Chapter Sixty-Two - Peril on the Cliff (Part Two)
Perhaps never in her life had Chu Qitong moved so slowly; in the midst of intense tension, her breathing grew rapid. She gingerly lifted her leg, stretching it beside mine, her shapely hips inching, bit by bit, from the driver’s seat toward me…
Today, she wore a blue chiffon dress, and when her fair, delicate calf slipped over the gear stick, a glimpse of purple beneath her skirt sent my heart pounding and left me dizzy. Damn it, who said a witch had no allure? This tantalizing, half-revealed beauty nearly got the better of me, and I silently cursed my own lechery.
But just as I was about to beg the gods for forgiveness, something even more perilous occurred! After what felt like an eternity of slow, deliberate movement, Chu Qitong finally shifted over to my side—then, without hesitation, she straddled my legs! I was so stunned by the sensation that I couldn’t react for a long while, and even when I came to my senses, I could only open my mouth in speechless astonishment. What was there to say? There was barely any room in the passenger seat—if she didn’t sit on my lap, there was nowhere else for her.
Surrounded by the delicate fragrance emanating from her, I struggled to steady my nerves, dragging my gaze away from the devastating sight of her full bosom. Awkwardly, I said, “In a moment, when I stand, you… you’d best hold on to me…”
“Mm…” A barely audible reply escaped from her throat; I knew she must be mortified. After all, for a young woman to sit on a man’s lap in such an intimate pose—if she weren’t embarrassed, she wouldn’t be a woman at all! I did my utmost to control my lower body, but her swaying hips, moving with every jolt of the car, kept rubbing against my most vulnerable point. There was nothing to be done—even a monk would struggle to remain unmoved in such circumstances…
“Ah…” Chu Qitong clearly felt the hardness beneath her and let out a soft moan, her pretty face nearly buried in my chest in embarrassment. I didn’t know whether to stand or sit. Was this really Chu Qitong before me? I’d never seen this side of her before, so gentle and feminine. But now—now was hardly the time for such thoughts! Lives were at stake! Gritting my teeth, I pushed her aside, slowly maneuvered around her slender frame, and stood up, exposing half my body to the cold autumn wind. Chu Qitong said nothing, but quietly wrapped her arms around me from behind, holding on tightly.
As the car’s center of gravity shifted, the tilt grew steeper and the trembling more violent. I knew our lives would be decided in this single desperate gamble. Glancing back at Chu Qitong, her face pressed tightly against my back, I managed a smile. “Hold on tight, Miss Chu. Let’s hope we both survive this. After today, I hope we can truly become friends—no more attacks, no more hostility, no more bickering. Ha, thinking back, having you as a rival has made my days much more interesting. Thank you, Chu Qitong.”
At my words, her body shuddered violently. She bit her lip, silent, nodding ever so slightly. I thought I saw a trace of moisture at the corner of her eye, but I turned away, fixing my gaze on the edge of the cliff—our only hope of survival, just a step away!
“When I count to three and jump, do not, under any circumstances, let go—do you understand?” I shouted into the wind, not caring whether she heard, focusing all my attention on the ground not far ahead, refusing to blink.
“One!” I shouted, and instantly felt my body sink heavily. The car groaned under the strain, rocks tumbling, the screech of metal from beneath telling me the vehicle was moments away from plunging into the abyss.
“Two!” As I called out, a surge of desperate strength exploded within me—an intensity of will to survive that I had never felt, not even in my previous life. I poured every ounce of energy into this leap that would decide life or death.
“Three!” As the word left my lips, I was already soaring through the air. Below, endless darkness; above, dim stars; all around, swirling white mist. Everything seemed fantastical, as if I’d stepped into a scene from some ancient tale of immortals—just as old Zhou would say, a leap to the heavens…
As wild thoughts raced through my mind, Chu Qitong and I sailed closer and closer toward the cliff’s edge. Behind us, her battered red Santana 2000, after one final shudder, could no longer support its own weight and plunged into the depths below.
Closer… closer… My eyes locked on that chance at life, hands spread wide, ready to seize the solid earth of the cliff the moment I touched it. That is, if my feet couldn’t reach…
Just as I’d expected—even with all the power I put into my legs, even though the cliff’s edge was only a step and a half away, with the added weight of both of us, the wind slowed our momentum. I’d already calculated in my mind—my feet would never land on solid ground.
Panicked, I twisted my body, and as we fell, I lunged forward with both hands, grasping desperately. Perhaps Heaven took pity on us—for in that hopeless snatch at empty air, my hand seized the trunk of a small tree jutting from the cliffside! In an instant, both Chu Qitong and I were dangling from that slender branch, my grip the only thing keeping us from the void below.
My breath came in harsh gasps—the transition from death to life had drained me, and with two bodies’ weight pulling me down, I had to cling to that branch with all my might, my breathing growing heavier and heavier.
Just as I was about to regain my composure and climb toward the edge using the branch, a sudden cry rang out behind me! I felt a sudden lightness, my heart tightening in alarm—Chu Qitong, unused to hanging suspended like this, had lost her grip and was slipping away!