Who Am I
Chapter 52
Two realities, one Song Qinglan.
One reality was from one month ago and the other was one month later. When these two realities began to overlap, the call from one month ago was received by Song Qinglan from a month later. It had accidentally connected the two realities, pulling them back briefly, but the moment the phone call ended, the link was broken, and they were pulled back to the reality one month later.
Both knew very well that even if Song Qinglan called back immediately after the link was broken, the person picking up on the other end would only be his grandfather in the current reality and they would no longer be pulled back to their original reality.
It was like there was a thin film separating them from their original reality.
Can see and touch but cannot truly enter.
Song Qinglan pondered, “Say, do you think anyone else will call me over that month?”
Ji Yushi, “Even if they did, it won’t be now.”
The other reality was currently at point ‘B’ and, to them who are in the bubble world, it was at a standstill. The phone call just now happened to be made at point ‘B’ but how could there coincidentally be so many phone calls made at point ‘B’?
As for phone calls for Ji Yushi, that was even less likely.
Firstly, it was because his phone had just been thrown away and secondly, his social circle was pretty much limited to the three members of the Ji family.
Not to mention, whenever he goes on his missions, he would completely disappear from that reality and probably no one would care about it except for those in the Ji family…..Thinking this, Ji Yushi was surprised. Those negative thoughts had somehow invaded him again. If not for his quick reaction, he might have had another case of thinking that the other reality was ‘not worthy to feel attachment to and since it was no different from this place, it didn’t matter if he stayed here instead’.
The weather was hot, but a chill ran through Ji Yushi.
The influence of this world was almost inescapable. He lowered his eyes and looked at the handcuff binding himself with Song Qinglan and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
It’s alright.
The handcuff was still there.
Like Song Qinglan had said, he at least wouldn’t be able to escape again.
His thinking became complicated again. Ji Yushi raised his hand and grabbed Song Qinglan’s wrist.
His line of sight fell onto the other party’s watch. The second hand was still moving at a regular pace.
Song Qinglan asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ji Yushi’s expression changed in an instant, “We have to get out of here immediately!”
Memories from when they bought tickets at the small station earlier quickly returned to him — After Song Qinglan asked him for his ID card, he had used his injured hand to select options on the screen to purchase their tickets and the information with the train schedules were displayed very briefly before it changed after Song Qinglan selected the next train. It had only appeared very briefly, but it was deeply engraved into Ji Yushi’s memory.
Soon after their train, another train would also pass through this track! At that time, just like this train, the next train would also collide with the phantom train from the original reality!
Standing on the train tracks like this, the outcome would be unimaginably dangerous!
As soon as he said this, Song Qinglan’s expression also became tense, “How long do we have?!”
Ji Yushi’s mental arithmetic skills were excellent, “No more than three minutes at most! Let’s go!”
Song Qinglan stood on the roof of the carriage. His eyes locked onto a place in the opposite direction of where they were running. About a hundred metres behind them was a maintenance bridge. They had to go there immediately!
There was no time to worry about the passengers following behind them. The two immediately started to sprint over.
On top of the carriage, the two ran desperately towards the bridge.
Below the carriage, the passengers followed after the sound and chased after them like zombies without consciousness.
This scene was astonishingly similar to when they were at the Golden Crow No.2 base. At that time, they were running desperately along the ventilation pipes while zombies below and behind them chased after them with their mouths wide open.
They were always put into desperate situations like this.
“Go down!”
Song Qinglan slammed onto his brakes. They were already close to that bridge.
With experience from earlier when they climbed to the carriage roof, the handcuffs didn’t get in their way this time. The two cooperated well and quickly jumped off.
More than a dozen passengers who caught up to them stretched out their hands in attempt to hold them in place. For a moment, the two were surrounded and unable to escape. It resembled a silent horror movie.
Ji Yushi was anxious, “The train is coming!”
Song Qinglan, “You go down first!”
The two quickly descended the ladder. Some passengers similarly followed behind them.
More and more passengers charged over but the narrow ladder couldn’t accommodate that many people at the same time. When Ji Yushi looked up, he was met with more than a dozen faces quietly looking down at him.
These people were completely unaware that death was imminent.
When they were halfway down, there was a faint sound of wind rushing by.
It was the sound of a suspension train travelling at high speed. From far to near, it arrived in a blink of an eye!
“BOOM——-”
Along with a loud earth-shattering noise, the new suspension train was pushed off by the phantom train, colliding with the original train that had overturned and breaking apart in an instant.
Large pieces of steel flew out, slashing off the heads of the people staring down at them from above!
Blood and brain matter flowed out. Headless corpses fell from above.
It seemed that someone that returned to their senses. There was a loud scream.
The two didn’t stop moving. Ji Yushi didn’t even have the chance to look down when something large appeared in his line of sight —- It was a broken off section from the train! It smashed into the tracks, creating an opening in an instant!
With the bridge losing its connecting point, it let out an uncomfortable creak and looked like it was soon about to break off. If it fell off, they would fall and directly smash onto the concrete floors below!
“Jump into the water!” Song Qinglan shouted.
They were no more than five or six metres away from the water. Ji Yushi showed no hesitation. With Song Qinglan holding his hand, the two jumped off.
“Splash!”
A large splash followed.
As the two fell into the water below, they could vaguely hear the sound of the steel ladder and bridge collapsing and falling onto the hard concrete floor. There were other things that also fell together with it including train parts, glass and half a human head…..Everything could be seen clearly from the lake.
Having fallen into the lake at a wrong angle, as he sank to the bottom of the water, severe pain surged through Ji Yushi’s ear and chest and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
The grip around his waist tightened and Song Qinglan next to him turned him over.
Air bubbles rose in the water.
Both saw each other’s faces clearly.
Song Qinglan held his breath and held the other party in this face-to-face manner and relied on his strength to bring them both back to the surface.
The handcuff had become an obstacle for them once again. Ji Yushi could only curl his handcuffed arm behind his back so that Song Qinglan could hold his waist, but that wasn’t enough. His instinct to live was very strong and he quickly hugged Song Qinglan with his other arm.
Under the water, their bodies were very close to each other.
Ji Yushi didn’t move an inch. He tried to minimise any form of resistance to make it easier for Song Qinglan.
“Pah!”
After what seemed like a century, the two finally reached the surface. Fresh air instantly poured into their lungs and both breathed heavily.
“Cough, cough, cough!!” Ji Yushi choked on some water and coughed heavily.
The water level around him kept dropping. Song Qinglan had managed to get a foothold and was walking towards the shore.
When his lower half was completely out of the water, it was only then that Ji Yushi realised that his legs were wrapped tightly around Song Qinglan’s waist. It almost looked like a koala clinging onto a branch for dear life.
This position was very awkward.
The sun shone brightly on them.
Song Qinglan’s soaked shirt clung tightly to his skin, highlighting his gorgeous tanned skin and muscle lines.
Ji Yushi could distinctly feel every part of their body that was in contact. Whether it’s the back where his hand rested, the shoulder against his chin, or the waist in which his legs were wrapped around, he could clearly feel the explosive energy that belonged to a young man.
With every step that was taken in this position, Ji Yushi’s thoughts were tainted further.
But after choking on water and with the additional pain in his chest, Ji Yushi really couldn’t walk on his own.
Besides, the other party didn’t seem to be struggling at all.
So he simply hung on Song Qinglan, pretending not to know anything.
It was naturally awkward.
No straight man would like this kind of ‘reliance’.
Perhaps it was because he was too straight, when Song Qinglan placed him down after going ashore, he helped support him.
He was clearly holding him like how one would hold a child but when his hand touched a soft and elastic part and his fingers sank in, both of them froze.
Ji Yushi, “….I’m awake.”
Song Qinglan, “……Sorry.”
Ji Yushi’s throat was a little hoarse and his ear and chest still ached.
Song Qinglan placed him onto a big rock. He himself wasn’t any better. His handsome face was paler than usual and even his lips were white, as if he was enduring something.
Ji Yushi quickly discovered the problem.
Song Qinglan’s arm that rested on him was hanging limply. It didn’t look right.
He immediately understood —- Song Qinglan had asked him to jump off first just now and they had handcuffs binding the two together. Although they were both jumping, but because of their position, his own weight when jumping down was bound to bring harm to the person jumping off after him. As a result, Song Qinglan’s hand had dislocated.
Ji Yushi was stunned, “Cap Song, your hand…..”
“It’s nothing.”
When he finished saying that, Song Qinglan had already popped it back in place. He gritted his teeth tightly and his entire body trembled slightly in pain.
Along the way, Song Qinglan seemed to have suffered the most injuries.
The right hand that was jammed by the train door, the scratches on his face and arms from when he was chased, and the left hand that had dislocated from the jump….After the wrist was popped back in place, it took another ten more seconds before Song Qinglan opened his eyes again.
Those dark eyes had already recovered its previous composure. Not mentioning anything about the injury, he just asked, “Advisor Ji, can you still walk?
Ji Yushi didn’t answer so Song Qinglan continued, “If you can’t, we can rest for five minutes. If we follow this path here, we will see the highway after about two kilometres.”
Ji Yushi said, “I can.”
Song Qinglan looked at him but he instead sat down and looked at his watch, “Forget it. Even if you’re not tired, I’m tired. I need time to catch my breath. Let’s rest for a while before continuing.”
*
The road to Jiang City couldn’t be any simpler in their minds but in reality, it allowed them to experience what it meant by a frustrating journey.
Fortunately, the two men who only had socks on their feet managed to reach the highway after taking that long two kilometre journey.
The soles of their feet hurt when their walked and the sun had almost dried them completely.
Neither of them had been in such a sorry state in their entire life.
The scene on the road was horrific. There were constantly areas of wreckage and blood covering the ground. Sirens would sound from time to time and smoke and fire could be seen in all directions.
Like the air tracks, phantoms of countless vehicles suddenly appeared out of thin air on the originally orderly road and the overlap of the two realities made them push away the vehicles that were originally moving along the road.
The two stopped moving forward and found a cool place near the road to hide.
About an hour later, a bright red sports car sped over.
That sports car was covered in traces of scratches. It seemed like it had encountered its fair share of accidents today.
The sports car braked sharply in front of them, the tires making a loud screech. With a beautiful turn, the car came to a halt.
In the driver’s seat, Li Chun whistled at the dirt and dust covered captain and Advisor Ji. He took off his sunglasses, “Hey handsome, would you like a ride?”
The two got onto the car.
They didn’t want to speak a single word.
The handcuffs were very eye catching under the sun. Li Chun was speechless at the sight of it but because of Song Qinglan’s dark expression, he didn’t dare ask about it.
His family’s captain really knows how to play!
While in shock, Li Chun drove the car out again. He fumbled around with one hand for a while and threw water and food to the back seat, “I also brought shoes. Size 46 for Cap Song and 42 for Advisor Ji! Look, I did three things at the same time all by myself. Look at this damn speed of mine. Amazing!” Song Qinglan gulped down half a bottle of water in one go, “Does Tang Le know about you playing with his car like this?”
Li Chun: “……”
Li Chun, “Boss, don’t worry about those details!”
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