American homeless people, surviving in the city

Sylvia's eyelids trembled more and more noticeably, and under Lynch's gaze, she suddenly opened her eyes.

"...Hey, are you alright?"

Lynch tried to greet her, but perhaps because Sylvia's memory was still stuck on the moment before the black car plunged off the cliff and hit the ground, when she regained consciousness, her pupils suddenly contracted, her eyes filled with terror, and she screamed.

"It's alright now...!" Lin Qi tried to calm her down.

But in her panic, Sylvia couldn't hear him at all. Instead, Lynch's abrupt opening made her realize that there was someone else standing next to her.

She panicked even more and instinctively tried to get up and run away, but her left arm, which was in a splint, was in excruciating pain from the sudden exertion. She couldn't help but let out a suppressed scream, and her whole body trembled violently.

"Hey! Hold on, don't move! It's me, I'm the crime scene cleaner, my name is Lynch. Do you remember? We've met before... Don't be afraid..."

Lynch lowered his voice to soothe Sylvia. At the same time, he raised his torch so that the light could illuminate his face.

Sylvia's breathing was unusually rapid. Her gaze lingered in the firelight for a moment before finally focusing on his face.

"Lin...Qi?"

Her voice was hoarse and weak, with a tremor that was clearly caused by pain.

"It's me." Lin Qi nodded quickly. "Can you see my face clearly? Relax... don't move. You broke your left arm. I just put a splint on it for you."

Soon, perhaps because she finally recognized Lynch's face, Sylvia's expression calmed down, changing from fear to weakness mixed with pain and astonishment.

She nodded to Lynch, then struggled to sit up using her right arm to support herself, took two weak steps, and leaned against a nearby tree.

Then, she lowered her head somewhat blankly and looked at her own body.

The expensive and well-fitting casual women's clothing she had been wearing was now a tattered refugee-like garment, covered in mud, blood, and black stains. Almost every part of her exposed skin was covered in wounds, some of which were tightly bandaged, but the bandages were gradually being soaked with blood.

She looked up again and around—the burning wreckage of a car, the dark valley, and the flickering flames.

Sylvia's face grew increasingly pale. She slowly raised her head and looked at Lynch:

"I was rear-ended. My car went off a cliff..."

"Yes, not only did you fall, but I fell too, which is why we ended up in this valley so late at night."

Lin Qi looked at Sylvia with some helplessness. He knew that Sylvia must have injured her brain during the fall, making it impossible for her to think clearly, which was why she seemed so confused for a moment.

"...You fell down too?"

Sylvia muttered to herself, occasionally gasping for breath, clearly in considerable pain. But she didn't continue her panicked screams; instead, she tried to think:

"What...what's going on? Where are we?"

Lynch then briefly recounted to Sylvia what had happened a dozen minutes earlier and their current predicament: both cars had been hit and plunged off a cliff, and after regaining consciousness, he had tried to leave the valley but failed. He then followed the firelight and found her, who had been thrown from the car. He had just finished bandaging their wounds when she woke up.

As he spoke, Lynch sighed and gently patted Sylvia's shoulder:

"In any case, we're lucky to be standing here alive. As for the person in the driver's seat of your car... I don't know if it's your driver or a relative, but anyway, please accept my condolences."

Sylvia simply nodded blankly, her eyes unblinking, like a frozen puppet.

Lin Qi continued, "Judging from the current situation, the two of them will be trapped at the bottom of this valley for the time being. To leave, they either need to wait for rescue or they will have to hike through this vast, dense forest. This will not be an easy task."

At this point, Lin Qi casually asked, "Speaking of the rescue... my phone was broken, and I didn't find your phone on you when I was bandaging you. That's why I haven't been able to contact the outside world."

"Those two SUVs that knocked our cars off the road, I felt like they were both crazy too... I guess they won't call the police."

"However, I remember your family is quite wealthy. After you were in a car accident and fell into a valley, did your family have any other way to find out about it as quickly as possible and call the police and hospital for rescue?"

Sylvia stared blankly at Lynch, remaining silent for a full ten seconds.

Just as Lin Qi began to wonder if she had been mentally impaired by the accident, she seemed to finally understand something and slowly spoke:

"...There's no other way."

"Don't you have any fitness trackers or similar devices that can automatically alert you or contact your family?" Lin Qi asked, somewhat unwilling to give up.

"...No." Sylvia spoke softly, as if answering Lynch's question, yet also as if murmuring to herself:

"Coincidence...? No, it's not a coincidence. They've been following me the whole time, and I've never been able to shake them off..."

"What are you saying?" The night wind howled through the valley, so loud that Lynch couldn't hear what Sylvia was whispering.

Sylvia abruptly raised her head, and Lynch noticed that, for a fleeting moment, the confusion and bewilderment in her eyes vanished, replaced by a barely perceptible fear:

"It was done by those people who have been following me."

"What?!?!" Lin Qi exclaimed in shock.

If what Sylvia says is true, and it was done by those who were tracking her, then based on Lynch's current knowledge, this means that this matter is also related to a cult.

Moreover, this means that the cult has finally come after him!

Lin Qi had always harbored a vague suspicion that this matter was related to a cult, but he had no evidence to prove any connection. Sylvia's sudden and resolute statement sent a chill down his spine.

He quickly pressed, "Why do you say that?"

Sylvia seemed to finally regain her senses. She took a deep breath and began to speak, her voice weak but clear:

"...Mr. Lynch, do you remember when we met at the food truck near Third Avenue, you reminded me that someone was following us? Later, we met again by chance at the Lakeside Residences, and that time I told you that the stalking was indeed true."

Lin Qi nodded solemnly: "I remember everything."

Sylvia sighed softly, "While I was grateful for your reminder at the time, I didn't really pay much attention to it."

"I temporarily suspended my outings and stayed home to prepare my thesis and take online classes. I always felt that with my father investigating the matter, those stalkers would soon be found and brought to justice."

"But I didn't expect that their power and capabilities seemed to far exceed my expectations."

Sylvia's blood-stained eyelashes trembled slightly, and as she spoke, her face grew paler:

"Do you know what I mean by 'home'? It's a family estate outside Seattle. My father's most trusted security team is on duty there. They are extremely experienced, and the estate has always been very secure."

"I grew up in that manor. As far as I can remember, there was never any theft, robbery, or anyone sneaking in."

"But in recent days, many strange things have been happening frequently in the manor."