The entire process, from the mudslide pouring down to Ning Beichen fleeing with Liu Yilin, took less than three minutes. The convoy was gone, completely buried by the mudslide.
Ning Beichen didn't know how many bodyguards had escaped, and he had no time to worry about them. Seeing that Liu Yilin couldn't run anymore, he almost dragged her along as they slid, then scooped her up in a princess carry and sprinted desperately.
This was just the beginning. Once a mudslide formed, if you didn't leave, you were waiting to be buried alive.
Moreover, at this time, you could only flee forward or backward, preferably avoiding the areas covered by the mudslide. You absolutely could not stay in place or run in the direction the mudslide was coming from.
Holding Liu Yilin, Ning Beichen used his lightness skill, which he rarely employed, and dashed madly on the muddy road. Behind him, soil and rocks were constantly rolling down with a clatter.
However, even so, Ning Beichen couldn't escape unscathed. It wasn't that his speed was insufficient, but the mudslide covered too vast an area, burying several kilometers of road.
Ning Beichen had nowhere left to run. Rocks were already hitting his back, and in the torrential rain, visibility was severely reduced, making it impossible to see the road.
With a scream from Liu Yilin, a torrent of mud and rock descended from the sky, instantly engulfing them both.
A rumbling sound echoed in Ning Beichen's ears.
He used his own body to shield Liu Yilin, blocking all the mudslide with his back.
They were buried by the mudslide, but fortunately, Ning Beichen, in a moment of crisis, had held Liu Yilin and they had fallen into a small, sloped pit. Although they were submerged by the mudslide, they weren't buried alive and had enough space to breathe.
"Ning Beichen, are we dead?"
After an unknown amount of time, Liu Yilin, disoriented and unable to see anything, asked fearfully.
Ning Beichen was using his internal energy to resist the pressure of the mudslide on his back and had no time to talk to her.
Hearing no response from Ning Beichen, Liu Yilin thought they were truly dead and murmured guiltily.
"I'm sorry, Ning Beichen. It's my fault. I shouldn't have come here. I got you killed."
"I didn't expect us to die in a place like this. You must hate me, right?"
"I wonder if anyone will find our bodies..."
"By the way, Ning Beichen, since we're dead anyway, I'll tell you a secret. Actually..."
Ning Beichen heard her saying increasingly absurd things and had to spare some breath to speak.
"Boss, we're not dead yet. We're just buried by dirt. Try not to talk and conserve your strength. It might take us a long time to get out."
"Ah!"
"We're not dead! That's great! Ning Beichen, why didn't you speak earlier? You scared me to death."
Liu Yilin's surprise and joy at hearing Ning Beichen's voice were immense. Fortunately, she hadn't revealed that secret, or she would have been utterly humiliated.
"Boss, I can't talk too much right now. Don't worry, I'll find a way to get you out."
Ning Beichen's breathing was a little rapid. The pressure from the mudslide above was not a trivial amount, but tons of weight. Ning Beichen was resisting with all his might, and he could even see blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.
If he couldn't resist, Liu Yilin beneath him would be crushed into a meat patty.
Time ticked by, and it had been over an hour since they were buried by the mudslide. Ning Beichen didn't know the situation outside, but he knew instinctively that no one was coming to rescue them, and the bodyguards were likely also in dire straits.
In a place like this, waiting for rescue would probably mean waiting until their bones had rotted.
This was not the ancient Eastern kingdom, nor was it even a civilized place. Countless lives were lost here every day.
People died either by being killed, by various diseases, by accidents, or by difficult childbirth, and so on.
Therefore, Ning Beichen could only save himself and not place his hopes on others.
Time crawled by in the narrow confined space. The oxygen gradually thinned. Liu Yilin felt her breathing becoming difficult, her head felt fuzzy, her thoughts were slow, and she no longer had the strength to speak.
Ning Beichen, however, continued to struggle. The mud and rocks pressing down on him were slowly loosening, but he dared not move too much because Liu Yilin was beneath him. Any carelessness could mean the end for both of them, turning them into tragic lovers like Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.
"Ning Beichen, I... I think I can't breathe anymore."
After some more time, Liu Yilin said weakly.
Ning Beichen was startled and sensed that Liu Yilin's condition was not good, as her breathing was almost imperceptible. Ning Beichen couldn't afford to hesitate anymore. He immediately lowered his head and found her mouth.
A warm breath entered Liu Yilin's mouth. Seeing her gasp for air like a drowning person, she arched her head upwards, greedily taking the breath Ning Beichen was giving her.
"Boss, hold on a little longer. It'll be over soon."
At this moment, Ning Beichen had no thoughts of romance or sentiment. His primary concern was how to escape.
"Let's die then. If we don't get out soon, even if I can hold on, Liu Yilin won't be able to."
Ning Beichen gritted his teeth and unleashed his full strength. A powerful force erupted from his dantian, like a long-dry spring suddenly bursting forth.
Then, with a "boom," the mud and rocks above Ning Beichen instantly exploded, and a vast influx of oxygen poured in. Ning Beichen gasped for air.
He saw surprise on Ning Beichen's face, but no one knew that his surprise was not about escaping death, but about his internal energy, which had been stagnant for years, finally breaking through its bottleneck.
If his previous cultivation was considered that of a master, he had now reached the level of a grandmaster.
Although he had just entered the realm of a grandmaster and was still a long way from true mastery, Ning Beichen dared to declare loudly that in the ancient Eastern kingdom.
No!
Even if one looked at the entire world.
A grandmaster at Ning Beichen's age was an absolute rarity.
However, Liu Yilin's greedy gasps quickly pulled Ning Beichen back from his pleasant feelings. Whether he was a grandmaster or not could wait. The most important thing now was that they had escaped.
Ning Beichen cleared away some of the mud and rocks pinning him, protected Liu Yilin as he stood up, and then half his body sank into a pile of mud. He first pulled Liu Yilin out from below.
After getting Liu Yilin out, Ning Beichen, with one leg higher than the other, crawled out of the mud.