Yu Lingxi was awakened by the damp, cold wind.
Her entire body ached. She unconsciously shifted her position, immediately hearing the sound of pebbles tumbling down into the ravine.
Yu Lingxi became fully alert, holding her breath and remaining completely still.
This was a ledge on the middle section of a cliff, no more than four feet wide and half a zhang long, forming a small protruding platform. Above, a half-arch-shaped old pine tree extended outward, its dense foliage blocking the view upward. She couldn’t tell how far they were from the forest at the top of the cliff…
Below was a foggy abyss with no visible bottom. One misstep would certainly result in being smashed to pieces.
Turning her head, she saw Ning Yin lying unconscious beside her, his eyes tightly shut.
Yu Lingxi remembered now. When she fell from the cliff, Ning Yin pursued her, diving to grab her as she tumbled from horseback over the precipice.
He hadn’t uttered a word, just firmly gripped her wrist while his other hand continuously grasped at the jagged rocks protruding from the cliff face, leaving a trail of blood.
Finally, he had climbed onto that twisted mountain pine, slowing their descent.
Before his strength was completely exhausted, he had forcefully thrown both himself and Yu Lingxi onto this platform that barely had room for them.
He was still unconscious, lying face down, with half his legs dangling off the edge of the stone platform. His disheveled cloak fluttered loudly in the mountain wind, in constant danger of falling off.
Without hesitation, Yu Lingxi quickly knelt, leaned forward, and used all her strength to drag the lean but heavy young man up, moving him closer to the cliff wall.
After turning Ning Yin’s body over, Yu Lingxi discovered small wounds on his brow and that his left hand’s five fingers were a bloody mess, presumably scraped while seeking handholds during their fall.
Ever since meeting Ning Yin, he had been getting injured.
Even with her intervention in this life, he was still constantly getting hurt. In her previous life when no one looked after him, who knew what kind of existence he had endured?
Yu Lingxi felt the hardest part of her heart softening, melting, and ultimately flooding over.
Her eyes slightly reddened as she used her cold fingertips to gently pat Ning Yin’s cheeks, calling hoarsely, “Hey, wake up…”
As soon as her fingertips touched his cheek, Ning Yin’s eyes shot open. His eyes were like those of a wild beast, wintry and desolate, pitch-black and reflecting no light.
In just an instant, those emotionless, apathetic eyes gradually focused, settling on Yu Lingxi’s frost-pale face.
“Young Miss,” he called, then sat up.
Yu Lingxi saw that his left arm was twisted backward in an unnatural position, while his palm was covered with countless abrasions, bleeding profusely.
Her eyes darkened as she murmured, “Your hand…”
Ning Yin’s gaze followed Yu Lingxi’s to his limply hanging left arm, then he flashed a carefree smile: “It’s nothing, just a broken arm.”
Just a broken arm?
Yu Lingxi felt a lump in her throat and said with a trembling voice, “You little madman, do you even understand what situation you’re in?”
Expressionless, Ning Yin placed his hand on his left shoulder joint and forcefully pushed.
With a chilling crack, the dislocated joint was set back in place, as if his body were a disassemblable wooden doll.
“You…”
Yu Lingxi was momentarily speechless. The cold, expressionless eyes of the young man before her, seemingly without pain sensation, resembled his appearance in his previous life.
But Yu Lingxi felt no fear; rather, she experienced an indescribable sense of sorrow.
Ning Yin tried moving his left arm and, seeing it was barely functional, looked around and said, “Young Miss, we’re stranded in the middle of a cliff, about twenty zhang from the ground, with no shelter from wind or cold, no water, and no food…”
He looked at Yu Lingxi. “An ordinary person would die in three days.”
When he spoke of “death,” his tone was without the slightest ripple or fear, almost numb.
Yu Lingxi felt another pang in her heart as she curled up against the rugged stone wall, softly responding with an “Mm.”
Ning Yin glanced at her.
The delicate girl’s body trembled constantly from the cold wind, but her eyes remained calm—fragile and beautiful, yet resilient.
A flicker of interest appeared in his eyes as he sat beside her against the rock wall, bending one leg to ask, “Isn’t the Young Miss afraid?”
Yu Lingxi thought to herself that thanks to him, she had experienced far worse scenarios in her previous life. The current danger truly wasn’t much in comparison.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Burying her pale lips in the crook of her arm, she still had the presence of mind to comfort Ning Yin: “Elder Sister and Brother Cen will come to rescue us.”
Upon hearing Xue Cen’s name, the shadows in Ning Yin’s eyes spread like ink.
That man was truly troublesome and superfluous.
“You shouldn’t be trapped here with me.”
As he was thinking this, the girl’s soft, husky voice came again: “While the cliff face is still dry before it rains, if you can climb up, you should go. After finding help, come back for me.”
Although his arm was injured, she knew Ning Yin’s arm strength had always been astonishing. If he took the gamble, he might survive.
Hearing this, Ning Yin’s finger-rubbing motion paused.
This stone platform was only about ten zhangs from the top of the cliff. With his abilities, he could indeed climb up and escape danger. But if he did that, everything he had done would lose its meaning.
Since he had abandoned Ning Ziluo as a target and chosen her, he wanted to maximize the benefits of his decision. An exceptional predator would never release prey already in its jaws.
When he looked up again, Ning Yin had replaced his expression with a clean smile.
He unfastened the red cotton cloak from his body, raised his uninjured right hand to dust it off, and then gently wrapped the cloak around Yu Lingxi.