzards, so this kind of cold was a piece of cake for him.
Ning Beichen glanced around. His phone also had no signal. Although modern technology was powerful, it wasn't omnipotent.
"Let's go, it's getting dark. We'll look for any signs of habitation nearby. This is the black soil plains of Siberia. There are wolves at night."
Ning Beichen told Liu Yilin.
Upon hearing about wolves, Liu Yilin immediately lost her desire to linger and walked away with Ning Beichen.
Even though Ning Beichen carried all the luggage, Liu Yilin couldn't keep up with his pace while walking. Ning Beichen had to slow down and occasionally wait for her.
Liu Yilin was already trying her best, but she was a girl who had rarely exercised before. The weather was cold, and her limbs were numb. She simply couldn't match Ning Beichen's stride.
By the time it got dark, they still hadn't found any homes. The surroundings were desolate. As night fell, the temperature dropped even further, by at least ten degrees Celsius compared to before.
Liu Yilin shivered with cold. Even with Ning Beichen's jacket, it wasn't enough; it was just a small leather jacket, not some magical item for warding off the cold.
"Boss, it's dark now, and there's no sign of human habitation. It seems we'll have to camp here tonight. You find some firewood nearby, and I'll set up a shelter."
Ning Beichen found a relatively flat spot, put down the luggage, and said to Liu Yilin.
Liu Yilin nodded. As long as she didn't have to walk anymore, she would agree to whatever Ning Beichen said. She was simply too exhausted to walk; her feet were already numb.
Without Ning Beichen, Liu Yilin felt she couldn't even walk a kilometer.
When they were together before, Liu Yilin had never felt so reliant on him.