Chapter 1, Day 1: "I heard this mountain road is called Death Road."
Day 1
"He's here again? I always seem to see him during visiting hours."
Who is he coming to see?
"You don't know? His mother has been locked up here for many years, and they're all familiar faces."
"His mother has to be restrained when she's confused; it's terrifying."
"Hmm, what a pity. She's quite good-looking. I just wonder if mental illness is hereditary?"
"He's the captain of the Yanjing Fire Brigade. I heard he just retired from another place a couple of years ago. Before that, he was on the front lines. He's mysterious and incredibly capable."
“What’s the use of being so capable? You can save others but not your own mother. I heard from the caregiver here that his mother’s condition is not good recently and is getting worse. He probably doesn’t have much time left.”
“”
As Yin Yu approached from the checkpoint, the murmurs and whispers around him quieted down.
The man had striking, deep-set features, and his narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes were cold and sharp. He exuded a strong sense of aggression and threateningness, and even though he was dressed casually, his presence in the room brought an innate sense of oppression.
The thick, hard soles of the boots made a deep, rhythmic sound as they stepped on the marble floor.
Yin Yu didn't look at the crowd of people waiting to visit their families around him, but walked straight into the corridor with its cold, incandescent lights.
His mother was confined to the very back, and even during visiting hours, she could only stay in a small living room at the very back.
Only a few patients are able to use this rest and reception room.
Yin Yu walked to the door, placed his hand on the doorknob, paused slightly, and with a deep breath, slowly exhaled before gripping the handle and pressing down.
The door opened gently.
A woman sat on a wooden chair by the window, wearing a long white dress, holding a thick, brick-like book in her hand.
The sunlight slanted down, as if coated with a layer of soft light, making it exceptionally tranquil and beautiful.
His mother reached out and stroked his cheek.
Yin Yu unconsciously relaxed, closed his eyes, and like a cub relying on its mother, he turned his cheek and gently pressed it against his mother's warm palm.
He breathed softly, as if he had returned to the cradle of his childhood, so peaceful, so free and safe.
However, the next second, a sharp, heavy "snap" suddenly rang out in the small living room.
Yin Yu didn't even have time to react; his face was burning with pain.
"Get away! Stay away from us! Get away! Don't come any closer!" The woman in front of them suddenly screamed hysterically, her serene features looking as if they had been torn apart by a monster.
She grabbed the book from her lap and hurled it at Yin Yu, her face filled with terror and deathly pale, as if she had seen something. She screamed, "Run! Run!"
Yin Yu reacted quickly by turning his head to dodge, but his forehead was still cut by the sharp, heavy book leg, and blood immediately gushed out.
The caregivers in the corner rushed over and skillfully used restraints to tightly bind the woman to the chair.
"Sedative."
"Sir, shall I bandage you up?"
Several caregivers handled the situation in an orderly manner, and one of them approached Yin Yu and whispered something.
Yin Yu pursed his lips and ignored the man, simply walking quickly forward: "I'll handle this, don't hurt her!"
"Sir, sir," the caregiver's voice seemed veiled, and Yin Yu heard it, yet it was as if he didn't, until he was pulled away.
“Mr. Yin, your mother’s attending physician is just outside the door. He needs to speak with you for a few minutes.”
///
"Captain Yin's face today looks like the calm before the storm. Don't blame me for not warning you, no one should run into his line of fire."
Inside the fire station, a young man with a buzz cut joked as he lifted weights in the rest area while chatting with his teammates.
These young people have a lot to talk about regarding Yin Yu.
Their team leader, Yin, was parachuted in for two years, leading the rescue mission. In those two years, the team members suffered zero casualties and the high success rate of rescue operations broke the historical record of their Yanjing Seventh Detachment. He's practically a superhuman.
Unfortunately, even after two years, these teammates who had spent every day with Yin Yu knew very little about him. They were both curious and in awe, but under the pressure of Captain Yin, none of them dared to ask him anything. They only dared to inquire about gossip in private.
"Didn't Captain Yin take a day off today? Why is he back so early?"
"Today is the second Saturday of this month. Captain Yin always takes leave on this day to visit his mother."
"What happened to his mother?"
"I'm not too sure about that either. Anyway, it's always been like this since Captain Yin came to the department the year before last. It hasn't changed no matter what."
"Hey, speaking of which, do you guys know what Captain Yin did before he came to the station?"
"The information I heard is that he's also the chief of staff in some district? Some mountainous area?"
Listening to his teammates' guesses, the man with the buzz cut couldn't help but chuckle smugly and join in:
"Guanshan Special Zone! And it's a mountainous area? That's not a place name, you're so ignorant."
"You're knowledgeable, do you know what that is?"
"I don't know. All I know is that it's not a place name, but an organization or some kind of code name. Anyway, even people in the system rarely mention it." The man with the crew cut scratched his head.
"How did you know that?"
His eyebrows were practically flying up, making him look even more smug.
"My childhood friend is a physical prodigy. He got recruited, but he couldn't tell me what specific tasks he would be doing after he got in. He said there's an unwritten rule there that you have to retire after serving five years, otherwise it will have a huge impact on your physical and mental health. Besides, I heard that very few people can stay for five years. Guess how long Captain Yin stayed?"
You know?
"Of course. My childhood friend told me that Captain Yin stayed for seven years! He's like a legend in their eyes!"
"Seven years?! Holy crap!" The team members gasped in surprise.
The group was chatting and laughing when, in the next second, the fire department's alarm blared.
"Two emergency rescue vehicles and one ambulance are in position! Prepare for rescue!"
Everyone exchanged glances and instantly stopped laughing.
"receive!"
The sharp sound of fire sirens grew louder as they approached, as if to pierce the quiet, dark night.
"Currently, a bus has overturned and fallen down the mountain. There are a total of nineteen passengers, a driver, a tour guide, and three children on board. This is video footage transmitted from below by a drone."
The on-site accident supervisor stood at the edge of the mountain road and briefly explained the situation.
He turned to the calm-looking man beside him, as if he had breathed a sigh of relief: "I didn't expect it to be your team that received the call. That's great. Captain Yin, take a look."
The mountain road was rugged and narrow. The roadside railing was smashed open by the bus, and on the other side was a vertical cliff. The bus fell less than 20 meters, but a protruding mountain below stopped the bus from falling.
Yin Yu took the tablet and examined it carefully.
The bus was seen tilting outwards, with a protruding rock blocking its bottom. In the drone's feedback footage, the rock clearly showed signs of loosening.
He made a decisive decision and issued the order in a deep voice: "Team A members and I will rappel down to search and rescue. Everyone should wear visual equipment. Team B members will stand by on the mountain and be ready to provide reinforcements at any time."
"Most of the bus is outside the mountainside, and there is a possibility of it tilting and falling at any time. All personnel should pay attention to safety and secure themselves." Yin Yu spoke quickly, his voice calm and decisive, which inexplicably convinced people.
"Roger that, Captain Yin!"
After the safety officer checked the equipment of Yin Yu and his group, the group quickly rappelled down the mountain.
As the trapped people were transferred up the mountain one by one, the on-site instructors and others who remained on the mountain were busy arranging temporary medical treatment for the injured, and ambulances arrived in quick succession.
"Have you rescued everyone yet? The bus is about to give way!" Someone in the crowd looked down from the mountain and suddenly noticed the bus starting to shake. The person shouted a warning.
As soon as the man finished speaking, a chilling creaking sound seemed to echo it, and the already tilted bus suddenly slid down a short distance.
"And my child! My child is still inside!" A scream rang out from behind, and a woman rushed forward in panic, but was immediately stopped.
The instructor quickly stopped the mother: "Our team members are still down there, they will rescue your child, don't act rashly!"
As he spoke, he quickly called into the walkie-talkie, "Captain Yin! Captain Yin! There's a child in the car!"
"He was wearing black clothes and yellow pants!" the woman quickly added from the side.
A cool, steady voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie: "Received."
The instructor and the mother stared nervously down the mountain.
Then an orange figure crawled back into the overturned bus, and the bus shook even more violently. Everyone held their breath in tension, as if their breath would blow the bus over.
"Captain Yin! The bus is about to give way!" The team members below noticed that the rock blocking the bus was starting to loosen, and small stones were rolling down with a soft rustling sound.
"Captain Yin! Come out quickly!" A teammate gasped and shouted urgently, "It's too late!"
The mother on the mountain also heard the voice coming from the other end of the walkie-talkie. She covered her mouth tightly with both hands and squatted down in near despair and fear, but she couldn't bring herself to ask the rescue team leader to give up saving her child.
Yin Yu did not respond; he heard a faint sobbing sound.
Yin Yu's brows relaxed slightly. Following the direction of the crying, he nimbly passed through the chaotic and broken seats, and finally saw that bright yellow color between the gaps in the seats.
It looked to be only about four years old. It was stuck in the gap and couldn't move, only able to make faint cries.
"We've found the child," Yin Yu said simply into the walkie-talkie. He then immediately took out the demolition tools from his waist and quickly opened up a gap.
The crowd on the mountain cheered with delight upon hearing the sound. The mother, overjoyed, immediately stood up and leaned halfway out to look, her eyes fixed on the bus, hoping that the brightly colored figure would emerge with her child.
However, just as Yin Yu took the child out, the entire car suddenly tilted downwards, and all the packages and miscellaneous items inside the car rained down on it.
Yin Yu's pupils contracted slightly, and he turned around abruptly to protect the child, causing a chorus of screams to erupt outside the car.
"Captain Yin!!"
Yin Yu groaned softly when he was hit. He looked down at the unharmed child, who seemed frightened. The little guy was clutching his clothes tightly, his eyes wide with anxiety as he stared at him, looking like he was about to cry.
Upon seeing this, Yin Yu paused, his lips twitching slightly unnaturally, but he quickly abandoned his fake smile and said in a low, cold voice, "Don't be afraid. Be brave."
As he spoke, he quickly glanced around and saw the car tilting and sliding down.
Yin Yu immediately looked at the windshield less than half a meter below him, and slammed the demolition tool heavily on one corner of the windshield. After several blows, a spiderweb-like crack quickly spread across the windshield.
Yin Yu kicked open the glass, quickly secured the ropes and child to his body with his backhand, then turned around to tightly shield the child beneath him, and swiftly wedged himself under the rocks at the foot of the mountain.
The bus crashed to the ground.
Screams, shouts, and cries mingled together in the rising dust.
The mother on the mountain collapsed to the ground in despair.
The on-site instructor, his eyes bloodshot, stared intently down the mountain, gripping the walkie-talkie tightly in disbelief, stubbornly asking repeatedly, "Team Leader Yin? Team Leader Yin! Please reply! Please reply! Yin Yu!"
It was completely quiet on the other end of the walkie-talkie.
One second, two seconds felt like half a century.
Suddenly, the walkie-talkie crackled with static, and a cold, steady voice, mixed with panting, rang out: "Received. Come up now. The child is alright."
The instructor paused for a second, then reacted swiftly, ordering, "Roger that! Team B reinforcements, prepare the stretchers!"
He looked at the mother still collapsed on the ground and couldn't help but grin: "Did you hear that? They're all alive and up here now! I knew that kid Yin Yu could do it!"
When Yin Yu came up, the mother hurriedly ran up as well.
She took the child, held him tightly in her arms, and then looked at the man in front of her, whose face was covered in dust.
"Thank you, thank you so much for saving me. You saved my child; he's everything to me. Really, thank you so much. You saved me, you saved us."
The young mother kept choking back tears as she thanked them, barely able to utter a complete sentence.
Yin Yu looked at the mother, and upon hearing her words, his gaze softened slightly. His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes glanced indifferently at the child who was being held tightly in her arms. The child stared at him without blinking, and then reached out his tiny hand to him.
Yin Yu paused for a moment.
The young mother looked at Yin Yu upon seeing this, her breath trembling with gratitude and joy.
The little guy stubbornly stretched out his hand, staring at Yin Yu without blinking.
Two seconds later, Yin Yu reached out his fingertips and gently touched the child's soft, small hand. His fingers were immediately grasped by the little guy.
He gave a slight smirk and withdrew his finger.
This tiny, soft, and fragile little creature also instinctively and tenaciously tries to survive.
"Take care." He nodded slightly to the mother.
Yin Yu turned around and went back to the car, while the instructor hurriedly called for paramedics to come and check if Yin Yu was injured.
"You really scared us to death! But hey, I knew you could do it." The instructor sat down next to Yin Yu with a smile. He looked at Yin Yu, whose face was still expressionless. He couldn't help but laugh and nudged Yin Yu's arm. "Tsk, you kid, you've saved the person and you still have such a sour face? Smile a little."
Upon hearing this, Yin Yu glanced at him, gave a forced smile, and quickly wiped it away.
The instructor clicked his tongue and said, "What a waste of such a beautiful face of yours, it looks like you've lost all hope."
Yin Yu scoffed lightly.
The truck turned around and headed back down the mountain.
The other team members also gathered around, chattering about how thrilling it had been.
Yin Yu's eyelids twitched slightly; one or two of them were making a racket, giving him a headache.
But as the instructor said, everyone was happy to have saved a busload of people. Even Yin Yu relaxed amidst the chatter of his teammates and a slight smile appeared on his lips.
“I heard that this mountain road is called the Death Highway. I heard that when the road was being built, there was a landslide that killed dozens of people. Many locals say that it is not advisable to drive on the mountain road at night.”
The young team member in the car took off his helmet and casually remarked, "That driver is definitely not a local, otherwise he wouldn't be taking this route so late at night."
He had barely finished speaking when the instructor slapped him on the head: "We haven't even gone down the mountain yet, don't talk nonsense."
"Hey, Instructor, you don't believe in this, do you? The Master said, 'The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, or disorder.'" The short-haired man grinned and teased.
Before he could finish speaking, the fire truck beneath him suddenly went out of control and braked sharply, causing the entire vehicle to flip and tumble heavily several times on the mountain road.
Yin Yu was thrown out of the car by the enormous centrifugal force and crashed hard into the ground.
As he gasped for breath, a sharp, intense pain made him realize that a broken rib had pierced his lung, and the rapid filling of his mouth with the taste of blood meant that his vena cava was also likely punctured.
He had only eight minutes, or less, left before paramedics arrived.
Yin Yu coldly assessed his own death in his mind.
He struggled to lift his head and looked into the distance; intermittent sounds came from inside the fire truck.
"A 7.0 magnitude earthquake has struck Yanjing. All units have been affected and emergency rescue operations have been launched!"
No wonder the bus overturned and plunged off the cliff for no apparent reason; no wonder the rocks on that mountainside were loose. Everything was a warning sign of a major earthquake, yet none of them made that connection.
He didn't either.
He should have realized it.
Yin Yu stubbornly dug his fingers into the ground, unwilling to give up.
He shifted his gaze.
The mother and child who were rescued a moment earlier were still in the burning ambulance nearby.
His teammate lay less than half a meter away from him, his face covered in blood, his eyes lifeless, completely unaware of what had happened, and never to know what had happened again.
The instructor was half-buried under the vehicle, coughing up blood repeatedly.
"Save me, Captain Yin, save me!" The man with the crew cut lay on the ground, one eye pierced by a steel bar, but he seemed oblivious as he trembled and reached out his hand toward Yin Yu.
Yin Yu twitched his fingertips and slowly crawled towards the man with the crew cut. The excruciating pain and difficulty breathing made his vision blur. He couldn't do anything, but he still thought...
Yin Yu, if you are still alive, you have to do something. This is what you owe, this is the meaning of your life.
Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard a voice in his mind:
"Through the rescue and exploration mission, the life form's reaction ability is 10 points; its survival ability is 10 points; and its will to survive is 10 points."
"The remaining lifespan of this living organism is:"
"1 minute and 17 seconds."
"Please choose whether to remain in your current state and await death, or to accept the mission and gain new life."
With his last bit of strength, Yin Yu suddenly opened his eyes.
Whatever the voice was, he had to live. He still had many unfinished business, and his mother needed him.
"Detect the life form's will and confirm host binding."
"Through the rescue and exploration mission, the host has obtained: 48 hours of lifespan, 1 Healing Pill (a miraculous pill that can heal physical and mental injuries to a certain extent) (This item is bound and cannot be transferred)."
"After completing the novice mission, the host will be exceptionally rewarded with a time-space reversal opportunity, which has a certain probability of changing the existing facts."
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