Chapter 48 Mission Failed I have nothing else to ask for, I just want to be with you...

Cao Mo didn't answer immediately. After careful consideration, he spoke slowly, "We can't interfere with the timeline. We can only wait for her to find a way out on her own."

The laboratory fell into a brief silence, leaving only the humming sounds of various instruments running.

Gu Yifeng couldn't help but hold his forehead, his temples were throbbing, and a memory from many years ago began to revive.

At that time, Yi Yi had not responded to him for a long time.

At first, he managed to maintain his composure. But as the days passed, his composure and rationality gradually wavered. He began to suffer endless doubts and anxiety, and acted madly. This episode, which he had deliberately forgotten, gradually faded in the passing of time, until it was rekindled by the scene just now.

Gu Yifeng realized they had once passed each other by chance. The sudden embrace by the ice cream truck, the thrill of that moment, had been foreshadowed. It turned out that fate had already laid the groundwork, and they had always been running towards each other in their own timelines.

He stared at the screen intently, his hands unconsciously clenching, his nails digging into his palms without him noticing. Wen Yi was the person he cherished most, and he couldn't bear to see her suffer even the slightest harm. Now she was being bullied, cut off from the lab, and possibly unable to return. All of these dire consequences were caused by his own hands. Unbearable pain and self-blame welled up in Gu Yifeng, and he felt like he was going crazy.

Cao Mo glanced at him, his eyes full of inquiry.

*

"Damn it, why can't I find it!" Wen Yi lay on the ground and searched several times, but still couldn't find the small earphone.

She gritted her teeth and looked at Gu Yifeng who had fainted on the bed, wishing she could throw a few more punches to vent her anger.

It was almost dawn, and it was probably too late to go to Yuexi Mountain now. We could only rush to Qingluan Mountain as soon as possible to make up for it.

She quickly put on her glasses and searched through Gu Yifeng's body, finding quite a bit of cash and cards. Although she wasn't sure if it was enough, it was definitely enough to buy a ticket to Qingluan Mountain.

"You kidnapped me just now, and now I'm robbing you." She stood by the bed and glanced at him one last time, "We owe each other nothing." She closed the door and left without looking back.

The moment the door closed, Gu Yifeng on the bed suddenly opened his eyes.

At dawn, Wen Yi stood alone on the streets of Yunhu City, the bleak autumn wind brushing across her face, bringing a hint of coolness.

According to the time calculation, her parents should be almost at Qingluan Mountain by now. But she was still trapped on the streets of this city, like a lost traveler, not knowing where to go.

She raised her hand to stop a taxi and asked tentatively, "Master, can you take me to Qingluan Mountain?"

The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror and said perfunctorily, "Miss, do you know how far that place is? No."

“I can add money!”

"It's not about money." The driver waved his hand. "That place is too far. Ask someone else."

She bit her lip and nodded, watching the taxi drive away.

The second bus, the third bus... all were the same. No driver was willing to take her to Qingluan Mountain.

Wen Yi rushed to the train station without giving up and stood at the end of the long queue.

When it was her turn, she whispered, "A ticket to Qingluan Mountain."

The staff member looked up at her and said, "ID card."

"I..." She was stunned, "I didn't... bring it."

"You can't buy a ticket without an ID." The other person pointed behind her and said, "Please let the person behind you pass."

She stepped aside, looking at the bustling waiting hall, a sense of powerlessness rising in her heart. This feeling of isolation made her miss her family, and also a little bit of Gu Yifeng—the non-perverted one.

Wen Yi took a deep breath. Before giving up, she immediately turned around and rushed to the nearby bus station.

Fortunately, there was a bus that departed early in the morning and passed through Qingluan Mountain. After tossing and turning all night, she was finally ready to set off.

With the rumble of a low engine, the bus departed Yunhu City. Wen Yi sat by the window, watching the streetscape rapidly recede outside, her mind filled with confusion. She felt increasingly uncertain about whether she could complete the mission.

She hugged her knees, curled up into a small ball, her mind replaying the entire night's experiences - the failed airborne landing, becoming Gu Yifeng's suspect; being kidnapped, imprisoned, confronted, and almost... Wen Yi couldn't help but cover her face. It was really outrageous. Just now, in her panic, she kicked him over and even used her supernatural powers against him. She wondered if these actions would affect the timeline.

She had messed up everything, hadn't completed the mission, and had lost her headphones, unable to contact the lab. She wanted to go back, but there was no way back.

Tears fell silently.

Wen Yi couldn't help but bury her face in her arms, her shoulders trembling slightly. She didn't want to cry, but she was so tired. Too many emotions weighed on her heart, like a heavy mountain.

Gu Yifeng sat quietly in the seat behind her.

He pulled the brim of his hat very low, almost covering his entire face, and wore a hoodie he had bought at the train station. This outfit prevented him from attracting Wen Yi's attention.

He had actually been following her all along, watching her being rejected time and time again, struggling along the way, feeling helpless and embarrassed. He wanted to help her, but he had no position. At this moment, he heard her suppressed sobs, but he couldn't get close.

He had tried to interrogate, control, and even threaten her, even though he had no intention of actually hurting her and the so-called "pain amplifier" was actually saline. But in her heart, he was an out-and-out bad guy.

He looked out the window, trying to suppress the complex emotions in his heart. All he could do now was to follow the woman in front of him and figure out her secrets. She became his hope, the only key to solving all the mysteries.

It was almost noon when the bus arrived at the foot of Qingluan Mountain.

Sunlight pierced through the low-hanging clouds and drifted across the mountain ridges. The autumn wind blew away the mist in the mountains, immersing the entire mountain in a rich brick red.

The air was filled with the smell of damp earth, and the ground was covered with curled up dead leaves.

Wen Yi, wearing a pink mountaineering suit, was speeding through the mountains, passing by fallen leaves and raising countless broken leaves under her feet.

The mountain breeze blew past, and her knuckles turned blue and white due to the cold. She tightened her zipper and continued on the mountain path leading to the depths of her memories.

Her parents should have arrived here by now - according to the timeline, they were about to confront the radicals. But the specific time and place had long been blurred, and Wen Yi could only search as she walked.

The narrow mountain path winds up, with a steep and smooth rock wall on one side and a cliff on the other. Below the cliff is a maple forest, with layers of red leaves like burning flames, surging and undulating in the autumn wind.

She walked quickly, leaving behind a series of crisp sounds of crushed dead leaves. As time passed, her hope seemed to shatter with the crisp sounds, and her heart sank gradually.

“Why haven’t you found it yet…”

Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and her feet went weak, feeling as if they were stepping on loose sand. She stumbled a bit before finally finding her balance. Then, a dull boom echoed from the distance, like some kind of energy oscillation reverberating through the mountains.

Wen Yi's heart suddenly sank. Was it too late? The mountain wall before her began to tremble slightly, cracks spreading rapidly like spider webs. Several pieces of rubble tumbled down the mountain and landed at her feet.

Her heartbeat suddenly quickened, and she immediately ran towards the direction of the noise.

"No... not now, please..."

She ran as fast as she could, her chest heaving violently, the only sound in her ears being the sound of the wind, a rusty taste in her throat, and even her breath tinged with blood. The earthquake continued, and the leaves rustled in the tremors, as if the entire mountain was weeping for the impending tragedy.

Wen Yi finally ran to the next hilltop and vaguely saw several figures fighting on the distant hillside.

Her footsteps suddenly stopped, and all the strength in her body seemed to be drained away in an instant, and she fell to the ground powerlessly.

It's still a step too late.

Her action was a complete failure.

Wen Yi knelt on the ground, supporting herself with her hands on the muddy ground, her knuckles deeply buried in the dirt. The flying dust hit her face randomly, blurring her vision. The whole world seemed to be mocking her incompetence.

She closed her eyes, tears mixed with dust slid down her cheeks.

We were almost there, so close to catching up, why did this happen...

She murmured, her voice hoarse and weak: "I'm sorry... I tried my best."

She had worked so hard all by herself, traveling through time and space, through countless twists and turns, only to find that nothing had changed. Fate was like a script already written, and she was just a latecomer.

"Ah!!!" At this moment, a scream suddenly came from above my head.

She looked up suddenly.

A small figure is falling from the edge of the cliff - it's my childhood self!

At that moment, Wen Yi's heart seemed to stop beating.

Holy shit! Did she fall from such a high cliff back then?

Wen Yi didn't really remember what happened back then, but no matter what, how could she have survived a fall from such a height?!

What a joke! If my younger self died... what would happen to her now? Would she vanish instantly? Or would the simultaneous existence of two separate "hers" trigger her own annihilation?

Without thinking too much, Wen Yi jumped up and rushed over to catch herself who was falling from the sky.

But she failed to catch it, and just watched her seven-year-old self slip past her and fall off the cliff.

“No——!!!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing through the mountains.

Without hesitation or thought, she leaped off the cliff, following the tiny figure down with her.

The wind was howling, and time seemed to be infinitely stretched.

Her body fell rapidly and the world became blurry in her eyes.

Just as the two were about to fall into the maple forest, Wen Yi wanted to use her special abilities to save herself.

But before she could make a move, the body of Xiao Wenyi below suddenly lit up with a faint blue - a life-sized faint blue sphere appeared out of thin air in front of her, like the door to the abyss slowly opening.

What is that?!

Wen Yi looked at the dark blue sphere floating in the air with great surprise. There was a ripple-like halo on the edge. The sphere looked incomplete, only half open, but it seemed to have the power to devour everything.

Could this be...

Before Wen Yi had time to think, she was sucked into it by an invisible force and disappeared into the dark blue vortex.

The moment the wormhole closed, the wind stopped roaring and time slowed down.

At the last moment of falling, little Wenyi's body was like a fallen leaf, gently lifted up by an invisible hand, and finally slowly landed on the ground in the maple forest covered with fallen leaves.

The young child sat on the ground in a daze, looking at the sky above his head.

Fate may be unchangeable, but it ultimately favors the child, allowing her to return to the world unharmed.

*

The hurried footsteps raised fallen leaves and dust along the way. Gu Yifeng was about to chase Wen Yi up the mountain.

Just as he was about to step onto the stairs, a long-lost voice suddenly rang in his mind.

Don't go

Gu Yifeng's whole body suddenly froze and his steps came to an abrupt stop.

"One One?!" His voice trembled. "One One!!"

【future】

The intermittent sound, as if coming from far away, was familiar yet vague, knocking softly in his ears.

He was stunned, frowning slightly: "What... the future?"

With You

My heartbeat suddenly quickened, and countless memories of her flashed through my mind.

【Spend time together】

As these two short words rang out, something exploded in his mind, shaking him so much that he could hardly stand.

Is it an illusion... or is that what he understood?

"One by one..." Gu Yifeng couldn't believe it. He opened his mouth and wanted to ask her if this was true, but he didn't dare to speak.

He was afraid this was an illusion, a delusion, a joke played by Yi Yi on him. He had never imagined that the wish he had longed for would one day come true.

Gu Yifeng stood there for a long time without moving, his eyes slightly red, and asked cautiously: "You said 'spend time together'... is that true?"

【yes】

It wasn't an illusion! She was responding to his long-held expectations. At that moment, he heard the screams from the depths of his heart, each one her name.

"If this is your choice... I can do it, no matter what the cost." Gu Yifeng smiled, and all his doubts and uneasiness disappeared. His eyes were filled with unchanging tenderness and determination. "I don't ask for anything else, I just want to have a future with you."

Time never speaks, only eternity answers. As if the cycle of fate had accepted their agreement, Yi Yi's voice rang out again:

Maple Forest

Save Her

The voice was very soft, like an instruction, or a farewell, but it was like a spark that ignited his hope.

Without a second's hesitation, Gu Yifeng took off his coat, revealing the police badge on his chest, turned and ran towards the maple forest at the foot of the mountain.

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The author has something to say: Thank you to all the readers who follow the article. Your clicks are the greatest support to me.

I've been revising the article recently, so the frequency of updates has decreased.

This week is on the list, and it will be updated as the list changes. As for where the list is, I am not sure, if you see it, we are destined to meet. [Rose][Rose][Rose]

I found that I missed a part and I was so stupid that I cried. [Breaking down crying] I will make up for it today.

Today I saw a reader clearing mines on xhs. Um, if you don't like it, please don't hurt me. Thank you.