Immediately afterwards, the entire ground began to shake violently.
Ye Chuyue and Xia Shihan were completely terrified and at a loss for what to do, as this was their first time experiencing something like this.
Gu Baiwei grabbed one person with each hand and dragged them toward the shore: "Hurry up."
As the ground continued to shake, the entire field of vision became shaky.
Ye Chuyue tried to stand up by clinging to the edge of the hot spring, but suddenly her foot slipped, and with a piercing pain in her ankle, she fell backward uncontrollably.
At this moment, the surrounding trees and buildings swayed violently and were about to collapse. Gu Baiwei, who had just climbed ashore, noticed Ye Chuyue's abnormality and hurriedly turned back: "Yueyue, what's wrong?"
"Auntie, I think I twisted my ankle."
Ye Chuyue's eyes were a little red. Even though she usually had a strong personality, she was only sixteen years old this year.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Gu Baiwei held her waist and lifted her up forcefully.
Xia Shihhan, who had already climbed ashore, rushed over to help. With their combined efforts, they finally managed to pull the injured Ye Chuyue ashore.
Xia Shihhan reached out to grab Gu Baiwei.
At that moment, a loud gurgling sound suddenly came from the center of the spring, and then the water, which had been above the neck, rapidly decreased as if it had been drained.
A deafening roar followed, and the surrounding trees and buildings, seemingly unable to withstand the pressure, began to collapse.
Gu Baiwei's expression changed slightly: "Run! Don't worry about me."
In the face of natural disasters, human power always seems so insignificant.
"No, Auntie, we can't leave you behind. Come up here quickly."
Ye Chuyue struggled to crawl over, and she and Xia Shihan each grabbed one of her arms, desperately trying to pull her ashore.
The shore was already slippery, and the surrounding rock walls that were easy to climb over had all collapsed during the violent tremors. They had nowhere to hold on and could only grit their teeth and use brute force to try to pull Gu Baiwei up.
With a loud crack, the last towering ancient tree beside the hot spring crashed down towards Gu Baiwei. At the critical moment, a muscular arm grabbed Gu Baiwei's arm and easily pulled her out of the water.
At this moment, all the water in the hot spring had poured into the huge crack in the middle of the hot spring. If she had been any later, Gu Baiwei would have been trapped as well.
She looked up in fear and suddenly met a pair of deep eyes. Those eyes, which were always smiling no matter what happened, were now deep and still.
"Walk!"
Shen Yanqing's gaze fell on a patch of dark red on Gu Baiwei's fair instep, his eyes darkening.
Before Gu Baiwei could react, he simply picked her up and carried her out.
Gu Baiwei blushed: "Mr. Shen, it's just a scratch. I can walk by myself."
During the earthquake, her foot was accidentally hit by a falling rock, but it was just a minor injury, and she didn't think much of it.
Xia Shihhan realized what was happening and quickly helped the injured Ye Chuyue walk outside.
They hadn't gone far when a loud crash came from behind them. The dense canopy of the ancient tree slammed heavily onto the ground, completely obscuring the hot spring.
Then came another violent tremor, and the surrounding dilapidated buildings collapsed one after another.
When Gu Baiwei opened her eyes again, she found herself surrounded by darkness, and her hand was being tightly gripped in the palm of a large, cold hand.
"Mr. Shen?"
Gu Baiwei tentatively called out, only to find that the person holding her had cold sweat in their palm.
She hurriedly pulled her phone out of her pocket, and in the instant the phone's light dispelled the darkness, she saw Shen Yanqing's slightly pale face.
Unlike his usual assertive and elegant demeanor, he now had his pale lips tightly pressed together, and his forehead was covered in fine beads of cold sweat.
The moment the lights came on, his expression seemed to soften a little, and he somewhat awkwardly released Gu Baiwei's hand.
Gu Baiwei immediately cried out in pain, only then realizing that there were faint red fingerprints on the hand that was being held.
A rare hint of embarrassment appeared on Shen Yanqing's usually calm and gentle face: "I'm sorry, I..."
Gu Baiwei was stunned for a moment, then asked him incredulously, "Mr. Shen, are you afraid of the dark?"
Shen Yanqing pursed her lips and remained silent, clearly indicating that she had guessed correctly.
Gu Baiwei belatedly realized that in the novel, the development of Shen Yanqing and Xia Shihan's relationship seemed to have started because of this hot spring trip.
It seems she stole the storyline that originally belonged to the female lead.
In that case, wouldn't her son have a better chance of success?
"Auntie, where are you, Mr. Shen?"
Suddenly, the anxious voices of Ye Chuyue and Xia Shihan could be faintly heard from outside.
Gu Baiwei hurriedly shouted, "Yueyue, Shihan, I'm here."
But with countless collapsed buildings between them, people outside couldn't hear anything from inside.
What's more, at this moment, there are noisy footsteps and cries of people everywhere outside.
Gu Baiwei unlocked her phone to make a call, but found that the phone had no signal at all, so she could only turn off the screen in frustration.
"Mr. Shen, don't worry, someone will come to rescue us soon."
She looked at Shen Yanqing, whose face was pale, and couldn't help but whisper words of comfort, but she herself was not sure when someone would find them.
Shen Yanqing silently grasped her hand, feeling her body trembling slightly, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Don't be afraid."
"I don't."
Gu Baiwei instinctively retorted, but saw that Shen Yanqing had already rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes, seemingly tired.
The man's long eyelashes drooped, his upturned lips were pressed into a straight line, and even his brows were slightly furrowed. Combined with his handsome face, which appeared even softer in the dim light, he looked exactly like the broken man in the novel.
The moment the thought popped into her head, Gu Baiwei immediately shook her head. This was Shen Yanqing, a top-tier big shot in the book who had connections in both the legitimate and criminal worlds, and a male protagonist with incredible luck. How could he possibly have that damned sense of brokenness?
Hearing the soft breathing of the person next to him, Gu Baiwei couldn't help but yawn and slowly closed her eyes.
She didn't sleep well that night; her mind was filled with replays of her past life, and soon Ye Yunting's face transformed into Shen Yanqing's.
"Sir, are you inside?"
After an unknown amount of time, Gu Baiwei suddenly woke up from her dream.
Hearing the familiar male voice outside, she hurriedly shouted, "We're here!"
As the sound of things being moved came from outside, a man's surprised voice came from outside. The voice sounded like the big-headed guy next to Shen Yanqing.
Gu Baiwei's phone had already run out of battery and shut down. She hurriedly nudged the person next to her, but the person only frowned slightly and breathed a little rapidly.
Gu Baiwei's heart skipped a beat, only then realizing that this person's body temperature was extremely high. She reached out and touched his forehead, finding it burning hot.
With a snap, the sound of something breaking underfoot was heard. A large, broad hand carefully moved a large rock aside, and at the same time, blinding light shone into the dark, cramped space.
Ignoring everything else, Gu Baiwei struggled to help Shen Yanqing stand up: "Quick, Mr. Shen has a fever."
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