"Not bad. Where are you all headed?" Jian Ning asked casually. She wanted to get them off as soon as possible so as not to delay her from collecting supplies.
"We were heading to a rescue center, but we hadn't gone far when our boat hit something in the water—maybe steel bars or something."
"It sank completely. I've been struggling here the whole time. Luckily I was wearing a life jacket, otherwise I would have sunk to the bottom long ago." Li Mingxuan finished speaking and gave a wry smile.
Their only means of transportation is gone. What will they do now? They can't live in the supermarket forever.
Moreover, the people inside were divided into several gangs, and the leader of one gang had his eye on Miao Xin and Liu Xinyi.
He threatened them to hand over the two girls or he wouldn't give them food. He wouldn't have come out to take the risk if he hadn't had no other choice.
"Jian Ning, could you please take us to the rescue center? It shouldn't be far." Liu Xinyi had already made plans; once they arrived at the rescue center, they would part ways with Miao Xin and the others.
Even being alone is better than constantly having to be on guard against Miao Xin stabbing her in the back.
“Okay.” Jian Ning agreed without hesitation; she didn’t want to keep these people on her boat.
Before Jian Ning could speak, Xiao Lingfeng turned the boat around and headed towards the China World Trade Center.
"Jian Ning, have you seen Zhang Xiaoqiang and Cao Xue recently? I heard that a lot of people died in the locust plague a while ago."
Wu Zhiwen asked from the side, after all, they were classmates who had fled together. Last time, the four of them left by boat, leaving the two of them at Jinmao Mansion. Wu Zhiwen actually felt quite bad about it.
“They’re doing alright; they go out every day to salvage food and supplies. You’d better find a way to save yourselves too; you can’t just wait for rescue.”
Jian Ning's meaning was clear: they were all adults, with hands and feet, so why couldn't they live by their own abilities?
If you don't try to adapt now, the days ahead will be even harder.
"I'm afraid of water. I almost drowned once when I was swimming in the river when I was a child, so I've always been afraid of water. But I will try my best to overcome it." Wu Zhiwen said this with little confidence.
Jian Ning didn't say anything. Everyone has their own choices, and how long they can survive in this apocalypse is beyond her control.
Xiao Lingfeng drove the speedboat very fast; after just one more intersection, they would reach the China World Trade Center.
However, many houses here have also collapsed, and a lot of steel bars and car wreckage are piled up and protruding above the water.
Xiao Lingfeng had no choice but to reduce the speed of the assault boat. He carefully circled around it. "What's that?"
Miao Xin suddenly exclaimed, and everyone looked up. In that instant, Jian Ning suddenly felt a strong force pushing her. She was caught off guard and was pushed directly into the water.
The people on the boat only came to their senses when they heard a splash as they entered the water.
"Miao Xin, what are you yelling about when there's nothing here?" Liu Xinyi glared at her with displeasure, then exclaimed, "Where's Jian Ning?"
"Did she fall into the water? It's so deep, and she wasn't wearing a life jacket."
Wu Zhiwen quickly clung to the side of the assault boat and looked down into the floodwaters.
"There's everything here, wouldn't you get hurt if you fell in? Hey buddy, why aren't you stopping the boat yet?"
Liu Xinyi glanced at Xiao Lingfeng with great incomprehension, but he acted as if nothing had happened and continued driving the speedboat forward.
"That's right, Jian Ning has disappeared. Were you with her? Why don't you care at all?" Miao Xin also pretended to be very angry and asked loudly.
No matter what the people on the boat said, Xiao Lingfeng did not stop the boat, but sailed straight to the rescue point.
"Get down," the voice was as cold as if it contained shards of ice.
"You're not saving her and you still have the nerve to say that? If Jian Ning dies this time, it'll all be your fault."
Miao Xin was about to get off the boat in a huff when Xiao Lingfeng stopped her.
"Wait a minute, I didn't tell you to go downstairs."
"What's wrong? I didn't do anything, why won't you let me off the ship?"
"Mingxuan, look at him." Miao Xin stomped her foot hard, her big eyes filled with tears, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
"That's right, why didn't you let her go down? It's not Miao Xin's fault that you didn't save Jian Ning when she fell into the water." Li Mingxuan stood up and pushed Xiao Lingfeng with his hand. They had already reached the rescue point, so he wasn't afraid at all.
"Unexpectedly, a hand suddenly reached out from his hand, grabbed his calf, and pulled him into the water."
"A ghost!" Miao Xin screamed in fright.
As the pale, slender hand emerged from the murky water a second time, strangely enough, the fingers and wrist were completely dry, without a single drop of water.
Liu Xinyi, who was standing next to her, turned pale with fright. Could it really be a water ghost?
She watched helplessly as that hand swept around in all directions, as if it had eyes, and then grabbed Miao Xin's ankle, pulling her into the water as well.
Since they were both wearing life jackets, they didn't sink immediately, only swallowing a few mouthfuls of water. They struggled desperately in the water, constantly shouting for help, their voices filled with terror. They seemed quite frightened.
"Aren't you two going up? Waiting for the New Year?" Xiao Lingfeng's voice was cold and devoid of warmth.
"We're going right now, brother, thank you so much," Wu Zhiwen finally realized what was happening, and he pulled Liu Xinyi along as if they were fleeing, entering the China World Trade Center through the window.
They had no intention of rescuing Li Mingxuan and Miao Xin.
Xiao Lingfeng ignored them and slowly drove away in the speedboat, leaving a long trail of water behind him.
Li Mingxuan could at least doggy paddle. He wasn't prepared when he fell into the water, but now that he had caught his breath, he struggled to swim to Miao Xin and grabbed her life jacket.
Without saying a word, he swam as fast as he could towards the window of the China World Trade Center.
After running inside, Wu Zhiwen pulled Liu Xinyi back. After all, they were classmates, and he couldn't just stand by and watch her die.
Seeing that Xiao Lingfeng had sailed away, they figured the water ghosts were gone too. Only then did they muster their courage and come over to pull Li Mingxuan and Miao Xin ashore.
"Are you alright?" Wu Zhiwen asked with concern, noticing Miao Xin's pale face.
"It's nothing," Miao Xin said, lying on the ground, soaking wet, and dry heaving a few times, but nothing came out.
She felt incredibly frustrated. The water was full of all sorts of filth, and she hadn't been careful, swallowing several mouthfuls. She wondered if she would get sick.
Thinking about it now, it all seems rather strange.
The hand that pulled them into the water just now must have been Jian Ning's. I just don't know when she became such a good swimmer. I've never heard of her being able to swim before.
But since I hurt others first, I have no way to express my suffering now, and my heart is throbbing with anger.
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