Chapter 39: Time Travel?

In truth, Li Sicheng had never pinned all his hopes on that length of nylon rope.

Though the rope was as thick as a thumb, it was, after all, meant for hanging bed sheets and clothes. Years of wind and sun had sapped much of its strength. It might have no trouble bearing the weight of laundry, but to support two people? That was a tall order. Even if the knot tied to the steel bar didn’t come undone, the rope itself could snap under such tremendous force.

So, as soon as his falling body jerked to a halt, Li Sicheng was already moving to enact his backup plan.

First, he used both hands to haul Liu Wei up into his arms. Then, just as the knot gave way and the two were about to plummet again, he gritted his teeth, twisted his waist with all his might, and, relying on the strength of his back and waist, swung himself and Liu Wei in a wide arc toward a window of a dormitory room diagonally ahead.

At that very moment, the knot came completely undone, and the nylon rope came slithering down. With it, Li Sicheng and Liu Wei’s bodies began falling once more.

“Aaah—”

Liu Wei screamed, squeezing her eyes shut.

This time, she was utterly bereft of hope, convinced no miracle could save her.

She gave up, but Li Sicheng did not.

What a joke—he’d only just managed to gain a new fate; how could he die so easily?

Li Sicheng let out a roar that seemed to shake the sky, unleashing the full strength of his waist and back, accelerating their arc toward the dorm window.

In the end, he managed to crash through the window at the very last moment, just as their bodies would have fallen past it.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, Li Sicheng smashed through the glass, rolling into the girls’ dormitory with Liu Wei in his arms.

Even at such a tense moment, Li Sicheng kept his composure, maintaining a gentleman’s poise. He held Liu Wei tightly, shielding her from the flying shards of glass. Not a single piece touched her, though his own skin was cut and bloodied in several places by the sharp fragments.

Blood trickled down his cheek and wrist, yet it did nothing to mar his bearing. If anything, it lent him an added air of heroic vigor.

“It’s all right. It’s over,” Li Sicheng said with a smile, only releasing Liu Wei from his embrace once the last of the broken glass had settled on the floor.

“Am I… Am I dead?”

Even now, Liu Wei kept her eyes tightly shut.

She had no idea what had just transpired. She’d heard the crash, felt the impact, but knew nothing of how narrowly she’d escaped death—she still thought she’d hit the ground and perished.

“How odd, falling from a building doesn’t hurt as much as I imagined… Oh, I get it. I must have been hurt so badly I died instantly, so I couldn’t feel any pain. Which means—I’m a ghost now?” Liu Wei opened her eyes.

The terror had drained her face of all color. She trembled uncontrollably, a normal reaction to such extreme fright.

She glanced around, frowning in confusion. “So this is what the afterlife looks like? Why does it seem exactly like our dormitory? There’s none of that spooky, sinister feeling you see in novels or movies…”

Li Sicheng couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on, Senior Liu Wei, you’re very much alive. And this is no underworld—it’s your dormitory building.”

Stunned, Liu Wei stared at him. “What? I… I’m not dead?” In the next instant, her eyes filled with tears, and she broke down sobbing.

This time, Li Sicheng didn’t try to stop her. He let her cry.

He knew that, for Liu Wei, this was a necessary release of emotion. If she didn’t vent her fear, shock, and resentment now, those feelings would fester and make her ill within a couple of days.

While Liu Wei wept, cries echoed from the rooftop above, where many girls were also in tears.

But their tears were not for themselves—they were for Li Sicheng and Liu Wei.

To them, once the knot had come undone and the rope fell, there could be no hope left. Both Li Sicheng and Liu Wei must have met their end.

For a while, the rooftop was filled with wailing. The girls there didn’t even hear the commotion rising from below.

Unlike those above, the crowd gathered on the ground floor had seen everything that happened in that critical moment, witnessing Li Sicheng’s calm and quick-witted rescue with their own eyes.

After a moment of stunned silence, a wave of exclamations, screams, and cheers erupted.

“Holy crap! That was incredible—absolutely amazing! Who is that guy who made the rescue? His reflexes and skills are superhuman! I’ve only seen stunts like that in Jackie Chan movies. I can’t believe I just saw it happen in real life…”

“And it’s not just his skills—his courage is astounding! Even with a safety rope tied on, most people wouldn’t dare jump off a building to save someone. Oh, and his composure—when the rope gave way, he didn’t panic, he reacted instantly and did the right thing… If it were me, I’d have fainted dead away, no chance I could do that!”

Most people were simply shocked, but a few had stars in their eyes. “Does anyone know who that guy is? He’s so handsome—he’s my dream man! I have to meet him, I’m going to chase after him!”

And it wasn’t just the girls—some burly men were also swept up in the excitement, shouting that they wanted to pursue Li Sicheng, sending a shiver up everyone’s spine.

Those on the rooftop remained oblivious to all this. They were still crying their hearts out.

After quite some time, Mo Ke finally summoned the courage to peer over the edge of the parapet and look down.

The gruesome scene she’d imagined was nowhere to be found. In fact, there were no bodies at all—neither Li Sicheng’s nor Liu Wei’s.

“Huh?!”

Mo Ke’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.

“Where are they? Where did they go?”

“What do you mean, where did they go?”

Her cry instantly drew the attention of Zhao Ya and the others. A group of girls rushed to the edge, jostling for a look below.

Soon, they too were exclaiming in shock.

“Where are they? Where did they go?”

Everyone had heard of people falling from great heights and being smashed to pieces, but never of someone vanishing entirely.

What on earth had happened?

“Could they have traveled to another world?” one girl, clearly an avid reader of novels, ventured hesitantly.

(End of the third update! Please support with tips, recommendations, favorites, and help spread the word! Your support is the driving force behind my writing! Let’s all work hard together! And you’re welcome to join the author’s fan group: 168330720!)