LVLYA

Chapter 100: Rushing into the Abyss

Yue Zhishi kept calling Song Yu the entire way to the airport, but his phone was turned off — and so he sent over many, many messages.

His hands were shaking when he went to pay the taxi driver.

The airport terminal was chaotic, the reflection of its ghostly pale lights on the floor blinding people's eyes. People were clustered around in small groups here and there, as though only he was by himself. Yue Zhishi didn't remember how he found his way to the counter, or how he explained himself to the people working behind it. When he thought about it later, he felt he must've come across very distressed — because the staff member kept repeating to him again and again, "Don't worry, I'll help you look."

His mind was in an utter mess; he only remembered he'd said he wanted to go to West city, and he'd wanted the quickest flight.

After the staff member checked the available flights, they very politely gave him a negative answer.

There were no direct flights.

He couldn't immediately, in the shortest time frame possible, search for Song Yu.

Yue Zhishi's hand was pressing down onto the counter's ice cold surface — he was pressing down quite heavily. Someone rushed next to him to buy a ticket, and when he pulled over his luggage, it knocked into Yue Zhishi's knee and shin. Yue Zhishi swayed, and he crouched down in front of the counter, feeling like he'd wasted his entire journey.

He could hear that person continuously apologising to him, asking if he was okay. Yue Zhishi could only nod his head; he couldn't stand back up right away.

After one minute had passed, the person left with his ticket. Yue Zhishi finally gathered enough energy, and he held onto the counter and took in a deep breath. He slowly stood up and asked about transit flights.

In a roundabout way, he managed to purchase a seat on a flight to the provincial capital that was just about to take off.

Yue Zhishi was very grateful he'd brought his wallet out the door today in order to buy his anime merchandise. He carried a complete set of his ID cards.

It was raining outside, the sky a cold and lonely off-white colour. Fog was everywhere outside the glass passageway to the boarding gate. He was still calling Song Yu when the plane lifted off, but his calls wouldn't go through no matter how many times he tried. He was both angry and scared, but there was nothing else he could do.

He once again took a flight by himself.

At 30,000 feet above in the air, the sky was covered in shades of grey — and yet Yue Zhishi's heart still remained within the rain.

To Yue Zhishi, the short two hour flight went slowly, a year passing for each second that ticked over. It was very difficult for him to not think about the worst outcome; he even couldn't help but blame himself for the bad luck.

He was being pulled apart. Half of him was flooded with the grief and agony caused by his fevered imagination, of seeing real ruins and remains, of seeing ghostly images hovering around and crying for help. The other half of him was filled with the layers and layers of courage he'd forcefully extracted out for Song Yu — enough so that he could try to calm down, so that his common sense could possibly attempt to dispel his panic.

Song Yu.

Song Yu. Song Yu.

He silently recited Song Yu's name again and again, using it as a way to cope with the stress.

His phone didn't have much battery left, so Yue Zhishi turned it off, planning on turning it back on after he landed. The flight attendant passed by; he called out to her in a fluster.