From Broken Family to Life Winner: A Reborn Mother's Journey

”I... I just wanted to get you for dinner... I made noodles today...” Bai Xinyue defended herself, clenching her jaw.

”This place is dangerous! It’s dangerous! I told you not to just come up the mountain. A landslide could happen at any moment, or another mudslide could be triggered! How many times did I have to tell you?!”

Wu Sheng’s face was thunderous. ”Get the hell down from here. Now.”

The situation he and Wa Wa Lian had come up to assess wasn’t good. Although the mudslide appeared to have slowed, making it seem like the danger had passed.

But the terrain here was precarious. No one could guarantee that a landslide or some other factor wouldn’t trigger a secondary mudslide.

A river had once flowed through the middle of this mountain, and the mudslide had been caused by a combination of heavy rain and the river itself.

After inspecting the area, Wu Sheng and Wa Wa Lian discovered the danger hadn’t passed at all.

Wa Wa Lian was wiry and agile. Wu Sheng had sent him to get warning signs, intending to mark the area as hazardous and prevent people from lingering on the mountain for no reason.

But shortly after Wa Wa Lian had left, Bai Xinyue and Little Hei had recklessly appeared.

Wu Sheng knew with a single glance that this was Bai Xinyue’s idea.

Wu Sheng looked at Bai Xinyue with nothing but cold disgust.

”Bai Xinyue, I told you yesterday that this is no place for you. I told you to leave as soon as possible, but you wouldn’t listen. There’s nothing I can do about that. But if you’re determined to get yourself killed, don’t drag an innocent child down with you.”

Bai Xinyue’s face paled instantly. ”Wu Sheng, you’re misunderstanding me! I didn’t... I didn’t know it was still dangerous here. I...”

Wu Sheng had no patience for her excuses. ”Get the hell down the mountain.”

No one had ever told Bai Xinyue to ”get lost” before, let alone twice in one go. Her face shifted from pale to livid. She shot Wu Sheng a venomous glare, then spun around and stormed off.

She had barely taken two steps when a sudden noise erupted nearby.

Startled, Bai Xinyue whipped her head around, just in time to see a small patch of earth give way around two trees.

Bai Xinyue’s face drained of color. She screamed and immediately looked toward Wu Sheng.

Wu Sheng saw it too and frowned. ”It’s nothing. Hurry up and get down the mountain.”

Bai Xinyue’s legs felt like jelly; she didn’t dare move. ”I’m too scared! Wu Sheng, come back down with us!”

She had seen the dry ground on the mountain and assumed it was safe; she never imagined it wasn’t.

Remembering what Wu Sheng had just said, she didn’t dare try to go back down alone.

Little Hei’s face was also chalky white. Fighting back tears, he joined Bai Xinyue in staring pleadingly at Wu Sheng.

”I said you’re fine for now. Hurry and go down. That way is safe.”

But Bai Xinyue wasn’t listening. She felt as if the very ground beneath her feet was moving, about to give way at any second.

”No, Wu Sheng! We’ll wait and go down with you!”

She steeled herself, went to the tree where Wu Sheng was perched, and scrambled up to stand beside him.

The ancient tree Wu Sheng stood in was quite unique. Its massive trunk would take three or four adults to encircle with their arms. It started branching out at a height of about two meters, its limbs spreading in all directions like an umbrella.

This created a surprisingly flat spot in the center, with enough room for two people to stand.

The tree had been climbed by many people and was easy to scale. Bai Xinyue made it up in an instant and stood beside Wu Sheng.

She grabbed a thick branch for support and glanced down. Her face paled once more, and she couldn’t stop a scream from escaping.

From the tree, you could see the slowly churning mudslide below. If you were unlucky enough to fall, you would roll down the slope and straight into it.

There was no surviving a fall into that mudslide; it was no different from being swallowed by a pit of quicksand.

Bai Xinyue hadn’t noticed this before. The sight made her whole body tremble.

”Shut up.” Wu Sheng’s face was a mask of impatience as he listened to her screaming.

Little Hei, incredibly fast, had climbed up right after her. He looked at Wu Sheng with a pitiful expression.

Wu Sheng suppressed a surge of anger. ”Since you’re up here, just stay put. We’ll go down together in a moment. Grab onto the tree and don’t fall.”

He shifted to the side to make room for Bai Xinyue and Little Hei.

Wu Sheng had barely regained his footing when a strong gust of wind swept through.

The branches began to sway, accompanied by a loud CREAKING sound.

It sounded terrifyingly as if the branch couldn’t support the weight of all three of them. Bai Xinyue’s face went white, convinced it was about to break.

She violently shoved Little Hei, who had just found his balance.

”It’s fine—” Wu Sheng had felt the wind and was just about to reassure them when, in the next instant, he saw Little Hei scream and plummet from the tree.

Without a second thought, Wu Sheng lunged for him, but it was too late. He lost his own balance and went toppling down as well.

”Ahh, no!”

Bai Xinyue’s horrified scream rang out at the same time.

As he fell, Wu Sheng desperately managed to grab Little Hei’s hand and snag a branch. But the branch couldn’t take their combined weight and snapped instantly.

In that split second, Wu Sheng made a snap decision.

He used every ounce of his strength to fling Little Hei upward, away from the mudslide.

Then, with what little strength he had left, he threw himself toward the solid ground at the edge of the slope.

Wu Sheng managed to avoid falling into the mudslide, but the outcome was hardly any better.

When Wa Wa Lian returned with the supplies, he was met with the sight of Little Hei, knocked out cold, his condition unknown.

He also saw a blood-soaked Wu Sheng and, beside him, the unconscious Bai Xinyue.

A wooden stake was impaled in the left side of Wu Sheng’s chest. Blood flowed ceaselessly from the wound, and his face was ashen.

Bai Xinyue had cuts all over her hands and feet, and her left eye was bleeding and injured...

”Chief!” Wa Wa Lian cried out, his eyes widening in pure horror at the scene.

’He had only been gone for a moment. How could everything have gone so wrong in such a short time?’

Wa Wa Lian dropped everything and scrambled down the slope. The moment he touched Wu Sheng, his hands were coated in thick, viscous blood.

Wu Sheng was still breathing, but just barely.

Wa Wa Lian stared at the branch impaled in Wu Sheng’s chest and the wound that was still bubbling with blood. His own vision started to go black.

Half an hour later, a helicopter carrying the three seriously injured people was en route to the Imperial City, flying at maximum speed.

No one could have imagined that Wu Sheng, who was on the cusp of his return, would find himself in such a perilous situation.

During her last class of the day, Su Li suddenly saw her homeroom teacher enter from the back of the classroom. With a grim expression, he gave a curt nod to the instructor before his eyes landed on Su Li.

”Su Li, could you step outside for a moment?”

Confused, Su Li nonetheless stood up at once.

”Sir, is something wrong?”

she asked hurriedly as soon as they were out of the classroom.

”There’s a phone call for you,” the homeroom teacher said, his expression grave.

Su Li froze, a sense of dread immediately washing over her.

’A phone call directly to the school... It must be something important. Otherwise, they never would have called here.’

Su Li’s legs felt unsteady, but she forced herself to walk faster.

The homeroom teacher seemed about to say something, but after a second of hesitation, he remained silent, simply quickening his pace to keep up with her.

Su Li ran into the office. She stared at the phone with fear in her eyes but snatched up the receiver as quickly as she could.

”Hello?”

”Su Li, it’s me.” Wu Qihua’s voice came through the line.

Su Li’s legs gave out, and she nearly collapsed.

She braced herself with her hands, desperately trying to stay calm.

”Auntie, what’s wrong?”