Swept Away by the Current

The torrential rain raged, severely hindering the rescue efforts. It had already taken immense effort just to drag the drowning little girl ashore. Beside the river, medical personnel immediately began performing CPR on the child. Meanwhile, the firefighters remained at the river’s edge, searching for Jian Ye.

The roar of the rain was deafening, forcing them to shout to communicate. One team member yelled, “Captain! He’s definitely been swept downstream! We can’t keep going like this!”

The firefighter, addressed as Captain, paused for only a second before issuing organized commands. “Team one, stay here and continue searching. Team two, follow me downstream. Also, call team three. Why haven’t the rescue assault boats been dispatched yet? This is too slow!”

Their fire brigade was responsible for the area around Linhe Bridge, which was quite close, allowing them to arrive quickly. However, their equipment was limited to standard inflatable rescue boats, a far cry from the medium-sized assault boats needed. Upon receiving the news, they had immediately reported it to the main fire department, which was now dispatching reinforcements.

Just then, the medical personnel nearby shouted, “The child is spitting up water! Quick! Get her to the hospital!”

For a drowning victim to expel water and breathe independently indicated a chance of survival. The fire captain’s eyes reddened at the sight. He thought of the young man, much younger than himself, who had acted without hesitation. Had Jian Ye not taken immediate emergency measures, leaping into the water to tie a rope around the girl, she would have been swept away long ago. Yet now, the young man himself had vanished into the churning, swift current.

The captain knew Jian Ye’s chances of survival were slim, but he would never abandon a single life. As long as the boy remained unfound, they would continue their relentless search.

****

Everyone on the bridge had witnessed Jian Ye disappear beneath the water. The boys stood stunned, while some of the more sensitive girls broke down in tears on the spot.

Director Wu’s legs gave out, and he collapsed into a puddle. Those nearby rushed to help him, but he slowly waved them off. “Don’t help me. Let me be for a moment.”

A profound regret gnawed at his heart. The production team had failed to monitor the sudden change in weather, assuming it would only be light rain. Now, even before filming had begun, such a grave incident had occurred. If blame were to be assigned, the full responsibility lay with him. Director Wu gasped several times, then roughly wiped his face with mud-stained hands.

Mo Huan attempted to rush off the bridge, only to be restrained by a group of staff members. “Don’t stop me! Let me go find Little Ye! Didn’t you see him get swept away? He must be… he must be in so much pain right now! So much agony!”

Mo Huan’s glasses had long since fallen and been crushed on the ground. He was, perhaps, at his most disheveled point in life—his hair was completely soaked and disarrayed, his clothes filthy, with a hole torn in them from who knew where.

Those nearby quickly tried to reason with him. “The rescue team is already down there. There’s no point in you going now.”
“Brother Mo, the current is too strong. Even if you can swim, it’s useless. You’d only be adding another life to the risk.”

Mo Huan was stung by their words, his eyes blazing red as he stared at them. “What do you mean, ‘adding another life’? Jian Ye isn’t dead! He’s not dead!”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. My words were clumsy! I spoke out of turn! Jian Ye will definitely be fine, Brother Mo. You’re too emotional right now. Let me take you to the car to sit for a bit. We’ll wait for Jian Ye to come back with you, okay?”

Mo Huan suddenly fell silent, his entire demeanor so forlorn he seemed on the verge of collapse. In truth, everyone knew there was only one outcome for someone swept away by such a current. But at this moment, they couldn’t voice such thoughts. For the sake of that last shred of hope in their hearts, everyone silently prayed for a miracle.

****

Huo Kai returned to his car, his expensive suit practically ruined. Impatiently, he stripped off his jacket, shouting into his phone, “Keep searching! Search downstream! Where are those rescue boats I called for? Get the dive team ready, quickly!”

“What? The rain’s too heavy to go down? Don’t give me that damn nonsense! Your advanced equipment can’t handle it? Give me the gear, and I’ll go down myself, alright?!”

The call ended. Huo Kai angrily slammed his fist on the steering wheel, the blaring horn startling those outside. “Every single one of them, they’re going to drive me crazy! This damn…”

If Jian Ye couldn’t be found, he genuinely felt he’d have to jump into the river himself as an apology to Yi Siyu. Yi Siyu cherished his beautiful little spouse so much. Now, with the boy’s life hanging in the balance, Yi Siyu would surely go mad once he found out!

As if on cue, Huo Kai’s phone vibrated twice while his mind was in a chaotic mess.

[Yu]: I saw it’s pouring rain in S City. Has the crew returned to the hotel yet? He didn’t bring an umbrella. Give him a ride, don’t let him get wet, he’ll catch a cold.

Huo Kai was speechless. ‘I’d love to give him a ride, but he’s in the river. Should I drive the car into the water to pick him up?’ ‘How in the hell was he supposed to respond to this?’ Huo Kai didn’t even dare to look at Yi Siyu’s message. A heavy knot of dread twisted in his stomach.

He found it hard to believe that just moments ago, the young man had been speaking with him, and now he was caught in such a dire crisis. He deeply regretted not having stopped Jian Ye in time. Although the little girl was indeed pitiful, sacrificing one’s own life for another’s simply wasn’t worth it. Not at all.

Huo Kai only now realized that Jian Ye, who appeared so docile, gentle, and delicate on the surface, possessed such incredible courage to leap from that bridge. Anyone else might have hesitated, but the young man didn’t waver for a single moment. He did not stand idly by. For what Jian Ye had done today, Huo Kai could only use the word “heroic.” As Yi Siyu’s close friend, he didn’t endorse Jian Ye’s act of saving someone, but as a man of principle, he would applaud such an individual. He himself might not have been able to achieve such a feat. In that moment, everyone present seemed to fall short of this boy, who had only recently entered university.

Huo Kai calmed himself in the car for a moment. Even though the situation was grim, and the outcome might not be favorable, he had no right to conceal any of this from Yi Siyu. Yi Siyu had the right to know the truth. Jian Ye was his beloved, and if he continued to deceive him now, their friendship would be irrevocably broken.

After a moment, he shakily dialed Yi Siyu’s number. The phone rang for only a second before the other party picked up.

“Hello? Are you two together?” Yi Siyu’s tone was laced with question and conjecture, as if he subtly sensed something was amiss due to the lack of a reply.

“Siyu… I…” Huo Kai wanted to speak plainly, but his throat seized up. His nose suddenly stung, and tears threatened to fall. The more Yi Siyu asked with hopeful expectation, the more sorrow welled within him.

“What’s wrong? Where’s Ah Ye? Did you take him back to the hotel?”

Huo Kai took several sharp breaths, then suddenly broke down, shouting, “I’m sorry! I’m damned!”

“What do you mean, ‘lost him’?” Yi Siyu’s voice was cold.

“There was a torrential downpour, and a child fell into the river. Jian Ye jumped in to save her, and as a result…”

“As a result, what?! Huo Kai, speak clearly!” The man on the other end of the phone seemed to have already guessed everything but still refused to believe it, wanting to hear it spoken aloud.

“He was swept away by the river. We haven’t found him yet, and there’s been no news whatsoever.”

Bang! Huo Kai heard something heavy crash to the floor on the other end of the line.

****

The torrential rain, fierce in its arrival, was equally swift in its departure. Half an hour later, it had subsided to a moderate shower. After Jian Ye fainted from exhaustion, System 748 began calling out to him in his mind.

[System 748: Host! Host! Wake up! Don’t sleep!]
[System 748: This is dangerous! Host! Host!]
[System 748: I forgot to mention earlier, the breath-holding function from the underwater gift pack has a time limit. It won’t last more than an hour at most. If you keep sleeping, you’ll drown!]

System 748 shouted laboriously for a long time, but Jian Ye showed no response. It had miscalculated, overestimating the capacity of the host’s body! Because this item had multiple buffs stacked on it, it would greatly deplete the user’s physical and mental energy. Jian Ye had already expended a significant amount of energy while saving the girl, and combined with the item’s drain on his body, this directly led him into a state of dormancy. However, there wasn’t much harm, and he would recover on his own eventually, though it would take some time.

But time was clearly not on their side now. If Jian Ye continued to drift, he could potentially hit submerged rocks and die instantly. ‘What to do? What to do? I must find a way to save the host.’

System 748 could perceive everything around Jian Ye. It noticed a large, crooked tree twenty meters away, its branches extending over the river, and suddenly an idea sparked. Its own power was minimal, but with the host’s upgrades, it could access certain permissions. System 748 strained to nudge the host in that direction.

If anyone could have seen Jian Ye at that moment, they would have noticed a faint, ethereal blue glow subtly emanating from around him.

[System 748: Ugh—ah—Come on! Come on! Just a little more! Ah, ugh—!]

The young man’s body drifted closer to the riverbank, then continued straight with the current. After floating another twenty meters, his body was firmly caught by the outstretched branches of the tree. Jian Ye finally ceased his long drift. His body, from the collarbone up, emerged from the water, his wet head resting against a thick branch. The nearby leaves seemed to gently cradle his head. Hidden among the green foliage, he resembled a fallen sprite.

Having accomplished all this, System 748 was also exhausted and, like Jian Ye, fell into a state of dormancy. The rain had stopped at some point, and the wind had softened. The surroundings were quiet, with only the sounds of the flowing water and the rustling leaves.

****

A full hour passed, and no one found the missing young man. Meanwhile, another group of people was also searching along the riverbanks, though they were not looking for Jian Ye.

“Young Master! That old hag said she threw Miss from this very river road! How dare that old b*tch! I’ll skin her alive!” a sharp-featured young man with a scar on his forehead spat fiercely.

The man beside him, addressed as Young Master, wore an incredibly grim and terrifying expression. His clenched fingers dug into his flesh, betraying his intense anger and panic. In his twenty-plus years of life, Qin Fei had encountered many enemies and endured their cruel and vicious methods. This time, however, he had misjudged. His enemies hadn’t come for him directly; instead, they had bribed the family nanny and targeted his younger sister.

They had just used certain methods to brutally interrogate the nanny, which had wasted a significant amount of time, but finally revealed his sister’s whereabouts. His enemies had left no room for mercy, directly throwing a five-year-old child into the river—it was utterly insane.

Qin Fei followed the information down the river, but found nothing. The torrential rain earlier had been immense. How could such a small child, falling into that water, possibly still be alive? A dense, oppressive aura emanated from him. The hatred for those who had harmed his sister was bone-deep.