To me, regardless of any other concern, that Markdown code snippet looks like a list with a sub-list, regardless of what the starting numbers are.
That’s only true for your specific example. Consider:
1. The project risked missing
its deadline of March
13. A meeting was called.
2. The architect would take flight
457. It was the red eye.
3. She would stay at the Hilton, room
22. It had an ocean view.
In other words, it’s obvious to humans. So until we can incorporate AI into the markdown parser, we have to settle for an imperfect heuristic.