Chapter 20

Damn it!

Su Ci got angry, grabbed a thick, dry branch, and circled behind the man. She swung it at the back of his head, and the laughter stopped abruptly.

Su Ci tore off the madman’s belt and shirt, ripped them into strips, and tied his hands, feet, and body tightly. Then she dragged and threw him into the bushes to hide.

After dealing with Liu Ying as quickly as possible, Su Ci hurriedly found a place to step down and run. After about twenty or thirty meters, she found A Zhao. A Zhao was lying on the ground motionless, with a large, bloody wound on the left side of his head, blood gushing down his face and neck.

Su Ci crawled and rolled over, checked his neck, and fortunately, he was still breathing. She looked closely and saw that the wound, although large, was mostly superficial. However, the rapid blood flow indicated arterial damage.

Su Ci quickly opened the large bundle on her back, took out clean dressings, and pressed heavily on the wound on his forehead. With her other hand, she pressed on the superficial temporal artery in front of his ear, and the blood flow immediately slowed.

Su Ci breathed a sigh of relief. But as soon as she moved him, A Zhao started to move. His eyelids trembled for a while and barely opened. He struggled to get up, and Su Ci urgently said, “Don’t move! Do you want to live?!”

A Zhao, like his master, usually had a cold face and didn’t like to talk. Su Ci wasn’t familiar with him, but it didn’t matter now. A Zhao barely opened his eyes, propped himself up, and pointed desperately forward, “…Master, Master!”

This man was loyal, even with his last breath, he was concerned about his master’s safety and wanted to save him.

“Don’t move, don’t move!” Su Ci was scared of him, “I’ll go, I’ll go, you don’t move!”

Su Ci glanced in the direction he pointed, then turned back and said, “You need to press on this wound for at least half an hour, no, two-quarters of an hour.”

A Zhao’s face was pale, his brows tightly furrowed, looking like he was trying hard not to vomit. He probably had a concussion, too. How could Su Ci let him go?

“Press on the wound and this spot in front of your ear. After two-quarters of an hour, change the dressing and continue to press to stop the bleeding. Never mind, I’ll tie it up for you first, and you press for two-quarters of an hour. You can move slowly, but remember to know your limits. Oh, and I tied Liu Ying up and threw him over there.”

Su Ci looked at A Zhao’s hand. He still had strength, so pressing wasn’t a problem. He was already slowly getting up, wanting to search for other companions. Su Ci left the large bundle behind. These people had first aid knowledge, and leaving most of the medicine should be enough.

She took only some of each type of medicine, dressing, and bandage, made a small bundle, and then ran in the direction A Zhao pointed.

Liu Ying didn’t know how much dynamite he had buried in this place. Half of the mountain had collapsed, making the path very difficult to traverse. Su Ci couldn’t run more than a few steps before carefully finding her footing, sometimes even using her hands and feet to crawl and climb.

At first, Su Ci wasn’t too worried about Yang Yanzong. From a fleeting glance before the explosion, A Zhao’s position was much worse than Yang Yanzong’s, yet A Zhao was still alive and not too seriously injured.

Yang Yanzong, with his skills, would surely be fine. But gradually, she realized something was wrong. She couldn’t find Yang Yanzong.

At first, Su Ci felt a bit uneasy. She was afraid that before she found Yang Yanzong, she might run into Ji Yuanhao instead, which would be disastrous for her. So she was very cautious, constantly looking around and listening. But from the collapsed mountainside to the foot of the mountain, she didn’t encounter anyone.

“What’s going on?” Su Ci looked up, gazing at the position above. She searched all possible directions where he might have fallen, but everything was quiet. The lingering dust gradually settled, and her view began to clear, but she found no bloodstains, no fragments of clothing, and no scratch marks.

Su Ci frowned. It didn’t make sense. Could he have been buried directly? She didn’t believe it. He was the main character, after all. It couldn’t be that coincidental!

Moreover, the direction where Yang Yanzong was standing, although severely collapsed, was not the hardest-hit area by the falling rocks. He had left the core explosion area immediately. With his skills, even if buried, he couldn’t have left no trace at all. Finally, Su Ci followed this direction to the bottom, at the lowest part of the mountain valley, very close to a cliff rock face ahead. She finally found a crack in the rock.

The collapsed rocks and trees had pushed down to this point, and the rocky ground had opened a crack nearly two meters wide. The edge of the gap was very new, and further ahead, there were gray-black old marks and moss traces, but they had long dried up. There was originally a dry ground fissure here, with a lot of dust and fallen leaves. It was not large, but an explosion had forcibly blown it open.

Now, it was unknown how long or deep it was. Su Ci couldn’t see the end on either side. Worse still, she heard the sound of water. Water was rapidly gushing up from the bottom of the crack. The dead branches and leaves at the bottom were spinning rapidly on the water’s surface, and the water level was rising quickly, increasing by two or three meters in no time. It was dark and bottomless. Could Yang Yanzong have been pushed to the bottom?

Su Ci: “…”

She wanted to tell herself no, but she had searched everywhere she could, and this possibility was very high.

Damn it.

Su Ci hesitated for a moment. She had extensive knowledge in this area and knew such cracks were dangerous. The main issue was not knowing how deep it was. If lucky, it would be only ten to twenty meters deep, with one or two exit points, and she could quickly retrieve someone. If she were unlucky, the entire bottom of the crack would be open, and once she was down, it would be uncertain if she could come back up.

Damn Liu Ying to the eighteenth level of hell!

Su Ci hesitated for a moment, then finally resigned herself and took off her belt. Alright, once she got him out, she would have Yang Yanzong skin that Liu guy alive. Her belt was specially made, with non-mainstream-looking decorations that were actually thin ropes, very sturdy, made of cowhide. She was used to carrying such equipment when she went out.

See, it came in handy, after all!

Although she was complaining in her mind, Su Ci’s hands didn’t slow down at all. She quickly tied a loop around a large rock at the crack’s edge, tied the other end with a slipknot around her waist, pulled the rope, and braced her feet against the crack’s edge, lowering herself down step by step. She was very skilled, descending quickly. After a couple of releases, she quietly landed in the water. Su Ci took a deep breath, let go, and dived like a fish.

Fortunately, after diving about ten meters, roughly the height of four floors, Su Ci reached the bottom. At this depth, she could still see a certain distance with the naked eye. With her excellent diving skills, she quickly found Yang Yanzong!

Yang Yanzong was lying diagonally at the bottom of the crack, with faint red blood threads spreading in the water from his head. He was injured, having hit his head. When Su Ci found him, his nostrils and upper body were trembling and struggling rapidly. He was trying to wake up but hadn’t succeeded.

Su Ci kicked, swam to his side, and lifted him up. At this moment, bubbles were rapidly coming out of his mouth and nose, and his brows and face were tightly furrowed, a sign that his lung oxygen was about to run out.

What a cliché scene!

Su Ci resignedly moved closer, paused, and touched his thin lips with hers, giving him a breath. Afterward, she smacked her lips, no taste, just like that.

Su Ci had done artificial respiration more than once for her teammates with no psychological pressure at all. After evaluating, she was about to take Yang Yanzong up when she suddenly heard a strange sound. The water in front of her became murky, swirling rapidly.

Su Ci’s heart skipped a beat and quickly glanced to the side. Oh my!

She saw a torrent of muddy water behind her. She didn’t know what had happened, but the water had become completely turbid. It was swirling and spinning chaotically, as if something was vibrating and devouring, and the vortex was rapidly spreading towards them. From giving Yang Yanzong a breath to realizing something was wrong, it was only two or three seconds, and the murkiness was already close behind.

Oh my gosh!

Su Ci’s hair stood on end. She reached back for the rope, but it wasn’t long enough, and she had untied it earlier. Reaching back, she couldn’t grab it. The murkiness had sucked the rope away, and the brown cowhide rope was quickly shaking in the water. In a split second, weighing the time and climbing up, Su Ci’s reaction was faster than her brain. She was afraid there wouldn’t be enough time to climb up. She kicked her legs, hugged Yang Yanzong, and with one hand paddling, she instantly kicked five or six meters to the other side of the crack. Her speed was breakneck. With her legs finding leverage, the buoyancy of the water made their bodies exceptionally light and smooth. Using both her hands and feet, she climbed and kicked, each move propelling them three or four meters, surpassing the speed of the muddy current like a needlefish!

She rushed to a gradually narrowing area, stepped on both walls and kicked up with all her might!

With a splash, Su Ci crawled and rolled, dragging Yang Yanzong up onto the ground. Fortunately, by this time, the water had already overflowed to the edge of the crack, making it easy for Su Ci to complete this move.

Still worried, she dragged Yang Yanzong forward for more than ten meters, reaching the edge of the mountain where the rocks were tumbling. With nowhere else to run, she finally lay down, gasping for breath.

Oh my, that scared me to death.

In just a moment, the water in the crack had become entirely murky. She didn’t know what was happening below, but the water was no longer overflowing, bubbling continuously.

Yang Yanzong’s black hair was soaked, looking exceptionally dark and shiny, but his face was a bit pale. A thin stream of blood slowly trickled down from a spot above his temple, his hair bun slightly disheveled, with the blood dripping onto the ground along a strand of wet hair.

Su Ci quickly checked his breathing and pulse. Fortunately, he was fine. She hurriedly got up to retrieve the small bundle by the big rock and began cleaning and bandaging his wounds. It was a close call.

With everything settled, Su Ci immediately felt rejuvenated. Her optimistic mindset resurfaced. After finishing the bandaging, Yang Yanzong was still motionless, but Su Ci wasn’t worried after checking his pulse. She sat cross-legged beside him, first nudging him twice to test. When Yang Yanzong didn’t wake up, Su Ci patted his face with the back of her hand, “Humming at me, huh?!”

Let’s see you act all high and mighty now!

She laughed twice, feeling triumphant. Then, she pinched Yang Yanzong’s nose, twisted it twice, and pushed his face to the other side. However, her joy turned to sorrow when Yang Yanzong woke up just as her hand was still on his face.

It was quite abrupt.

Su Ci stiffened for a moment and quickly withdrew her hand. “… You’re awake?” Her tone was eight degrees lower than before, and she felt very guilty.

Yang Yanzong stared at her for a while, slowly touched his head, the bandaged wound, and propped himself up to sit. He slowly moved his hands and feet, gathered his energy for a moment, and found that, except for the head injury, his body was otherwise unharmed.

Su Ci sneaked a glance at him, not knowing if he was aware of her little actions. Yang Yanzong’s expression didn’t reveal anything. She wanted to slap her own hand, blaming herself for being so naughty!

Feeling guilty, she talked a lot and was very attentive: “I checked you and took your pulse. Except for the head injury, everything else is fine.”

“A Zhao also hit his head. Many of our people are probably injured, but he should have handled it by now.”

Yang Yanzong glanced at her, and Su Ci, under his gaze, spoke softer and softer. She smiled flatteringly, hoping he wouldn’t hold a grudge—if he knew!

Su Ci thought she should quickly remind him of her life-saving grace. Doing good deeds without leaving a name was not her style!

“You don’t know how dangerous it was just now. You fell into the crack and were unconscious! The water came suddenly. Luckily, I swam really fast with you! We almost didn’t make it up.”

A life-saving grace shouldn’t be repaid in the next life; it should be repaid in this life, right?

The more she thought about it, the more justified she felt. However, when Yang Yanzong stood up, Su Ci quickly went to help him. Yang Yanzong glanced at her, “Let’s go up.”

His eyes were sharp, and as soon as he woke up, he noticed a mine tunnel diagonally above. Su Ci also saw it. She didn’t know how far she had swum, but this side of the mountain hadn’t collapsed. However, due to the explosion and the mountain’s vibrations, the cover had fallen off, revealing the mine tunnel hidden inside the mountain – It turned out that Liu Ying’s private mine was right here, not twenty miles away. No wonder there was so much dynamite here.

Su Ci was a bit scared: “What if it collapses again?”

That would be such an unjust death!

Yang Yanzong observed for a moment and said calmly, “It won’t.”

Su Ci didn’t know how he judged it, but if he said it wouldn’t, then it probably wouldn’t. Yang Yanzong was indeed a person who walked on the edge of a knife, but that didn’t mean he didn’t value his life. Once dead, everything would be over.

Yang Yanzong reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. The cave entrance was more than ten meters above, and Su Ci couldn’t get there alone.

Su Ci’s face brushed against his chest. Yang Yanzong’s chest was very firm, and he had a cold scent, very faint, only noticeable when very close, not fragrant, but very fitting for his temperament.

Yang Yanzong’s long, strong arm wrapped around her waist, her face pressed against his chest; the touch was fantastic. Oh my, this man really had the ability to make one’s heart race!

What a sin, she didn’t mean to take advantage of the male lead.

Su Ci’s mind was racing, and Yang Yanzong’s hand tightened, pressing her so hard she almost threw up!

So rough, she complained. Her feet suddenly lifted off the ground, and she blinked in surprise, finding herself standing at the mine tunnel entrance.

The mine tunnel was pitch black, with the wind howling through, making Su Ci uneasy. Yang Yanzong glanced around and stepped inside.

Su Ci quickly followed. She tried to light a fire stick, but as soon as she took it out, Yang Yanzong said, “Don’t light it.”

Su Ci had to put the fire stick away. But it was so dark that the further they went, the darker it got. She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face and couldn’t see the path at all. The ground was uneven, and after stumbling again, she decisively reached out to touch Yang Yanzong.

After groping twice and not finding him, she anxiously grabbed, “Where are you grabbing?!” He caught her wrist with a backhand.

“Sorry, sorry,” Su Ci chuckled, grabbing like a dragon’s claw. She

thickened her skin and said righteously, “I can’t see, can I?”

Yang Yanzong snorted, his tone sounding somewhat mocking, but he didn’t let go. So, holding her wrist, they walked one after the other. He walked quickly, and the ground was uneven. Su Ci stumbled and almost fell flat on her face. She quickly covered her mouth; she couldn’t afford to lose her teeth if she really fell!

She protested, “Hey, wait a minute, let me move to the side first. ” At least she could lean against the wall. “Hey, hey, you, life-saving grace here!”

So angry, it hadn’t been that long!

Yang Yanzong paused, and Su Ci quickly groped her way to the wall. His voice was still indifferent and casual. “What do you want me to offer myself in marriage?” Just afraid you might be too busy.

This guy could actually crack a cold joke?

Su Ci was choked.

Yang Yanzong might have said it casually, but her reaction probably triggered some unpleasant memories. His previously casual voice now carried a hint of danger, “What? Is it too much for you?”