SES Chapter 145 Part 1

Chapter 145

Even though there was now a “path” down, descending was no easy task for Luo Ren. The fissures in the rock varied in depth—some so deep that only the faintest silver glimmer of the surface could be seen, others so shallow that each step threatened to slip out from under him.

He moved carefully, inch by inch. By the time his feet finally touched solid ground, it was no exaggeration to say he was drenched in sweat.

Mu Dai sat across from him, smiling the entire time. When she tried to stand, her knees gave out, and she fell back into a sitting position. She hadn’t eaten or drunk anything for two or three days, and after barely surviving the ordeal just now, she had no strength left at all.

So she simply let herself fall backward and lie flat on the ground, staring up at the ceiling of the cave. A strange calm washed over her.

For days, she’d been trapped alone underground—sometimes hysterical, sometimes bitter and despairing, sometimes seething with fury and vowing to hack her enemies into a thousand pieces.

But now, all of that had melted away.

If that dream had been a prophecy, and Luo Ren truly was destined to face a calamity, then her earlier fall wasn’t something to resent—it was something to be grateful for.

It had been fate’s way of giving her another chance. Everything had lined up just right—one minute earlier or later, and the consequences would’ve been unimaginable.

Luo Ren walked over and knelt beside her.

Mu Dai felt her eyes burn, and before she knew it, she’d found the strength to sit up. She threw her arms around Luo Ren and buried her face against his neck.

She remembered how, in that dream, she’d cried endlessly. That hollow, world-collapsing despair was something she never wanted to feel again.

Now everything was fine—she was holding him, a living, breathing, warm person of flesh and blood.

With her lips near his ear, she whispered, “Luo Xiaodao… promise me you’ll never get hurt, ever again.”

He tightened his arms around her. It was a long while before he murmured, “Then you’d better keep an eye on me.”

He had so much he wanted to say, but couldn’t. Those few seconds between life and death kept replaying in his mind.

He couldn’t help thinking of the worst—what if he had died? What if she had?

He had never once considered such a thing before.

Sensing something off in him, Mu Dai pulled back slightly. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

Luo Ren smiled faintly and reached for her hand. But before he could react, Mu Dai let out a sharp cry and shoved him away so hard he nearly toppled over.

He had grabbed her left hand.

He quickly opened his pack and laid out a long strip of medical pouches, each pocket holding an essential emergency item.

Mu Dai shone her flashlight on her own left middle finger. The bandage around it had been soaked through with blood several times, now almost black in color.

Luo Ren took out a pair of scissors and began to cut open the knot she had tied herself, but the cloth wouldn’t come off—it had fused to her skin and flesh.

Holding his breath, he worked carefully, moving the tip of the scissors millimeter by millimeter along the threads.

At last, the wound was exposed.

She hadn’t treated it well—there was bruising, swelling, fresh scabbing, and even signs of infection. Luo Ren almost couldn’t bear to look.

Mu Dai turned her head away and asked quietly, “Will I lose my finger?”

He didn’t answer. After a moment, he opened a packet of alcohol wipes, took one, and began gently cleaning the wound.

The alcohol stung; blood and disinfectant trickled together. Luo Ren supported her wrist, feeling her whole arm tremble.

His throat tightened. He couldn’t even remember which hand she had used to grab him earlier—but he remembered one thing: she hadn’t let go. Not once.

How could she not love him? And even if she didn’t—well, he’d still accept it.

He crushed an antibiotic pill with the handle of his knife, sprinkled the powder carefully around the wound, then wrapped her finger with a clean strip of gauze.

Mu Dai looked at it—his careful handiwork had turned her finger into a little white “hat.” The dull sting was replaced by a clean, dry numbness.

She smiled. “That feels so much better.”

She looked like a girl easily pleased by small comforts.

Luo Ren smiled too, then, after a pause, he asked, “How did you fall here?”

Despite everything they’d been through, their understanding of the situation was no clearer—if anything, it had only become more tangled.

Mu Dai asked in return, “Do you think it was Xiong Jian?”

Luo Ren nodded. Other than Xiong Jian, he couldn’t think of anyone who might’ve held a grudge against Qingshan. But if the cursed slip really was attached to Qingshan, something still didn’t quite add up.

After a long silence, he said, “I’m not sure. But… Ya Feng also seemed strange.”

Everything in that cave had happened so suddenly, there’d been no time to think it through. But now, looking back, there were too many odd details.

He had met Ya Feng in Qingshan’s backyard and had been careful—silent, cautious, unseen. He had even warned her repeatedly, “You never saw me, I was never here.”

So how did Qingshan find out—and show up at the cave holding Ya Feng hostage?

Who had leaked it? Aside from Ya Feng, he couldn’t think of a second possibility.

And then there was the trap. When the floor collapsed, he had been right beside Ya Feng. He’d caught her as she fell and rolled with her, then let go to draw his knife—right before the trapdoor gave way.

She had been so close—so how had only he fallen?

Mu Dai thought for a moment. “Could it be that she just happened to be standing in a spot the trapdoor didn’t cover?”

Luo Ren shook his head slowly. He remembered clearly—when the floor flipped, they had both been standing on the same panel.

It didn’t make sense. How had she not fallen?

Mu Dai said thoughtfully, “If I had the right conditions, I could’ve stayed up too.”

Luo Ren looked at her.