Chapter 1

Bang!

Sizzle!

Feeling as if his entire skeleton had shattered, unbearable pain spread throughout Su Mu's body. He was tightly pressed against the asphalt road, sliding a long distance away. Large beads of sweat covered his forehead, and he let out a painful gasp.

Crack!

The moment he fell to the ground, Su Mu clearly heard the sound of his ribs breaking. The piercing pain made him want to struggle to his feet, but he couldn't move.

"Ah! Su Mu, are you okay?"

A woman in Su Mu's arms turned her head, completely ignoring her disheveled hair, and anxiously shouted, her face full of worry.

"Cough, cough!"

Su Mu coughed hurriedly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and said with a bitter smile, "I'm fine, I won't die for now! But Miss Ye, if you don't get up soon, I might be crushed to death by you."

"Ah! I'm sorry!"

Ye Xi hurriedly struggled to stand up from Su Mu's arms. Dressed in a white dress, with a beautiful face and a gentle demeanor, she had lost her usual calmness and was now only filled with anxiety.

"I'll help you up!"

"Don't touch me!" Su Mu said urgently, "I think my ribs are broken. Please call an ambulance."

"Okay, wait a moment!" Ye Xi, seeing the sweat dripping from Su Mu's forehead, quickly ran to the side of the road, frantically taking out her phone to make a call.

"Su Mu, just wait a bit, the ambulance will be here soon! You mustn't have any problems!" Ye Xi didn't know how to describe her current anxious state.

"Ye Xi, I'm fine, I won't die!" Su Mu said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"You're just being stubborn. You're in such a state and still say you're fine. Do you want me to worry to death? Su Mu, rest assured, if anything happens to you, I won't let that bastard off!" As Ye Xi said this, the determination and persistence on her face were something Su Mu had never seen before.

It's worth noting that although Su Mu and Ye Xi weren't particularly close, they weren't strangers either. Both were students at Jiangnan University's School of Economics and Management, and they had worked together in the student council for four years. Although they weren't in the same department, they would occasionally chat when they met.

In Su Mu's impression, Ye Xi was a girl with a noble and elegant demeanor, very well-mannered, and rarely lost her temper. Seeing her so angry now was a first.

But anyone would find it hard to stay calm in such a situation.

If Su Mu hadn't been there, recognized Ye Xi, and instinctively risked his life to save her from the car that was rushing towards her, Ye Xi would have lost her life. At the prime of her youth, it would have been a tragic loss, and anyone would have gone mad.

Ye Xi's restraint in not rushing over to question the driver was already her limit.

"By the way, Su Mu, why are you here?" Ye Xi suddenly asked.

"Why am I here? Yes, if I hadn't been here, I wouldn't have been injured. But Miss Ye, I haven't even asked you why you're here, and you're asking me first." Su Mu smiled bitterly in his heart.

No matter how much Su Mu thought, he never imagined that the first time he came to Shengjing City after graduating a year ago, he would encounter this incident while browsing the used book market near his alma mater.

Books? Books! Thinking of this, Su Mu anxiously looked to the side. As expected, in his near-instinctive rush, he had dropped the thick stack of books, which were now scattered all over the ground. A gentle breeze blew, rustling the pages.

"Ye Xi, my books... books..."

Su Mu struggled to stand up, but at that moment, an unbearable pain suddenly shot through his back, and he instantly lost consciousness.

"Su Mu, don't scare me!" Ye Xi shouted loudly, wanting to touch Su Mu but afraid of hurting him, and not touching him but seeing him fall unconscious, she stood by helplessly.

Fortunately, the ambulance arrived soon, and Su Mu was carefully lifted onto the vehicle. Ye Xi followed and sat in the ambulance, and only after the vehicle started moving did her heart relax a bit. Then, as if remembering something, she quickly took out her phone, dialed a number, and said one sentence before hanging up.

"I was hit by a car in front of Jiangnan University and am now on my way to the city's First Hospital."

Ye Xi tightly held Su Mu's hand, looking at the face she knew so well, her heart urgently calling out.

"Su Mu, you mustn't have any problems, you mustn't!"

The street, which had been chaotic just moments ago, had now returned to normal. The old books were scattered everywhere by the wind, and the pool of blood on the ground testified to the accident that had just occurred.

When everyone's attention was focused on the accident, no one noticed that at the moment Su Mu fell and the blood flowed, the ancient-looking book in his cross-body bag, which had been lying quietly, disappeared instantly as the blood mixed with it.

Shengjing City's First People's Hospital, Intensive Care Unit.

Since being brought in, Su Mu had remained in a coma. The hospital hadn't initially planned to place him here, as it was just a car accident, and the accident clearly didn't involve a collision. Su Mu had saved someone, and even with a few broken bones, they could be set and he could rest and recover.

However, who would have thought that Su Mu wouldn't wake up!

This made Ye Xi extremely anxious, and under her strong insistence, Su Mu was admitted to the ICU. Ye Xi also declared that he couldn't leave until he woke up.

The hospital's chief doctor, who initially thought this was impossible, changed his expression drastically when the person next to Ye Xi showed him a work ID. Without hesitation, he arranged everything and promised to be available 24/7.

There was no way around it; the person's background was too powerful, so powerful that even the hospital director didn't dare to breathe heavily.

"Xiao Xi, I've arranged everything here. Come home with me!"

The man speaking in the ward was about fifty years old, dressed in a very meticulous outfit, with sharp, chiseled features. Even standing casually, he exuded an aura that made people feel suffocated, clearly a result of his long-term position of power.

He was Ye Xi's father, Ye Anbang.

"No! Dad, Su Mu was injured saving me. He's still lying in bed unconscious. How can I just leave? I'll stay here until he wakes up." Ye Xi said firmly.

Knowing Ye Xi's character, Ye Anbang understood that once his precious daughter made a decision, no amount of persuasion would change it, so he didn't insist.

"Alright, if you want to stay, stay. I'll come back after I finish my work." Ye Anbang said.

"Dad, go to work. I'm fine!" Ye Xi turned and smiled slightly.

"Okay!" Ye Anbang didn't say more and directly left the ward. The remaining matters would be taken care of without his need to say anything.

"Su Mu, when will you wake up?" Ye Xi sat by the bed, staring at Su Mu's face, murmuring.

During the four years at Jiangnan University, even Ye Xi's closest friends didn't know that there was a man's figure in her heart, and that man was Su Mu.

Although Su Mu wasn't a high-ranking official or rich, his absolute confidence in everything he did, and his never showing any inferiority complex despite his humble background, deeply captivated Ye Xi. However, due to various reasons, she never confessed to Su Mu before graduation.

Originally, she thought they would no longer have any connection, but she never expected to meet him in such a way a year after graduation. This made Ye Xi's dormant heart start to come alive again.

Ye Xi now had only one thought: to pray that Su Mu would wake up unharmed.

Su Mu, who was completely unaware of all this, was now in a state of extreme distress. From the moment he was lifted onto the ambulance, he felt something was wrong. His entire body felt as if it were burning, and the pain was unbearable. He wanted to scream but felt something blocking his throat, preventing him from making a sound.

Moreover, he had a vague sense that he could hear the crisp sound of his bones growing, like bamboo shoots breaking through the soil. In simple terms, Su Mu's body was now a steel furnace, and all his cells were being refined. He didn't know if this was good or bad, but all he could do was grit his teeth and endure it.

Boom!

As the burning sensation in his blood gradually subsided and Su Mu felt some improvement, a loud explosion echoed in his mind. Then, strangely, he discovered a mysterious list in his consciousness.

At the top of this list, in the center, were two powerful ancient characters: "Official List" (官榜).