Bang.
Suddenly, the rope snapped violently, and Ye Shikai instantly lost his support, his body plumting into the mountain cliff.
"Ahhh." Su Ziqing clung tightly to Ye Shikai with all her limbs, terrified out of her wits, only able to scream. Ye Shikai was startled at first, but instinctively held her tightly in his arms. From such a high cliff, to fall like this would surely an death.
No, he had to turn the tide.
Ye Shikai wrapped his left arm around Su Ziqing, drew a tallic sword from the Storage Ring with his right hand, and thrust it forcefully into the rock wall.
The tallic sword was crafted from a special alloy, incredibly hard, cutting through iron like mud. Piercing the rock wall was effortless. Ye Shikai gave a powerful pull, channeling all the kinetic energy of their fall into his right hand. If he were an ordinary person, his arm would likely have dislocated. But fortunately, he was Ye Shikai.
The tallic sword gouged out a section of the rock wall, finally stopping. Ye Shikai held Su Ziqing in one arm, gripping the sword handle with the other, leaving the two of them suspended in mid-air.
"Brother-in-law, are we dead?"
"Silly girl, if you were dead, you wouldn’t be talking." Ye Shikai smiled wryly. This silly girl, usually carefree and fearless, was actually just a child, now too scared to open her eyes.
Su Ziqing slowly opened her eyes, looking at the sword stabbed into the rock wall, finally calming down.
"Brother-in-law, let’s hurry back up." Su Ziqing was clearly terrified, eager to ascend imdiately.
"Yes, but we’re hanging mid-air now. We can’t go up, only down." Ye Shikai looked up and then down, estimating that it’s only twenty or thirty ters to the bottom—still high, but manageable for him.
"Qingqing, close your eyes." Ye Shikai spoke softly, mustering his energy, pulling the sword from the rock wall while pushing off with his legs, propelling them both into the air.
Simultaneously, Ye Shikai channeled his Inner Strength, counteracting their weight, surprisingly allowing them to glide. With his current power, he could only glide briefly, but it was enough for a safe landing. Ye Shikai landed on a large tree with Su Ziqing on his back, and then sprang from it to reduce the impact, safely grounding them.
Finally safe, Ye Shikai breathed a sigh of relief.
"Qingqing, you can co down now." Ye Shikai set Su Ziqing down. She hesitantly stepped onto solid ground, finally opening her eyes. It seed she was genuinely frightened this ti. Would she dare to act recklessly next ti?
"Brother-in-law, are we safe now?"
"Not quite yet. We won’t be safe until we get back up there, but at least we won’t fall to our deaths." Ye Shikai said with a smile, observing the forest below, filled with countless bushes, certainly not a place ant for climbing.
"Put this on." Ye Shikai took two raincoats from the Storage Ring, handing one to Su Ziqing and putting one on himself.
"Oh right, Mrs. Dongfang is missing; let’s find her quickly." Su Ziqing rembered that Dongfang Lian had disappeared while they were climbing. Ye Shikai didn’t dare to delay, and the two started searching.
If Mrs. Dongfang had an accident and fell from above, then she would likely be unrecognizable... Of course, Ye Shikai still hoped she could escape unhard.
"Brother-in-law, co look over here." Suddenly, Su Ziqing called out. Ye Shikai rushed over to find a segnt of rope on the ground, unmistakably the safety rope, but it was only a part of it...
Looking at the frayed rope end, Ye Shikai felt a vague unease. Perhaps the safety rope had snapped, causing Dongfang Lian’s...
It couldn’t be. How could the safety rope snap so often? The only possibility was soone secretly sabotaging it, tampering with the rope beforehand.
But who would do such a thing? In Yanjing, the culprits would certainly be Boss Xing or the Wang Family; they had enmity with Ye Shikai. If they had learned of Ye Shikai’s itinerary in advance, they could have set this up.
"Brother-in-law, look here!" Su Ziqing suddenly scread. Following the direction she pointed, they saw traces of blood on the ground, partially washed away by rain but still visible. Ye Shikai carefully examined the rope and indeed, it had bloodstains.
"Mrs. Dongfang, she’s not dead!" Su Ziqing exclaid excitedly. Yes, if only the safety rope broke and Dongfang Lian was missing, it suggested she might still be alive, and the bloodstains were proof.
"We should be able to find her following the blood traces." Ye Shikai said.
"Yes, let’s hurry." Su Ziqing said excitedly.
"Be careful." Ye Shikai shielded Su Ziqing behind him. This was a forest, possibly hiding unknown dangers, and if Boss Xing really was behind this, there might be enemies lurking here.
"Whoa, brother-in-law, the blood trace disappears here." Su Ziqing said disheartenedly, shining her flashlight on the muddied mixture on the ground. This broke off the trail of clues.
"Brother-in-law, we must find Mrs. Dongfang..."
"Don’t worry; she’s likely nearby, but heavily injured, possibly hiding in a cave or so shelter." Ye Shikai speculated.
"Yeah, I think so too."
.....................
"Brother-in-law, I’m so hungry and cold." After half an hour, Su Ziqing suddenly squatted on the ground, muttering softly. Ye Shikai approached to find her face pale, touching her forehead.
"Wow, she’s burning up." Ye Shikai said gravely. Su Ziqing had been frightened by the earlier "cliff jump" and drenched by the rain, now breaking into a fever. It was troubleso.
Ye Shikai channeled Inner Strength into her body, dispelling the cold from the rain. However, her body wouldn’t hold out like this.
Luckily, he had the Storage Ring. Ye Shikai found a sheltered spot beneath and set up a tent in ten minutes, putting a blanket inside. Yet, the next issue was trickier: Su Ziqing was soaked by the rain, and her clothes needed changing, but the rainwater on her body...
"Ahem, Qingqing, here’s a dry towel. Quickly dry yourself and change into dry clothes to rest." Ye Shikai handed the towel inside and instinctively moved away from the tent since his sister-in-law was changing inside.
Ye Shikai didn’t stay idle. The Storage Ring worked like Doraemon’s magic pocket, holding various essentials and ergency supplies. Ye Shikai took out an iron pot, bottled water, and a lighter. After boiling the water, he added ginger slices, intending to make so ginger tea.
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