Chapter 8 I'm going to die (Please collect and recommend)
The wind and rain were accompanied by lightning. Zhao Anping and his group walked through the mud and arrived not far from the embankment of Changpai Village with difficulty.
It was pitch black all around and I couldn't see anything. The flashlight couldn't reach very far before being swallowed up by the darkness.
"Turn off the flashlight." Zhao Anping ordered.
Once the only light source is turned off, absolute darkness descends.
After a few minutes, when everyone's eyes adjusted to the darkness, although it was still pitch dark, they could vaguely see some outlines.
The levee of Changpai Village not far away did not collapse, but the specific details could not be seen.
"Come closer." Zhao Anping said.
Everyone's faces turned pale. The roar of the river was deafening. If they walked so close, they would not be able to escape if the embankment collapsed.
But the sheriff's authority remained, and everyone moved forward a few steps.
At this moment, a huge bolt of lightning struck down from the sky and hit the river surface. The silver-white branches bent wantonly, and the power of heaven and earth rolled in, blocking everyone's steps.
When the lightning flashed across the world, Zhao Anping clearly saw a man running down the 15-meter-high embankment like a fly.
Zhao Anping shouted, "Lin Wen!"
The man immediately raised his head and looked over. The lightning flashed in an instant. He turned on the mining lamp on his head, and the strong light immediately illuminated Zhao Anping and his group.
It also illuminated his own face.
That’s right, it’s him!
The mayor of Changle Town, the only town-level official under the age of 30 in Changshan County, the youngest sixth-level official in Dongqinzhou in the past 30 years, and the official with the highest rank jump in the empire in the past 12 years.
Lin Wen!
Zhao Anping clenched his fists, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Lin Wen looked very surprised. He shouted, "Chief Zhao." But he immediately turned around and dragged out two steel cages filled with stones from the pile of supplies. These were not on the dike.
Due to lighting problems, Zhao Anping could not see the size of the two reinforced gabions and did not know that each of them weighed 800 kilograms.
He didn't even notice this detail and shouted, "Lin Wen, what are you doing here? How's the levee?"
Lin Wen didn't even turn around, picked up the steel cage and left: "I'm doing rescue work. The levee is in danger, and I don't know if it can be saved."
Zhao Anping shouted, "How many people have been deployed for the rescue? Are there enough supplies?"
Lin Wen replied: "I have arranged one person and there are enough supplies."
one person?
Zhao Anping couldn't believe his ears. What the hell was a person?
Wouldn't that mean he was alone? What was the point of doing this alone?
Secretary Xiao Zhang, standing beside him, felt his legs weaken as he trembled, "Headmaster! Let's go! We can't hold this place anymore!"
"Yes," another person echoed, "Xiao Lin is a hero. He's guarding the dike alone, proving that it can no longer be saved. He's fulfilling his last duty."
"Yes, we also have to fulfill our responsibilities and protect the people."
"Please ask the County Governor to go back and lead the people to evacuate!"
Heavy rain hit the raincoat and fell in front of his eyes like a stream. Zhao Anping looked at the light that was getting smaller and smaller, and watched the spark go up the embankment at an incredible speed. He watched him running in the darkness like a pitch-black monster, and trying hard to throw away the things in his hands.
Suddenly he said, "I'm right here."
"Sheriff!"
"I'm right here," Zhao Anping repeated, "watching the levee."
"If the embankment collapses, I will notify you and you will quickly go back and evacuate people."
After a moment's silence, Zhao Anping continued in an unquestionable tone, "Xiao Zhang, go back now and tell them to be prepared. But don't panic. Rest well and recover your strength, and maybe nothing will happen. Hu Ping, the three of you with walkie-talkies, get in line and relay the information as soon as it comes in. The rest of you stay with them, don't get them lost!"
"Go!"
In the darkness, Zhao Anping was soon left alone. He looked at the dim light in the distance, which was swaying in the wind and rain. It was so small, yet it seemed like a star that would never go out.
Unlike the tragic scene Zhao Anping had imagined, Lin Wen fell into an unprecedented state of frenzy. He faced the power of thunder and lightning in the storm, as if he was fighting against the gods in heaven. The flood was the means of attack by the gods, and the levee was his last line of defense.
Isn't his current desperate defense of the dike a prelude to an explosion at the last moment?
Lin Wen's blood was boiling, and the fatigue from continuous fighting had long since disappeared. The burden brought by the two "Nine Oxen and Two Tigers' Strength" and "Blind and Clear" with very short intervals seemed to be non-existent.
He continued to throw sandbags and earth into a breach about 2 meters wide. Because two reinforced gabions were perfectly stuck in place, the breach was quickly blocked.
Lin Wen pounced forward, stepped firmly on it, turned around and ran towards another broken spot.
At this time, a thunderstorm came, lightning fell frequently from the sky, and the roar of thunder rolled in, continuous, without stopping for half a second. The universe flashed frequently like a broken flash camera.
In this horrifying scene, all living creatures trembled in fear, but Lin Wen laughed loudly towards the sky, his laughter echoing between heaven and earth, as if expressing his unyielding fighting spirit.
Countless stones, earth and sandbags were thrown into the breach, and the dangerous situation was resolved in an instant.
In this way, the levee was always on the verge of collapse, but it never collapsed, and there was no strong pipe burst like the Yingjia Village levee.
After an unknown amount of time, Lin Wen suddenly woke up from his frenzy. The storm was still going on, but the water level in the river had dropped at some point!
The flood peak has receded?
That's not right. The radio clearly said the second flood peak would last 36 hours. How many hours is that? Not even a day, right?
Lin Wen suddenly panicked. No way? The flood peak was so powerful, I wouldn't be able to die, right?
Can you please let a big wave take me away?
He wanted to deliberately rush into the dangerous place and die, but if he did that, he would have the subjective intention to die and might become a suicidal person.
No no, don't worry.
This is only temporary. The flood peak is gathering strength. Seeing that I have prepared so well, it wants to make a big one. While I am trying to rescue, a big wave comes and washes me away.
Perfect!
Therefore, I must not take it lightly, be sneaky, or deliberately falsify information. I must devote all my heart and soul to the rescue. Otherwise, if the conditions are not met, wouldn’t my death be in vain?
Although I thought so, I felt more and more uneasy, because the flood was receding rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the danger on the levee was becoming less and less.
In the morning, when it was just dawn, the rain had stopped.
The river water level is already lower than before the flood peak.
Lin Wen's mood hit rock bottom. He wandered aimlessly on the levee where he couldn't find any hidden dangers, as if he had lost his soul.
At noon, the first ray of sunlight shone through the dark clouds, freezing Lin Wen's heart into ice like the cold light of -273 degrees.
The roar of vehicles and the sound of orderly running came from the rear. Lin Wen looked back and saw the imperial troops coming to the rescue, tens of thousands of imperial engineers, and hundreds of trucks of all sizes.
Not far below the dike, County Magistrate Zhao was talking to an imperial officer.
As if noticing his gaze, County Magistrate Zhao and the Imperial officer simultaneously turned and waved to him. The Imperial officer whistled and shouted, "Hail to the Imperial hero!"
With a loud bang, tens of thousands of imperial soldiers stood at attention at the same time and saluted in the direction of Lin Wen.
"Hail to the heroes of the Empire!"
The voices of the non-commissioned officers resounded throughout the heavens and earth.
Lin Wen's last bit of hope was shattered. The spell time had expired. The fatigue, sleepiness and despair that surged like a tide instantly overwhelmed his mental will. His eyes went dark and he fell backwards.
"Quick! Go protect the heroes of the Empire!"
This was the last sentence Lin Wen heard before he fainted.
(End of this chapter)
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