Chapter 489: Chapter 489: It’s Really Over This Time
Li Juezhou and Sang Ning rushed over, only to find Song Shiye in terrible condition. He was sinking into a patch of quicksand, struggling desperately, but the more he struggled, the deeper he sank.
Sang Ning quickly jumped out of the car and grabbed a rope from the trunk. She tied a knot at one end and hurled it into the quicksand, shouting to Song Shiye, "Xiao Ye, grab the rope and lean back flat! Stop struggling—if you keep struggling, the quicksand will swallow you completely!"
Every ounce of strength Song Shiye had left was devoted to escaping the quicksand. He had prepared himself to die in despair, but at the moment he heard that familiar voice, a spark of light returned to his eyes. Turning his head, he saw that Sang Ning had come to save him—tears of relief welled up uncontrollably. "Sister Sangsang, you’ve finally come to save me!"
With a renewed sense of support, Song Shiye felt less panicked. Rationality reclaimed its ground as he reached out to grab the rope. Following Sang Ning’s instructions, he leaned back flat, and miraculously, his body stopped sinking and instead floated atop the quicksand.
Sang Ning and Li Juezhou joined forces to pull him out of the quicksand.
When he finally landed safely on solid ground, Song Shiye had expected Sang Ning to comfort his traumatized heart. Instead, she smacked him repeatedly on the head and scolded him, "You’re a senior in high school, at the height of understanding astronomy and geography, aren’t you? Don’t you know you shouldn’t struggle when caught in quicksand?"
Song Shiye flushed with embarrassment, bowing his head in shame. "It was an emergency—I forgot in the moment."
Li Juezhou gazed ahead solemnly, sensing that something seemed to be silently approaching from where the horizon met the sky. He grabbed Sang Ning’s arm and shot Song Shiye a look. "Get in the car—there might be a sandstorm coming."
Nearly losing his life to the quicksand had already rattled Song Shiye. At the mention of a sandstorm, his face turned pale, and he quickly climbed into the car with them.
As the door slammed shut, Song Shiye sat in the back seat, lunging forward to grip the front seat rest. He said with lingering fear, "Sister Sangsang, let me tell you—Lu Yujing, that woman, is just too seductive and sinister!"
Sang Ning had been about to ask Song Shiye what had really happened, why Lu Yujing wasn’t there, and why he was left alone in the desert. But Song Shiye took the initiative to recount everything that had transpired.
When Song Shiye mentioned that at one point he felt like he’d lost control of his own mind and obeyed Lu Yujing’s words without question, Sang Ning suddenly understood the strong sense of disconnection she had felt coming from Lu Yujing before. It turned out she had been disguising herself all along. As for why she possessed the power to manipulate people psychologically, that remained a mystery for now.
"Let’s get out of here—we’ll talk once we’re out," Sang Ning, knowing this was no time for idle discussion, urged Li Juezhou to drive away.
But perhaps due to the magnetic interference in the no-man’s land, the car’s screen flickered a few times before suddenly going dark. While the vehicle could still function, they’d completely lost their sense of direction.
Without signposts to guide them, the desert offered nothing but identical, monotonous sights wherever they looked. Even using the sun’s position in the sky to determine direction proved futile.
The interior of the car became awash in tension and dread. Li Juezhou abandoned relying on external aids and relied solely on his gut instinct, forcing the vehicle in a single, determined direction.
Song Shiye buried his head in his arms, despair evident in his posture. "Sister Sangsang, I’m sorry—it’s all my fault. I caused trouble for you. If you hadn’t come to save me, you wouldn’t be stuck in this mess."
Sang Ning softened her tone as much as she could to comfort him. "Xiao Ye, this isn’t your fault. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. Lu Yujing clearly wanted to lure me in using you. Even without you, she’d have come up with another scheme. I should be apologizing to you instead."
"No, no, no," Song Shiye shook his head vehemently in protest. "Sister Sangsang, you risked your life to save me—that alone makes me happy enough. At this point, let’s not talk about blaming anyone. If we make it out of this desert alive today, then we’ll know we’ve forged a bond that transcends life and death."
Sang Ning smiled warmly, nodding toward Song Shiye. But just as she did, she spotted yellow sandstorms swirling in the distance through the rear car window, their destructive fury rapidly closing in. Her heart skipped a beat, and she urgently warned Li Juezhou, "A sandstorm’s picking up—it feels much worse than the one we encountered before. Can you drive any faster?"
Li Juezhou didn’t have the heart to tell Sang Ning the off-road vehicle was already at maximum speed. Tightening his brows, he maintained a facade of calm and responded, "Hold tight—I’m accelerating."
Song Shiye turned around, pressing himself against the rear windshield as he stared at the raging yellow sand chasing them like a predator. A sense of apocalyptic dread overcame him, his eyes wide and mouth agape, unable to utter a single word.
When he finally snapped out of it, a strange thought emerged in his mind. Facing forward, he gripped Sang Ning’s seat edge and blurted out, "Sister Sangsang, could that phrase ’Reincarnation End’ mean we’d have to die to bring everything to an end?"
Realizing the gravity of his own words, Song Shiye slapped himself hard across the face. "Sister Sangsang, I was babbling—don’t take it to heart."
Li Juezhou, equally displeased with Song Shiye’s nonsensical remarks, turned sharply, his eyes flaring with intense discontent. "Say one more stupid thing, and I’ll throw you out of the car!"
Song Shiye’s gaze flickered nervously, like a child who had been caught doing wrong, lowering his head meekly and settling back into his seat.
But Sang Ning couldn’t quiet the turmoil in her mind. Memories of the decoded message from the lab resurfaced—the hint that death might be the key to ending reincarnation struck her like a blow. Could it really mean she’d have to die for everything to finally resolve?
Her distraction didn’t escape Li Juezhou, who interrupted her thoughts. "Sangsang, don’t listen to that brat. If you die, there’ll be nothing left."
His low words failed to soothe even himself. Anxiety crept into his subconscious as he questioned why he instinctively felt Sang Ning’s death might indeed bring closure. Stunned by his own disturbing realization, he slapped the steering wheel hard, muttering a curse under his breath.
"What’s wrong?" Sang Ning asked, assuming there was a vehicle malfunction.
But Li Juezhou’s reddened eyes turned to her, murky emotions swirling within them. "Sangsang, I won’t let you die!"
"Pfft," Sang Ning scoffed lightly. "What’s wrong with you two? Stop spouting such unlucky nonsense!"
Song Shiye wasn’t as optimistic as Sang Ning, his gaze fixed on the encroaching sandstorm engulfing the car. His face contorted in despair as he covered his head and closed his eyes tightly, muttering repeatedly, "This is it. This time we’re done for!"
Li Juezhou felt an overwhelming force lift the vehicle. His grip on the steering wheel tightened to the point of pain as he desperately tried to maintain control and stabilize the car, but the sheer power of the impact made resistance futile. A sense of helplessness washed over him.
Fearing Sang Ning might panic in the face of the apocalyptic scene of swirling sands ahead, his voice turned rough and tinged with sorrow as he called out to her, "Sangsang, close your eyes!"
