Chapter 60

Chapter 60 5.curve-06

The cliff where the girl in the orange-red down jacket fell was extremely steep, nearly vertical at ninety degrees. Climbing down from there would be extremely dangerous—one wrong step and she would likely tumble straight down, potentially piling on top of the girl below, whose life was uncertain.

However, the girl had landed on a protruding rock on the cliff. By going around it, there was a slightly gentler slope. But after a night of heavy snow, the rock face was almost entirely covered in ice and snow, making climbing much more difficult.

“Right now, we don’t even have a rope. Isn’t this dangerous?”

Liu Yi disapproved, grabbing Qi Shanyu’s arm.

Even in life-or-death situations, one cannot risk another person’s life just to save someone else.

“It’s fine. I can climb down.”

Qi Shanyu’s tone was very certain.

He took off his heavy down jacket that restricted movement, removed his gloves, rolled his sleeves up to his wrists, and said to Liu Yi, “I’ll go down first to see if she’s alive. You contact the hotel to prepare for rescue.”

After speaking, he climbed over the railing, held onto a half-wilted climbing plant on the steep slope, and began descending from a spot with decent footholds.

“Ah!”

Seeing Qi Shanyu actually going down, the three girls who had come with Liu Yi screamed in fright.

The short-haired girl was bolder and wanted to rush over to look, but Liu Yi quickly grabbed her collar—just in time. The nearby railing had partially collapsed; if she pushed recklessly, it might give way, not only putting herself at risk but also potentially knocking down Qi Shanyu halfway down.

Qi Shanyu had some experience in free climbing, and the slope he chose was only about sixty degrees. There were enough footholds and grips, and although covered in ice and snow, slippery and cold to the touch, he managed to climb down safely without incident.

The girl in the orange-red jacket lay face down in the snow, motionless, showing no signs of life.

Qi Shanyu reached out to her neck and felt a pulse at her carotid artery, letting out a sigh of relief.

“She’s alive!”

He looked up and waved toward the cliff.

Cheers erupted from the observation platform.

Since the girl was alive, the next challenge was figuring out how to rescue her.

Although Qi Shanyu’s first-aid knowledge was limited to what he had learned in police training, he knew that moving someone who had fallen from a height should not be done carelessly.

High-altitude falls often result in spinal injuries, especially cervical injuries. Improper handling could worsen the damage, potentially causing severe consequences.

At this point, having someone help with the lifting would be much safer and easier than handling it alone.

“Wait, I’m coming down too.”

Liu Yi, who had contacted the hotel to bring a stretcher and ropes, began taking off his jacket, apparently planning to assist.

The girls, looking at the height of roughly five stories, turned pale, unsure whether to persuade Liu Yi to wait for professional help. But thinking of their colleague lying below, not knowing the severity of her injuries, left them hesitant.

The boy surnamed Ma, who had been screaming earlier, had stopped crying but still sat on the snow, his face pale, eyes hollow, teeth clenched, seemingly frozen with fear.

Another tall, thin boy, though trembling, mustered courage and walked toward Liu Yi. “I…I’ll…help too!”

His voice quivered and stuttered, but his tone was determined, not empty words.

“This brother…your name is Bai Yun, right?”

Liu Yi was unmoved by his determination, pointing firmly toward the cliff below.

“Look for yourself. The foothold is already crowded with a patient lying down. Two people standing is barely manageable. One more person—if anyone missteps, they could tumble. Not even a miracle could save them.”

He adjusted Bai Yun’s collar and smiled at him. “Wait, help with the stretcher instead.”

Although Liu Yi spent a lot of time exercising to maintain his figure, gym workouts were very different from the cross-country training Qi Shanyu had in police college. Climbing the cliff, he slipped several times, struggling to keep balance, looking completely awkward.

Qi Shanyu watched Liu Yi anxiously, terrified for him.

Honestly, he would have preferred to make the round trip himself rather than see Liu Yi risk the climb, but with Liu Yi halfway up, there was no turning back.

With about two meters left, the slope leveled out, reducing the difficulty.

Qi Shanyu, stumbling to this point, saw Liu Yi’s hands, exposed to ice and snow, go numb, unable to feel even abrasions, fingers almost unresponsive.

Then Liu Yi slipped, lost grip, and tumbled like an uncontrolled billiard ball, rolling down.

“Ah!!”

The girls on the cliff screamed in horror.

Fortunately, Liu Yi only rolled about a meter before Qi Shanyu caught him by the waist, countering the momentum with his weight, and they both fell onto the snow.

Liu Yi was shaken, snow covering his head and face, still in a daze.

He curled up on the soft snow, breathing heavily, extremities cold, while Qi Shanyu’s arms—one around his waist, the other guarding his chest—offered warmth and a comforting sense of safety.

“Hey, are you two okay!?”

The girls on the cliff anxiously called out.

Warned by Liu Yi, they didn’t dare approach the unstable railing, kneeling and peeking cautiously from the platform.

“We’re fine, no injuries!”

Liu Yi and Qi Shanyu quickly got up, brushed off the snow, and went to where the girl in the orange-red down jacket lay.

“Right leg fracture, obvious scrape on the left temple. Wound is deep but not life-threatening.”

Liu Yi removed her hat and felt through her hair. “Scalp hematoma on the back of the head. Hard to assess severity of brain injury.”

He broke a small branch from a tree at the cliff edge and used his scarf to splint her fractured leg.

By then, hotel staff had arrived. They lowered a stretcher with ropes. Liu Yi and Qi Shanyu lifted her onto it and pulled her up, then climbed back up themselves.

The fallen girl was immediately taken down the mountain by hotel staff and sent to a hospital three kilometers away from the hot springs resort, along with the boy surnamed Ma and another female colleague.

After such an incident, no one wanted to continue wandering. Qi Shanyu and Liu Yi, wet and snowy, needed to change into dry clothes.

“Feifei… she’ll be okay, right?”

The short-haired girl asked, worried.

“The snow below was thick. If she got to the hospital in time, she should be out of life-threatening danger.”

Liu Yi replied, glancing back at the platform.

Hotel staff were securing temporary barriers and warning markers to prevent further accidents.

From the girls’ conversation, Qi Shanyu and Liu Yi learned the fallen girl was Song Feifei, and the boy surnamed Ma was Ma Mingxi, her boyfriend.

The two girls, dissatisfied with Ma Mingxi, began openly criticizing him while he wasn’t around.

“I’ve never seen anyone so useless. Look at Ma just now, screaming like a pig being slaughtered, lying on the ground—totally useless!”

The short-haired girl pouted, then glanced at Liu Yi and Qi Shanyu. She thought comparing people always hurts; after witnessing these two’s competence, her standards for choosing a partner would be impossibly high.

Even without her usual “fujoshi radar,” she could tell Qi Shanyu and Liu Yi probably had some intimacy, so she gave up unrealistic expectations.

“Yeah, I don’t know what Feifei sees in him!”

The other girl chimed in, nudging Bai Yun, “At least Bai Yun knows to help!”

Bai Yun murmured “Mm” distractedly, eyes downcast, looking worried.

“Right, I forgot to ask in all the chaos,” Liu Yi asked Bai Yun, “How did Miss Song fall off the cliff?”

Bai Yun shook his head, bewildered. “I don’t know. I heard Ma screaming for help. When I got there, Feifei was already lying at the bottom…”

He paused, puzzled. “Wasn’t it… because the railing collapsed that Feifei fell?”