Chapter 19: Allow Me to Pay Tribute to Those Who Create Miracles.

Qian Junyou had already been in the water for quite some time…
The drizzle had not stopped. Instead, it was growing heavier.

Qian Junyou, who had jumped down from the carriage, even forgot about the carriage’s inertia and fell hard.
The rain-soaked ground smeared mud all over his face.

His left knee slammed heavily into an iron ridge on the stone road.
The pain instantly numbed his entire leg.

Any pressure on his knee hurt. Even standing up was difficult.

He should have told the carriage to turn around earlier, but it was already too late.
That deaf coachman had already driven the carriage farther and farther away.

“Get up… move… run!”

A person must keep running…

Rainwater soaked his cheeks and chest.
He fell every three steps, slipped every two.
The pain piled up, but he clenched it all between his teeth!

Limping and jumping, he rushed all the way to the riverbank. Without hesitation, he leaped in and swam toward where Bai Shuxi had fallen.

On a rainy night, everything was pitch black.
In the ice-cold river, he couldn’t see his own fingers.
He could only swim in the direction he remembered from memory.

He kept diving toward the riverbed, not knowing what he would touch down there, let alone how he would find Bai Shuxi.

Before he could find her, tangled water weeds wrapped around his calf first.

Being caught by water weeds was fatal. Many people who swam in rivers died because of them.

Sure enough, he wasn’t the protagonist. He didn’t have that kind of fate!

The coachman who rushed over saw his Young Master jump into the river from afar.
If he couldn’t be saved, he himself would definitely be implicated.

When the coachman ran to the shore, he discovered that Xueya was already there, anxiously searching for Qian Junyou’s figure.
But she couldn’t even see anyone. Jumping in wouldn’t help either!

This was the upper reaches of the canal. Stone walls lined both sides of the river.
Even if he surfaced, there was no way to climb up.

Time ticked by second by second.
Qian Junyou, only at the third layer of Qi Refining, had not strengthened his body much.
He had neglected exercise for years and could not hold on for long.

Soon, four minutes had passed—the limit for a trained ordinary person.

Nalan Xueya found a small boat near the bridge pier.
The coachman borrowed a lantern from a nearby house.
The two of them rowed on the river surface with lanterns and long poles, anxiously searching for Qian Junyou.

But the rain grew heavier and heavier.
Countless jumping raindrops covered the entire river.
The pattering rain drowned out the quiet night. They could barely hear their own shouts.

Six minutes passed.
Even some free divers could only last about that long.

Nalan Xueya thought several times of jumping in to search, but the coachman held her back.
The rain was too heavy. There was no visibility in the dark river water, and they couldn’t sense anyone’s presence underwater.
Moreover, it was summer. As the upper reaches of the canal, the water level was high and the surface wide.

After so long without surfacing, the chance of being swept downstream was higher.
So the coachman told Xueya to stay on the river surface here while he ran downstream alone to search.

Ten minutes passed.
Even professional divers with large lung capacity could only last this long.

Old He and the others from Prince Rui’s mansion rushed over upon hearing the news and began searching up and down the river.

Everyone held lanterns and shouted along the banks, but the sky was dark, the rain heavy, and the river wide and long. The difficulty of rescue was extremely high.

The sound of rain diluted every shout. Time continued to flow.
The possibility of Qian Junyou surviving grew smaller and smaller.

Nalan Xueya was so anxious she was about to cry.
Now she could only hope that the people searching upstream and downstream would find Qian Junyou floating on the river surface.

Just when she thought Qian Junyou might never come back, she suddenly felt the long pole in her hand grow heavy.
A hand tightly grabbed onto the bamboo pole.

“Young Master!”

Xueya quickly pulled Qian Junyou up.
She saw him holding the bamboo pole with one hand, gripping Bai Shuxi on his back with the other, and even biting a rusty short knife between his teeth!

If he hadn’t grabbed this short knife from the riverbed, he might really not have made it back…

“Young Master! Are you alright?!”

Qian Junyou, collapsed on the boat, kept coughing.
He felt as if his lungs were about to burn to ash. The pain was scorching.

Had he gone mad?
Perhaps he simply didn’t want to watch someone drown right in front of him!

His heart was torn with conflict.
Although death could reset time, he didn’t want to have regrets—not even once…

Finally… he had pulled her out!

Xueya patted his back and said somewhat helplessly:

“Young Master, Miss Bai… she’s already dead…”

“Cough cough… what?! She has Foundation Establishment cultivation. Is her life really that fragile?!”

Exhausted, Qian Junyou crawled over to Bai Shuxi’s side and felt her neck.
Sure enough, there was no pulse.

She was already dead? Had he still been too late?

No, there was still time!

‘I am… a certified lifeguard from Magic City Maritime University!’

As a “boat-operating” major, the school required every student to meet swimming standards and even offered lifeguard certification exams.

To prevent rainwater from entering, he had Xueya hold an umbrella over Bai Shuxi’s face.
Qian Junyou quickly took off his outer robe and placed it under the back of her neck, pressed down on her forehead, checked her mouth, lifted her chin, and unbuttoned the clothes at her chest.

“Young Master! You… what are you doing?”

“CPR!”

“Wh… what?”

“Saving her life—! Stop talking nonsense and do exactly as I say—!”

Qian Junyou didn’t know where his courage came from to roar at Xueya like this, but he only knew one thing: he was a lifeguard, and his current purpose was to save a life!

He turned Bai Shuxi’s head to the side, performed two chest compressions to successfully expel the accumulated water, then straightened her head again and began rapid chest compressions while counting out loud:

“Zero-one, zero-two, zero-three, zero-four, zero-five…”

The entire set of movements flowed smoothly and naturally.
Qian Junyou understood that CPR might never be needed, but once it was, it had to be performed skillfully!

From this moment on, it was a race against time. Every minute and every second from now would be linked to life itself!

Watching Qian Junyou’s practiced movements and his serious, determined eyes, Nalan Xueya held her breath on the side, not daring to move.
The Young Master before her felt both familiar and strangely unfamiliar…

“…Two-eight, two-nine, three-zero! …Pinch her nose and blow air into her mouth—!”

“Ah?”

“What are you staring for? Hurry up—!”

Qian Junyou roared like he had lost his mind.
Although the bewildered Xueya blushed and hesitated, she still did as told.

Qian Junyou didn’t dare to do the breaths himself. He was afraid of being stabbed to death by black-clothed assassins at that moment…

“Pinch her nose! Press your mouth tightly against hers, don’t let any air leak!

…Blow again… stop—!

Move aside… zero-one, zero-two, zero-three…”

After Xueya gave the breaths, the fully focused Qian Junyou began compressions again, racing against time, repeating the actions over and over.

Although his heart was panicked and anxious, every count accompanied a compression—firm and powerful, like a marching army advancing step by step!

The heavy rain slapped against the ground like the countdown of the Grim Reaper, engaging Qian Junyou in a life-and-death tug-of-war.

Rainwater, sweat, and river water mixed together on his body, but he didn’t dare relax for even a second.

Thirty compressions and two breaths formed one cycle.
Just like that—one cycle… two cycles… three cycles…
However, the longer CPR went on, the lower the chance of success…

Four to six minutes after the heart stopped, irreversible damage would occur to the brain and other vital organs!

“Young Master, Miss Bai has already…”

Xueya didn’t quite understand. Had the Young Master gone mad? Or was the blow too heavy?
In this world, once the pulse stopped, the person was dead…

“…Two-eight, two-nine, three-zero, blow—!”

He repeated several more cycles, but even after the fifth cycle ended, Bai Shuxi’s vital signs still had not returned.
Could she really… still be saved?

Time slipped away like sand through his fingers, tugging at every tense nerve in Qian Junyou’s body.

Yet he still refused to give up and continued the compressions, even though he was beginning to run out of strength.

The others had already been called to the shore and could take over at any time, but their movements definitely wouldn’t be as precise as his.

“Again! Zero-one, zero-two, zero-three…”

Why was he saving her?
From Bai Shuxi’s perspective, she actually hadn’t done anything wrong.

A notorious, evil young master who had people stalk her for a month, and finally, unable to obtain her, wanted revenge. He didn’t hesitate to kill over eight hundred refugees and frame her father…

But none of that was done by him! Why should he bear it!

The pouring rain roared in his ears.
His overlapping hands could no longer feel Bai Shuxi’s body temperature. Both their bodies were gradually turning stiff.

He felt like a numb robot, endlessly repeating the same actions. There was only one thought in his mind—save her.

‘Bai Shuxi, you fucking wake up!

Open your damn eyes and look clearly!

I! Qian Junyou! What kind of man am I—!’

“Young Master, yin and yang have their order. The dead cannot be brought back…”

“Two-nine, three-zero… blow—!”

His voice had already gone hoarse. The soreness in his shoulders was no less than in his legs.

Perhaps… there was no hope anymore.
Perhaps only if she died could he survive…

The sixth cycle ended.
In Qian Junyou’s previous world, as long as they held on until the ambulance arrived, there was still hope!

Unfortunately, this world had no ambulances…

Even so, he continued like a possessed madman, tirelessly repeating the motions. His shoulders had no strength left, so he used his waist and body weight to press down.

Qian Junyou didn’t know how many times he had repeated it. He only remembered what the training instructor had said: you must persist until the ambulance arrives!

But there was no hospital here! No ambulance! No defibrillator!
If CPR failed to restore her pulse, everything would be in vain!

Too much time had passed… it was almost impossible to save her anymore…

“Young Master, let Miss Bai rest in peace! Even immortals cannot revive the dead…”

Qian Junyou ignored Nalan Xueya’s劝告. In the face of priceless life, even the smallest hope was precious.

Rainwater, sweat, and river water flowed down his cheeks into his mouth, yet his throat felt as dry as if it contained sandpaper.

“Blow…! Once more! Zero-one, zero-two, zero-three…”

No. Even if the Grim Reaper has already taken her soul, today I will drag the Grim Reaper back!

“Cough—”

Bai Shuxi, whose entire body had already turned ice-cold, suddenly began to tremble at the shoulders…

“You… Young Master! …There’s a pulse! There’s a pulse—!”

Nalan Xueya stared in disbelief, unable to believe what was happening before her eyes!

This was something even immortals could not do!

Defying heaven to change fate? Bringing the dead back to life! The Young Master had done it!

This was an instant greater than any divine miracle. Its name was miracle!

Exhausted, Qian Junyou let out a sigh of relief and fainted on the spot.

‘Seems like… I had an appointment with someone…’

A certain Miss Su cursed for the entire night.

It was said that on this day, the Ox-Head and Horse-Face worked overtime, checking the list all night—Old He and the others joked about it later.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already the Chou hour—past one in the morning. His brain throbbed as if it was about to split open.

His knee seemed to have been treated, but it still hurt a little.

Qian Junyou sat on the bed, constantly recalling everything that had happened today.
Unknowingly, his mental willpower had been strengthened once again.

Yesterday, as long as he got even slightly close to Bai Shuxi, that power would begin fighting for control of his body.
But tonight, after performing CPR, nothing had happened.

At the same time, he always felt as if tens of thousands of eyes were staring at his back every moment.
He had turned his head once and never did so again. Because he roughly understood where that gaze was coming from…

He sat on the edge of the bed with half-closed eyes and thought for a long time. In the end, he made up his mind, got up, and woke his sleeping old man.

“Mm… in the middle of the night, is your butt itchy?”

Prince Rui flipped over, propped himself up on his arm, and sat halfway up in bed.

“Please petition the Emperor tomorrow morning to exempt the Bai family from the three-clan implication! Also, delay the matter of sending the Vice Minister of Works to death row!”

Prince Rui felt a chill in his heart upon hearing this. Was this brat treating him like the Emperor?

“Talk about it tomorrow morning.”

“In reply to Father, tomorrow morning I won’t be able to get up!”

“You…”

Prince Rui was so angry he wanted to get out of bed and beat him again, but he endured it.

“Write a memorial yourself and put it on my table. Say one more useless word and I’ll have you killed!”

“Thank you, Father—!”

Qian Junyou’s loud voice pierced through the pavilion, causing a burst of dog barks downstairs.
Prince Rui abruptly threw off the quilt and sat up, only to find that he had already slipped away like a wisp of smoke.

………………

The next day, past noon, Qian Junyou groggily woke from his dreams.
Not only did he now have high resistance, he had also completely gotten rid of Bai Shuxi!

Although there was no phone or computer, this world was still quite nice!

A servant walked into the room, curtsied, and said:

“Young Master, Miss Bai has come to see you!”

Never ending?

Still, Qian Junyou was very curious what kind of expression Bai Shuxi would show when she saw him now.

“…”

He had wanted to say he wouldn’t see her, but the words died in his throat.

In the courtyard, a young girl stood wearing a white dress with dark lotus patterns, a red waist-length palace-style short skirt, and a light black gauze shawl.

Paired with her delicate and beautiful face, slender yet voluptuous figure, and a pair of snow-white jade legs shaped like lotus roots and willow branches.

Standing under the bright sunlight, the residual puddles on the ground reflected the sun’s rays like stage lights, sparkling.

After Qian Junyou came down, she gently turned around, her skirt swaying, revealing a warm and lively smile and bright, moist eyes. For a moment, it made people forget that autumn had already arrived…

A peerless beauty who could topple a kingdom. She truly deserved to be called the number one beauty of the capital…

‘If only she wore black stockings… No! I, Qian Junyou, don’t fall for that!’

“Hmph… isn’t this the number one talented lady of the capital—Bai Shuxi, Miss Bai?
Your honored presence truly brings glory to my humble dwelling~!”

A prince’s mansion calling itself a humble dwelling was already ridiculous.
Qian Junyou standing at the entrance of the main hall showed no intention of inviting her inside.

Facing Qian Junyou’s sarcastic tone, Bai Shuxi could only lightly furrow her brows and smile awkwardly.

“Young Master jests. Shuxi came today to thank Young Master for saving my life, and also…”

“What? Such a rumor! Who spread it? It truly shames the face of my Prince Rui’s mansion!”

Qian Junyou spoke with a face full of indifference, arrogant and cold.