UCS Chapter 110.1

Yun Zhiyi’s downward momentum was stopped.

The force of the fall had yanked Tian Mian’s body lurching outward, nearly sending her out over the edge of the pit, yet she refused to release her bite on Yun Zhiyi’s clothes. Yun Zhiyi’s entire body weight hung from Tian Mian’s teeth.

She was teetering on the edge, yet held fast.

Yun Wan was startled by Tian Mian’s move too. A flash of ruthlessness crossed her gaze. She reached out, ostensibly to pull both of them up, but using the cover of her own body to push both of them down together.

It had been a dangerous situation to begin with. Falling in would have been perfectly natural, would it not?

Yun Zhiyi read her intention and went cold all over. She shouted out sharply, “Yun Wan!”

That single shout made Yun Wan flinch. Her movement paused for just a fraction of a second.

In that fraction of a second, Yun Zhiyi’s lips moved almost imperceptibly, and she said to her without sound:

[Sister. Pull Mianmian up.]

She looked at Yun Wan like a lion on the verge of adulthood, issuing a threat with her eyes:

If you dare lay a hand on her, I will make sure, even from the grave, that everyone knows it was you who killed me.

Yet her eyes were also filmed over with a shimmer of tears. Yun Zhiyi, always so proud and forceful, let a pleading tenderness show through, begging Yun Wan to pull Tian Mian up.

Pull Mianmian up. She doesn’t know anything, she hasn’t seen anything. Please. Save my Mianmian.

Yun Wan looked at Yun Zhiyi, and for just one fleeting moment she faltered. She suddenly remembered a time long ago, when Yun Zhiyi had only just learned to walk, toddling after her on unsteady legs, laughing and calling out “sister” in her garbled, half-formed speech.

She was the best little sister in the world.

Those thoughts passed through her mind in no more than an instant. Yun Wan looked at them both, and reached out her hand anyway. She was going to cut out the root. A dead person who could not speak was the only kind that brought real peace of mind.

Yun Zhiyi’s pupils shrank. She was just about to cry out when, in that split second, two hands closed around her shoulders, one from the left and one from the right.

She felt as though she were riding a cloud. She was back on solid ground.

She looked up. It was Zhou Jing and the others, who should by all rights have still been on the film set.

Everything just described had taken a long time to tell, but in truth it had lasted no more than ten or so seconds. The moment Gao Gusheng heard the commotion he had come sprinting over, and by the time Yun Zhiyi was pulled back up, he was still three or four steps away.

Seeing Yun Zhiyi and Tian Mian safely back on the ground, the tension in Gao Gusheng’s chest released. He stumbled forward, and Mo Hua caught him with sharp reflexes.

His heart was hammering wildly in his chest. The strain of that sudden burst of speed had left him feeling waves of involuntary nausea.

Once he had settled, Gao Gusheng felt a draft around his legs. He looked down, and a curse flew out of his mouth before he could stop it. No wonder he had felt some resistance when he broke into a run just now. It was this restrictive, wretched bridal gown causing trouble. He had not noticed in the moment, but he had torn the priceless, gossamer-thin gown clean open. Both legs were now fully bare and exposed to the open air. Gao Gusheng was deeply, profoundly grateful that the paper-effigy figures had at least left him with a pair of shorts when they dressed him.

Mo Hua took off his outer jacket and wrapped it around Gao Gusheng’s waist. Fortunately Mo Hua was tall and his top was wide enough to cover Gao Gusheng’s legs. Otherwise, before they even managed to escape the ghost city, someone might have had to write a whole other book titled: *What It Is Like to Escape a Ghost Wedding With an Irresistibly Charming Ghost Bride While Being Chased by Ten Thousand Lecherous Ghosts.*

Gao Gusheng walked over to Yun Zhiyi on trembling legs. Zhou Jing and Sun Jun had been the ones to drag Yun Zhiyi up just now. Sun Jun was one thing, but nobody knew where Zhou Jing had found the strength, because right now he had completely given out from overexertion and was sprawled white-faced on the ground with more breath going out than coming in. Anyone who did not know better would have thought he was the one who had nearly fallen into the pit.

Gao Gusheng looked at Yun Zhiyi and Tian Mian and felt a wave of belated terror. Everything had happened so fast. He had been over with Xiong Xiong trying to get a signal through on the communicator, and Daoist Ying had been pouring all his energy into maintaining the black vortex, which was still not finished and left no room for distraction. If these three had not arrived when they did, something terrible would have happened.

Gao Gusheng took out the small wooden knife to try to cut Yun Zhiyi’s ropes, and found that his hands were still shaking. He raised his right hand and slapped it with his left, then passed the knife sideways to someone else. Zhou Jing turned out to be in an even worse state. The fear had probably been suppressing the dizziness all this time, but now that the adrenaline had faded, he started retching on all fours with tears streaming down his face.

He looked over at Sun Jun. Sun Jun smiled wearily and raised his hands. Those steady hands, trained to hold a pen without trembling, were shaking completely out of his control.

In the end it was one of the people who had come with Mo Hua, someone who appeared to be from the police, who took the wooden knife and went around cutting everyone free.

The moment the ropes fell away, Yun Zhiyi threw herself at Tian Mian, and her tears came all at once.

Yun Zhiyi gently pried her mouth open. Tian Mian kept trying to turn away and said with slightly slurred speech, “It’s fine, it’s fine…”

But halfway through, she caught sight of Yun Zhiyi’s tears and could not go on.

Yun Zhiyi was not heavy, but even so, she was a full-grown adult woman. Yun Zhiyi did not even dare think about how Tian Mian had managed to hold on with her own body weight plus the force of the fall bearing down on her.

Tian Mian’s gums were bleeding. Her teeth had already begun to loosen. Yun Zhiyi did not even dare look at them for fear of causing her more distress.

Yun Zhiyi pulled Tian Mian into her arms, tears falling without stop. “Mianmian, once we get out of here, I will find you the best dentist in the world…”

Just thinking about the look Yun Wan had directed at Tian Mian earlier sent a shudder of retrospective dread through her.

Seeing Yun Zhiyi drowning in guilt and unable to stop crying, Tian Mian’s own eyes stung. “Wuu… Zhizhi, you have no idea, I was so scared you were going to fall…”

Feeling the warmth against her neck, Yun Zhiyi’s fear and dread gradually began to recede. She pressed Tian Mian against her side, tears still on her face, and tilted her head up to thank Mo Hua and the others who had arrived in time. “Thank you all so much for this. Once we get out, I am taking everyone to Liushui Pavilion. Eat whatever you want, as much as you want.”

Sun Jun smiled, his eyes warm and gentle. “Don’t mention it.”

Mo Hua nodded. “Then it has to be enough to fill us up properly.”

Zhou Jing, who had finally recovered enough to function, sat slumped on the ground looking like a ghost. “I want the most expensive thing on the menu.”

Gao Gusheng held up one finger. “And if we are having hotpot, it has to be the dual-flavour split pot.”

Yun Zhiyi was laughing despite herself at this group of disasters. She turned around, and her bearing shifted with sharp precision. Among the crowd, she spotted Yun Wan trying to slip away in the confusion.

“Sister. You pushed me into that pit. Are you not going to give me an explanation?”

Yun Wan was pinned to the ground.

The look she turned on Yun Zhiyi was a hatred Yun Zhiyi could not decipher.

“Why, why is it that we are both children of the Yun family, why is it that you…”

Yun Wan’s words were muddled, but every single one of them was soaked in resentment. Yun Zhiyi did not understand and was about to press further, when Tian Mian in her arms let out a small sound.

Yun Zhiyi immediately cupped Tian Mian’s face. “What is it, Mianmian? Does it hurt?”

Tian Mian shook her head. She was still hiccupping softly from crying, her cheeks ice-cold, her gaze carrying a vague and dazed look. “No… it feels like… my teeth are itchy?”

At this, one of the people who had come with Mo Hua, who had been managing the scene since earlier and helping to free and calm the girls, let out a soft sound of surprise. He stepped forward and crouched down, asking Tian Mian gently, “Little miss, open your mouth for me. Let me have a look.”

The more he looked, the more puzzled his expression became, then gradually it shifted into barely concealed delight, which sent Yun Zhiyi’s heart lurching up and down with anxiety.

He turned and waved his colleague over urgently. “Come quick! Another exceptional candidate! No, wait…”

He suddenly spun around and stared at Yun Zhiyi. “Two of them!”

Exceptional candidate for what exactly?

Seeing Gao Gusheng lean in curiously as well, the man smiled and said, “Young friend, you…”

Xiong Xiong cut him off. “Lao Zhou, just say it. This is Captain Gao’s son.”

“Captain Gao Shi?” The man’s eyes lit up looking at Gao Gusheng. Gao Gusheng felt an immediate chill run down his spine and quietly took a small step back.

The man seemed to realize he had let himself get a little carried away, and quickly composed himself. “Hello everyone. I am a team leader at the National Special Research Institute…”

***

Down at the foot of the mountain, Zhou Jing’s group had been stuck waiting with nothing to do but panic. Then, not long after, a helicopter touched down and four people got out, walking straight over toward the police officers.

Zhou Jing glanced over, and his gaze would not move away. “Professor?”

One of the four turned around. Spotting the pride and joy of the Mathematics Faculty, he immediately jogged over. “Little Zhou! What are you doing here?”

It was Zhou Jing’s own supervisor, a mathematics heavyweight by the surname Mu.

Seeing that his professor seemed to know the police officers, Zhou Jing quickly said, “Some of our classmates have been kidnapped. We don’t know where they are, but they were most likely taken by people from the village.”

Professor Mu exchanged a glance with the police officers and said in a reassuring tone, “Don’t worry. The police are already handling it. This matter runs deep. Don’t get yourself tangled up in it. I will arrange for someone to take you all down.”

At that moment, Mo Hua’s voice rang out, carrying a trace of surprise. “Head Coach?”

Mo Hua locked eyes with the most powerfully built person in the group. The man pulled off his goggles. “Kid, you know me?”

Mo Hua said, “I am from the sports faculty at Jing University.”

This man was the national-level coach who would one day lead all of them. Mo Hua had only seen him once before, during the selection process. He had instinctively felt that this man carried a dangerous quality about him, carefully concealed.

The coach let out a loud laugh, walked over, and clapped him on the shoulder. “I did not expect you to recognize me through all this gear. What is your name? Good build.”

“My name is Mo Hua.”

Both of them stopped in their tracks. The other two halted as well and came over.

The one with the tinted goggles said suddenly, “Let us bring these kids along too. They might be useful.”

Professor Mu was the first to object. “Are you out of your mind? Bringing ordinary people into this?”

What if it frightened little Zhou?

The goggle-wearing man said, “These ones will all be exceptional candidates.”

The group froze at that. “All three of them?”

“Yes. Bring them along for now. Once they have seen it for themselves, how they choose is up to them. With us here, they will not get hurt. An opportunity like this does not come along often.”

On the way, the three of them learned who these people were.

Professor Mu was a specially appointed expert for the National Special Technical Division. According to him, this division was somewhat irregular and probably ought to be merged with the armed forces department.

The coach was a member of the selection division of the National Spirit Management Institute, normally responsible for conducting training in the field and recruiting promising candidates back to the institute whenever he came across them.