But trapped in there was Zhang Moyun’s son—the one who had risked his life time and again crashing cars, looping through cycles, who despite his rebellious nature always appeared before him again.

It was his foolish son who, even when forced into a desperate situation, still dared to crash into his father’s arms to warn him personally.

On the first day after they crossed over, that afternoon when Ding Chenmo called, the last two sentences had revealed the truth.

Ding Chenmo said: “Go downstairs for a walk later, someone wants to see you. I’ll temporarily pull back the outer perimeter personnel.”

Zhang Moyun didn’t ask who it was. Ding Chenmo added: “This time there might be a swap too.”

…

Later, Zhang Moyun found a note in his hand, clearly written in his son’s handwriting.

That evening, when “Zhang Jingchan” brought wine glasses to him and Wu Xinhui, he naturally wouldn’t drink it. He immediately closed the door and quietly called Ding Chenmo. But Ding Chenmo told him to play along.

“It’s your son’s idea—to have you two avoid this whole affair first. He said you can’t die again, said if you always feel you can’t escape fate, then this time listen to him and hide completely. Of course, it’ll also let that person lower his guard. Right now that person is using your son’s identity—we can’t arrest him, can’t hit him. If we push him too hard, who knows if he’ll drag you down with him. Old Zhang, haha, you’re not necessarily a match for this son you got for free.”

Zhang Moyun was so frustrated he wanted to curse, but still decided to listen to his son.

However, Zhang Moyun had stayed in the hospital for two whole days. This evening, seeing Li Yunmo looking distracted, he became even more anxious. After pressing him with a few questions, Li Yunmo started wiping away tears: “Brother Chan is taking a risk tonight. He won’t take me, only Zhong Yi. He thinks I’m useless…”

Zhang Moyun looked at Li Jinhong beside him: “Old brother, is it appropriate to let my son shoulder everything alone?”

Li Jinhong had been holding back a bellyful of rage. He immediately understood his meaning and stood up: “Let’s do it!”

Zhang Moyun personally called Zhong Yi. Zhong Yi didn’t hide anything and confessed everything, then promised: “Achan has arranged everything thoroughly. He’s considered every detail, calculated the timing again and again. I’ll also protect them secretly. This time I absolutely won’t let anything happen to them.”

But the old father who came from being a construction contractor still brought his old comrade and personally killed his way there.

…

At the cliff edge.

Li Weiyi raised the wooden stick and swung it at Xu Yi’s head. He snatched it away with one hand and threw it off the cliff. She lunged forward to grab his gun-holding arm. He roared: “Get back! Do you want to die!”

Li Weiyi was thrown off and fell to the ground. She tried to stop him again, but Xu Yi had already raised the gun muzzle, aiming at Zhang Jingchan’s head.

Zhang Jingchan had been forced to the cliff edge, his left hand covering his bleeding stomach, his face deathly pale.

Li Weiyi didn’t dare move again and cried: “Please, Xu Yi, don’t shoot! Don’t kill him!” She instinctively turned her head. Standing here, looking past the gymnasium roof, she could still see the tall clock in the school—11:58:33.

Xu Yi noticed her gaze and also quickly turned his head, then looked down at his watch and said: “This round, this lifetime—no, all these lifetimes—I’ve finally won. There’s 1 minute 28 seconds left. Zhang Jingchan, as long as I kill you within this one minute, you’ll die immediately and we won’t be able to switch back. Jump, Zhang Jingchan. I don’t want to shoot you dead in front of her. There’s 1 minute 20 seconds left.”

Zhang Jingchan stood still. Xu Yi raised his hand and fired, another shot hitting his thigh. Zhang Jingchan’s body swayed and he almost couldn’t stand.

Li Weiyi cried: “Why must you kill him! Why!” She grabbed his ankle, her soft hands seemingly grasping his soul.

Xu Yi tilted his neck back, his Adam’s apple rolling: “Because you were right. I want to become that kind of person again. I’m a dragon among men, my life has been smooth sailing. Jump!”

Li Weiyi looked back at the clock again—1 minute 5 seconds left.

Zhang Jingchan was already covered in blood. Even without jumping, he was barely alive, but he still stubbornly stood. Suddenly he smiled too, that face in the night calm and handsome as when they first met.

Zhang Jingchan said: “I’ll jump. Don’t make things difficult for Li Weiyi.”

Xu Yi glanced at his watch: 1 minute 1 second.

He suddenly realized something. An incredible thought surged into his mind, cold sweat instantly covering his entire body. He saw Zhang Jingchan tilt his head back and fall toward the cliff below. He immediately fired, but it was too late—the bullet hit only air.

Li Weiyi had somehow stood up, standing behind him. She said softly: “I adjusted your watch back by one minute. Xu Yi, goodbye forever.”

But the school’s big wall clock… Ha, Xu Yi understood—the same thing, Zhong Yi’s doing.

In that instant, everything in Xu Yi’s field of vision began to distort: mountains, rivers, slopes, the handgun, the air…

It was as if an invisible heavy hammer struck down with a “boom” at his heart; as if an omnipresent ancient bell of authority resonated and rang out in his mind.

Xu Yi and Li Weiyi simultaneously collapsed to the ground.

No—it should be said it was already Zhang Jingchan and Li Weiyi.

Not far behind them, Zhong Yi was the first to rush over, faster than even the police, followed by Zhang Moyun, Li Yunmo, Li Jinhong, Ding Chenmo, and everyone else.

The two people on the ground slowly got up again, both rubbing their heads, looking at each other overlapping on their own bodies. The young man and young woman stared at each other wide-eyed.

Zhong Yi rushed over in a flash, his back to the police. He pulled out a clean cloth he had prepared long ago, wiped the fingerprints off the gun, kicked it off the cliff with one foot, then made a “shh” gesture to them both.

This was the last thing Achan had instructed.

The teenage Zhang Jingchan and teenage Li Weiyi looked confused but both sensibly kept quiet.

Below the cliff.

Xu Yi’s consciousness completely sank into darkness, but hazily, he seemed to see a cliff, see himself falling. His eyes closed, the corners of his mouth unconsciously smiled.

Just then, a figure suddenly rushed out from the darkness below the cliff and picked up the handgun that had fallen beside Xu Yi.

The police on the cliff had already rushed over, shouting loudly at Cheng Chuan: “Drop the gun! Police! Put the gun down immediately!”

But Cheng Chuan seemed to have lost his soul, mumbling: “I saw it, I just saw it, you killed me, you just killed me, three shots! You fired three shots! Damn it!” He suddenly pulled the trigger—three shots “bang bang bang” hitting Xu Yi’s corpse.

The police on the cliff fired several shots simultaneously. Cheng Chuan fell in a pool of blood.

In the distance by the river, several water police boats surrounded the motorboat.

Zhang Moyun and Li Jinhong, with their bodyguards, clustered around Zhang Jingchan; Zhong Yi and his people, along with Li Yunmo, surrounded Li Weiyi. The two groups pressed close together. The two young people, through the crowd, coincidentally looked at each other again. They knew nothing, yet their hearts seemed to understand something. Looking and looking, Li Weiyi blushed and turned her head away, but Zhang Jingchan kept staring at her.

The two corpses below the cliff lay silently in the wind. The police were surrounding them for preliminary investigation.

Ding Chenmo looked at everything that had finally ended and finally become peaceful before him, and let out a long sigh. He raised his head to look at the dense night sky without a trace of starlight and smiled.

Those two people—those two indomitable people who finally achieved their wish and saved everyone—should be returning to 2022 now, right?

No, he turned his head to look at the awkward young man and woman in the crowd, their gazes constantly entangling and chasing each other, and smiled again.

They would grow up before his eyes.

Old Ding’s face, like old tree bark, bloomed into a flower with his smile.