Desert Arc ー Chapter 19 (Part 1): Adventures of Crossing the River
Old Fellow Qing was more than sixty years old. He was both dark-skinned and thin with his back crooked. He was silently smoking tobacco. When he saw that we had come down, he raised his eyes to take a look with no expression.
I saw that he was skinny until he was almost a handful of bones which could simply be ignited with by striking a matchstick. This kind of old person could still paddle the boat forward? It's not that I was suspecting his abilities but rather because I felt that this was practically torturing an old person.
Xu Fengxian seemed to have seen my uncertainty and bragged, "Don't just see that our Old Fellow Qing is a bag of bones, you are left with nothing to say when he paddles a boat. Those rapids and those undercurrents are as familiar to him as the road in front of his house door. If you can't get the hang of these, there's no use even if you're as strong as an ox."
After hastily having our breakfast, the three of us followed Old Fellow Qing to the riverside with Xu Fengxian escorting us enthusiastically.
I only gazed far into the distance yesterday and only felt that the river water which was like a green jade was very pretty. Only now that I observed it from a close distance did I discover that there were many places with the waves beating the reef and turbulent undercurrents. The whirlpool at the surface of the river was just like the huge mouth of a monster waiting to swallow people down and the sound of the waves was rumbling.
That Uncle Qing gestured to us. Song Zijing translated, "He's telling us to get onto the boat."
It turned out that Uncle Qing couldn't speak.
Yun Xiang and I supported each other and got onto that small boat and sat down at the stern of the boat. Song Zijing raised his sleeves and was planning to get onto the boat when he suddenly paused. He turned his head back instead as if he had heard something.
I looked over puzzledly and only saw a few birds flying past the mountains.
Song Zijing turned his head back with a dignified expression. With a flash of his figure, he had already steadily landed at the bow of the boat. The small boat swayed slightly. Even Old Fellow Qing revealed a look that expressed approval and praise.
"Uncle, start the boat." Song Zijing said in a low voice.
Uncle Qing nodded his head slightly. Yun Xiang and I hurriedly grabbed onto the boat's edge. The boat tilted. Next, it abruptly revolved in a huge circle, then it was pushed by a wave and had left the shore by ten metres.
I had been scared of these kinds of things like roller coasters since young and soon felt dizzy. Song Zijing was sitting in front of me with his back facing me. His figure was like Mount Tai with a stern look on his face when he turned around. I was aware of the situation in my heart and didn't disturb him. I endured my discomfort and shut my eyes tightly as I clutched the edge of the boat tightly.
Another wave came beating. The small boat revolved quite a few times like a leaf in a torrent and faced trouble as it moved up and down. My whole mind was in a disorder until it became a ball of paste and all the things in my stomach were sent upwards.
Suddenly, I heard Yun Xiang crying out in alarm. Song Zijing shouted, "Be careful——"
I was suddenly attacked by a force and fell forward. I only heard two whooshing sounds beside my ears as if something had been nailed into the deck of the boat.
Just as I wanted to look, Song Zijing's covered my eyes at once. "Don't open your eyes. Just lie forward on the ground properly."
As soon as his voice could be heard, he had already left and I only heard the hoarse sound carried by the wind. Another huge wave came beating. The boat was instantly tossed to an elevated place. My whole heart was about to leap out and I started to feel giddy as if I was riding the clouds and mounting the mist. Yun Xiang who was beside me was frightened until she screamed loudly. When I looked, she was flung away by inertia and her two feet treaded on nothing. I freed up my hands to grab her without thinking. I didn't expect that the boat fell again in the next second. Yun Xiang was pulled into the boat by me but I lost my centre of gravity instead and rolled out.
Yun Xiang shrieked. In a flash, I desperately held onto the stern of the boat with all my might but half of my body was already dragged outside and the icy cold river water wetted me out at once. Old Fellow Qing turned his head back to glance at us with his two eyes like a torch. But he was busy paddling the boat and could hardly look after himself. Only hurrying to the opposite shore would be helping her.
Yun Xiang was already frightened until she was crying. She shouted loudly, "Miss——Teacher, come rescue Miss quickly!"
Song Zijing couldn't free himself at all. He was facing the wind and standing at the bow of the boat and the sleeves of his robes flew upwards. His hand held a flexible sword and wielded it to provide an impenetrable defence. I only heard clanking sounds and saw countless black spots shot down into the water. When I looked at the deck of the boat again, it was inserted with two small steel darts which was covered with golden green. It had obviously been dipped in poison.
I spared no effort in climbing in but my feet just couldn't step on it. Yun Xiang wanted to come over to pull me but in the end, the boat jolted and she was rolled far away again.
An enormous wave came attacking. My whole body was drenched and because there was water, my hands also gradually couldn't hold on. I could only desperately climb inwards nonstop with all my mind. What assassins, what seasickness, they were all tossed to the back of my mind. I only knew that if I loosened my hands and fell, with that many torrents and submerged reefs, I would really not even have a corpse remaining.
I suddenly heard Song Zijing shouted, "Xiao Hua——hang on——"
He wanted to get away but couldn't. If he didn't protect Old Fellow Qing properly and the boat lost control, we would be in even greater danger instead.
The boat jolted again. One of my hands slipped off. This time, my whole body's strength was concentrated on my right hand. Yun Xiang climbed over and grabbed my sleeve firmly. She shouted, "Miss! The other hand!"
I exerted all my energy to extend my hand but couldn't reach for a few times in succession. The boat turned its head and she fell to another side again.
I felt despair inside my heard. I thought about how life just started to get exciting at this exquisite age of mine but I had to become that water monster. Furthermore, after I die, I still won't be able to return to my original body. No matter how I look at it, this transmigration was a business transaction where I was making a loss.
I desperately struggled with all my mind. Suddenly, I realized that the current seemed to have eased a little. When I looked again, it turned out that we had already passed the place where the flow of the current was most rapid and we were reaching the opposite shore soon.
I relaxed slightly but Song Zijing suddenly hollered, "Look out——"
I only saw a black dot being shot straight towards me.
I let go of that hand which grabbed the edge of the boat.
"Xiao Hua——"
The torrent swept me far away at once while that arrow shot into the war. But before I could rejoice, a whirlpool engulfed me. I was only in time to inhale a deep breath when I was already drawn into the water.
My ability in swimming wasn't mediocre but the flow of the water was turbulent so I could only drift with the waves and the flow. This segment didn't have large reefs but my oxygen supply
Finally, it started to become dark before her eyes and her strength became increasingly small. When I could no longer hold her breath, the water gushed in from my nose and mouth.
So this was the feeling of drowning to death. I desperately wanted to breathe but what gushed in was only water, water, water.
I became dizzy and lost consciousness…
……