PCA Chapter 142

“Qu Ling’er!” Su Cen frowned angrily. “This has nothing to do with you. Let me go!”

 

Qu Ling’er paid no mind and continued to calmly wrap the rope around himself, smiling at Su Cen: “Since when does rescuing someone require connections? Whoever is most suitable should go.”

 

Indeed, among these people, Qu Ling’er was the lightest and skilled in lightness martial arts, making him truly the best choice. But he was also the person least connected to this matter—if they were to go by order of relevance, everyone else would have a turn before it came to him.

 

Moreover, Su Cen knew that Qu Ling’er valued his life greatly. He could be frightened to death by baseless ghost stories, and had nearly cried when asked to go down a well before. Not to mention now, facing such a deep, thousand-foot cliff.

 

“Qu Ling’er, if you still consider me your Brother Su, release me!”

 

Qu Ling’er ignored him, finished wrapping the rope around his waist, and tugged at the knot to ensure it was secure. Then he stretched and walked to the edge of the cliff to find footing.

 

When intimidating Qu Ling’er failed, Su Cen turned to give Qi Lin a meaningful look. He couldn’t believe Qi Lin would allow Qu Ling’er to go down like this.

 

But Qi Lin stepped forward, took the rope in front of Qu Ling’er and wrapped it around his arm twice, then patted Qu Ling’er’s head: “Go quickly and come back quickly.”

 

Su Cen: “…”

 

Qu Ling’er smiled and nodded, waved to Su Cen, then leaped down the cliff.

 

“Qu Ling’er!” Su Cen’s eyes stung, as if rain had splashed into them, suddenly blurring his vision.

 

Qi Lin held the other end of the rope, estimating Qu Ling’er’s descent height and adjusting the rope accordingly. Seeing this, Liang Fang and Uncle Cao hurriedly came forward to help pull the rope.

 

The cliff was already steep, and the heavy rain made it even more slippery and difficult to find footing. But with Qi Lin’s coordination, releasing and pulling the rope just right, the descent was not slow.

 

Someone had released Su Cen from his immobilized state, and when Qu Ling’er had descended halfway down the cliff, he heard Su Cen shouting from above: “Qu Ling’er, if you dare get hurt, I won’t take you back to Chang’an!”

 

Qu Ling’er smiled bitterly. His brilliantly clever Brother Su must have been driven mad with anger. If he really were to get hurt, naturally he wouldn’t be able to return to Chang’an.

 

As he continued descending, Qu Ling’er thought to himself that Su Cen wasn’t correct. Su Cen had said this matter had nothing to do with him, but any matter concerning Su Cen naturally concerned him too. Last time, he had already lost his Brother Su once; this time, he wouldn’t let him risk danger again no matter what.

 

After descending to the bottom of the cliff without incident, and seeing that both children were still there, Qu Ling’er finally breathed a sigh of relief. He tugged the rope twice to signal he had arrived, and Qi Lin stopped releasing the rope from above.

 

Seeing the newcomer, Huzi’s eyes brightened, “Brother Ling’er, you’ve come to save us!”

 

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Qu Ling’er grinned at Huzi. After confirming that the stone platform was temporarily safe, he said, “I can only take one at a time. Who’s going first?”

 

“Take Er Ya first!” In this life-or-death moment, Huzi showed remarkable chivalry, pulling up Er Ya, who was crying so hard she could barely stand, and bringing her to Qu Ling’er’s side. “She’s terrified. Take her up first.”

 

Qu Ling’er nodded and wrapped the rope around Er Ya several times. Just as he was about to signal for those above to pull the rope, a tremendous boom sounded from somewhere, causing everyone to look in that direction.

 

Nearby, a flash flood had burst through, destroying the original riverbed and pouring into the Yellow River like an avalanche. The water level rose instantly!

 

Rolling Yellow River waters slammed against the rock wall with thunderous force, making the entire stone platform seem to tremble. Surging waves rushed onto the platform, quickly reaching halfway up Qu Ling’er’s thighs.

 

“How did it rise so quickly?!” Qu Ling’er wiped the water from his face. The wave impact nearly knocked him off balance, let alone the two children who weren’t even fully grown.

 

Looking at Huzi, who had staggered several steps and was now pressed against the rock wall with a deathly pale face, “Br-Brother Ling’er, what should we do?”

 

Qu Ling’er frowned deeply, looking at the terrified Huzi, then pressed his lips together as he watched the raging river waters rushing past his feet. It seemed like a long time passed, or perhaps just an instant, before Qu Ling’er extended his hand to Huzi: “Come here.”

 

Huzi cautiously moved forward. Qu Ling’er untied the rope from his own waist and secured it around Huzi instead.

 

Qu Ling’er tugged the rope twice again and shouted upward: “Pull!”

 

As the rope slowly began to rise, Huzi became anxious, “Brother Ling’er, what about you?”

 

“Don’t you remember? We caught cicadas together. I can fly,” Qu Ling’er waved to the two children. “You’re the big brother, take care of… Not again?!”

 

Before he could finish speaking, another massive wave surged forward, more violent and swift than the last, engulfing Qu Ling’er completely. He lost his footing and fell, sliding several steps with the water before stopping. His mouth wasn’t closed tightly, and he swallowed several gulps of Yellow River water, his mouth full of sand.

 

How undignified, Qu Ling’er thought to himself. Couldn’t the river at least let him finish showing off in front of the children?

 

“I see them!” shouted a guard from the cliff top.

 

Su Cen hurriedly leaned over to look and saw two figures gradually emerging from the towering waves. His heart leaped with joy as he urged, “Pull faster! Everyone help!”

 

All the accompanying officials joined in, significantly increasing the speed. But Qi Lin remained at the front, firmly gripping the rope’s end, controlling both the speed and the person at the other end of the rope.

 

The higher they pulled, the more Qi Lin’s brow furrowed—the weight was wrong. He knew exactly how much Qu Ling’er weighed and knew that Qu Ling’er plus a child shouldn’t weigh this much.

 

When they were pulled up, Su Cen was the first to panic. He was stunned for a moment before remembering to untie the rope from the two children. He didn’t even attend to Er Ya, who was crying almost to the point of hiccups, and instead forcefully gripped Huzi’s shoulders: “Where’s Ling’er? Where did Qu Ling’er go?!”

 

Huzi winced in pain. He had never seen his big brother so panic-stricken, even forgetting to wipe away his running nose. He pointed behind him in a daze: “…still down there.”

 

Still down there?! Unless absolutely necessary, Qu Ling’er wouldn’t have sent up the two children first, which meant that the stone platform was no longer safe. So what was Qu Ling’er doing down there? Where was he standing?

 

Did he really think he could fly just because he knew a bit of lightness martial arts?!

 

In that moment, the fear that surged in his heart exceeded his anger. He had even considered what to do if the two children couldn’t be rescued, but he had never thought about what to do if he lost Qu Ling’er!

 

That person was timid and afraid of trouble, never spoke a true word, freeloaded at his home, drank his tea, and was an ungrateful wretch… but it was also that person who had repeatedly saved him in times of danger. When he first entered the capital, they had relied on each other, and their relationship had long since become something that couldn’t be simply defined as friendship.

 

After coming to his senses, Su Cen immediately went to find the rope. He was determined not to leave Qu Ling’er alone down there. But when he turned back, he saw that Qi Lin had already secured the rope around himself—standing tall and heroic at the edge of the cliff, he leaped down without hesitation!

 

His hand was getting numb.

 

Qu Ling’er frowned. He was now standing on a protrusion about two zhang above the stone platform, only large enough for a single foot. He clung to the rock wall like a gecko. Below him, turbulent waves crashed against the cliff as if trying to smash him. The Tiger’s Gaze Cliff where he had previously stood was no longer visible, and the splashing river water reached as high as his ankles.

 

Not daring to keep looking down, Qu Ling’er looked helplessly to the sky, and then at the cliff top that seemed as high as the heavens. At his current pace, it would probably take two or three days to climb up—assuming he could survive without food or water, had the strength, and wasn’t swept away by the giant waves.

 

There was no escaping the rain pouring down on his head. The surge of passion he had felt when making his bold declaration earlier had dissipated, and he suddenly felt cold.

 

A year ago, pursued by assassins from the Secret Door, he had been forced to the edge of a cliff and had jumped without hesitation. It had been raining then too, hadn’t it? Cold early spring rain that penetrated to the bone. Because of a wound in his waist, he had missed the first crossbeam and barely reached the second one, gasping for breath for a long time before recovering.

 

What had he been thinking at the time, and how had he managed to climb back up? Qu Ling’er furrowed his brows, pondering for a long while, yet he couldn’t quite remember. It had only been a year, but his past life seemed to have fermented in his memory, altered, faded in color, and become blurred. Like fragmented scenes, they had grown distant, as if they were events from a previous lifetime.

 

All he vividly recalled was that he had climbed back up the cliff, wandered for some time, and eventually sneaked into Chang’an under the cover of night. He had expected that the streets would be empty after curfew, but unexpectedly, he had run into Su Cen, who had just left the palace after the Qionglin Banquet.

 

That person seemed somewhat drunk at the time, walking unsteadily while muttering to himself, without any of the imposing manner he had shown at the teahouse earlier. He followed behind for the entire way, watching as the person entered a small courtyard with a hawthorn tree like a canopy at the back, bearing small white flowers that released a subtle fragrance in the night.

 

He immediately decided to stay there.

 

Life in Chang’an was completely different from his previous existence. Brother Su appeared cold on the outside but was warm-hearted; though he would often criticize verbally, when trouble arose, he would still protect him. A Fu’s cooking was delicious, and the house was kept in perfect order, though he was a bit nagging—but when not hearing him, one would actually miss it. The Prince had a powerful presence that kept strangers at bay, showing a dismissive attitude toward everyone except Brother Su. And then there was his Brother Qi…

 

“Brother Qi…” Qu Ling’er sighed. His Brother Qi wasn’t the emotionless blade that people often described. His eyes held the vast yellow sands of the desert, and his heart contained loyalty to country… and him. When Brother Qi had stabbed him with that sword, he appeared to have fainted, but his mind was actually clear, and he could distinctly feel the trembling hands holding him, the voice hoarse from repeatedly calling his name, and the still-warm tears that fell onto his face.

 

Qi Lin thought he hadn’t heard, but he heard everything—heard him say he hadn’t meant to hurt him, only that he was angry seeing him stand in front of Han Shu, and when a person is controlled by jealousy, any action becomes justifiable.

 

He also said that as long as he was alright, he would do anything, even if it meant never seeing each other again and growing old alone.

 

How could he bear to let Brother Qi grow old alone? Naturally, he should live well, and the two of them should grow old together.

 

Qu Ling’er regained his senses. The river water continued to rise, yet here he was, smiling foolishly while clinging to the rock wall. People indeed shouldn’t live too comfortably, as it easily leads to a loss of motivation to persist.

 

As he thought, he found another foothold. He had to get back up. Su Cen had said that if anything happened to him, he wouldn’t take him back to Chang’an. Actually, he quite liked Chang’an—the wine at Pingkang Ward was good, the pork knuckle at Shunfu Restaurant delicious, the songs at Hongxiao Ward pleasant to hear, but mainly because his attachments were there. How could he bear not to return?

 

Having finally found a foothold, just as he was about to push himself up further, suddenly the cliff rock loosened, and his body fell along with the rolling rocks!

 

In this critical moment, his falling arm was grabbed firmly!

 

Qu Ling’er looked up, his eyes brightening: “Brother Qi!”

 

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