1 Chapter 1 Netherworld Path_1

Qian Yixiu drove to Huashui Bay Resort. She deeply resented how useless she felt. Whenever Shang Qingyun called her, she rushed to see him. After seeing him and listening to his complaints, she watched him strive relentlessly for advancement, including forging relationships with strong underlying motives.

Qian Yixiu and Shang Qingyun were neighbors, absolutely bare-butt friends and compatriots. Since the days of split-pants, they played with mud and rocks, climbed mountains, and scaled trees together. Then, they attended the village primary school, county high school, and a top national university, all before working and settling in the same major city.

In the eyes of all their relatives and friends, two people who should have paired off never crossed the line, talking only of friendship, never of love.

There's no other reason, Shang Qingyun, true to his name — good winds relying on strength, sending me soaring to the clouds.

When Shang Qingyun was still a pre-schooler dragging two streams of snot, he made a grand vow to Qian Xiu, "When I make big money, I'll buy a double-decker bus, and all the relatives, including your family, will get on. We'll cross Dashan, sail across the sea, and go see Tiananmen Square together. How grand that will be!"

Little Qian Yixiu nodded excitedly and offered eagerly, "My family won't just ride for free, I'll drive."

Shang Qingyun wiped his nose with his sleeve and said with boundless enthusiasm, "Great, from now on, you follow me."

At the time, they had just visited their fathers, who worked in the provincial city, where they had ridden a double-decker bus several times.

One to buy the bus and the other to drive it, the two mischievous kids worked harder than most others from primary school onwards and became the most promising individuals of their village. That year, Shang Qingyun was the county's top scholar, and Qian Xiu was the third, both admitting to the same key university.

Back then, the villagers said they were a match of male talent and female beauty, of like minds, born for each other. Even their parents thought it was a matter of course and said with a laugh, "Once they graduate, we'll arrange their wedding."

But when they returned to the village after graduating from university, Shang Qingyun brought back a delicate city girl.

Qian Yixiu's mother's eyes reddened with anger as she scolded Qian Xiu in a hushed tone, "If that boy can bring a city girl back, why can't you bring a city boy back? In what way are you any less than that boy?"

Because of that girl, Shang Qingyun went to work in a government department in a big city. And Qian Yixiu also landed a job in a central enterprise in that city through an interview.

Thirteen years flashed by, and Shang Qingyun had changed six jobs, becoming the director of a powerful department in the customs at a young age. He had also dated five girlfriends; the first four could not endure the disadvantages of a "phoenix man" and the many real-life issues beyond love, ending in breakups. The current one, he heard, was close to marriage.

Meanwhile, Qian Yixiu remained in the same company, working her way up from a junior officer to the current deputy director of the office. Although there were suitors around her, she remained single.

Whenever Shang Qingyun was in love or heartbroken, he would invite Qian Yixiu out immediately, confiding to her his joy or sorrow. In his words, "Only you are my true buddy, and it is only to you that I am willing to reveal all my thoughts."

She didn't know whether his call this time was to announce his wedding or yet another breakup.

Qian Yixiu's heart was filled with a bitter taste, cursing herself for being weak and contemptible. Since she began to understand matters of the heart, she had harbored a secret love for Shang Qingyun. She could no longer care for anyone else, silently staying close to him for years. Summoned at his beck and call, dismissed just as easily.

She had indeed bravely expressed her feelings once, back in high school before they graduated. They were returning home from the county high school together, first taking a minibus to the town and then walking another half hour on the mountain road.

It was late spring and early summer, the scenery lush with vegetation, wildflowers dotted along the roadside. Qian Yixiu glanced at the tall boy beside her, his lean figure, clear skin, handsome features, and his sunny demeanor compared not in the least unfavorably with those handsome stars in Korean dramas.

Qian Yixiu was attractive too, with large almond eyes, a small and shapely mouth, and a height of over one meter sixty. Only her skin was not ideal, being somewhat dark and rough.

She touched her face; since middle school, she had saved her food money to buy cosmetics. But given her limited funds, she could only afford cheap products, which did little to whiten and improve her skin.

These were not big problems. Once she had the money, she would simply buy more high-end cosmetics advertised for skincare.

Lost in thought, she lagged a few steps behind Shang Qingyun. Looking up, she saw the youth's silhouette on the flower-lined path, the very sight of his back quickening her heartbeat. Tall and broad-shouldered, even dressed in the blue and white uniform, he exuded a unique grace and charm.

Pressing her racing heart, Qian Yixiu said, "Shang Qingyun, I want to go to the same university as you."

"Okay," replied Shang Qingyun without looking back.

Qian Yixiu continued, "And work in the same city afterward."

"Hmm," the youth still didn't turn around.

Qian Yixiu, gazing at the figure unhurriedly walking ahead and blushing once more, said, "And... eat under the same roof..."

The youth stopped, thought for a few seconds, then turned around and laughed, "Dude, don't tell me you're confessing to me, you'll scare me."

Qian Yixiu laughed off with feigned nonchalance, saying with restraint, "Confess to you? In your dreams." Having said that, she lifted her head high and strode past him.

In the subsequent decade, although they often talked on the phone and occasionally met up, Qian Yixiu never again took the initiative to confess her feelings.

Qian Yixiu pulled her thoughts back once more, thinking that if he was getting married this time, then she ought to congratulate him. Free from longing, she would be liberated as well.

If he had suffered another heartbreak, should she... give him another chance, and give herself one too? The last chance!

If he rejected her again, she couldn't foolishly wait any longer; it would be time to consider marrying someone else. After all, her prime years were quietly passing by; she couldn't waste any more time...

The car drove into Huashui Bay, a star-rated hot spring resort at the foot of Mengxi Mountain, built against the hillside. Every weekend, many people would drive here to hike and soak in the hot springs.

After parking her car, Qian Yixiu received a call from Shang Qingyun. He hadn't arrived yet and asked her to wait a bit longer.

The guy was always like this, making her wait every time she came to listen to his rants. But he had already politely booked two guest rooms.

"Alright, I'll wait for you," Qian Yixiu put her phone into her bag, got out of the car, and locked the door. She had just left the parking lot when a car sped towards her. A little girl about four or five years old was playing by the roadside, about to be hit by the car. Without a second thought, Qian Xiu dashed over to push the child away, but she was struck by the car and sent flying.

Qian Yixiu saw her body falling back down, then a crowd surrounded her. But she felt that it wasn't her that was falling; she had become like a light breeze, drifting higher and higher, away from the throng.

She realized she had sacrificed herself—never had she imagined that doing a good deed would cost her life.

She wanted to drift back home to see her mother one last time. Her mother had come from the countryside to her place just half a month ago, eager to press her into finding a boyfriend and settling down quickly.

But her body—or rather, her soul or spirit—was beyond her control, drifting aimlessly, pulled by a rope to a chaotic and indistinct place. She saw spirits gathering from all directions, floating along a winding path.

Qian Yixiu guessed that this path might be the Netherworld Path, and at its end was the Naihe Bridge. Drinking a bowl of Oblivion Soup made from the waters of the River of Oblivion, one would forget all love and hate from the previous life, forget the parents who worried sick over her, forget the man she had secretly loved for twenty years...

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