Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When I heard the date she was in, my entire body began to tremble.

I wanted to tell her immediately how much I missed her, how these past four years had been a living hell.

But I forced myself to stay calm.

I realized that July 14, 2018, was the day she died.

And this cross-temporal phone call might be the key to saving her.

My mind was still in a whirlwind when Xiaoyu spoke again. This time, her tone was completely different.

“Oh, you’re off the plane! You miss me? I miss you too, but your senior brother won’t let me leave!”

She suddenly raised her voice. It was obvious she was saying this for someone else’s benefit.

I immediately understood what she meant by “help me tell a lie.”

My senior brother wouldn’t let her leave?

He was with her?

“Let my senior brother get on the phone,” I said, starting to grasp the situation.

The line went quiet for a few seconds before my senior brother’s voice came through.

“Hello, Li Tong? With such a massive thunderstorm, the flight was on time?”

“Yeah. Let Xiaoyu head out first. It’s our anniversary, and I’m taking her out for a big dinner.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

“Li Tong, your voice sounds exhausted…”

Then, Xiaoyu snatched the phone back.

“Alright, thanks, honey! I’ll talk to you later.”

“Don’t hang up yet! Don’t go to-”

“Ugh, I’ve got something urgent to do. We’ll talk in a bit, okay? Be good.”

“Qingshan Road! Don’t go to the intersection of Qingshan Road and Wenshuo Road! There’s going to be a car accident!”

I screamed into the phone, but she had already hung up.

I was certain she hadn’t heard my last sentence before the line went dead.

I wanted to slap myself for not telling her that first. Besides, she seemed to be in such a hurry that I didn’t know if she would even pay attention to my warning.

For the next ten minutes, I couldn’t get back in touch with Xiaoyu.

Those ten minutes were pure agony.

Outside, the sky was thick with dark clouds and a torrential downpour. Behind the shroud of clouds, a thunderstorm was brewing.

I stared incessantly at the time.

18:29

18:30

18:31

If time in that era was synchronized with mine, then Xiaoyu would soon die in a…

Wait!

Inadvertently, my eyes caught a piece of paper on the desk.

It was Xiaoyu’s autopsy report, which I had unearthed along with the old phone.

A flash of lightning illuminated the room.

I saw the words on the autopsy report clearly as they slowly began to shift.

The original phrase “died in a car accident” vanished.

In its place appeared:

“19:10. Attacked by thugs. Suffered severe injuries and died from excessive blood loss.”

The cause of Xiaoyu’s death had changed.

Thunder roared, exploding in the sky.

“How did you know? Li Tong, how did you know there would be a car accident?!”