Chapter 110
Chapter 110
October 24, 2022. This was Nan Mu’s fourth time returning to the past.
Just like every other landing point, he was back in his dorm room. A clock hung on the wall, its hands pointing to six forty.
And right now, Wen Miao should be rushing to the hospital in a panic.
The time he had to stop her from being pushed off the building…
was running out.
===
Nan Mu put on a hat and mask, then sprinted toward the school gates at almost full speed.
He hailed a taxi, and the moment he got in, he pulled out the only two hundred yuan he had left. The current Nan Mu had no money; this was what he had managed to find after digging through the pockets of “past Nan Mu’s” clothes back in the dorm.
“Sir, First Affiliated Hospital of A University of Science and Technology Medical School, please. As fast as you can! If you can get there before seven, I’ll pay you two hundred for the ride!”
From the university to the hospital, it usually took less than half an hour at normal speed. If the driver went a little faster and hit no red lights, making it in twenty minutes was possible. The problem was, this was evening rush hour. Once they got stuck in traffic, it wouldn’t be the kind of delay that could be solved in three or five minutes.
And Nan Mu didn’t dare bank on luck. He would rather throw money at the problem.
The driver had met passengers like this before, people in a hurry to catch a train or plane who offered a high fare to save time. But generally speaking, even when they raised the price, it was only by thirty or fifty yuan. For a trip that would normally cost, at most, around fifty, jumping straight to two hundred was rare.
The driver decided to bring out the secret back-road route he had kept in reserve for years. Grinning, he said, “No problem. Hold on tight!”
He stepped on the gas, and the taxi shot like an arrow into a side road.
===
At exactly seven o’clock, Nan Mu hurriedly threw down the money, not daring to waste even a second, and rushed into the hospital.
People came and went in a hurry at the entrance to the emergency room. Seeing that no crowd had gathered yet and that it didn’t look as if something had already happened, he let out half a breath of relief. But his feet still didn’t slow. He raced toward the elevators.
There were quite a few people waiting by the elevator bank on the first floor.
Of the three elevators, two were going up. The remaining one was still on the eighth floor, stopping at every level as it came down.
Nan Mu was so anxious his head felt like it was on fire. He glanced left and right and saw the emergency stairwell beside the elevators. Unable to wait even a moment longer, he yanked open the fire door and rushed inside, charging up toward the tenth floor.
He took the stairs in huge, frantic strides. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and because of the mask, his breathing sounded even heavier.
When he reached the sixth floor, he heard a rapid string of footsteps coming from above.
Someone was coming down.
As Nan Mu ran, he lifted his head and saw a young Wen Xin rushing down from the seventh floor. There were bloodstains on his body, and his face was full of panic.
Alarm flashed through Nan Mu’s eyes. Instinctively, he lowered his head and tugged uneasily at the mask on his face, averting his gaze. With his head down, he brushed past Wen Xin and kept running almost desperately upward.
Wen Xin reached the sixth floor, then seemed to sense something and paused, looking up the stairs.
But all he saw was a black coat flashing past in front of him.
He had no time to think. Remembering Nan Mu on the rooftop, covered in blood, he hurriedly turned back and continued rushing downstairs.
===
Nan Mu charged all the way to the tenth floor in one breath and pushed open the rooftop emergency door.
When he saw the scene before him, it felt as if a thousand-pound sledgehammer had slammed into his heart. Almost every part of his body began to tremble, and his hands and feet turned as cold as ice.
He saw Wen Miao swaying precariously on the edge of the rooftop, half her body already hanging over the wall. She could fall at any moment.
What he saw was Nurse Lin attacking Nurse Xiao Ai with everything she had, while Nurse Xiao Ai clung desperately to Wen Miao’s leg, trying to pull her back.
Nurse Xiao Ai was saving Wen Miao?
Why would she save Wen Miao?
But right now, Nan Mu had no time to think it through. Because the moment Nurse Xiao Ai had just flung Wen Miao back onto the ledge, his “badly injured self” climbed up from the ground, lunged at Nurse Xiao Ai, and dragged her off the rooftop with him in mutual destruction.
Nurse Lin only stood there stunned for a moment before she tried to shove Wen Miao.
Nan Mu’s pupils contracted violently, and it was as if searing flames were about to burst from the depths of his eyes.
He shot forward in one stride, rushed up behind Nurse Lin, and seized her wrist. Like an iron vise, he wrenched it backward with brutal force. With a crack, Nurse Lin’s arm was dislocated.
Nurse Lin cried out in pain, but before she could turn around, a hand clamped around her throat, yanked her up, and slammed her against the railing beside them. Her vision went black, and her mind went blank.
But the person still refused to stop. Seething with hostility, he lifted his leg and kicked her hard in the abdomen without the slightest restraint. She nearly skimmed across the ground as she went flying a meter away.
Darkness swam before her eyes. She collapsed onto her back and tried to prop herself up with one hand, only for a sharp pain to shoot through her arm. With a thud, she crashed back to the ground, stars bursting in her vision, her mind nothing but a sheet of white.
When she finally came to herself enough to roll over, she saw a young man in black, his face covered by a mask and a cap on his head, lift the unconscious Wen Miao into his arms and stride toward the fire door.
The sky had already darkened. The young man in black, along with the face hidden beneath the brim of his cap, gradually blended into the night, making his features impossible to see.
“Who… are you?”
When he had grabbed her by the throat, he had injured her vocal cords. All she could do was force out a hoarse, grating shout like air tearing through a broken bellows.
Nan Mu’s steps paused. He turned his face slightly and glanced at Nurse Lin. If not for the fact that killing her might drag Wen Miao and Wen Xin into the police investigation once Nurse Xiao Ai’s fall from the building was discovered…
When he saw her trying to push Wen Miao off the roof, in that instant, he had truly wanted to kill her.
Nan Mu said nothing. Holding Wen Miao, he strode away. Before the people drawn here by Nurse Xiao Ai’s fall arrived, he had to get Wen Miao out of this place.
Nurse Lin remained sitting on the ground. The glance that person had cast at her had been like the edge of a blade flashing with cold light, as though it meant to carve her body apart piece by piece. It sent a chill down her spine.
The young man in black’s back and figure felt somewhat familiar to her. A name suddenly surfaced in her mind, but she quickly pushed it away. Impossible. That person had clearly fallen from the building before her very eyes just moments ago, holding Xiao Ai in his arms.
===
Nan Mu carried Wen Miao down through the fire escape.
She was warm in his arms. He could even hear the sound of her heartbeat.
The feeling of having lost her and found her again made Nan Mu’s eyes ache with dryness. He tightened his arms, holding Wen Miao firmly against his chest. His reddened eyes fixed on her face, looking again and again, while something seemed to gouge viciously at his heart, sending waves of sharp pain through him.
He could not help burying his face in the crook of her neck, feeling the warmth of her body. A tear welled at the corner of his eye, dropped onto Wen Miao’s cheek, then slid into the black hair behind her ear, disappearing at last.
How wonderful…
She was still alive.
Wen Miao…
Thank you for still being alive.