Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Soul Friend
"I...I didn't mean it."
Xie Shuai's face was pale, his legs were trembling, and the concave patch of earth in front of his black sneakers stung his eyes. There was a steep slope less than twenty centimeters in front of him.
Oh my God, he killed someone!
"Honey, what's wrong with you?"
Tuan Tuan, who was following Xie Shuai, had just climbed over the corner of the path when she saw her husband standing there stupidly in the rain.
They shouldn't be looking for a love cave. It's raining heavily, the muddy road is slippery, and if you're not careful you'll fall into the abyss.
The woman was completely soaked from her hair to her shoes. She took off her windbreaker jacket to shield her shivering child from the heavy rain, and her white short-sleeved shirt was almost transparent and stuck to her body.
"Dad? Why are you standing in the rain? Come in!"
The little girl ran out of her mother's jacket and hid in the pavilion. She was not afraid of the heavy rain and thunder, but bravely followed her parents who left the safe mountain road to take the risk.
"Mom, we are finally safe."
The girl's smile was bright and beautiful, but Tuantuan was sensitive enough to notice that something was amiss in the atmosphere. Outside the pavilion, there were only the father and son who looked very similar, but the beautiful female CEO was missing...
Xizhi, having recovered from his shock, grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it at Xie Shuai. His black glasses were blurred by the rain and he couldn't see the road ahead. He rushed towards Xie Shuai, completely losing his usual calm and obedient demeanor.
"Give me back my mother!"
The hoarse cries echoed in the deep mountains and green forests. The seven-year-old boy beat the man in front of him desperately, and hot tears poured out of his eyes.
"Xizhi, stop fighting."
Yu Sixie, who had been looking at the direction where Xitong fell, finally came to his senses. He stood up woodenly, hugged Xizhi who was lying on Xie Shuai, and brought the child back to the pavilion, still slapping him madly despite the desperate and frightened child.
The rain formed an impenetrable curtain around the pavilion. The mountains in the distance had disappeared, and only this small space remained in the entire world.
Time seems to have lost its meaning here, and every minute is stretched into a century.
Yu Sixie felt the chill seeping through his soaked clothes, penetrating his skin and reaching his bones. His fingers trembled unconsciously, not from the cold, but from fear.
He tried to calm himself down. Although Qingshan Peak was steep, it was also densely wooded. In addition, the terrain was complex, with protruding rocks and caves scattered among the cliffs. Even if he fell down the hillside, he would not necessarily... die.
But the scary thing is that the heavy rain blocks the view and brings the risk of landslides.
Rescue is even more difficult.
The heavy rain in the mountains showed no sign of stopping, but the sky got darker and the temperature dropped.
Even if Xitong was fine, the low temperature at night and the unpredictable wild environment could be fatal.
"Xizhi! Calm down, now is not the time to cry!"
Making a quick decision, Yu Sixie immediately stopped the grief-stricken child in his arms. He handed Xizhi to Tuan Tuan and looked coldly at Xie Shuai who had been standing there stupidly.
"Once the rain stops, take the children to the finish line to seek help. Be careful on the road."
"I'm sorry... I..."
Yu Sixie ignored Xie Shuai's apology and immediately turned around and rushed into the desperate rainstorm.
Xie Shuai looked at the man's departing back in disbelief and wanted to hold him back, "You're courting death! Why don't we wait until the rain stops and then go look for him together!"
But the figure rushing into the rain did not hesitate at all.
Xizhi, who was hugged tightly by Tuantuan, burst into tears. He wanted to follow his father to save his mother, but he was powerless.
"Dad, don't leave me alone."
…
Seven years ago, March 12th.
Jing'an Temple.
Outside the temple's two stone lions is a completely commercialized street. Weekday tourists are scarce, and the elderly men and women in the shops along the street are all squinting, fiddling with their smartphones.
The aroma of tea eggs, sweet potatoes, and steamed corn wafted in the air.
At the corner where Zuo Shishi and the last shop on the commercial street turn, a fortune teller is squatting in a corner under the green tiles. In front of him is a faded wooden desk with a few yellowed booklets spread out on it. The words on the covers are already blurred and indistinguishable.
He shook his head and ignored the advice of the young disciple beside him.
"Master, please go back and have dinner. No one will come this day."
But no matter what the young disciple said or how he persuaded him, he still sat firmly behind the wooden desk, waiting silently.
After tutoring, Xitong passed by the gate of Jing'an Temple, her stomach growling with hunger. Her face was pale from the long hours of toil, and she looked so thin that the occasional strong winds in City B could blow her away at any moment.
Although he had just collected 160 yuan in tuition, it was still a drop in the bucket compared to the huge debt. Sighing, Xitong was hesitating whether to buy a sweet potato.
Just as she was reluctantly paying the bill, a bony hand grabbed her.
Xitong was startled. She turned around and was a little angry when she saw who it was. "Old man, I don't tell fortunes. I don't have any money."
But the old man showed no intention of letting go.
"No money, I have a connection with you."
His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time, or as if his throat was worn out from talking too much.
Xitong still shook her head and tried to pull her hand back, but she couldn't move it at all.
She was a little nervous. "Thank you so much, but no thanks. There's nothing I want to know."
What else could she expect from her life? It wouldn't be long before she even lost her boyfriend, the only thing that could be considered her lucky charm.
Four years passed, and they gradually had nothing to talk about. The most meaningful conversation in their chat was good morning and good night.
But what the fortune teller said next stunned Xitong.
"Beautiful lady—if you just break up with your current boyfriend, not only will your life be filled with wealth and honor, but everything you wish for will come true. You're a total koi fish!"
How did he know I had a boyfriend?
Xitong was frightened and stopped struggling. Instead, she followed the fortune teller, whose words were completely inconsistent with his appearance, to the wooden table. Only then did she realize that the old man's eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the skin and see into people's bones.
His ten fingers were long and withered, his nails slightly yellow, and when he tapped lightly on the table, they made a hollow sound.
Later in Xitong's memory, the conversation with the fortune teller ended there. It was so magical that she only remembered the simple words "break up" and "may your wishes come true," but forgot the fortune teller's other mysterious words.
"Fate is like a star chart, seemingly chaotic, but actually orderly—"
“What you lose is what you gain.”
Xitong didn't understand, so she just asked what she was interested in.
"Sir, besides money, does this wish come true also include health and love? Money doesn't really matter. All I need is to pay off my debts, stay healthy and have no troubles, and have someone by my side who loves me and who loves me."
The old man took out three copper coins from under the table and scattered them on the table six times, each time carving a mark on the wooden table with his fingernails.
When he saw the results, even he felt a little envious.
"Longevity, health and happiness."
"A harmonious couple."
"Lan Gui Qi Fang."
Later, Xitong always felt that she might have used up all her family, love and health in this life in exchange for great wealth and honor.
But she forgot what the fortune teller said next.
…
As she fell, Xitong hoped for the first time so devoutly that her koi physique would work. She didn't ask for safety, as long as she could survive.
When I landed, the back of my head hit the wet grass slope. It didn't hurt much, but my vision went black.
Then her body rolled over involuntarily, and the sky and the earth flashed alternately in her eyes: the sky with slanting raindrops, and the ground with mud and water splashing.
Her pants were torn, revealing her fair calves, which were immediately scratched by the grass, leaving several bloody marks. Her hair was disheveled, covered in grass and mud.
As she was about to roll to the bottom of the slope, she was stopped by a bush, and the branches whipped her arms, causing a burning pain.
Lying on his back in the mud, Xitong gasped for breath, the rain hitting his face and flowing down the corners of his eyes.
She tried to move her limbs—they all responded.
I sat up and found that apart from a few scratches and pain on my right ankle, I was fine!
She looked up at the hillside she had just fallen down. The traces she had left behind were rapidly disappearing under the rain. It was as if the fall had never happened.
After completely recovering from her shock, Xitong was extremely grateful that her luck had saved her again, but at the same time she also realized that the crisis was not over.
It was impossible for her to return to the hillside where she had fallen with her injured right foot. There was no trace of stone steps except a narrow muddy path.
The mud flow brought down by the heavy rain continued, and the coldness penetrated her body.
To survive, you must quickly find a place to shelter from the rain and wait for rescue.
Xitong didn't know how long she had walked along the path. By the time she found the cave hidden behind the banyan tree, it was already completely dark.
The rain was still falling, but it was so light that it could be ignored.
But she no longer had the strength to move forward. Supporting her weak body, she walked into the cave. The dense words on the stone wall made her soul tremble.
Although she was a little scared, she was too weak to care where she was and fell down weakly against the stone wall.
"There are trees on the mountain and branches on the trees. I love you but you don't know it."
"Looking forward to my husband's coming, who am I thinking of when I play the flute?"
"The Milky Way is clear and shallow, how far apart are they? Across the water, their love is speechless."
Who is reciting poetry?
A very familiar voice came from a distance. Xitong, who was feeling hot all over, wanted to open her eyes, but she couldn't. She just felt that she was trapped and couldn't move. The pain in her body seemed to tear her apart.
"Xiao Xi? Xiao Xi!!!"
The voice gradually grew louder, anxious but clear. A pair of strong arms pulled her up from the cold, damp ground. The inviting warmth, even through her clothes, felt like the spark of life, and she couldn't help but move closer.
Is it Yu Sixie who came to see her?
"Um."
Xitong tried to make a little sound to prove that she was fine.
But the person holding her did not relax, but called her even louder and hurriedly took out emergency rescue supplies from his backpack.
The pain in her body gradually subsided with the subtle coolness, and the temperature she could feel was no longer through the cold jacket, but real warmth.
Xitong opened her eyes and was startled by the familiar face in front of her.
She called out the man's name in disbelief, her voice hoarse, "Yan Ming?"
How come he is here?!
"When did you return home? No, you... cough cough cough"
Wen Yanming immediately stopped Xitong from talking, handed the warm water in the thermos to her mouth, dragged her back, and fed her to drink it bit by bit.
He continued to calmly help Xitong treat the wound, while explaining that he had returned to China a month ago.
Wen Yanming is a friend Xitong met in a bookstore in France a few years ago. He is of Chinese and French descent and has lived in various places in Europe but speaks Chinese very well.
The two hit it off immediately, feeling they had met too late, and chatted all night long.
Xitong had never met someone so compatible with her. He could keenly grasp every thought of hers and was very curious about her strange ideas. Ninety percent of the books they had read and the places they had visited overlapped.
In Wen Yanming's eyes, Xi Tong is also his soul mate.
When Yu Sixie found the love cave, Xi Tong was lying in the arms of another man, covered with a dark blue windbreaker, looking at him with bright eyes.
I don’t know what the man said, but she was shaking with laughter. Although her face was pale, the two dimples at the corners of her mouth were playful and cute.
"Yeah, I recommended this book to you back then, but you rejected me."
"It was my fault."
The cave was warm and cozy, and the love poems on the stone wall added to the romance. Yu Sixie stood alone at the entrance of the cave, looking at the two people who were huddled together. Raindrops fell from his wet bangs, and his thin lips turned pale from running around for a long time.
His heart felt like it was pierced with numerous needle holes. He should have been extremely grateful that she was fine.
Not far away, the rescue team following Yu Sixie also arrived at the scene.
"Did you find the person?"
The paramedics strode over to Yu Sixie, who was frozen in place. He was really worried that if they continued searching, the gentleman's body would not be able to bear it. No matter how they dissuaded him, he insisted on following them to rescue him.
Yu Sixie said nothing, turned around and strode away from the cave.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
