I was lucky. Although the crevice looked terrifying, it wasn’t as deep as I had imagined. I was caught by tree vines and rocks several times, and miraculously landed on a pile of soft mud. My chest was painfully shocked, my limbs were numb, and I couldn’t move, yet my consciousness remained clear.
Although I couldn’t move temporarily, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing my life was safe. Just as I was catching my breath, I heard a noise overhead and knew something was wrong—mountain rocks were collapsing. Somehow, I found the strength to roll to the side, which sent another wave of intense pain through my legs.
An object crashed to the ground, landing precisely where I had just been. I was incredibly fortunate but then heard a familiar muffled groan from where the object had fallen. “Umm—”
“An Jin?!” I was shocked and groped my way over. “An Jin… is that you?”
“A Yao?” It was indeed his voice. “Are you okay?”
I was both amused and exasperated. “How did you come down?”
“I was worried… you’d be alone and scared.” He paused, calling out to me. “A Yao, are you hurt?”
I smiled bitterly and reached out, finding and holding his hand. “Not seriously, how about you?”
“I’m fine.” He sighed.
“Fine? Wouldn’t it have been better to stay up there and call for help?” I squeezed his hand, suppressing the pain spreading through my body. “Idiot… if I hadn’t reacted quickly, I might have been crushed by you…”
He remained silent, then laughed softly after a while. “I panicked and forgot everything.”
I carefully listened to the surroundings. “It seems to have stopped shaking. Someone will come to rescue us soon.”
“Mm.” He responded vaguely. “Yao Yao…”
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry.” He seemed to exhale deeply. “I’ve neglected you too much these past days.”
