Chapter 286 The Storm Surge Arrives (3)
As the sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy smell, brushed against their faces, the villagers on the suspension bridge were still debating whose advice to take.
But the next second, someone pointed at the sea and exclaimed in a distorted voice, "Quick...look!"
The once calm, azure sea seemed to have been overturned by a giant beast. Hundred-meter-high waves, carrying reefs and broken ships, pressed down like dark mountains. The white foam at the crest of the waves resembled the fangs of a giant beast, and the roaring sound made the wooden planks of the suspension bridge tremble.
"Waves! It's a storm surge!" someone shouted, and the crowd instantly erupted in chaos.
The villagers, without bothering to pack their belongings, retreated frantically to the mountain on the other side of the suspension bridge.
In the shoving and pushing, some people lost their cloth shoes, and some people's bamboo baskets rolled into the valley. Cries and screams mixed with the roar of the waves, turning the narrow suspension bridge into a complete mess.
With her back to the sea, Su Haiting was still pulling on the arm of the nearest aunt, pleading, "Auntie, listen to me, if we don't come down the mountain, we'll just be waiting to die here..."
Before she could finish speaking, her aunt suddenly began to tremble all over, her withered fingers pointing tightly behind her, her voice shaking like a leaf: "You damned liar, look... look behind you!"
Su Haiting's heart skipped a beat, and she turned around abruptly.
The towering wall of water was getting closer; the fishing boats rolling in the waves looked like fallen leaves, and the salty seawater foam splashed onto her face.
Su Haiting had never seen anything like this in her life. Her legs went weak with fear, and she screamed as she turned and tried to squeeze into the crowd, "Get out of the way! I don't want to die!"
But by then the suspension bridge was already beyond its capacity.
The two auxiliary ropes on the west side of the suspension bridge were already worn out when they went up the mountain last time, and the soldiers only temporarily patched them up with hemp rope.
Dozens of people were crammed on it, and every shove caused the bridge to shake violently.
The creaking of the wooden planks grew louder and louder, and the fibers at the junction of the hemp rope and the main rope snapped one by one, swirling and falling in the wind.
"Snap—"
A sharp crack pierced the noise as the main rope of the suspension bridge, closer to the sea, suddenly snapped!
The entire bridge suddenly tilted into the valley. The three villagers in the front row screamed and leaned half their bodies out, their hands gripping the edge of the wooden planks tightly. Below them was a bottomless ravine, and the waves were so close that they could see the rolling boulders inside.
"Help!"
On the flat ground at the edge of the valley, before the helicopter's rotors had even come to a complete stop, Zhou Jiuzhen immediately spotted the swaying suspension bridge.
He didn't even have time to take off his tactical vest before he rushed towards the suspension bridge, his military boots kicking up gravel as he grabbed the main rope that had suddenly snapped at the other end of the bridge with his rough hands.
"Pull! Tighten the rope!" Zhou Jiuzhen roared, his arm muscles taut like iron blocks, forcefully stabilizing the tilting bridge.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers behind him did not hesitate at all and charged forward in a line.
Some people grabbed Zhou Jiuzhen's belt, while others gripped the hem of his military uniform trousers.
The figures in military green stood closely together, like an iron dam, firmly supporting the weight of the suspension bridge and the crowd.
"Don't push! Move to the middle!" Zhou Jiuzhen shouted, looking up at the suspension bridge. His palms were bleeding from the ropes, but he didn't dare to loosen his grip at all.
He could see the fear in the eyes of the villagers on the suspension bridge, hear the cries of the children, and feel the increasingly heavy force of the soldiers behind him.
This rope holds dozens of lives; they absolutely cannot let it break here.
The wind at the edge of the cliff carried a salty, fishy smell that seeped into his bones. The blood on Zhou Jiuzhen's palms had already stuck to the rope, and his knuckles had turned white from the force he had exerted.
The soldiers behind him were breathing heavily, some with bloody marks from their knees grinding against the rocks, but no one dared to loosen their grip even slightly.
The ropes at the other end of the suspension bridge were still taut, like a string that could snap at any moment.
Once it collapses, their entire row of people will be pulled into the valley, along with the villagers on the suspension bridge, and they will all be submerged by the surging storm surge.
Ling Huanwu stood beside the helicopter, her fingernails almost digging into her palms.
The images of Zhou Jiuzhen's tragic death in her dream and the countless villagers lying dead on the beach in the newspapers flashed back into her mind.
We must not repeat the same mistakes!
Ling Huanwu gritted her teeth and quickly reached for the folding knife in her pocket.
That was the small knife she had just stolen from Qin Jinshen's villa, and now she was going to use it to cut the lifeline.
Inside the helicopter, Qin Jinshen, handcuffed and recently stabbed, saw Ling Huanwu trying to rush over to save them and shook his head repeatedly, his voice full of pleading, "Huanwu, don't go, don't go! What do you care if they live or die?"
"Please don't go, I can't watch you die! Please..."
Qin Jinshen shouted louder and louder, remembering how he had watched her die right before his eyes in his previous life.
In this life, he doesn't want to experience that heart-wrenching pain again.
But Ling Huanwu ran faster and faster without hesitation, leaving behind only his desperate screams.
She rushed forward quickly, avoiding the soldiers' surprised gazes, and went straight to the other rope of the suspension bridge.
The blade flashed coldly as it was drawn from its sheath. Ling Huanwu took a deep breath and slashed with her wrist.
With a "ripping" sound, the already badly worn rope snapped!
"What are you doing!" The villagers on the suspension bridge erupted in an uproar.
Grandpa Li clung tightly to the wooden plank, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at Ling Huanwu. "If you cut the rope, we'll all fall to our deaths!"
The cries of children and the angry shouts of adults mingled together, and the cliff edge instantly descended into chaos.
Zhou Jiuzhen also turned around abruptly, his eyes filled with shock: "Huanwu! You..."
But before he could finish speaking, an even stranger scene unfolded.
The broken rope suspension bridge did not fall into the valley; instead, it seemed to be held up by an invisible hand.
Immediately afterwards, the entire bridge, along with the villagers on it, vanished into thin air in a flash, leaving only a few swaying broken ropes spinning in the wind.
Everyone on the cliff edge was stunned.
The soldiers loosened their aching hands, staring blankly at the empty space in mid-air.
Zhou Jiuzhen strode to Ling Huanwu's side, his voice, though low, filled with disbelief: "Where are the villagers? Where did you take them?"
Ling Huanwu gripped the knife, her fingertips still trembling, but she forced a calm smile. "Guess where they are! Don't worry, they're all safe. I'll bring them out once we reach the mountain camp."
She and Zhou Jiuzhen exchanged a glance, their understanding unspoken.
The secrets of the space are astonishing, but at this moment, this is the only way to protect Zhou Jiuzhen and his fellow villagers.
But this secret must not be known to anyone.
She had no choice but to cut the rope.
If the suspension bridge is restricted, it simply cannot be stored in the space.
With the storm surge approaching, she had to immediately open up a space to save people.
Once the storm surge arrives, she won't be able to open up any space at all.
The storm surge was still approaching in the distance, and the waves crashed against the cliff, splashing water several meters high, but the panic at the cliff edge had subsided.
Zhou Jiuzhen understood Ling Huanwu's meaning, and after looking at the empty space in mid-air, he finally just grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the helicopter, saying, "Let's get out of here quickly, it's not safe here!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
