Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 556 If There Is an Afterlife

Lin Qingping, who was being held by Gu Juncheng, felt her center of gravity rapidly dropping, as if she was about to fall to the ground and die.

She thought Gu Juncheng couldn't hold her anymore and was about to fall backward to the ground, so she closed her eyes. However, she didn't experience the severe pain she had expected.

Gu Juncheng held her very well, his palm protecting the back of her head. She could even feel that Gu Juncheng was holding her with one hand, and his other hand should have been on the ground first to give her a cushion before letting her fall to the ground.

It landed gently on the ground.

The cave was pitch black, but she could feel and touch Gu Juncheng's chest.

She didn't know what was happening; all she heard was a continuous rumbling sound.

When all the sounds finally stopped and the surroundings fell into a deathly silence, Lin Qingping felt some liquid dripping onto her forehead, drop by drop.

Her hands are now mobile; Gu Juncheng has already untied her ropes.

She pulled her hand away and gently wiped her forehead, only to find her fingertips sticky. She brought her fingers to her nose and smelled a strong, metallic scent of blood.

"Gu Juncheng..." She didn't know what had happened, and her voice trembled.

"Lin Qingping," Gu Juncheng's voice came from directly above her, "How are you?"

"I...I'm fine...What happened?" She couldn't see anything, but she knew that Gu Juncheng's body was on top of hers, but there was no contact between them. Her hands moved freely and she could touch his arms, his chest. There was a fist's gap between them.

What on earth happened? Why is he maintaining such a strange posture?

"Lin Qingping." He didn't intend to hide it from her. "Listen, the cave has collapsed, and we're trapped inside. I probably can't get you out right now. The most important thing we need to do is conserve our energy and wait for rescue. Do you understand?"

The cave collapsed, but not naturally; it was blown up by someone.

Lin Qingping was shocked...

But in a moment, he understood what was going on.

No wonder...

No wonder he shielded her as she fell in such an odd posture...

Everything she did before, he did this just to shield her from falling rocks, never expecting that the entire cave would collapse. In other words, they are now trapped under rocks and mud, meaning that Gu Juncheng is now buried under who knows how many stones are pressing down on him...

That's why he caught her with one hand when he fell, but how could his other hand, which was supporting him on the ground, withstand the force of the falling rocks? Was it broken?

And now, no wonder there was a fist's width of space between them. He was desperately trying to keep himself from crushing her, and to prevent the rocks on his back from crushing her as well...

But how long can he hold on?

She wrapped her arm around his arm and reached up to touch him, only to find it was all mud and stones...

“Gu Juncheng…” Warm liquid was still dripping from her forehead, some of it even flowing into her eyes, making them sting and burn.

“Don’t be afraid, we won’t have to wait too long. They will definitely come to rescue us. Don’t talk, save your energy,” he said, trying to speak from above her.

"Gu Juncheng..." she couldn't open her eyes anymore, "Don't keep going like this, get down, save your energy..."

She grabbed his clothes and pulled him down.

"You don't need to worry about me..."

"Gu Juncheng!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him.

She didn't have much strength, but the pressure on his back was really heavy, and he did have a broken arm that he couldn't use at all. When she pulled him like that, he was actually pulled down.

"Lin Qingping, you..." The moment he landed completely, he was only thankful that the rocks on his back did not move, they must have been fixed in place and would not move again.

He tried to feel around to both sides and found a huge rock on the right. He was relieved that the rock hadn't hit him on the head. Moreover, according to his measurements, the space created by the rock was more spacious than where they were now.

"Lin Qingping, don't move, I'll carry you over." He used his free hand to hold her and slowly moved her in the cramped space, finally managing to get them both to the side of the boulder, just big enough for two people.

Now all we need to do is wait patiently.

Gu Juncheng's biggest concern was how long the oxygen inside the cave could last. If the cave entrance was completely sealed off and no oxygen could get in, they wouldn't be able to hold out for long either.

He started thinking of ways to find a way out, digging and moving stones with his bare hands.

Lin Qingping was lying on the ground. Hearing the sound, she knew what he wanted to do. She moved over with difficulty and began to help him with both hands.

Because it was so dark, neither of them could see, and they could only judge what the other was doing by sound. As soon as Gu Juncheng heard the noise, he knew what she was doing and quickly stopped her, "Lin Qingping, you haven't remembered anything I told you! Conserve your energy! What are you doing?"

"What are you doing again?" Lin Qingping asked weakly. "I also want to get out of here alive."

"You know you want to get out of here alive? You just had surgery, didn't you know? Try disobeying me again!" He followed the direction of the voice, grabbed her, and even in the darkness, controlled her hands so she couldn't move. "Still not listening, are you?"

The tone became increasingly harsh.

Lin Qingping immediately felt wronged. "You know I just had surgery? Why are you still being so mean? What time is it? We're not even sure if we can get out of here. Can't you even say a nice word to me when you're about to die? Why are you always yelling at me?"

Gu Juncheng: ...

Gu Juncheng hugged her, "I didn't yell at you, I just..."

Well, he decided not to explain. He was just used to speaking loudly, but while it might not be a big deal in the military, it might be unacceptable to her.

"It's my fault. You stay here, okay? I can take care of it." He lowered his voice.

"But Gu Juncheng, you're injured, you've lost a lot of blood, you need to conserve your strength more than I do, do you know that?" Lin Qingping felt that her face must be covered in blood, all of it his, she could feel it herself.

"I know what I'm doing. Just stay here and don't move. I'll feel more at ease if you don't move, and I can think of a solution properly, okay?" He tried to speak as softly as possible.

Lin Qingping remained silent for a while, then regained her composure and hummed in agreement. She was also worried about the lack of oxygen in the cave. Since Gu Juncheng had said so, she would let him focus on finding a solution and not worry about her.

However, things did not go as optimistically as Gu Juncheng had hoped.

Because he was buried in the cave, he couldn't tell which way to go. He didn't know if there was an exit or if air could get in from the direction where his fingers were bleeding from digging. What was worse, moving the stones caused the rocks to loosen again. After a loud rumble, a rock fell down. If Gu Juncheng hadn't been quick and flipped over, he would have been hit.

Moreover, this time the rocks were loose, causing them to fall and press down, making the space to accommodate them even smaller.