Chapter 270 It's still uncertain who is the cat and who is the mouse. For a time, the team's morale soared to unprecedented heights.
Gao Kai has completely transformed into Su Tang's "chief bodyguard." He took the entrenching tool from Liu Landi and walked at the front of the group, carefully paving the way for Su Tang with every step. When they encountered slightly difficult ditches or gullies, he would jump over them first and then reach out to steadily support Su Tang.
"Teacher Su, please slow down, it's slippery here."
"Teacher Su, have some water to soothe your throat."
He handed over his water bottle, not forgetting to unscrew the cap.
His overly attentive and fawning manner made Wang Jin and several other police officers behind him tremble with suppressed laughter.
Guided by Chen Xiaocao and led by Gao Kai, the team moved at a slow but exceptionally steady pace.
They avoided one seemingly flat but actually dangerous swamp after another, and bypassed one poisonous plant after another that exuded a faint sweet and fishy smell.
However, the dangers of the swamp never disappear just because you are cautious.
"ah--!"
A piercing scream suddenly tore through the air!
The line came to an instant, and everyone looked in the direction of the sound, their hearts skipping a beat.
At the very end of the line, a young soldier had stepped on something and was visibly sinking into the ground!
In the mere instant everyone turned around, the grayish-brown swamp had already swallowed half of his lower leg.
"Help! Help me! Help me out!"
The young soldier's face was drained of color, and his eyes were filled with extreme fear. He frantically waved his hands, trying to grab onto something, but the more he struggled, the faster he sank!
"Xiao Zhang!"
The two soldiers closest to him changed their expressions drastically and rushed over without thinking, reaching out to grab his arm.
"Don't go over there! Stop!" Su Tang shouted hurriedly.
But it was too late.
In their eagerness to save lives, the two soldiers stepped onto the edge of the swamp. The ground beneath their feet instantly became as soft as tofu. Although they didn't immediately sink in like Xiao Zhang, they lost their footing and their bodies swayed precariously.
"Come back!" Gao Kai also reacted, roared, rushed forward and pulled the two reckless guys back with one hand each.
But because of this delay, the mud had already reached Xiao Zhang's knees.
Panic immediately gripped the group.
It’s over!
These two words popped into everyone's mind.
They watched helplessly as their comrades were devoured bit by bit.
"What's the panic!" Su Tang hurriedly said, "Everyone, don't move! Lay your backpacks flat on the ground and spread them around the quicksand to increase the contact area!"
The panicked team members seemed to have found their leader and subconsciously began to carry out her orders. One, two, three... more than a dozen backpacks were carefully laid out on the edge of the quicksand, forming a makeshift "platform".
"Gao Kai! Wang Jin!" Su Tang continued to give orders, "You two, lie on the backpacks and hand him the entrenching tool so he can grab it! Remember, just let him grab it and stabilize his sinking trend. Absolutely do not try to pull him up! The suction of the mud is beyond your imagination. Pulling him up will only cause a drastic change in the pressure inside his body and accelerate his sinking!"
His words sent a chill down everyone's spine.
Gao Kai and Wang Jin immediately lay down on their backpacks and extended two entrenching tools. Xiao Zhang, stuck in the mud, gripped the handles tightly, driven by his survival instincts.
"Liu Landi, Chen Xiaocao, go and cut down a few of the toughest vines."
"Everyone else, carry that fallen, dead tree over here!"
Su Tang issued instructions one after another, methodically and systematically. The originally chaotic scene miraculously became orderly under her command.
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