Every time Suo Tian casually says something strange like that, he always avoids answering the questions that follow.
Just like now — after saying those words, he refused to say anything more.
He simply wrapped an arm around me and stared into the dense forest ahead.
I turned my head to look at him, and for the first time, I saw something similar to confusion in his eyes.
Because of the severe blood loss and total exhaustion, Lili remained unconscious for a very long time.
She woke up once to drink the milk I gave her, then fell unconscious again.
She didn’t fully wake until the afternoon of the next day.
The pain from the wound had drained all color from her lips.
She stared at her injured arm for a long time, dazed.
Only after Bruno gave her painkillers did her expression finally soften a little.
We let her rest a bit more.
Once Bruno confirmed she was out of danger, Suo Tian ordered everyone to continue moving.
We trudged forward with heavy silence.
After clearing a thick patch of brush, the sound of flowing water suddenly drifted toward us.
Everyone’s spirits lifted instantly — A river?!
In the mountains, finding a river is almost like finding a guiding beacon.
Follow the river downstream, and you will always find a way out of the forest.
We all quickened our pace and rushed toward the sound.
Finally, after pushing through the last layer of brush, the terrain ahead opened up.
The trees became tall and sparse.
We hurried forward — only for our hopeful expressions to freeze.
There was indeed a wide river ahead.
The current wasn’t particularly rough — but the river was at least twenty meters below the cliff where we stood.
It was almost exactly like the time I climbed down to search for Zheng Yiyi — except this cliff was even higher, and the river was even wider.
Everyone stood there staring — dumbfounded.
The cliffs on either side were thick with impassable brush.
Following the river on foot meant nothing more than going back to wandering through the forest.
“…So… what do we do?” I asked Suo Tian as he stared across the gorge. “Turn back?”
Suo Tian shook his head. “No need.”
I followed his gaze toward the opposite cliff.
That side was lower than ours by several meters and was mostly bare rock.
Aside from a few trees on the edge, there were hardly any bushes at all.
I couldn’t help sighing.
If only we were over there instead.
The thought had barely formed when it hit me.
I stared again at Suo Tian — who was still watching the opposite cliff.
Could it be…?
Sure enough, moments later, Suo Tian took out two coils of rope from his pack.
While everyone was still busy complaining about the damned river, he was already securing one rope high up around a sturdy tree.
He slid down along it afterward as if testing its stability.
“Boss? You planning to go across?” the middle-aged man asked.
“Mm.” Suo Tian tugged the rope to tighten it again, then walked to the edge of the cliff and examined the drop below.
Only now did the others realize what he was doing.
None of them understood yet.
Shen Feng set Xiao Hu down and warned Uncle Gazi to keep him away from the cliff before walking over.
“What exactly are you planning?” Shen Feng asked.
Suo Tian did not answer.
He tied the second rope to another tree — the one closest to the cliff.
Shen Feng watched quietly for a while, then frowned. “…How are you planning to do this?”
Instead of replying, Suo Tian clapped his shoulder, then turned and scanned the group.
His gaze paused when it reached Lili — who was still sitting weakly beside a tree.
He stared for a long moment.
Then he walked straight toward her.
I was a bit surprised—why would Suo Tian walk over to Lili at a time like this?
All these days, he had practically never interacted with her.
Even yesterday, when she was bitten and Bruno was treating her wound, he only stood aside examining Zhao Qiuting’s corpse.
We weren’t standing too far away.
Suo Tian walked up in front of Lili and looked down at her for a moment.
Then he crouched and asked, “How do you feel?”
Lili clearly hadn’t expected Suo Tian to speak to her first.
She froze for quite a while before hurriedly shaking her head repeatedly. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”
Hearing this, Suo Tian glanced at her arm, then reached out to help her up from the ground.
Those of us around them exchanged confused looks.
Wang Jun, who’d been standing a bit farther away, stepped forward a couple of paces and asked Suo Tian, “What are you doing?”
Suo Tian turned his head and gave Wang Jun a brief look but did not answer.
He leaned closer to Lili and whispered something to her.
His voice was low, so I couldn’t hear exactly what he said—but I saw Lili’s face fill with shock.
She took quite a while before finally regaining her senses and nodded at him, though hesitantly.
Next, Suo Tian led Lili to the tree where he had tied the rope earlier.
He threaded the end of the rope around her waist and secured it.
Then he loosened the remaining length, letting it hang naturally down from the tree.
After that, as though suddenly realizing something, he turned and glanced around the group—his gaze paused briefly on me—his eyes resting there just a moment before turning away again.
Then he reached out and wrapped one arm around Lili’s waist.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Wang Jun sounded both anxious and furious.
He moved forward as if he were about to rush over.
But at that moment, Suo Tian pushed himself upward with a powerful jump, grabbing the rope.
Lili threw both arms tightly around his neck.
With several swift movements, Suo Tian pulled both of them upward into the air, hanging suspended by the rope.
Before any of us fully understood what was happening, Suo Tian braced his leg and kicked hard against the trunk of the tree beside them.
Using the force of that kick, the two of them began to swing outward in a wide arc.
Wang Jun had already reached the base of the tree.
He craned his neck upward and roared, “You shameless woman! Get down right now! You’re already a mother and you’re still clinging to another man—do you think I’m dead?!”
Suo Tian ignored him entirely and continued increasing the swing’s momentum.
By then, I already understood what he intended to do.
After another powerful swing, Suo Tian suddenly released the rope.
With the force built up, he and Lili shot out toward the opposite cliff in a clean arc.
The instant his hand left the rope, my heart shot up into my throat.
My hands clenched so tightly they hurt.
I stared without blinking at Suo Tian, who was still firmly holding Lili.
He was going to get the injured Lili across first—to clear the way for the rest of us.
Suo Tian always acted carefully.
He would never attempt something like this recklessly.
He must have already calculated everything in his mind beforehand.
The actual moment from letting go to landing on the opposite side was extremely short.
But watching from below, I felt like I lived through an endless, suffocating span of time.
Only when Suo Tian and Lili safely reached the opposite cliff did my heart finally drop back into place.
Because the swing’s momentum had been so strong, it was impossible for them to land on their feet.
Instead, Suo Tian held Lili close and tumbled with her in a controlled roll on impact—only then coming to a complete and safe stop.
Wang Jun had been completely thrown off by the sudden turn of events.
Now, seeing Lili on the opposite side with Suo Tian having served as her human cushion, his expression twisted, and he gritted his teeth, cursing:
“That whore!”
Standing beside me, Han Xue finally couldn’t take it anymore.
The moment she heard him curse, her eyebrows drew together, and she planted her hands on her hips:
“What is wrong with you? Who talks like that? Is that how you speak to your own wife? I seriously don’t understand what your problem is—are you blind, or are your eyes growing out of your backside? Can’t you see that Suo Tian just carried your injured wife across first? And your first reaction is to start cursing? I swear, you’re impossible.”
Wang Jun clearly hadn’t expected Han Xue to fire back like that.
He froze for a moment, then immediately snapped in irritation:
“She’s my wife. I’ll say whatever I want. What’s it to you? And besides—go ask around! Whose wife gives birth just two days ago and then turns around and starts clinging all over another man?”
As soon as he finished, even Xu Shu, who was standing beside me, let out a cold laugh alongside Han Xue.
She shot Wang Jun a sideways glance and shook her head, murmuring:
“Hopeless.”
Han Xue caught onto Wang Jun’s words and this time clearly intended to drag the truth out in the open:
“Oh? So you do know she’s your wife? Funny, because up until just now, we honestly weren’t sure. You treat your wife so well, don’t you? Treat her so well that even someone like Suo Tian—who literally never meddles in other people’s business—had to step in and help your wife for you. Truly touching. I don’t know whether to cry or laugh.”
Every sentence hit like a slap.
Wang Jun trembled with anger.
The woman beside him, Song Meijing, looked at Han Xue and let out a soft laugh:
“This really isn’t any concern of an outsider like you.”
Of course Han Xue recognized Song Meijing.
And the moment she heard her speak, her battle aura shot up another level.
She let out a sharp, mocking laugh:
“Oh, Miss Song is absolutely right. An outsider like me shouldn’t interfere. It’s just—what can I say? I have a big mouth. When Suo Tian and Chen Yang lived together before, I reported everything in real time. My mother gave birth to me like this—no cure for it. What can you do?”
Han Xue was the very definition of sharp-tongued.
Meanwhile, on the opposite cliff, Suo Tian had already untied the rope from himself and Lili, securing it to a tree on that side.
In an instant, a rope bridge stretched across the gap.
Several of the black-clad men had already begun moving across—yet none of that affected Han Xue’s absolute enthusiasm for verbally sparring with Wang Jun and Song Meijing in the slightest.
— The end of the Chapter–
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