I Came to Save You!

[Little 7? Were you typing on a keyboard?]

527 shook his head. [When am I ever that hardworking? I'm lying down and eating snacks. Crunch, crunch.]

[?]

—Ding. The host has repaired 1/10 of the key plot. Minor changes have occurred in the main character arcs. The original author is revising the story, and the host's subsequent tasks may change. Supervisory system, please take note.

527: ???

[What's going on?]

527: [I don't know either. I've never encountered this before.]

[Forget it. It's all just doing tasks anyway.]

Gu Yanting was surprised that Song Mingzhou really was worried about him being in danger. A faint flicker of smugness crossed his face before he said coldly, "This isn't the time to mess around. I'm going to save someone."

The task was already complete, so Song Mingzhou couldn't be bothered with him. He sprinted toward the scene even faster than Gu Yanting did.

Gu Yanting: ???

What had just zipped past him?

Their exchange had been so quick that only the cameraman had yet to react. By the time he came to his senses, both of them had vanished.

The screen shook violently.

—'What's happening?? Who's in danger?'

—'I think I heard someone say there was a fire. Is the mountain on fire?'

—'Ahhh, Movie Emperor Gu ran so fast—it has to be Qingqing in danger! I knew they shouldn't have been filming in the mountains in weather this hot. It's dry as tinder; a fire could start so easily.'

—'They're running so fast.'

—'Go to Young Master Duan and Shen Qing's livestream! There's a fire over there. Holy shit, the smoke is huge. It looks like the two of them are trapped inside.'

—'Damn it!'

Everyone flooded into Duan Xun and Shen Qing's livestream. Unfortunately, they were too late. The screen was completely black, and then the livestream was paused.

The production team urgently released a statement saying that the livestream would be temporarily suspended due to force majeure.

By the time Song Mingzhou reached the midpoint where the four paths converged, everyone else was also rushing over one after another. The weather was dry, and the fire was spreading rapidly. In just a few short minutes, flames had already filled the sky.

[Where's Duan Xun?]

[He's inside. He's supposed to save Shen Qing. That's the main plot.]

Panic gripped Song Mingzhou.

Fortunately, his cannon fodder task was still different from the main plot. Fortunately, at this point, the original host had only stopped Gu Yanting and done nothing else.

But what the original host wouldn't do—

He would!

Song Mingzhou had no time to communicate further with the staff. He plunged headfirst into the thick smoke, with Xiao Ziyu chasing after him close behind.

When Gu Yanting arrived, he couldn't even catch a glimpse of their clothes.

[Which direction is Duan Xun? Guide me.]

527 flipped through the original plot. [I'm not too sure either. The original plot wasn't that detailed. It only said roughly southeast.]

Song Mingzhou glanced up at the sky, found his bearings, and ran that way. The smoke grew thicker and thicker, and the temperature rose higher and higher.

It had already been hot.

Now it was so hot that sweat poured down his body.

"Duan Xun!"

Song Mingzhou shouted. The farther in he went, the more staff members he found searching, but there was still no sign of the two men.

527 suddenly found something. [Host, Shen Qing went to pick flowers. Even though his companion has changed, the location shouldn't have. There are lots of flowers over there.]

Song Mingzhou remembered what Duan Xun had told him last night.

[All right.]

Only then did 527 realize something was off. He asked in confusion, [Host, don't tell me you're going to save the big villain, Duan Xun?]

Song Mingzhou didn't deny it.

As long as Duan Xun hadn't affected his task, he had to save him. A favored son of heaven like Duan Xun had suffered a double blow to both his body and his love because of this incident.

Unable to bear it, he had gone mad.

527 reminded him coolly, [Too late. Duan Xun should have already been hit by now and injured. Once he's injured, his leg won't recover. That's an established fact in the original plot.]

[Shut up.]

Song Mingzhou covered his nose and mouth as he ran, calling Duan Xun's name from time to time.

Two minutes later, he finally saw them. Duan Xun was supporting Shen Qing. Shen Qing held his clothes over his nose and mouth with one hand to block the smoke, but Duan Xun, who was supporting him, had no spare hand to protect himself.

Fuck!

Song Mingzhou cursed under his breath and hurried toward Duan Xun.

Duan Xun heard the familiar stream of beeping curses and knew Song Mingzhou had arrived. But as he supported the nearly unconscious Shen Qing, he tried to call out to Song Mingzhou, only to find that no sound would come from his throat.

The thick smoke was choking him badly.

He could only watch silently as Song Mingzhou ran toward him—then slapped Shen Qing across the face. The sharp smack stunned even Duan Xun.

Duan Xun: ???

Why had his wife suddenly lashed out and hit someone? So handsome. So cute.

Song Mingzhou looked at Duan Xun with heartache in his eyes, his tone resolute. "I came to save you!"

Shen Qing jolted awake from the slap. If Song Mingzhou hadn't grabbed him again, he would have fallen three meters away.

"You..."

The moment he made a sound, Song Mingzhou fixed him with a cold stare. "Can you walk? Walk on your own."

Shen Qing: ???

He wanted to say something else, but Song Mingzhou said, "Your Gu Yanting is looking for you everywhere. Do you want him to see you being held in another man's arms? If you can't walk, then I'll carry you!"

As if someone had poked at his secret thoughts, Shen Qing shot Duan Xun a slightly guilty look and muttered, "I just... passed out."

"I woke you up just now."

As he spoke, Song Mingzhou had already placed Duan Xun's arm over his shoulder and supported him out at a brisk pace. It was far too hot here, and the smoke was unbearable.

After saying just a few sentences, he coughed violently several times. His throat hurt as though it had been scorched by fire.

Duan Xun leaned against him without pushing him away. The corners of his lips involuntarily curved upward, and Song Mingzhou didn't miss it.

Song Mingzhou pursed his lips and explained softly, "I wanted to save him just now. If he'd passed out, he might've had a hard time waking up, so I slapped him. You're not angry, are you?"

Idiot! Can't you tell he was faking it? Damn green tea. I still came too late—what about that leg?

He can obviously walk by himself, and it's not even that serious. Yet he insists on making you support him like he's disabled, moving this slowly. What is this, an old woman's foot-binding cloth? By the time you all stroll out, it'll be too late.

It's such a huge mountain. Even if the fire started right at your feet, it shouldn't be like this. I really don't know what kind of brain-dead plot this is.

Fuck!

Is Duan Dog's leg already broken? Is he forcing himself to endure it? What am I supposed to do from now on? My good days are over. I'm going to be a human punching bag.

Song Mingzhou cursed endlessly in his heart. Only after venting his frustration did he realize that Duan Xun seemed not to have answered him. He suppressed his displeasure and turned to ask him,

"You don't blame me for hitting your Shen Qing, do you?"

That sour tone.

Duan Xun wanted to laugh.

He shook his head.

Song Mingzhou wanted to ask something, but then remembered something and didn't.

Seeing the hesitation flicker several times in Song Mingzhou's eyes, Duan Xun finally couldn't hold back. Enduring the stabbing pain in his throat, he rasped out a few words:

"My leg is fine."

Earlier, he had heard Song Mingzhou's inner voice. He knew there would be a fire, and he knew what would happen to him in this accident.

He didn't know whether changing or preventing the incident on his own would affect Song Mingzhou's strange task, or whether it would cause that task to erase him.

After all, that system had said he wouldn't be able to return if he failed the task.

Duan Xun didn't know where his reluctance had come from. He wanted to take a gamble. He couldn't let himself be defeated so quickly, but he didn't dare gamble too hard either.

So in the end, he had still followed the original plot, except he had prepared in advance and hadn't been struck.

Song Mingzhou immediately looked at his leg. Only when he saw that Duan Xun really could walk on his own did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's good that you're fine."

527 was dumbfounded. [No way?? What's going on? Why is his leg fine?]