Forced into a romantic relationship

Chapter 194 Let’s go
"Yisha!"

Although he had long suspected that Mo Yixia was in a bad situation, when he actually saw her lying in the snow, Han Zhou still lost his composure, and his heart felt like it was being violently gripped.

The cold moonlight shone down, and a girl in a white down jacket collapsed in the snow, motionless, as if she had become one with the snow.

The reason it was described as fainting was because when Han Zhou shouted Mo Yixia's name, he saw her arm move slightly.

This discovery eased his anxiety slightly, and he secretly rejoiced that he had arrived in time.

If they had arrived any later, no one could guarantee that the body temperature of a girl lying in the snow would have been able to withstand the loss.

Han Zhou rushed over in a hurry.

A row of messy footprints was left in the snow, but the traces were quickly erased by the howling cold wind.

Besides Mo Yixia, Han Zhou had noticed early on that there was a dark object lying next to her, half of which was buried in the snow, while the other half was exposed. The top was covered with a thin layer of snow, and the large wheels were quite conspicuous, making it look a bit like a cart.

A stroller?

Han Zhou frowned slightly. He had a good memory and immediately recalled that he had indeed seen a cart when he arrived at the base camp. According to Brother Wang, they occasionally used this cart to transport supplies to the base camp. After all, given the terrain of the snow mountain, it was basically impossible to use motor vehicles to send things up. They could only rely on this relatively flexible, manpower-intensive cart.

Why is this thing here?
A multitude of thoughts flashed through Han Zhou's mind, but now was clearly not the time to ponder why the cart was here. Mo Yixia's condition was not good. To prevent her from falling into a deep sleep, he took a deep breath, ignoring the burning sensation in his chest from the cold air, and called out her name loudly once more.

"Yixia! Don't be afraid, I'm here!"

A powerful sound echoed through the snow, as if tearing apart the raging wind.

Seemingly hearing the shouts, the girl on the snow stirred, as if trying to lift her head. But Han Zhou was right; she was in such poor condition that even a simple action like lifting her head was extremely difficult for her.

"Han Zhou..."

With great difficulty, Mo Yixia raised her head and looked at the figure rushing towards her in the distance. She opened her mouth, but found that she could barely make a sound. So she could only raise her arm with all her might and shake her hand vigorously.

But her hands and feet were stiff from the cold, and her movements were weak, so to onlookers it looked more like she was waving for Han Zhou to come over quickly.

Han Zhou was very fast; this distance was only a matter of seconds for him. However, as the distance between the two people got closer and closer, he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.

Mo Yixia's face was unusually pale, and even her lips had lost their color. She looked extremely weak, clearly from being frozen.

More importantly... she looked quite nervous.

This was the first time Han Zhou had seen such an anxious expression on the girl's face. He felt heavy-hearted and thought that Mo Yixia was really frightened this time. He would have to find a way to comfort her later.

Seeing that Han Zhou had clearly misunderstood her meaning, Mo Yixia frowned slightly and kept opening her mouth to say something.

However, Han Zhou, who had not undergone hearing enhancement, obviously could not hear her words and showed no intention of stopping, and was about to reach her.

Mo Yixia shook her head with difficulty.

The distance between them grew closer, and although he still couldn't hear the girl's voice, Han Zhou finally saw her lip movements clearly in the bright light of the flashlight and instantly understood their meaning—

"do not come."

This is what Mo Yixia kept repeating.

Don't come any closer?
why?
Han Zhou's heart tightened. Although he was only a few steps away from Mo Yixia, he immediately stopped. He believed that Mo Yixia would not say such a thing for no reason. She must have her reasons for saying it.

The snow and wind howled incessantly.

He rubbed his face, which had become stiff from the wind, and looked around. All he could see was snow, and apart from a cart half-buried in the snow, there was almost nothing else worth noting.

Why can't we go there...?

Han Zhou was puzzled and was about to ask when he saw Mo Yixia lift her foot with difficulty, her toes pointing at something. He became alert and quickly looked behind Mo Yixia. Worried that he hadn't seen clearly, he stood on tiptoe to take a look.

The next moment, his breath hitched, and he felt a sudden chill run down his spine, his body covered in cold sweat.

A chill ran straight up to his head, and he almost cried out in surprise.

There was no path behind Mo Yixia; it was a cliff!
The reason he didn't notice it immediately was because the area was a steep downward slope with a large incline, and there were occasional protrusions that blocked the view, making it difficult to see the end at a glance in the dark.

More importantly, the cliff end curves downwards at a slight angle.

This can easily create a visual illusion, making it impossible to notice the edge of the cliff without careful observation, and one might subconsciously think that the steep slope continues to extend downwards.

Clearly, Mo Yixia's "Don't come any closer" was a reminder of this.

Han Zhou was startled. Mo Yixia was not too far from the edge of the cliff. If he continued to rush forward at full speed as before, he might fall off the cliff because he could not stop in time.

Snow-capped mountains are indeed dangerous...

Han Zhou felt both relieved and terrified. Of course, what frightened him the most was that Mo Yixia had fainted in such a dangerous place.

He immediately decided to take Mo Yixia away from this dangerous place. Although they were still a short distance from the edge of the cliff, no one could guarantee that staying there would not lead to any accidents.

He was about to step forward, but his body froze as soon as he lifted his foot.

Because Mo Yixia's expression didn't change, she kept repeating "Don't come any closer," her pale face filled with heaviness.

For some reason, Han Zhou suddenly had a bad feeling.

why?
Why can't we go there?
Are there any other dangers nearby besides the cliff?
He stared intently into Mo Yixia's eyes, trying to find the answer in those eyes that were also gazing at him.

However, it seems that no answer is needed anymore.

next second.

As if in response to Han Zhou's question, a very clear "click-click" sound suddenly rang in his ears.

The sound came from beneath my feet.

This voice is...

Han Zhou's expression gradually turned ugly.

He remembered clearly that among the many precautions that Brother Wang repeatedly mentioned before going up the mountain, there were several things that needed to be taken very seriously, such as this "click-click" sound.

Wang Ge's onomatopoeia was terrible; the sound he imitated was completely different from the sound he was hearing, but Han Zhou had no mood to complain at the moment.

According to Brother Wang, this sound in the snow-capped mountains usually only represents one thing—

The snow has loosened.

The word itself might not be immediately relatable. Loosening of snow is not inherently dangerous, but it is often the beginning of many terrible disasters.

For example, an avalanche.

Of course, Han Zhou was certain that the terrain he was in was not yet conducive to an avalanche, but that did not mean there was no danger.

Keep in mind that he is currently on the edge of a cliff, and it's a downward-sloping cliff edge!
At this moment, Han Zhou finally understood why Mo Yixia hadn't let him go.

He didn't have time to consider whether the loosening of the snow was related to his shouting earlier; all he knew was that he had to leave immediately.

Before Han Zhou could take any action...

As if confirming his suspicion, he looked up and saw a large chunk of snow loosen and slide rapidly down the cliff under the force of gravity.

The absence of any sound of snow hitting the ground indicates that the bottom of the cliff is deep enough.

And this is just the beginning.

Like dominoes being toppled, as the first piece of snow slides off, large swaths of snow immediately begin to loosen and rush towards the spot where the snow that just slid off had been.

Before they could even "steady their footing," the rioting "comrades" behind them came crashing down on them, pushing the dense snow down the cliff.

In an instant, large swaths of snow transformed into a white torrent, cascading down like a waterfall, covering the sky and the earth, with snowflakes flying everywhere, creating a massive spectacle like a tsunami.

As one of the many snow-covered creatures, Mo Yixia, who was on the snow surface, was naturally not spared. She was like a tiny boat in a rushing river, uncontrollably sliding down the cliff as the snow swept her along.

She tried to grasp something, but she couldn't grasp anything. Everything around her had already broken and collapsed, becoming part of the white torrent.

All she could grasp was snow.

All of this seemed to take a long time, but in reality it happened in less than a second. The sudden change left Han Zhou with no time to react.

By the time he realized what was happening, Mo Yixia had already been swept away by the white torrent to a position about two or three meters away from him, and was about to reach the edge of the cliff.

A white torrent, tiny human figures, a cliff almost within reach, and a face nearly buried in the snow.

This breathtaking scene was deeply reflected in Han Zhou's contracting pupils.

To be honest, a distance of two or three meters is not long, even very short.

It was so quick that if he wanted, he could rush over right now, grab Mo Yixia's hand, pull her out of the snow as fast as he could, and escape from here with her.

But this is only the ideal situation.

The most likely scenario is that the moment he reaches Mo Yixia's side, he will immediately sink into the loose snow, unable to find any foothold, and be instantly submerged in the pure white torrent.

At this moment, the snow surface was like the most turbulent river, or a man-eating swamp. Once you stepped into it, not only would you not be able to save Mo Yixia, but you yourself would also likely be swallowed up.

The cart that was originally next to Mo Yixia had been swept off the cliff without making a sound, which showed that there was a solid cliff below.

This is the mighty force of nature, and Han Zhou doesn't believe he has any ability to contend with it. Going forward now is no different from committing suicide.

But if she leaves like this, Mo Yixia will inevitably follow in the footsteps of the cart driver and fall off the cliff to her death.

"If only I had been a little faster..."

Shaking his head, Han Zhou knew this wasn't the time to be upset. He took a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself down, and racked his brains for a way to save Mo Yixia.

The status bar is definitely not going to work, unless we can give him a status that allows him to fly, but that's obviously not something the current status bar can do.

There was a rope in the backpack; if she threw it over and Mo Yixia grabbed it, she might be saved. But it was too late to take out the rope now; Mo Yixia couldn't wait that long.

She was now very close to the edge of the cliff. Han Zhou had no time to think anymore.

How much time does he have left?
Three seconds? Two seconds? Or even less than a second?

What can be done in such a short time? Can Mo Yixia really be saved?

The wind howled like a knife, snowflakes flew everywhere, and the distance between the two seemed to be gradually blurring.

As he watched the girl drift further and further away from him, Han Zhou's thoughts became more chaotic than ever before. His chest felt like it was on fire, filled with all sorts of jumbled emotions that could explode at any moment.

Time seemed to stand still; the world was quiet for a moment before returning to its noisy state.

The jumbled thoughts seemed to have been roughly mixed together, eventually turning into a despairing idea.

"I can't save her..."

Han Zhou had to admit that he couldn't save Mo Yixia.

Even if I jump to her side now without hesitation, the chance of saving her is less than one percent.

Perhaps realizing the same thing, Mo Yixia, who had reached the edge of the cliff, suddenly gave up struggling and used her remaining strength to lift her face off the snow and look up.

There was no longer any tension or anxiety on her face. She simply looked in this direction with unusual calm, as if she had breathed a sigh of relief, and silently moved her lips.

There were no other actions besides that.

Perhaps she did make a sound, but Han Zhou couldn't hear it.

Not only Mo Yixia's voice, but all the sounds around him seemed to disappear at this moment. Whether it was the howling wind, the approaching roar beneath his feet, or even his own heartbeat that was almost out of control, everything became blurred and indistinct.

The snow underfoot was starting to loosen and could collapse at any moment. If we didn't leave now, it would be too late to leave later.

Mo Yixia understood this, and Han Zhou certainly understood it too, but he stood still and didn't move.

For some reason, he suddenly began to reflect on his life over the past eighteen years.

Born into an unhappy family, she was unable to experience maternal love and almost never felt paternal love. She had hardly ever met any relatives, though there were probably some, but no one wanted to associate with her family, so it was as if they didn't exist.

I usually spend most holidays alone, but I always entertain myself with a lot of ritual, which is to respect the customs of my ancestors.

Because of his father's gambling addiction, he frequently transferred schools before starting high school, so he didn't have any close classmates. However, there were often girls who liked him and couldn't bear to part with him. Unfortunately, he couldn't get their contact information at that time. He would just say a few perfunctory words that he could send letters by carrier pigeon in the future, and then there would be no further contact.

Therefore, he has never had any friends growing up.

Debt collectors would come to his door every few days, and the neighbors naturally didn't want their children to associate with children from gambling families like his, so they would generally avoid him.

He still remembers the day he went to register for high school alone. His deskmate's gaze lingered on his phone for a long time. He thought the other person was concerned about the broken phone screen, but after a long silence, his deskmate asked why he didn't have a single contact in his Fetion (a Chinese instant messaging service).

Of course, it's because there's no one left to contact.

There's no need to add the gambling father; a phone number is enough, since we can't contact him from time to time anyway.

Loneliness is the norm for him, and he has almost no sense of belonging to this world. If he hadn't been born mentally sound, he might still be spending time healing from his childhood trauma.

He wasn't too bothered by the fact that he had no friends growing up. As a time traveler, his mindset wasn't particularly mature, but he wasn't so young that he absolutely needed to make friends with children.

At that time, he wanted to make money, but because he was too young and had no connections, he could only focus a lot of his energy on studying.

In any case, studying hard is never a bad thing.

After entering high school, I finally didn't have to transfer schools frequently anymore. I spent a semester planning my future and another semester making friends. I thought it would be a brand new beginning, but soon after, I learned that I had a terminal illness.

To be honest, he doesn't quite remember how he felt when he heard the bad news; he only remembers being depressed for a while.

That's when I first got to know the guzheng.

After that, he prepared to fight his terminal illness with all his might, and changed his previously planned future to the new goal of trying to live. However, he soon discovered the departure of his gambling father.

That guy still had some conscience; he left some money before he left.

From that day on, he went from looking almost like a person to being completely alone.

He had to lower his expectations even further. After thinking about "just waiting to die," he changed his goal from "trying to live" to "doing his best to live a little longer."

He said he gave it his all, but at that time, his "all-out effort" was nothing more than his insignificant willpower.

Perhaps moved by his hardships, the status bar appeared at this moment.

Unfortunately, the status bar is not as omnipotent as he imagined. Although it can extend his life, it requires a lot of time and effort.

Even so, he was already content. At least he could hold his life in his own hands. He had given it his all, and he could no longer rely solely on willpower.

To survive, he began to work hard every day. The process was not easy, but fortunately, the time spent completing the mission was not boring. He liked that simple yet stubborn girl very much.

This continued for two years, until the summer vacation after the senior year of high school arrived.

Han Zhou can say with certainty that his first eighteen years of life were quite unfortunate.

He doesn't like to talk about ideals with people, because even the grandest ideals should be based on the premise of survival, and he is still working hard to achieve that premise.

He just wanted to survive.

It wasn't about achieving immortality; it was clearly a very simple wish, yet he gave it his all.

Today, the most difficult time has passed.

No more worrying about how long I can keep going by changing my status status; finally, I have a way to get rid of this terminal illness and can focus my energy on making the status bar truly useful. My university life has just begun; I have best friends, a lovely girl I like, and I'm starting to feel a sense of belonging in this world...

It’s really not easy.

Having worked so hard to get to where I am today, and finally about to start a brand new life, do I really have to give up all my past efforts and gamble everything on a chance with a slim chance of survival?
If you die, then you have nothing left.

Is it really worth it?
That's right, this is exactly the question Han Zhou is thinking about right now.

He hadn't considered running away, otherwise he would have left long ago. He couldn't bear to just watch Mo Yixia fall off the cliff; in fact, his body had already begun to lean forward on its own—

He just wanted to find an excuse for himself.

One reason that would make him take this gamble without any regrets.

The sounds began to return to my ears: the howling wind, the rapid beating of my heart, the sound of the snow surging, and the crunching sound under my feet.

Bringing my thoughts back, my eyes fell upon a girl lying on the snow, struggling to keep her head up.

Their eyes met, and the latter moved his lips.

Strangely enough, even though he had never studied lip reading, Han Zhou was able to understand Mo Yixia's meaning very clearly.

It wasn't the repeated "Don't come any closer," but a very soft "Let's go."

It's a pity he may never learn to read minds; even now, he still can't figure out what this guy is thinking.

Even when faced with the prospect of falling off a cliff, this girl, who had little expectation for the world, remained calm, as if she didn't care at all about her fate.

However, when she said "Let's go," she actually showed a relieved expression.

Why would you make that face at a time like this?

The loose snow had spread to our feet; it was indeed time to leave.

But Han Zhou didn't want to leave; he simply tossed the flashlight behind him without looking back.

The flashlight was inserted into the snow, its beam shooting into the dim sky, directly at the moon.

The moonlight cast a long shadow over him.

The moment Han Zhou met Mo Yixia's eyes, he already knew his reason.

Or perhaps, the reason is no longer important.

If I had to give a reason, it would probably be greed.

Survival alone is not enough; he wants to get everything he desires.

If you don't even have this kind of awareness, what can you expect to achieve more in the future?
Han Zhou suddenly remembered the nervous look that Mo Yixia had shown not long ago.

It's rare to see someone act so nonchalant even when they're about to fall off a cliff. So what was she so nervous about back then?

Yes, he should have thought of that sooner.

This guy isn't worried about himself, but about his safety. He's acting so noble. Does he want to be the heroine in a novel?
Han Zhou suddenly became a little angry.

What he wants to hear now is not "Let's go".

I'm right here, so why won't this guy say "help me"?

Is it because he is unwilling to place such heavy expectations on others, or because he is worried that they will not be able to meet such expectations?
Han Zhou felt it was necessary to correct her properly.

He looked at Mo Yixia, opened his mouth silently before she closed her eyes, and then, without hesitation, leaped forward.

As his body was lifted into the air, he cursed himself in his heart.

Han Zhou...

You clearly hate gambling the most.

This chapter really got me stuck, not because of the plot, but because of Han Zhou's emotional journey. Before starting this book, I was mostly focused on the female lead, which led me to neglect developing the male lead's characteristics. I personally think that the male lead in a romance novel doesn't have to be particularly outstanding, but he must show qualities that make him likable, otherwise it would be too unrealistic. This part of the story gives him a relatively clear image.

The more I wrote, the more I realized how little I had read and how poor my writing skills were. I felt powerless, unable to express myself clearly, so I kept revising it. I'm still not satisfied, but this is my current limit.

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(End of this chapter)