LABMY CH30

The man smoking on the bus took a heavy drag amid the driver’s scolding, then crushed the cigarette butt hard against the edge of the inconspicuous trash bin by the back door. Sparks flew and quickly vanished, while the ashes and the unfinished cigarette fell into the trash bin.

Standing by the back door due to both motion sickness and the lack of seats, Wei Zhenge managed to breathe in some fresh air when the door opened at each stop. He noticed the cigarette ash that had landed on the hem of his pants. Frowning, he brushed the ash off.

The winding country road twisted and turned like a snake. The fields and trees on both sides flew past as the bus swayed. Although Wei Zhenge’s face showed no expression, his stomach felt increasingly uncomfortable.

He wanted to open the window, but it was winter, and the bus was filled with elderly passengers. He stared at the window near the back door but never reached out to open it.

After another half an hour on the bus, the stall owner led them off at the entrance of a low bridge. The bus didn’t cross the bridge and quickly drove away, leaving behind a thick trail of gray exhaust that slowly dispersed.

The stall owner said, “This bridge is too narrow for the bus. We have to walk across and wait for the three-wheeler by the pond ahead.”

Wei Zhenge loosened his collar slightly to make himself a bit more comfortable and nodded. “Let’s go.”

He turned slightly and said, “Thank you for your hard work, brothers.”

The two security guards smiled, “No problem, this is our duty.”

As they stepped onto the bridge, a muffled thunder rumbled in the distance. The stall owner looked up at the darkening sky and shouted, “Walk faster, it’s going to rain.”

“When it rains, the country roads turn to mud, making them even harder to walk.”

The group quickened their pace across the moss-covered low bridge. Their footsteps splashed small droplets of rain that had just begun to fall on the bridge surface.

Although the stall owner said it was “just ahead,” it took them a full twenty minutes of walking before they finally saw the pond he mentioned.

The three-wheeler that was supposed to take passengers was parked by the pond. Seeing the rain starting to fall, the driver was about to leave. The stall owner immediately shouted, “Fourth Uncle! Fourth Uncle! Wait for us!”

The so-called “uncle” was a middle-aged man with dark, tanned skin and thinning hair. His squinted eyes gave Wei Zhenge an uncomfortable feeling. In this kind of place, it seemed like many people were somewhat related to each other. However, despite calling him “uncle,” the stall owner and the man didn’t seem very familiar with each other.

The two security guards loaded the luggage onto the three-wheeler, while Wei Zhenge declined the stall owner’s invitation to sit up front with his “uncle.”

Instead, he crouched at the back of the three-wheeler, gripping the iron bars on both sides as they bumped and swayed along the muddy mountain road.

The rain poured down heavily, pounding relentlessly. Unlike a car, the back of the three-wheeler was open. The two security guards quickly pulled out umbrellas from the luggage. One held an umbrella for himself, while the other tried to cover both himself and Wei Zhenge.

However, the rain was too heavy, and with the vehicle moving, rainwater slanted in from the front. The wind kept pushing the umbrellas backward, and some of the rain still splashed onto them.

Wei Zhenge’s wet hair drooped in front of his eyes, and the endless mountains stretched out on both sides with no sign of human life in sight.

He covered his stomach with one hand, his pale face looking even worse under the washing of the rain. His fingers, gripping the iron rail of the three-wheeler, turned white from exertion. The rainwater fell onto the back of his hand and slid down along his skin.

Under the cold wind and heavy rain, Wei Zhenge’s hands appeared faintly translucent. One of the security guards noticed his hand outside the umbrella and said, “Young boss, pull your hand back. You can hold on to me. If you keep getting wet like this, you’ll catch a cold.”

Wei Zhenge shook his head and replied softly, “No need, thank you.”

After enduring the stuffy bus and bumpy ride for hours, his stomach couldn’t take it anymore on this muddy mountain road under the heavy rain.

He felt like throwing up. With each jolt of the three-wheeler, the bitter water in his stomach seemed to churn along with it.

He pressed his hand hard against his stomach, trying to suppress the discomfort. After a while, he couldn’t help but ask, “How much longer until we arrive, boss?”

In the pouring rain, his voice sounded distorted. It seemed that the two men in front didn’t hear him.

Before he could speak again, the security guard shouted, “Hey, how much longer until we get there?”

The stall owner turned his head and shouted back, “Almost there, just another half an hour!”

Half an hour…

Wei Zhenge felt like he was about to vomit the next second. But with the heavy rain and muddy road, he couldn’t bring himself to ask for a break.

He closed his eyes, trying to ease the discomfort. The earthy smell mixed with the rain gave him a slight sense of relief, but it was barely noticeable.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait long. The so-called “uncle” suddenly stopped the vehicle.

With a heavy accent, he said, “I’m going to take a piss. Wait for me.”

He stopped by a large tree by the mountain road. The tree wasn’t particularly lush, but it provided some shelter from the rain.

Since they were all men, the “uncle” didn’t even bother to walk further and just stopped behind the tree.

Wei Zhenge jumped off the three-wheeler as well. Unwilling to stay near the man, he crossed the road to the other side and slowly exhaled a deep breath.

The “uncle” emerged from behind the tree and was about to call out to Wei Zhenge when his expression suddenly changed.

Without a word, he rushed to the driver’s seat and sped off without even glancing back.

The two security guards were stunned, “What are you doing? Our young boss isn’t on board yet!”

Boom!

A thunderous roar erupted as mud, mixed with rainwater, came crashing down from the mountain. The sound was so deafening that it drowned out all other noises.

Flocks of startled birds took to the sky, while torrents of yellow mud rushed down the mountainside like a raging river. The sound echoed like thunder, and the ground trembled violently.

It was a massive landslide, swift and overwhelming, happening in the blink of an eye.

“What the hell are you doing!!” The security guard who jumped off the three-wheeler punched the stall owner’s uncle fiercely, while the other guard stood dumbfounded, staring at the pile of rocks and yellow mud behind them.

His leg had been injured by a falling rock, so he could only lie on the three-wheeler, blankly staring at the scene.

What… just happened?

The uncle spat out a mouthful of blood and said coldly, “That was a landslide. What was I doing? I was saving your lives.”

“You didn’t wait for our young boss! You just drove off, you bastard!” The security guard’s eyes were bloodshot. “You didn’t even call out to him!”

The uncle’s face twitched. “Do you even know what a landslide is? We’re lucky to be alive. Call him? Wait for him?

“If we had waited, we’d all be buried down there.”

If he hadn’t looked up and, with his years of experience living here, sensed that something was wrong, they would all be buried under that pile of earth and stone.

“Call for rescue. Maybe he’s still alive.”

The stall owner shakily took out his phone, nearly dropping it. His legs were trembling, and he stumbled toward the three-wheeler, wanting to sit down.

The uncle yanked him up. “Don’t sit here. It’s not safe. Move further away.”

He then looked at the security guard standing in the rain. “If you want to die, keep standing there. If not, follow us.”

The security guard silently stared at the pile of rubble, then climbed back onto the three-wheeler. Without a word, he tore a piece of his shirt and roughly wrapped his injured comrade’s wound. “What now… The young boss is dead.”

The injured guard mumbled, unable to care about the pain.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Call for rescue first.”

The other guard slapped his hand away. “Nonsense? In that situation, if he’s not dead, he’s crippled!”

The guard let out a long sigh. “What else can we do? We were paid to protect him, but this… this is a natural disaster. What could we have done?”

The stall owner’s panicked voice came from the front: “What do we do? There’s no signal. The rain’s too heavy, and we’re in the mountains.”

“Drive faster. Get away from here, and I’ll try calling again.”

Meanwhile, beneath the thick layer of mud and rocks, Wei Zhenge was covered in blood, crushed under the heavy stones in total darkness.

However, a faint white light slowly emitted from his body, forming an arch around him, pushing away the surrounding rocks. The light then disappeared back into his body.

…

“Wei Zhenge is in trouble!” The system’s anxious voice echoed in Jian Yuanbai’s mind, causing him to abruptly stand up.

Jian Yuanbai asked, “What happened?”

The system replied, “I don’t know. I can only sense that something happened to him. I can’t detect his exact location. You know my range is limited to 100 meters.”

“How could something happen? According to the storyline, this trip was supposed to be smooth without any incidents.”

At that moment, Jian Yuanbai’s phone rang. When he answered, he heard, “The young boss encountered a landslide in the mountains and is now buried under the rubble. His condition is unknown.”

Unknown…

Jian Yuanbai’s face turned terrifyingly dark. He stormed out of the office, got in his car, and instead of heading toward the mountains, he drove straight home.

In a place where no one could see and no cameras could capture, a living person vanished from the room.

When Jian Yuanbai reappeared at the scene of the landslide, he saw a massive pile of rocks and mud. He couldn’t just move the stones openly, or the rescue team wouldn’t be able to explain it.

A small golden furball appeared where Jian Yuanbai had been standing. It was tiny, about the size of a baby’s fist.

The furball squeezed through the rubble and asked the system in a deep voice, “The location.”

The system, still in shock from witnessing Jian Yuanbai’s transformation, stammered, “Oh, oh… Right, the location… To the left.”

Beneath the crushed rocks, the now dusty gray furball spotted Wei Zhenge.

He was covered in blood, eyes closed, trapped under the rubble. His once beautiful face was smeared with blood and dust. His hand seemed to be broken, hanging limply.

Jian Yuanbai gritted his teeth, his eyes turning red.

To hell with letting him grow on his own.

He just wanted Wei Zhenge to smile under his protection forever.

To hell with being straight.

Wei Zhenge was going to be his wife.

So what if he was straight? Jian Yuanbai had already lost his innocence.

Whether Wei Zhenge was straight or not, he could only be his.

His wife.