Four-Faced Buddha [To My Shore] - Chap 101
Chapter 101 The Closest Distance
2024-10-13 07:38 Category: Four-Faced BuddhaTurn off the lights
Huang Qimin feigned illness and stayed home, refusing to go out. The cunning old man then sent his wife to plead on his behalf.
You Shulang felt sorry for his teacher’s wife’s hard work, and the project was at a critical moment, so he naturally couldn’t just abandon her. However, he did not agree to Huang Qimin’s request, and the position of chairman of Changling Pharmaceutical remained vacant.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, only You Shulang was on duty. He conducted a set of experiments and was busy until 3 p.m. before changing his clothes and leaving the research and development base.
I promised Tiantian we’d go see the lanterns together tonight, and the little guy already called once on his smartwatch to remind me.
The festive atmosphere on the streets grew stronger, and even in the suburbs, a bright red hue filled the view.
You Shulang waited for the bus at the bus stop, still leaning against the sign, his mind wandering, thinking about all sorts of things.
“Was the fireworks beautiful?” A sharp, youthful voice came from very close by. You Shulang glanced sideways and saw a handsome young man leaning against the other side of the bus stop sign.
Despite the freezing weather, the boy wore only a baseball jersey, his stylish ripped jeans and limited-edition Air Jordans revealing a sliver of his fair ankle. He carried a backpack, held a skateboard, chewed gum, glanced sideways, and asked again, “Was the fireworks on New Year’s Eve beautiful?”
Their shoulders were separated only by an iron pillar, and the white breaths they exhaled when they spoke seemed to blend together.
“It looks good.” You Shulang replied listlessly, gazing into the distance, inwardly complaining, “Why isn’t the car here yet?”
You Shulang’s overly casual expression clearly angered the boy, and his voice grew even colder: “You are not worthy.”
Fireworks or people?
“They don’t deserve it.”
Yu Shulang didn’t want to argue with the child. Just then, a bus pulled into the station. Regardless of right or wrong, he boarded with the crowd, leaving only the words: “Let’s talk about whether you’re a good match when you’re an adult.”
As night falls, the lanterns are linked together, their radiant light stretching for miles, resembling a celestial marketplace.
The annual Lantern Festival coincides with the city’s anniversary, making it an especially grand event.
More than 10,000 lanterns of various sizes were displayed in the central square, and an ice lantern exhibition was also held next to the pedestrian street, attracting many tourists who lingered there.
You Shulang struggled to walk through the crowd while carrying Tiantian. He had bought Tiantian a panda lantern, which was now deformed from being squeezed.
The crowd ahead was still surging as far as the eye could see, so You Shulang had no choice but to carry Tiantian into a dark alley and find a relatively spacious and quiet place.
Unexpectedly, there was a wonton stall and a lantern maker in the alley. When the lantern in Tian Tian’s hand was dented, the craftsman took it and fiddled with it for a few moments, and the little panda was as cute as before.
Tian Tian was happily eating hot wontons and squatting in front of the lantern stall. You Shulang breathed a sigh of relief and decided not to join the crowd.
He was smoking at the alley entrance when people kept surging past him toward the main lantern festival venue. As the crowd grew denser and larger, You Shulang slowly frowned.
The flow of people was like a rope, somehow tied in a knot at the front. The slowly moving crowd began to become completely blocked, with people in front unable to move forward, while people behind kept pouring in.
Some people lost their balance, their bodies tilted, and they were accidentally knocked down by the surging crowd behind them. As if a chain reaction had started, more and more people fell, and thousands of feet trampled on them, causing cries of pain to erupt everywhere!
“Don’t push, don’t push, someone has fallen!”
“My child, my child is missing!”
“Holy crap, there’s danger! Everyone back up! Back up now!”
Some tried to run out, while many more, unaware of the situation, tried to rush in. The peaceful and joyous atmosphere was suddenly shattered; amidst heart-wrenching screams, a grand celebration devolved into a chaotic and highly dangerous incident!
You Shulang was currently at one of the entrances to the central square, where the pedestrian street met the square, naturally making it the busiest area for tourists. Peaceful, cheerful music played from the shops on both sides of the pedestrian street, and the lively chatter of the crowd completely masked the wailing and howling from ahead.
You Shulang already had some concerns in his mind, so he became very alert. He was standing on higher ground, so even if he couldn’t hear the cries for help, he could see that the crowd in front of him seemed to be making some unusual movements.
Suddenly tensing up, he looked around and saw a ladder standing in the corner of a shop. Without saying a word, he set up the ladder and quickly climbed onto the roof.
He looked up and his heart skipped a beat! About 200 meters ahead, chaos reigned! The outstretched arms of the tourists seemed tangled together, like creatures crawling out of a hellish prison.
After climbing down the ladder, You Shulang picked up Tiantian and pushed open the door of a nearby shop, saying urgently, “There’s been an accident up ahead, I need to go help. Could you please take care of the child for me?”
Once outside, he shouted to the elderly people making lanterns and selling wontons, “There’s been a stampede ahead! You should go inside and hide!”
As you turn out of the dark alley, you see a steady stream of tourists still heading towards the main venue. Seven or eight young men who look like college students walk past You Shulang excitedly, but he stops them with a wave of his arm.
You Shulang spoke quickly but calmly: “There has been a stampede ahead, and I need your help…”
A moment later, the college students quickly changed direction and, following You Shulang’s instructions, led some of the tourists into several dark alleys to divert their flow.
He said that we must not shout loudly to avoid causing panic, and we must not let tourists turn back, as that could also easily lead to a stampede.
Another college student nodded: “Get some more people to help. He said to choose young, strong people who seem easy to communicate with.”
“Did Wang Qingliang go to inform the security personnel at the pedestrian street entrance?”
“Yes, after that person finished speaking, Wang Qingliang ran off along the side path to inform them not to let any more tourists in.”
When they looked back, the man who had been so organized in assigning tasks was no longer there.
The further he went, the more difficult it became. You Shulang went against the flow of people and was almost pushed over several times.
Squeezing into the inner circle, his gaze swept across the scene, revealing a situation far more serious than he had anticipated. The stampede had occurred on a set of steps—merely three meters wide and two meters long—where people were piled on top of each other, countless layers high!
Many people also fell down the steps, and the area trampled was still expanding due to the panicked and crowded people.
Screams, groans, and cries of agony filled the square, which should have been a place of joy, but instead it became a living hell.
Security personnel are already on site evacuating tourists from the surrounding area, but due to limited resources, the results have been minimal.
Risking being trampled, You Shulang immediately joined them.
Bang! A loud noise came from not far away.
While evacuating tourists, You Shulang suddenly turned his head and saw that a wooden watchtower about three meters high had collapsed!
The screams were deafening! The overburdened observation deck, carrying hundreds of tourists who had climbed up to avoid being trampled, collapsed and crashed into the crowd on the ground, who were also screaming in shock!
You Shulang’s world seemed to fall silent for a moment, and faces filled with terror, fear, and regret froze on the screen! He suddenly saw the apocalyptic scene that Fan Xiao had described, and he saw his own trembling and inner demons.
The screams of Rulang startled You Shulang back to his senses. He grabbed a burly, obese man who was forcefully shoving the crowd.
“Don’t panic! Follow the instructions to leave in an orderly manner, you’ll be fine.”
The situation at the foot of the steps was basically under control, and the medical team that had been on standby outside the square had arrived and provided initial treatment and first aid to the injured.
At that moment, You Shulang was pulling a woman who was trapped under the platform out of the room.
“Can you move your legs? Can you put any weight on them? I’ll crawl a little further in, and you hold onto my neck so we can get out together.”
The watchtower, a mix of wood and steel, was now in disarray, with some sections forming narrow spaces with the ground, threatening to collapse again at any moment.
You Shulang crawled inside, lay prone on the ground, and let the woman wrap her arms around his neck, leading her out little by little.
After handing the woman over to other rescuers, You Shulang straightened up, supporting his back.
What met the eye was a scene of ruins, a veritable hell. Everywhere were tourists who had fallen from the viewing platform. Some were lucky enough to suffer only minor injuries, while others writhed and groaned in pain, clutching their wounds. Still others lay motionless on the cold ground, as if asleep.
And this is just what fell from the platform; many more people were trapped under the rubble!
Currently, many security personnel and volunteers have joined the rescue efforts, working to free the trapped tourists from various accessible locations.
Suddenly, an old hand grabbed You Shulang, and an elderly woman with graying temples knelt at his feet, tears streaming down her face, her hands clasped together: “Please, please save my grandson! Please save my grandson! I beg you!”
You Shulang didn’t bother to help her up; he just said, “Don’t rush,” and bent down to look at the place the old woman was pointing to.
In the blink of an eye, a figure suddenly came into view from afar, broad and powerful, strangely familiar. You Shulang was slightly taken aback, but upon closer inspection, he saw only a jumble of figures again.
He thought he was seeing things, so he quickly put aside his fleeting thoughts, turned on his flashlight, and shone it into the broken cracks.
As the dim, cylindrical light swept across the area, You Shulang felt a chill run down his spine. This small space of just a few square meters was actually crammed with so many people!
Cries of pain and pleas for help grew even more agonizing upon seeing the flashlight’s beam. Amidst the din, You Shulang heard a familiar voice. As the flashlight shone closer, his handsome eyes widened slightly: “Vice President Xue?”
Xue Baotian was also stunned for a moment, then howled like a ghost seeing a relative: “You Shulang! Director You! Help me! I’m going to be crushed to death!”
You Shulang made a reassuring gesture, then quickly analyzed the shape of the narrow area and made a judgment.
“You can’t touch that part first, otherwise this part might collapse.”
“You’re still holding a grudge against me, aren’t you? You didn’t save me last time, and you won’t save me this time either, but we’ve already made up, haven’t we? I even changed your WeChat group from ‘idiot’ to ‘friends’.” Xue Baotian wiped his nose, feeling wronged. “I never thought I’d trusted the wrong person after all!”
You Shulang ignored him and asked the wounded man who was easiest to help. After learning that his foot was trapped under a piece of wood, he got up, found a rock about two palms wide, and carefully crawled into the narrow space.
Using stones to prop up the broken logs, they guided the injured man to slowly pull his foot out, and then, using the same method they had used to rescue the woman, they led the injured man out of the rubble.
“This isn’t my grandson.” The elderly woman lay prone on the cold ground, pointing inside. “My grandson is in there!”
You Shulang looked in the direction she pointed, but the flashlight only illuminated a few pieces of fabric. His heart sank; the child was buried so deep that it would be difficult to rescue him immediately.
He rescued another injured man, half of whom was covered in blood. A piece of wood was stuck in the man’s shoulder, and blood kept gushing out, staining You Shulang’s light gray down jacket a dark red.
His face was also smeared with blood, sticky and uncomfortable. You Shulang rubbed it with his shoulder and bent down again.
“Shulang!” A loud shout accompanied by a cold wind suddenly came, and You Shulang, who was almost exhausted, was suddenly pulled into a familiar embrace.
“What happened to you? Where are you hurt?!” Fan Xiao’s voice was almost distorted. His eyes were filled with tears. He wanted to hug You Shulang tightly, but he was afraid of hurting him. “I’ll take you to the hospital. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, baby. I’ll take you to the hospital right now! You’ll be alright.”
The figure in the back really was him. For some reason, You Shulang’s eyes welled up with tears as he felt anxious for someone, his emotions tangled together, a mixture of joy and anger he couldn’t quite explain.
This embrace was so familiar, so familiar that when he leaned in, all his strength dissipated.
Fan Xiao seemed about to be carried in a princess carry again, but You Shulang grasped his cold hand and whispered, “I’m fine.”
Fan Xiao was gripped by fear, unable to receive any information from the outside world. Tears streamed down his face as he stubbornly insisted on taking You Shulang to the hospital.
You Shulang cupped Fan Xiao’s face in his hands, wiped away his tears with his thumbs, and mingled with his warm breath as he said, word by word, “Fan Xiao, I’m fine, I’m not injured. The blood on my body is someone else’s. I’m saving someone just like you.”
He repeated himself twice before Fan Xiao gradually calmed down: “You’re not injured? You won’t die?”
You Shulang wiped away another warm tear and said solemnly, “I’m not injured, I won’t die.”
This time, it was Fan Xiao’s turn to be exhausted. His legs went weak and he muttered, “That scared me to death.”
Suddenly, both of them felt a sharp pain in their ankles. Looking down, they saw that they had been poked repeatedly by a small stick that had protruded from the rubble.
“Can you two find another time to be all lovey-dovey? Help me, I’m turning into a little Buddha of Leshan!”
“Who?” Fan Xiao asked.
“Xue Baotian,” You Shulang said calmly as he left Fan Xiao’s embrace, “Let’s save him.”
Amidst the ruins, You Shulang reached out his hand to Xue Baotian: “Can you move? Where are you hurt?”
Xue Baotian’s voice suddenly turned somber: “Nothing is injured, you can move.”
Give me your hand.
A large, cold hand was placed into You Shulang’s palm: “Take him out first.”
You Shulang then realized that there were other people behind Xue Baotian!
He turned on his flashlight and saw Xue Baotian turn sharply to the side, revealing the person behind him. That person was almost lying on top of Xue Baotian, protecting the person beneath him in their arms. You Shulang hadn’t seen this person earlier due to the obstruction of the tangled trees and the angle.
“Take him out, damn it, he’s crushing me! He used to crush me, and he still crushes me now. He’s heavier than a piece of wood.”
“No.” Fan Xiao, who was also halfway in, refused. “He’s behind you. If he moves, you have to move first.”
“Stop talking nonsense. Do you even have any standing in the family? Listen to Director You.”
Xue Baotian’s hopeful gaze fell on You Shulang, but he heard a calm voice: “We’ll take you out first, then save him.”
Xue Baotian was the only one who emerged from the ruins unharmed. He patted his dirty mink coat, stuck out his rear end, and said to the unconscious man inside, “Goodbye, if you’re lucky enough to report to the King of Hell today, please tell him that in your next life you can be a pig or a dog, just don’t be a gay man, he’s so damn annoying.”
After saying that, he dragged the small stick through the chaotic crowd and disappeared.
Beneath the ruins, only the man behind Xue Baotian and the boy buried deep beneath remained. The boy’s grandmother knelt on the ground, hands clasped together, tears streaming down her face, praying for divine protection.
“The construction vehicles are all stuck on the road and can’t get through. When I went in to rescue the child just now, I saw that he was bleeding. It’s probably too late to wait for the crane.” You Shulang unzipped his down jacket. “I’ll go in and check the situation again.”
“I’ll go with you.” Fan Xiao also took off his coat. “The people in front have all been rescued. The space down there is not small. The child is trapped deep inside, and the terrain is complicated. It might be inconvenient for one person to rescue him. I’ll go with you, and we’ll try our best to bring him out on our first trip in.”
“Fan Xiao.” You Shulang stopped him, his expression hesitant and conflicted.
Fan Xiao smiled and said, “Just think of it as me putting on a show for you. Last time we put on a show, we still managed to save Tiantian together. We’ll definitely succeed this time too.”
After saying that, he took the lead, lying down on the ground and crawling into the ruins. You Shulang remained silent for a moment, then followed closely behind.
The situation inside was more complicated than expected. The two climbed to the narrowest part, but there was nowhere left to go, yet they were still an arm’s length away from the boy.
Moreover, there were scattered pieces of wood of various sizes lying in front of the boy, his body was squeezed into the gap, and the bright red blood looked pale and weak under the flashlight.
“Look there.” You Shulang focused the beam of his flashlight on a corner. “If we just move forward half a body more, we can clear away the thin pieces of wood around the child’s feet and open a rescue passage.”
Fan Xiao’s body was stuck in the gap. He looked up and down and said, “If we want to put half of our body in, we need to widen the passage. The wood above can’t be moved, only the wood under us can be moved.”
He moved closer to You Shulang, clearing the spot where he had just been lying down, and used the tools in his hand to pry the wood off the ground.
Thin wood is easy to pry, but when it comes to thick wood, it has to be broken into pieces before prying. Even the slightest vibration could cause a collapse. Every move Fan Xiao makes is a gamble on the favor of heaven.
He leaned closer to You Shulang, their bodies pressed tightly together, exchanging warmth through their thin clothes.
This seemed to be the closest the two had ever been since Fan Xiao’s deception was exposed. Even though they had slept together, fought, and been at zero or even negative distances during this time, it was nothing compared to the intimacy they felt now.
As You Shulang watched Fan Xiao’s sweat slowly trickle down his temples, he looked away, suppressing the thoughts that shouldn’t have crossed his mind.
“Ugh!” Fan Xiao groaned.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, my palms were sweaty, and the metal skewer slipped out of my hand.”
The sound of hammering rang out again, and blood quickly seeped from the flesh of Fan Xiao’s palm, which had been cut open by sharp wood chips.
Having widened the passage, Fan Xiao leaned forward halfway. He cleared away the splinters of wood under the child’s feet, and sure enough, there was enough space to pull the child out.
But the angle is a problem; dragging forcefully will only worsen the boy’s injuries.
You Shulang crawled forward a little further with difficulty, his chest and back were scratched and he felt a sharp pain.
He reached out and held the child’s head, then looked at Fan Xiao.
With just one glance, Fan Xiao understood what You Shulang meant: by having one drag and the other pull, they could greatly reduce the risk of secondary harm to the child.
You Shulang nodded slightly and then exerted force with his hand. Fan Xiao also exerted force at this moment, pulling the child out of the passage a little.
After dozens of attempts, the child was finally pulled out. Fan Xiao turned sideways, wrapped the child in his arms, and backed away little by little until they were finally out of the ruins.
“He’s breathing, he’s alive.” When he said this, the crowd erupted in cheers. The elderly man with graying temples knelt down, facing Fan Xiao, and tearfully thanked him, saying, “May the Bodhisattva protect us!”
Fan Xiao carried the child and ran towards the ambulance, glancing back at You Shulang as he ran. You Shulang, who had already crawled out of the rubble, took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, waved at him, and smiled slightly.
Fan Xiao carried the child into the ambulance, and the nurse quickly closed the door, severing the gaze between him and You Shulang that remained locked across millions of people…
The ambulance drove away with its siren blaring. You Shulang’s legs went weak, and he swayed. He was completely exhausted and no longer had the ability to participate in the rescue.
I found a corner to sit on the ground and unexpectedly discovered Xue Baotian.
“Didn’t you leave?” You Shulang asked casually.
“How is that person…?”
“Who? The one behind you? The one who shielded you?” You Shulang leaned back and exhaled a puff of smoke. “He was rescued by someone else. I heard he didn’t die.”
The noisy man fell silent for a long time, then gritted his teeth: “Protecting me? He’s trying to suppress me even on his deathbed! Damn it, if he doesn’t die this time, I’ll kill him next time!”
He got up and walked away, still cursing: “The King of Hell gets off work so early, he can’t even catch the No. 2 bus home?!”
