Forced into a romantic relationship.

Little did he know that the blood flowing from his ear had already betrayed him.

Looking at the boy in front of her, whose face was covered in scratches and who looked as if he had crawled out of the deep mountains, Zhong Yin felt a pang of sadness. She had so much to say, and even wanted to curse him, but time did not allow it. Although she had confirmed that Xiao Ling was safe, her parents were still waiting for rescue down below, and she could not waste any time.

She first called the police, then pushed Han Zhou to the ground where her unconscious sister lay, and said urgently, "Take Xiaoling and get out of here quickly. My parents are still down there. I have to go save them."

"Okay, you guys go first, I'll take care of your uncle and aunt." Han Zhou replied nonsensically.

I said you can leave!

"Don't worry, I've checked, Xiaoling is fine."

"Can you even hear me?"

"I know, I know, don't worry, I need a little time to go downstairs."

"Are you stupid! I told you to leave, but you wouldn't listen! What if something happens to you! And what about your ears..."

Han Zhou had intended to gloss over it like before, but the conversation was far too long, and he couldn't quite grasp what Zhong Yin had said. Seeing the girl biting her lip, looking like she was about to cry, he could only tentatively begin:

"I understand, I like you too. Let's be together after this is over, okay?"

Zhong Yin: "..."

She was furious, so she took out her phone, typed some text, and held the screen up to Han Zhou's face:

"Take Xiaoling with you."

Han Zhou was taken aback, then realized that his deafness had been exposed. He simply stopped trying to hide it, shook his head, and said seriously, "That's what I wanted to say too. You should take Xiaoling and leave here quickly. I will handle everything."

In any case, he could not abandon the Zhong sisters' parents. That way, even if the rescue ultimately failed, the two girls would not have any lingering resentment, and he could take all the responsibility upon himself.

After saying that, he didn't give Zhong Yin a chance to refute him. He immediately walked towards the edge of the railing, taking out ropes from his backpack as he walked and tying them around his waist and to the railing.

Unfortunately, the "Crossing Mountains and Rivers to See You" skill can only be used once. Otherwise, things would be much easier. He could simply target Zhong Yin's parents, and his shoes would flap two pairs of small wings, automatically carrying him directly below.

In fact, the reason he appeared in front of Zhong Yin was because of the "Crossing Mountains and Rivers to See You" effect. To save time, the shoes actually carried him down from the mountaintop. Fortunately, the items in the status bar were of high quality, and even after jumping from such a height, his legs were not broken or injured.

Han Zhou was securing the rope when he turned around and saw Zhong Yin following behind. Zhong Yin expressionlessly took another rope from Han Zhou's bag and tied it to his waist and the railing, respectively.

He frowned, about to say something, when Zhong Yin handed him his phone, the screen displaying a line of pre-edited text:

“I’m too weak. I can’t go far with Xiaoling. I might as well come down with you. You can’t get my parents out of the car by yourself. Don’t worry about Xiaoling. I just asked a kind person who passed by to take her away. Don’t ask me why I’m not leaving. Didn’t you say you wanted to stay with me? Then I’ll stay with you.”

Han Zhou fell silent. He looked up, but only saw the girl's back as she secured the rope in the rain. Clearly, Zhong Yin had made up her mind and did not intend to negotiate with him any further.

"You have to listen to me after you go down!" he shouted, having lost his nerve.

Zhong Yin didn't turn around, but simply raised her hand and gave an OK sign.

At this point, waiting for official rescue would have been the best course of action. However, both of them knew that time was of the essence. The car below had started to smoke and leak oil, and there was a possibility of it exploding at any moment. If they didn't rescue the people as soon as possible, it might be too late.

And it was precisely because they both understood this that neither of them wanted the other to go down and take risks.

After a short while, the two checked each other to make sure the ropes were tied tightly, and then they carefully moved down together.

The process was quite difficult, especially for a girl like Zhong Yin who lacked arm strength. Fortunately, they both landed safely in the end.

However, in reality, neither of their positions was safe. The anti-slip slope under their feet was about 45 degrees. Although the surface was very rough, it was covered with moss. In addition, the wet weather reduced the friction, and if they were not careful, they could slip off the cliff at any time.

Not to mention that due to the impact of the explosion, the slope is covered with exposed steel bars and rocks, so even a slight fall could easily result in a cut.

Every step you take on the slope must be taken with extreme care.

Han Zhou turned on his flashlight and noticed that the car door was deformed. He frowned. If he had the status bar, he could have tried to force open the car door, but he couldn't do it now. The only way to get the person out of the car was to smash the window.

But this is not an easy task.

It wasn't that the glass was particularly strong; the car windows were already riddled with cracks from the explosion and could be shattered with just a little force. The real problem was that the car was in a semi-suspended position and could fall at any moment, meaning he had to constantly control his strength to avoid disrupting the existing balance.

Han Zhou put down his backpack, turned around and said to Zhong Yin, "You stand there and don't move. I'll go pull Uncle and Aunt out. Help me blow up these balloons a little bigger and tie them with string. We'll need them later."

Seeing Zhong Yin nod, he took a deep breath, gripped the taut rope tightly to maintain his balance, and then carefully approached the car. He first tentatively pushed the car body, and seeing that it was securely fixed, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then he took out a hammer from his pocket and tried to break the car windows from the four corners.

After carefully cleaning up the glass shards, he first reached out to check Ye Xiaorou's breathing in the passenger seat. Finding that she was still breathing, he was immediately relieved.

After several unsuccessful attempts to call out, he immediately stuffed a powerful pill into the other person's mouth, then took off his coat and used it to cover the lower half of the car frame. He then grabbed Ye Xiaorou by the armpits and pulled her outwards with force.

Because of the time constraint, he couldn't take his time and his actions were somewhat rough. However, compared to saving her life, these minor injuries during the dragging process were nothing, and I believe the aunt can understand.

Because Ye Xiaorou was very light and slender, the rescue went very smoothly. In less than a minute, Han Zhou had pulled her out of the car, even though he was also covered in sweat.

His body is still too weak.

Han Zhou hugged Ye Xiaorou and walked with difficulty to Zhong Yin, panting as he said, "Tie the balloon to Auntie's arm, and tie one to your arm too, so you'll both be lighter. You take Auntie up first."

Although she didn't understand what it meant to feel lighter, Zhong Yin immediately did as she was told. Surprisingly, after tying balloons to her arms, she actually felt much lighter. Her mother felt the same way and carried her without any effort.

Seeing that Han Zhou had only rested for a short while before planning to rescue his father who was still in the car, she hurriedly typed on her phone, "Could you tie a balloon to my dad's hand as well? That would make pulling him out much easier..."

"No."

Han Zhou shook his head. "This thing needs to be used in an open area. It'll be useless if it explodes. Anyway, take Auntie upstairs first, and come down when you see me signaling you. I have a waterproof suit in my bag, you can put it on Auntie first."

Zhong Yin didn't say anything, but just gave him a deep look, then carried her mother up the rope to the highway and disappeared in a short while.

Han Zhou withdrew his gaze, reached out and wiped the sweat from his forehead along with the rain on his face, intending to walk around to the other side of the car and repeat the same trick.

The car was stuck, with almost no room to pass behind it. It wouldn't be easy to get around to the other side. After thinking for a moment, he pushed the car body again and, after several attempts, decided to climb over from the roof.

The whole process went fairly smoothly, the only problem being that the rope wasn't long enough. Han Zhou wanted to ask Zhong Yin above to help lengthen the rope, but suddenly his pupils contracted as he saw flames erupting from the car's chassis.

This is clearly not a good sign.

When a car catches fire, the risk of explosion increases significantly.

Without hesitation, he immediately untied the ropes binding him and quickly went to the driver's side window, trying to open the car door. However, the door wouldn't budge and couldn't be opened at all.

Left with no other choice, he did what he had done before: smashed the car window as quickly as possible, cleared away the shards, fed the driver a stimulant, wrapped the lower half of the car frame with his clothes, and then grabbed Zhong Chengguang by the armpits and pulled him outwards with all his might.

However, Zhong Chengguang was too heavy and had a very large build. Han Zhou even doubted that he could climb out of the car window. After several unsuccessful attempts, he had to give up on the plan and climb back to the other side of the car to climb into the car through the window.

Because he hadn't covered the car frame with his clothes, his arm was instantly cut by shards of broken glass, and even his abdomen was scratched by metal fragments that appeared out of nowhere. But he ignored the pain and acted quickly.

The car was filled with a pungent smell of gasoline, mixed with the stench of blood and burnt food, like a hot iron pot that was constantly being heated, and you never knew when it would explode.

Han Zhou felt increasingly anxious. He stepped onto the passenger seat, half-kneeled, and moved to the driver's side, trying to recline the seat back. However, the lever was stuck. He cursed under his breath, gritted his teeth, and tried to pry it open again. Finally, the seat back collapsed.

Zhong Chengguang's upper body leaned back, and his shoulders finally freed themselves from the gap in the steering wheel.

Han Zhou wasted no time. He immediately leaned over, grabbed the man's armpits with both hands, braced his feet against the back of the passenger seat, and pulled hard.

He didn't pull the person much, but he crashed into the hard dashboard and groaned in pain.

If only the guzheng were here...

Half a minute later, he was panting heavily, and he smiled bitterly to himself. At this rate, he was afraid that even if he had another half hour, he might not be able to get the person out of the car.

Just as he was at his wit's end, he suddenly felt someone pat him on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw Zhong Yin, soaking wet, had somehow climbed down the rope again and handed him a cell phone with only four words on it:

"I'll help you."

She seemed completely blind to the flames burning beneath the car. With great effort, she climbed onto the roof, moved to the driver's side window, grabbed her father's shoulders, and pulled him out with all her might.

During this process, Han Zhou actually said a lot of things, but she pretended not to hear them.

Han Zhou was helpless against her. He knew that the sooner they could rescue Uncle Zhong, the sooner the three of them could escape danger. So he had no choice but to cooperate with Zhong Yin's actions. While she pulled hard from the outside, he pushed hard from the inside. In no time, both of them were exhausted. The car even shook a few times along the way, which made Han Zhou's heart skip a beat.

Fortunately, their efforts weren't entirely wasted; soon, Zhong Chengguang's upper body was pulled out of the car window.

Han Zhou, panting heavily, said with difficulty, "Sister Yin, try tying the balloon to Uncle now and see if you can make him lighter."

Zhong Yin immediately did as she was told, but it seemed like she was wiping away tears a few times while saying something. Han Zhou understood that she was urging him to get out of the car quickly.

He smiled, feeling the car getting hotter and hotter, while his body grew weaker and weaker: "Why are you crying? Quickly tie the balloon back on, it'll be over soon."

He looked down and noticed that his abdomen was bleeding, the blood mixing with the rainwater and staining his clothes and the chair. No wonder he could smell blood earlier; it was his own blood.

Zhong Yin was still saying something, but he really couldn't hear anything. But it was probably for the best that he couldn't hear anything. He guessed that Sister Yin was probably crying and cursing herself right now.

Even though she was being scolded fiercely, she didn't neglect her business. She quickly tied up the balloons and gave an OK sign.

Han Zhou understood again; this meant that the "hot air balloon" had worked, successfully reducing the weight on Zhong Chengguang's body, which made things much easier.

A wave of intense fatigue washed over him, and he quickly popped a few energy pills into his mouth. He continued to work with Zhong Yin to help Zhong Chengguang out of the car.

At the same time, a one-minute countdown suddenly appeared in front of Han Zhou's eyes.

He twitched the corners of his mouth, and the pent-up frustration in his heart was finally swept away. This rescue operation was much easier than expected. Being able to trigger the countdown meant that he had won the gamble, and the past had been completely rewritten.

Everything went so smoothly it seemed unreal, but upon closer inspection, it made perfect sense, given how much preparation he had made for this day.

Once the countdown ends, he can return to the "present," and his injuries will heal instantly.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou climbed out of the car and said to Zhong Yin, who was standing outside watching him, "Sister Yin, you should take Uncle away and go somewhere else. I should go back to where I belong."

"Please don't misunderstand, I'm not talking about the underworld. You should be able to guess where I come from. Believe me, I'll be fine. We'll meet again in the future..."

He didn't know how much Zhong Yin had taken in, but he saw the girl finally nod and carry her father up the road.

At the same time, the countdown in front of him had reached eleven seconds. In order not to be killed by the sudden explosion of the car and cause all his efforts to be in vain, he decided to move a little further away.

However, just as the countdown reached seven seconds, an accident occurred.

Under the repeated erosion of the heavy rain, the rocks on the slope suddenly loosened, and the steel bars fell off, making it impossible to support the weight of the car.

The car plummeted and exploded in mid-air. Although the force was far less than the two explosions that had just occurred, it still caused the slope to tremble a few times.

Han Zhou was already weak and could barely stand. As the slope continued to shake, he could no longer stand and lost his balance.

This time, however, he was no longer protected by ropes.

He fell off the cliff like that.

At this moment, there are only five seconds left on the countdown.

In an instant, Han Zhou felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

If the bottom really is a bottomless abyss, then there's nothing to be afraid of. After all, the free fall time of 10,000 meters is far more than five seconds, and he would have already returned to the "present" by then.

However, according to his observation, what was directly below was not a bottomless abyss, but a river about twenty meters above the slope.

Falling from that height is enough to be fatal.

According to the free fall formula, even considering the effect of air resistance, it would only take about three seconds to fall.

In other words... he will fall to his death before returning to the "present".

Han Zhou finally realized that the reason why the rescue went so smoothly was perhaps not entirely because he was well prepared, but rather because fate was mocking him in some way.