Chapter Sixty-One: Cliffside Peril (Part One)

Creak... creak... A sharp pain in my head gradually brought my vision back into focus. The grating, unpleasant sound of metal scraping echoed in my ears, making me instinctively shake my still-dazed head. Only then did the memory of what happened before I lost consciousness return to me. In that same instant, my pupils widened in shock as I turned to look at Chu Qitong, who was slumped over in the driver’s seat beside me.

The woman was sprawled across the steering wheel, unconscious. Her cheeks, swollen and red, were clear evidence of the slap I’d given her. If not for the faint movement of her body with each shaky breath, I would have thought she was already dead. In a panic, I gently nudged her and whispered, “Hey... wake up, Chu Qitong, wake up... Chu...”

But just as I was softly calling to rouse her, my gaze swept past her and out the window—and in that instant, my entire body froze, trembling as though I’d stumbled upon a scene of utter horror. Why? Because only now did I realize that the view outside the windshield was nothing but a vast expanse of white mist—an endless, formless void. The car’s subtle, swaying motion, and the metallic groan from beneath, made me understand at once: we were perched precariously atop a cliff, with half the car already dangling over a bottomless abyss.

“Chu Qitong, wake up! If you don’t, you’ll die!” I shouted in terror, shaking her harder, but that jolt seemed to make the car, already balanced on the cliff’s edge, rock even more violently. I froze, too terrified to move or even breathe. A joke, surely—if we went over this edge, not even a god could save us from being smashed to pulp, let alone mere mortals like us.

At that moment, Chu Qitong finally stirred from my pushing. As she regained consciousness and saw me, the memory of what had happened flashed through her mind, and she angrily tried to lunge at me. I hurriedly brushed aside her clutching hand and pointed outside. “Enough! Look out there—we’re about to die, and you still have the energy to fuss?”

At first, she didn’t pay attention, but when she followed my finger and glanced out the window, her entire body went rigid and she sat frozen in her seat.

A piercing, terrified scream burst from her throat. After all, she was a young woman—who wouldn’t shriek at the sight of such mortal peril? I quickly covered my ears and shouted back, “What are you screaming for? Screaming won’t change a thing! Luckily, the car must’ve hit something that slowed it down, or we’d already be at the bottom of this gorge. I’m warning you—if you want to live, don’t move and don’t scream! One wrong move and we’ll be joining the car at the foot of this cliff, nothing left but ghosts!”

My outburst seemed to startle Chu Qitong into steadiness, though tears streamed uncontrollably down her cheeks. This must have been the most terrifying moment of her life. If I hadn’t been reborn, if not for that night before my death, perhaps I’d be reacting just like her now.

Looking at her pitiful, fragile figure, I felt my heart soften with pity. Honestly, I was to blame for all this; if not for that slap, she wouldn’t have lost control, wouldn’t have crashed, and we wouldn’t be hanging here above the abyss.

“Xiao... Xiao Qiang... what do we do now? I’m so scared, so scared…” At this moment, the formidable Chu Qitong was nowhere to be seen—she was just a frightened little animal, curled up and shaking, too afraid to move. I gently patted her back and sighed, “Miss Chu, it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have hit you. Given our situation, we only have a fifty-fifty chance of getting out alive.” I leaned out the window, scanning our surroundings before withdrawing and continuing, “Your seat is farther from the cliff’s edge, so I’ll go out first. Hold tight to my arm—if I can get solid footing on the cliff, we’ll be safe. But we have to be careful. The car could fall at any moment. It’s balanced like a lever, but the cliff can barely bear our weight as it is. If we don’t get out quickly, we’ll never get out at all.”

“What should we do now?” Chu Qitong, calming a bit after my analysis, asked anxiously.

I glanced around inside the car. “Miss Chu, do you have anything stored in the back?”

“Yes, I bought a barbecue grill, some metal frames, and a lot of…” She trailed off, blushing slightly. I nodded. “If we make it out of here, you’ll have those things to thank. It’s clearly because of them that the car didn’t tip over completely under our weight. I’ll open the door first—grab my hand and don’t let go.”

I reached out, and once Chu Qitong had a firm grip, I gritted my teeth and opened my door. As the door swung open, a blast of cold wind howled into the car, making me shudder and the car shake violently, so much so that Chu Qitong squeezed her eyes shut in terror.

“Open your eyes! If we’re going to die, let’s die with our eyes wide open!” I barked at her, then braced myself against the icy wind and peered outside. Autumn in the mountains was cold enough, but here, hanging above a chasm, the swirling air currents made the wind even fiercer. In just a few minutes, my face was numb and red from the cold. If I hadn’t spent the past months training my body, the old me wouldn’t have been able to take it.

Through the wind and mist, I could just make out the cliff’s edge, about a step from the bottom of the car. I quickly calculated—we’d never reach it just by crawling out slowly. The only option was to jump. But if I jumped hard, the force would certainly push the car off the cliff! Meaning: if Chu Qitong and I didn’t time it perfectly, or if I missed the jump, we’d both plummet into the black chasm below.

My face darkened as I realized fate had given us only one chance. Seizing that chance—let alone for someone like me, just an ordinary student—even a well-trained special forces soldier wouldn’t have a hundred percent certainty. My heart sank. Even if I made it to the cliff, I wasn’t alone—Chu Qitong would be clutching me. Could I rely on my strength alone to do this?

Despair flooded me. Seeing the terror in Chu Qitong’s eyes, I knew I could never abandon her and save myself. Damn it—right now, I hated myself. If I’d just let her bite me, treated it like a dog bite, none of this would have happened. Why did I have to slap her and bring this all on myself?

Another violent tremor shook the car. I knew my time was running out—if I didn’t risk it all now, in a few minutes we’d be smashed to pieces anyway.

Turning to Chu Qitong, I forced a calm smile. “Miss Chu, maybe you were right all along. Perhaps Su Xin and I really can’t be together after all…”

“What do you mean by that—are you saying…” My words left Chu Qitong so frightened she could barely breathe. The cold had stiffened her limbs, and my words snuffed out whatever hope remained on her face.

“Come on, we have only one chance—just one. Whether we live or die, it’s up to fate. Hold tight to my hand and come closer to me, slowly.” Having made up my mind, I was ready to risk it all. If we’re doomed anyway, I’d rather die with no regrets. Since my rebirth, I no longer cared so much about life and death—but at this moment, I couldn’t shake the image of Su Xin’s beautiful face from my mind. No matter how I tried, it lingered there, unwilling to fade…

Will Xiao Qiang and Chu Qitong escape this car wreck? And what shocking discoveries await Xiao Qiang after the crash? All will be revealed in the upcoming chapters of “My Rebirth Legend.”

P.S. The novel officially launches tomorrow, with massive updates on the way! Friends waiting for more chapters, get ready! And don’t forget to send flowers, votes, and gifts—your support means everything. For more on the story’s development, join Group 1.