In the height of summer, Yue City grew hotter with each passing year, and early August had brought several straight days of scorching heat and blazing sunshine.
Two consecutive days of torrential rain had finally lowered the temperature a little, but most people still stayed indoors during the day whenever they could, leaving the streets relatively deserted.
At noon, when the sun was at its fiercest, the downtown pedestrian street was bustling. The crowd stood packed in ring after ring; from a distance, it was impossible to see what was happening in the middle.
Across the street, Xia Wanyi, her face somewhat pale and her expression gentle, watched the commotion with surprise and curiosity in her voice. "What kind of event is that? Why is it so busy?"
Xia Zhiyi looked a little dazed. He glanced over, his eyes flickering, and said, "Sis, I think someone's filming a show over there."
Xia Wanyi was surprised. "In this heat?"
"Yeah. You know that idol drama that's been pretty popular lately? They're promoting it by recording a show with our Xiang Province Television Station. This episode brought them to our city. They announced it on Weibo earlier."
The siblings were good-looking, and dressed in light colors, they made a refreshing sight just standing by the road.
Neither of them was aware of that, however. Now that Xia Wanyi knew what was happening, her curiosity was satisfied, and she planned to head home with her younger brother, Xia Zhiyi.
"Then let's stay out of the crowd," Xia Wanyi said. "Come on, let's go home."
At the words "go home," a trace of dazedness returned to Xia Zhiyi's expression. Before Xia Wanyi could notice, however, he quickly composed himself and gave a small smile. "Okay, let's go home."
Xia Zhiyi had never expected that he would actually return, much less to such a crucial point in time, giving him more choices.
Until his death in his first life, Xia Zhiyi had never known that he lived inside a novel.
Unfortunately, he was neither a protagonist nor a supporting character. He did not even qualify as a villain. His name had only appeared a few times in the main text, though calling him a mere passerby would not have been entirely accurate either.
He was an important reason why Xia Wanyi, the third female lead, entered the entertainment industry and turned dark. He was also on the list of victims used to bring down one of the villains. If not for Xia Wanyi's outstanding performance in the main story, he might not even have had a name in the novel.
Xia Wanyi had been handed a revenge script. She had given up everything, including her conscience, just to avenge him. In the end, although she had gotten her revenge, she had lost herself in the process.
Neither he nor Xia Wanyi had done anything, yet they had become cannon fodder for the protagonists' success, and neither sibling had met a good end.
He refused to accept it.
After his death, Xia Zhiyi awakened and learned all of this. In his fury, he wanted to smash the entire world to death and bury it alongside his sister, Xia Wanyi.
But he had received compensation. Even if that compensation also required Xia Zhiyi to pay a price... he had actually returned.
He had returned to before everything began, before he signed away his freedom.
Xia Zhiyi glanced toward the crowd. Thinking of what might happen shortly, he gently took Xia Wanyi's hand and smiled tenderly. "Sis, come on. Let's go to the bus stop over there."
"Okay," Xia Wanyi said.
As she spoke, she looked at Xia Zhiyi and raised a hand to gently stroke his somewhat childlike face. "The First Hospital is just one stop up ahead. If you're not feeling well, why don't we stop by on the way?"
Xia Zhiyi shook his head. "No need. I'm much better now. The sun just made me a little dizzy earlier."
With that, he led Xia Wanyi forward through the shade of the roadside trees, searching his memories for what had happened back then.
And then...
Who put a layer of frosted glass over my memories?!
He knew what might happen shortly, but he could not remember any of the details!
Just then, Xia Zhiyi heard a noise. His ears twitched, and he looked up to see a truck speeding toward them from the other side, rapidly veering off the main road.
Xia Zhiyi murmured, "Here it comes."
"Hm?" Xia Wanyi said.
Everything happened in that single instant.
The truck shot off the main road like an arrow loosed from a bow.
A breeze happened to sweep past, bringing down a few leaves.
The driver of a car seemed to sense the danger and hit the accelerator, trying to get out of the way.
The girl was turning her head to say something to the boy. The wind lifted her fine, soft hair into gentle curves, lending a touch of tenderness to the blazing summer day.
The sunlight, broken into fragments by the shadows of the trees, was reflected in the boy's eyes. The faint smile had vanished from his lips, and those eyes that seemed to hold starlight were utterly calm.
Everything broke down into frame after frame of slow motion in his eyes. Then Xia Zhiyi reached out, and his figure moved, reflected in Xia Wanyi's sharply contracting pupils.
A deafening crash rang out, and a piercing voice tore through the air. "Aah-! Someone's been hit and killed!"
Across the street, Xia Wanyi stumbled before her brother's slender, pale hand steadied her. She was still in a daze, yet she seemed to hear her own deafening heartbeat with perfect clarity.
Amid the rising screams and shouts, it took a long while before Xia Wanyi murmured, "What... just happened?"
Xia Zhiyi did not answer her. Instead, after making sure Xia Wanyi was standing steadily, he gently patted her shoulder and walked toward the accident scene with light steps.
Xia Wanyi came to her senses. "Wait, Zhiyi! It's dangerous over there!"
Xia Zhiyi turned back and gave her an exceedingly gentle smile. "It's all right, Sis. I'm going to take care of a few things. Wait here for me a little while, okay?"
Xia Wanyi froze. By the time she recovered, Xia Zhiyi had slipped into the rapidly gathering crowd and disappeared.
Half an hour later.
#Extreme Speed City traffic accident#
#Extreme Speed City accident scene#
#Fu Yunyi traffic accident#
#Extreme Speed City livestream accident traffic collision#
Several topics shot onto the trending searches at once, all related to a currently popular variety show, immediately attracting plenty of attention. One of the topics was also linked to the hugely popular Fu Yunyi, drawing the attention of many.
With such a major commotion, the Extreme Speed City production team could not pretend to know nothing about it. They had no choice but to suspend filming.
While the trending searches were in upheaval, Xia Zhiyi and Xia Wanyi were at the hospital with members of the production team, answering questions from the police.
As for why members of the production team were there, that was a long story.
Facing the serious-looking young police officer, Xia Zhiyi and Xia Wanyi briefly described what had happened during the incident. But when he looked up, he found everyone wearing the same doubtful expression.
Xia Zhiyi: "..."
Xia Wanyi tugged gently at his sleeve and said softly, "Zhiyi, never mind them. If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't believe it either. You can actually fly!"
Xia Zhiyi said, "...I didn't fly."