CHAPTER 95 — Into the Abyss
The world didn't fall apart gently.
It shattered — violently, mercilessly — in the span of a heartbeat.
The instant the cliff gave way, rain-filled air split with the sound of tumbling rock. Yunxi's scream tore from her throat, raw and animal, as she lunged forward, fingers clawing at the muddy ground.
"RUUUUI!!!"
Her nails scraped stone. Mud caked her skin. But she didn't feel any of it. She only saw Rui's tiny hand reaching upward as the ledge collapsed beneath him.
Mu Lingchen reacted at the same time.
He grabbed Yunxi's arm and yanked her back with brutal force, just as the last section of the cliff crumbled under her knees. If he hadn't pulled her—
She would've followed Rui straight into the pit.
Yunxi hit the ground hard, breath exploding out of her. She twisted violently, trying to lunge again, but Lingchen held her, arms locked around her waist.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" she screamed, thrashing.
"You'll fall!" he shouted over the storm. "Yunxi, you'll die!"
"I DON'T CARE!" she choked. "My baby—my baby is down there—LET ME GO!"
But Lingchen held on.
Because her life mattered too — more than anything.
The police rushed forward, flashlights cutting through the rain as officers peered over the jagged edge. Rocks continued to tumble down into the darkness, echoing like distant thunder.
"Flashlights!" the police chief barked. "Lower the beams!"
A dozen lights illuminated the drop.
It wasn't a straight fall. The quarry pit sloped down unevenly, with jutted rock shelves and broken machinery scattered across the ravine. The fall wasn't instantly fatal — that much was clear.
But Rui was only three.
A fall like that…
He could be injured.
Unconscious.
Bleeding.
Or—
No.
Yunxi refused to let the thought form.
She tore out of Lingchen's grip and scrambled to the edge, ignoring the sharp sting of gravel biting into her knees.
"RUI!" she screamed into the pit. "BABY! ANSWER ME! PLEASE!"
Her voice echoed.
Only the rain answered back.
Lingchen knelt beside her, breathing hard from the struggle. His eyes were sharp, scanning the drop with terrifying focus.
"Look," he said, pointing. "There — the white fabric."
Yunxi followed his finger with shaking eyes.
Beneath a rocky shelf halfway down, a small flash of white moved.
Rui's sweater.
Yunxi's breath froze.
"RUI!!! BABY!!!"
A faint, tiny sound—barely a whimper—rose from below.
Yunxi's heart nearly exploded.
"He's alive," Lingchen said, voice trembling with relief. "Yunxi, he's alive."
Her body broke into sobs, violent and uncontrollable.
"Rui… baby… Mommy's here… Mommy's coming…"
Lingchen stood abruptly, voice cutting through the storm.
"Ropes! Harnesses! NOW! Move!"
The officers scrambled.
But the police chief grabbed Lingchen's arm. "Sir, the rain— the slope is unstable. If someone climbs now—"
"I'M CLIMBING," Yunxi snapped before the man could finish.
The chief stared at her. "Miss Shi, it's too dangerous. If the ground collapses—"
"Then I fall," she said coldly. "He's three. He's alone. I'm going."
Lingchen turned her to face him, gripping her shoulders, rain dripping from his hair.
"Yunxi, listen to me," he said, voice low and urgent. "If the ground breaks under your weight—if another section collapses—"
She shook her head violently, tears mixing with the rain.
"That's my son down there! My baby! I'm not waiting while he cries for me!"
Lingchen shut his eyes for a brief second — and when he opened them again, a terrifying resolve had settled there.
"I'm going down," he said.
Yunxi froze. "No."
"Yes."
"Lingchen, NO."
He cupped her face with both hands, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"You need to stay here," he said softly. "If something happens to me — he still has you."
Her breath caught.
"Lingchen—"
"I promised you I would bring him back," he whispered. "And I will."
She shook her head desperately. "I can't lose both of you."
A storm passed through his eyes.
"You won't," he said. "I will not let anything take me away from you again."
His thumb brushed her cheek.
"And I'm not letting our son stay one more second in the dark. Not while I'm breathing."
At that sentence — our son — Yunxi's heart cracked open.
She didn't have time to respond.
Because a shout came from the lower ridge.
"WE FOUND ROULAN!"
Every head jerked toward the voice.
Two officers dragged a woman out from behind a fallen metal beam — soaking wet, hair smeared with mud and blood, legs trembling beneath her.
Roulan.
Alive.
Yunxi's breath locked in her throat.
Roulan's crazed eyes flicked upward — landing on Yunxi.
Her lips twisted into a smile.
A sick, victorious smile.
"He cried for you," she rasped, voice shaking. "He cried and cried… but you weren't there."
Yunxi's vision tunneled.
She stepped toward Roulan, rain dripping from her lashes like tears.
"You touched my child."
Roulan laughed weakly. "You took everything from me. So I took something from you."
The world went silent.
Only Yunxi's heartbeat remained — a drum of fury.
Lingchen grabbed her arm. "Yunxi. Not now. Rui needs us."
Her breaths were ragged.
Hot.
Poisonous.
Roulan leaned forward, voice taunting.
"He kept calling you," she hissed. "Mommy… Mommy… Mommy…"
Yunxi broke.
She lunged.
Lingchen's arms locked around her waist, dragging her back before she could reach Roulan.
"YUNXI!" he barked.
She thrashed once — twice — then collapsed against him, shaking violently.
His voice softened immediately.
"Yunxi. Yunxi — look at me. Look at me, love."
Slowly, painfully, she raised her head.
Lingchen wiped her cheek with a trembling thumb.
"He needs you calm," he whispered. "Rui needs you steady. Stay with me. Stay here."
Her breath hitched.
She nodded.
Barely.
Lingchen kissed her forehead — fast, desperate — and stood.
"Lower the rope," he ordered.
A harness was brought to him.
He strapped it on, secure and tight.
Yunxi grasped his arm.
"Bring him back," she whispered.
Lingchen looked into her eyes — the eyes of the woman he had loved for years without knowing it — and nodded once.
"For him," he said softly.
"For us."
Then he stepped to the cliff—
And descended into the darkness below.
Yunxi dropped to her knees, rain soaking through her clothes, fingers clutching the mud as if praying to the earth itself.
"Hold on, baby," she whispered into the storm.
"Mommy's coming."
"Daddy's coming."
"And we're never letting anyone hurt you again."
The rope lowered.
Lingchen disappeared into the shadows.
The hunt wasn't over.
It had only just begun.