Chapter 17.1

Gu Sui was in a panic; he didn’t even know how he had managed to carry Guan Yue back to the wooden house.

He walked around the yard twice, holding Guan Yue, his mind blank, unsure of what to do.

“Woof—woof—”

Gousheng barked urgently a couple of times and tugged at Gu Sui’s leg with his paw.

Gu Sui snapped back to reality. “Right, I need to check her body.”

He carried Guan Yue into the house and gently placed her on the bed near the window.

He opened the window, and sunlight poured in, which made Guan Yue’s pale face stand out even more. It was vastly different from her usual healthy, rosy complexion.

Gu Sui held his breath, his fingers trembling slightly as he placed them under her nose. When he felt the evidence of her breath, he sighed in relief.

Gu Sui exhaled deeply and sat down beside her. At that moment, Guan Yue was sweating profusely, her hair sticking to her face as she furrowed her brows in discomfort. She lay there, right under his nose. Why had the scene he’d just witnessed felt so surreal? Had she really been holding onto a vine to prevent herself from falling off the cliff?

It seemed absurd. He wondered if he had seen it wrong.

His gaze fell on Guan Yue’s wrist. The giant tree that had been continuously twisting around the mountain earlier seemed unable to pull away the massive boulder that had fallen. Were those vines that had snapped off from the tree really like this?

They were dark and shiny, resembling bracelets wrapped around her wrist. At the end of the vines, there were two small, tender green leaves. If he wasn’t mistaken, the leaves used to be dark green, but why had they turned into wilted, pale green ones now?

He hesitated and reached out to touch them. Were they fake or real leaves?

He didn’t know.

Guan Yue’s headache was unbearable. She shifted slightly, and Gu Sui stood up. “Guan Yue, are you awake?”

But Guan Yue hadn’t woken up.

At this moment, in Qingxi Village, far below the cliff, the people who were working at home heard a deafening noise. They were so frightened that they quickly ran out of their houses.

And outside, people watched in horror as the cliff crumbled and fell from several dozen meters above.

Several dozen meters high—sounding so incredibly tall, and a huge boulder falling from such a height was a matter of an instant.

Below the cliff, in the stone quarry, there were still so many people!

Li Da was also working at the stone quarry, saying that he would build a bathhouse for her.

Lin Haiyin was trembling in fear, shaking as she ran toward the bottom of the cliff. She stumbled and fell several times but got up each time.

Zhang Cuihua grabbed her. “Don’t be afraid. Li Da, that silly boy, has great luck. He’ll be fine.”

Around them, people continued running past, crying.

“Oh my heavens, what are we going to do now?”

“大娃, my son, where are you? Mother’s come to find you!”

“Dongzi’s father…”

“Er Gouzi…”

The sounds of grief and wailing were like the tolling of a funeral bell. As they got closer to the stone quarry, the cries grew louder.

Lin Haiyin stood there, too afraid to take another step.

Could it be that she really was a harbinger of doom? Anyone who was near her would end up in misfortune—first it was her mother, now it was that foolish man, Li Da.

Heaven, do you not want me to have a few good days?

Lin Haiyin was so distraught that she couldn’t keep her balance and squatted down, crying until she nearly choked on her own sobs.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her. “Haiyin, what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”

Lin Haiyin heard Li Da’s voice. She looked up at him, seeing the sweat on his face and the fresh, red wound on his cheek, and broke into loud, uncontrollable sobs.

Even Li Da, who was usually foolish, understood in that moment how Lin Haiyin truly felt about him. She really did like him, had never looked down on him for being from the countryside, and was genuinely happy to live for him.

Li Da’s eyes reddened. He hugged Lin Haiyin tightly. “It’s all right, it’s all right. Look, I’m fine, see?”

Lin Haiyin cried hysterically, like someone who had fallen into the deep sea, her last breath of air having run out. Just as she was about to suffocate and drown, she was suddenly pulled up by a hand.

The people around them, who had been wailing loudly, were all celebrating their narrow escape from death. They had no idea who it was that had saved them in the crucial moment.

In the end, the credit went to the recently repaired Mountain God Temple.

When they heard the strange noise from above the cliff, the stone quarry had been blocked off by the rocks they had already worked on, and they didn’t have time to escape. They thought they were as good as dead.

Unexpectedly, the collapsing cliff suddenly paused for a moment. Just that brief moment bought them time to escape. If it hadn’t been for that, they would have all perished right there.

“It must have been the Mountain Goddess who showed her power,” someone said.

“Yeah, otherwise, how could such a large boulder have been held up and not fall right away?”

Li Da, in high spirits, chimed in, “When we slaughter the year’s pig in the village, we’ll definitely cook a pot of meat and go to the Mountain God Temple to offer it.”

Lin Haiyin wasn’t paying attention to what others were saying. She was only concerned about the wound on his face. “How did this happen?”

Li Da touched his cheek. “It’s just a scrape from falling rocks, nothing major.”

Lin Haiyin slapped his arm. “You’re bleeding.”

Zhang Cuihua laughed and said, “Haiyin, don’t mind him. You’ve been through a lot too. Let’s go back and rest for a bit.”

After this incident, Zhang Cuihua grew even fonder of Lin Haiyin.

This girl truly liked her son!

Gu Sui had settled Guan Yue and packed the medicine from the house. He jogged down the mountain, expecting the scene to be grim, but to his surprise, everyone was unharmed.

Yang Guozhu noticed what he was carrying. “Oh, this is from Guan Yue.”

Li Tao added, “Guan Yue’s a tough one on the outside, but soft-hearted. See, she was worried about us and sent Gu Sui down with all this medicine.”

Seeing that everyone was fine, Gu Sui felt relieved. He turned to leave.

Yang Guozhu stopped him. “At least leave the medicine behind.”

Gu Sui was still worried about Guan Yue up on the mountain, so he didn’t say much to Yang Guozhu. He handed over the medicine box and turned to head back up the mountain.

He wasn’t interested in the commotion below. He hadn’t even eaten lunch. He spent the entire afternoon, standing dumbly by Guan Yue’s side, and she didn’t make a sound the whole time.

If it weren’t for him checking on her several times and confirming that she was still alive, he didn’t know what he would have done.

“Gousheng, stay with her. I’ll go cook dinner.”

It was already evening, and Guan Yue needed to eat something.

“Woof—”

The large tree in front of the wooden house had been completely felled. The branches above the yard had been cleared away, and now, looking around, the surroundings seemed even more spacious.

Gu Sui had come down the mountain from the front. At the cliff, the large boulders had collapsed, and only half of the cliff that stretched from Daqing Mountain remained.

On the ground, on the branches of the felled trees, the broken vines were still tangled. Gu Sui crouched down, inspecting them closely. They looked exactly like the ones on Guan Yue’s wrist.

He stood there, staring at the colorful clouds in the sky, as if a magical world was unfolding before him.

The people down the mountain were celebrating their narrow escape. Gu Sui had spent the last few days taking care of Guan Yue on the mountain. She had been unconscious for three days now. If it hadn’t been for Gu Sui’s expertise, he would have already been tempted to send her to the hospital.

Gu Sui hadn’t descended the mountain in the last few days, but since it was the off-season and there was no work to be done, and since he lived alone at the Educated Youth point, no one had noticed that he hadn’t returned.

In these past days, no one had gone up the mountain, and no one knew that the big tree in front of the wooden house had fallen.

Over these three days, Gu Sui had used an axe to tidy up the area, at least making the yard look less messy.

As for the fallen trees, he had chopped them into pieces and left them there to be used as firewood later. The trunks were too big and heavy for him to move, so he had left them where they were.

It was already winter. Gu Sui, wearing only a single layer of clothing, was sweating heavily.

Gousheng came out, running circles around Gu Sui. He bit his pants leg, trying to drag him toward the house.

Gu Sui snapped to attention, dropping the axe and quickly running toward the house. “Has Guan Yue woken up?”

After lying down for three days, Guan Yue finally opened her eyes. The midday sunlight was a bit too bright.

She closed her eyes again and paused to recall.

Then she heard Gousheng’s barking and Gu Sui’s voice. It seemed that Gu Sui had carried her back.

In that case, had he discovered her secret?

In that instant, a murderous thought crossed Guan Yue’s mind.

However, when she saw Gu Sui rush in with excitement, that fleeting thought vanished quietly without a trace.

Guan Yue released her clenched hands. Her face was still pale, and her lips lacked color, making her appear particularly fragile.

Guan Yue licked her lips. “I’m so hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten much for three days, of course you’re hungry. I made some rice porridge. You should sit up and eat a little first.”

She lowered her gaze, realizing that she had been unconscious for three days. Had Gu Sui been the one taking care of her all this time?

Guan Yue covered her empty stomach. “I want to eat meat.”

“You can’t have meat just yet. You need to rest for a couple more days.”

Gu Sui went to cook, and Guan Yue got up slowly, walking out of the room. The sunlight outside was direct, and she squinted, not used to it.

She then took a moment to observe her surroundings. The large trees around the yard had all fallen, and with fewer obstacles, the sunlight was much more intense.

Gu Sui casually watched her expression, noticing that she didn’t seem surprised at all.

Gu Sui asked, “Do you want to eat inside or outside?”

Guan Yue strolled to the gate of the yard, then turned back to Gu Sui. “Outside.”

“Alright.”

Gu Sui went to the kitchen to bring out the food, and as Guan Yue walked, she noticed the trees that Xiao Hei had knocked down. Many of them had been chopped into sections. It was probably something Gu Sui had done.

While eating, Guan Yue asked Gu Sui, “How is the situation down at the village?”

She didn’t have much attachment to the people in Qingxi Village, but she couldn’t just stand by and watch them die. Back then, she hadn’t thought it through, she had just acted.

Although she had been unconscious for three days, she didn’t regret her choice at that moment.

“Because of you… there were no casualties at the stone quarry below the cliff. The villagers are saying it’s the Mountain Goddess’ blessing. They’ve been busy making offerings at the Mountain God Temple these past few days, so no one has come up the mountain, and no one has noticed that the big trees here have fallen.”

Gu Sui spoke carefully, not giving away everything, but Guan Yue understood.

At that moment, she hesitated. Should she tell Gu Sui about her special ability?

Gu Sui saw her looking down, deep in thought, and leaned forward slightly, placing his hands on the table, waiting for her to come to a decision.

After a while, Guan Yue finished a bowl of rice and pushed the bowl forward. “I want more.”

Gu Sui chuckled helplessly, standing up. “I’ll go get you another bowl.”

“Mm, sure.”

Since she didn’t want to talk about it, he didn’t press her.

Guan Yue had woken up, and she knew her own body well enough to be sure that aside from feeling a little weak, there was nothing wrong.

Gu Sui didn’t believe it and insisted on checking once more.

He grabbed Guan Yue’s wrist, and she asked him, “How is it?”

Gu Sui released her hand. “It seems like there’s nothing wrong.”

However, the concern in his heart couldn’t be shaken off. He didn’t know if her special body might have some differences from others, potentially leading to issues that were hard to detect.

Guan Yue made an excuse to take a nap and sent Gu Sui away. She was heading into the deep mountains, needing a safe environment to examine her abilities.

She took a few steps but suddenly stopped.

She stood still, looking back.

After a while, Gu Sui, who had already descended the mountain, walked back up.

Gu Sui frowned, his tone still stern. “What happened to your nap? Do you really think you’re in perfect health?”

After being scolded by Gu Sui, Guan Yue suddenly smiled. It was a smile unlike her usual ones, especially genuine and sweet.

“Gu Sui, you’re just like my dad!”

A long, long time ago, when she had skipped her afternoon nap and sneaked out to play, her dad always caught her and scolded her, telling her that if she didn’t take care of her body and skipped naps, she would never grow taller.

Gu Sui was stunned. After knowing her for so long, this was the first time she had mentioned her family in front of him.

“So, are you going to take a nap now?”

Guan Yue’s smile was radiant. “I will!”

Gu Sui was afraid that she would go against his advice and not take her health seriously. He decided to stay outside, building a fire, brewing tea, and reading a book.

Inside, Guan Yue lay down, moving only her finger. Xiao Hei, sluggish and weak, twisted its small waist and pitifully rubbed its face against Guan Yue’s.

Guan Yue pinched Xiao Hei, noticing that both of its dark green leaves had turned light green. Just like her, it was a result of overusing its abilities without replenishment.

Guan Yue mumbled softly, “I don’t have much, but I’ll give you a little.”

The two leaves happily wriggled, spinning in circles with joy.

A slight smile tugged at the corner of Guan Yue’s mouth. She fed a bit of her energy to it, and the light green leaves visibly darkened, eventually becoming deep green.

She stopped, yawning, leaned back against her pillow, and fell asleep.

Gu Sui suddenly remembered that the window was open and feared that she might catch a cold from the wind. Quietly, he entered and closed the window.

Sensing someone approaching, the iron vine, which had been swaying gracefully just moments before, quickly coiled around Guan Yue’s wrist and pretended to be dead.

Guan Yue opened her eyes and glanced at him before closing them again.

Once Gu Sui had closed the window, he left.