Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Something went wrong... I quickened my pace towards that direction.
Soon, I reached the previous entrance, close to the river where we had left our oxygen tanks.
Suddenly, I saw a woman surface from the water, but she quickly sank again. Water splashed everywhere, and at that moment, I didn’t have time to think. I leaped into the water.
"Don't struggle! Slowly balance your body!" I shouted.
The woman who had been thrashing in the water began to stop fighting. I swam faster towards her.
Just as I was about to reach her, she suddenly turned around. Her face was a terrifying skull, and my thoughts froze in fear. Yet my body reacted instinctively; I started to swim desperately towards the shore. But after just a couple of strokes, I found myself unable to move. I could feel her grip on my ankle.
I kicked frantically, but it was useless. She yanked me down into the water, and I swallowed a mouthful, choking violently. My head began to spin. Struggling to break the surface, I coughed harshly but was pulled back under again. A suffocating sensation began to rise within me.
Suddenly choking again, I remembered that I still had an M11 Submachine Gun hanging around my neck. With all my strength, I fired the gun. By this time, my stomach was filled with water, and my consciousness was fading.
Although the gunfire echoed underwater, I could clearly feel the grip on my ankle loosen significantly. Seizing the opportunity, I struggled free and burst through the water's surface. As I gasped for air, I felt some strength return to my body. Not daring to stop, I hurriedly swam towards the shore. My hands grasped the edge of the bank just as I was about to climb up when suddenly, I was pulled back down again.
Water rushed into my stomach, and instinctively, my first thought was to shoot again. The gunfire rang out once more; there was no time or opportunity to locate my assailant—I could only fire in hopes of finding a chance to escape.
But this time, the gunfire had no effect; instead, her grip tightened even more as she dragged me deeper into the water, trying to drown me.
No matter how much I struggled now, there was no chance of breaking through the surface again.
My limbs began to numb and became immobile as she continued to pull me down into the depths.
This time, I'm definitely done for, a voice echoed in my mind.
Suddenly, I thought I heard someone anxiously calling my name.
I summoned the last bit of my strength to struggle, but it was of little use; I estimated that not even a single bubble had surfaced on the water.
After a while, in my dazed state, I heard a loud crash.
Then came the sound of gunfire. It felt like two forces were pulling at my body, making me feel miserable. I began to vomit in the water.
I lost track of time and thought I was dead. When I finally opened my eyes in a haze, the first thing I saw was Fat Ma's plump face.
He immediately said, "Old Sun, I thought you were going to die."
Hearing those words confirmed that I was indeed alive.
Suddenly, my stomach churned uncomfortably, burning with heat. I started to heave again and vomited once more. The Mud Man patted my back.
Then he handed me a bottle of water to rinse my mouth.
Seeing the water made me vomit again; I had drunk enough while submerged earlier.
Fat Ma told the Mud Man to put the water away. The Mud Man smiled awkwardly.
Fat Ma remarked, "Old Sun, you really have a strong life. You encountered a water ghost and still managed to survive." The Mud Man added, "If you hadn't struggled at the last moment, you probably would never have seen us again."
I felt like I had grasped the last straw of hope. I let out a long sigh.
After a while, I asked, "So, did you guys kill that water ghost?"
Fat Ma replied, "Not dead, but we took half its life. This guy in my hands is no pushover."
"Hey!" I said, "Old Sun, how did you suddenly end up in the water?"
The Mud Man was also looking at me, clearly waiting for my answer.
I explained everything again. They understood but didn’t respond, appearing to be deep in thought. I nudged Fat Ma.
Fat Ma stood up and left with a remark: "Old Sun, you really are foolish!"
I followed him as he continued, "In a place like this, who else would come besides people like us?"
I thought about it; Fat Ma was right, but just as I was about to speak...
Xiao Hui woke up, mumbling, "Water... I want to drink water..."
The Mud Man handed me the water bottle. I asked, "Why don’t you go get it?"
The Mud Man shot me a look of frustration mixed with Fat Ma's grin.
Suddenly enlightened, I handed the water bottle to Fat Ma without hesitation.
Fat Ma returned it to me, and I passed it to the Mud Man. We pushed it back and forth a few times.
Water...
I couldn't bear it, so I took the water jug and left a remark: "People like you deserve to be publicly shamed."
They both burst into laughter.
I poured water for Xiao Hui, who drank a bit too quickly and choked. I hurriedly patted her back.
After drinking, her eyes seemed to clear up quite a bit.
But when she learned that her teacher had died, she cried again, and after that, she hardly spoke.
Shovel and a few others gradually woke up as well.
However, no one said anything; with so many people dead, it was hard for anyone not to feel sad.
Suddenly, one person turned to me and said, "Thank you."
My first reaction was that they finally spoke to me.
I replied, "You're welcome."
That person seemed to be moved; his arm had been pierced by Zongzi.
He revealed his secret: "They are a mercenary group."
"But this is my first time in a place like this," he continued.
Shovel did not stop him; his eyes seemed to have lost their usual luster.
It was also our first collaboration with the old man. People like us often walked the line between life and death. As long as the customers paid a good price, we would never refuse.
As he spoke, he pointed to the corpses on the ground and said, "Some of these people are on their first mission, while others have been on many, but now they are all dead."
The man said pessimistically, "I don't think I can make it out alive this time either."
I reassured him, "We can leave right now if we want to."
At that moment, Xiao Hui said, "If the sir is dead, none of us can make it out alive." Her voice sounded a bit dazed.
We all turned to look at Xiao Hui.
Suddenly, it felt like I realized something. I started running toward the location of the oxygen tanks.
Fat Ma and the Mud Man were calling my name from behind, while the laughter of Mercenary and Xiao Hui's dazed murmurs filled my ears.
When I reached the spot where the oxygen tanks were supposed to be, my heart sank; all the tanks were gone.
It was our negligence. If I had just reminded everyone to bring the oxygen tanks inside, perhaps this situation wouldn't have happened.
I angrily slammed my fist against the wall.
Fat Ma and the Mud Man stood behind me, and anyone with keen eyes could tell what had happened. "The oxygen tanks are all gone; we might as well wait to die!" I murmured.
They didn’t respond.
After a while, Fat Ma chuckled and said, "Don't worry. Didn't the old saying go, 'Surviving great calamities brings future blessings'? Trust me, we'll definitely make it out alive."
The Mud Man lit a cigarette for himself.
Seeing our lack of reaction, Fat Ma's smile faded a bit, and he urged us, "Come on, say something!"
Smoke filled the entrance of the tomb.
After thinking for a moment, I replied, "What Fat Ma said is right. There’s always a way out; when the boat reaches the bridge, it will naturally straighten out. After the darkness comes light."
Fat Ma said, "Old Sun is quite cultured!"
The Mud Man seemed to have made up his mind about something; he threw his half-finished cigarette on the ground and stomped it out.
I picked up on Fat Ma's earlier comment and added, "Of course! I am the successor of Motherland; didn't we say we are the sun of Motherland?"
My words made Fat Ma laugh again, and soon after, the Mud Man joined in as well.
The three of us walked further inside.
The others looked quite pessimistic.
After laughing, I knew that I had to calm down and think clearly.
First, we needed to gather enough food before looking for an exit or waiting for rescue. The option of waiting for rescue was practically ruled out.
We collected all the food from everyone and pooled it together; now there were only eight of us left.
It would be enough for three days, and we had plenty of water.
Once everything was arranged, a wave of helplessness washed over me.
What should we do next? Where should we start?
It seemed like we hadn't explored the area across the bridge yet, and this thought suddenly struck me.
I suggested that we start there.
They didn't object, so we got up and began moving toward the other side of the bridge.
The area on the other side was about the same size as ours. We also gathered all the ammunition over there.
As we crossed the bridge, I felt as if I was walking through a past life, sending a shiver down my spine...
Comment 0 Comment Count