Chapter 27
The sky was getting darker and darker, dark clouds were gathering, and thunder could be heard faintly in the sky. The lake water was stirred by the lake wind, causing the bamboo raft to sway violently, and the people paddling gradually felt tired.
"The bamboo raft is too light. We can't go on like this," Chu Huaiqin said, clinging to the edge of the bamboo shed. His face was horribly pale. He narrowed his eyes slightly, clenched his teeth, and seemed to be suppressing something. "Let's get in the water!"
Bamboo rafts are light and are the best means of navigation on the lake when the weather is good. However, once it rains, the danger increases exponentially due to their weight.
Xia En immediately understood Chu Huaiqin's meaning. He threw the oar into the middle of the bamboo raft, quickly picked up the spare vines, walked to the bow, and threw one to Feng Shan and Tong Tao. "The three of us will get in the water and pull it."
Now it is difficult to control the bamboo raft. If the raft turns in another direction, it will be difficult to pull it back. The best way is to use the buoyancy to bring the bamboo raft to the shore while the water flow is not fast.
"Three of us will get in the water too!" Bingxiang shouted, jumping first. The little monk followed, as did Pu Peng. The rest of the people on the raft controlled the raft's direction based on the movements of the people in the water.
The water was quite turbulent, and the few who jumped into the lake were often splashed with water in their faces, blurring their vision. Lin Yongfu and Su Huaichen sat in a Z-shape, anxiously holding the bamboo raft as they waited for Xia En's group. From time to time, they looked up at the sky, their hearts sinking as they saw the sky getting darker.
"Where are you going?" Xia En, who was tying vines, suddenly raised his head and shouted in an anxious tone, "Where are you going and what are you doing?"
Everyone turned to follow his gaze and found that he was calling Chu Huaiqin.
"The wind's getting stronger. Two people can't control it. I'm going to the stern." Chu Huaiqin stood there with a spare pole, his back straight. Aside from his pale face, he showed no sign of his previous weakened state. Seeing Xia En still watching, he said in a hoarse voice, "Hurry up. We're running out of time."
Xia En stared at Chu Huaiqin intently, his eyes filled with painful struggle, and his surging emotions shocked everyone in the live broadcast room.
"I originally thought it was nothing, but after Xia Entang's disturbance, I started to get nervous."
"Well, thinking about my brother's previous situation, I am indeed worried."
"He said he's afraid of water, but he's bathed in streams and lakes before, and now he's fine when he wakes up. He said he's not afraid, but there's no explanation for his previous condition. Ahhh, I really want to know. Director, please enable the interactive function!"
"Oh my god, you guys are so careless. Am I the only one worried about them? It's going to rain heavily soon. If the water flows fast, it will wash them all away." "This lake is so big, it's scary."
The live broadcast room could think of it, and Xia Entropy could think of it too. It took almost all his willpower to retract his gaze from Chu Huaiqin. He quickly tied the vines around himself and shouted, "Are you guys done?"
"alright."
"Walk!"
The six people dived into the water and swam towards the mountain. Chu Huaiqin swayed at the back of the bamboo raft according to the direction, which unexpectedly saved the two people in front a lot of energy. The younger sister also imitated Chu Huaiqin, but unfortunately her skills were not good enough, and she couldn't control the oar well, and she relieved the force from the front several times.
"Sister, just sit still." An Shunan turned around and called out. He and Su Feichen were both athletes. Logically, they both had good physical strength, but Su Feichen was a figure skater with thin arms and legs, so he couldn't really exert much strength, which resulted in him losing balance. His sister's actions made things even more chaotic.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Lin Zhinan also knew that he was lagging behind, so he put down the pole in a panic and stood there at a loss with red eyes.
An Shunan's heart softened and he suggested, "Go help Su Feichen."
"Okay." Lin Zhinan responded, ran to sit behind Su Feichen, and rowed to his rhythm.
It was getting darker and darker, and they all looked a little blurry in the live broadcast room. Everyone couldn't help but get nervous, and some people even called the program crew, asking them to stop and get the people ashore safely.
Director Huang was under immense pressure. Although the two bamboo rafts were followed by two boats from the director's crew and lifeguards, he was worried about accidents. But thinking of the international competition, Director Huang forced himself to be patient. He waited, waited. This year's international competition was going to be brutal. If they couldn't even overcome this little obstacle, what would become of them?
"It's raining," Chu Huaiqin wiped the raindrops from his face, looked at the distance between the bamboo raft and the mountain peak, and saw that it was almost there. He shouted, "Everyone, work harder."
"Okay!" A vigorous response rang out. Everyone towing the raft seemed to be given up on chicken blood, holding on to the vines and swimming hard. The hands of the people paddling had already been rubbed with blisters and broken. Every time they paddled, the broken blisters stuck to the oars, causing piercing pain. Every few strokes, their movements became disordered because of the pain.
Lin Zhinan even cried secretly, but didn't dare to cry out loud. Everyone's attention was on the mountain ahead, and only the people in the live broadcast room noticed. Everyone looked at Chu Huaiqin, the most delicate one, but found that his movements hadn't changed at all.
“…thunderbolt…bang…crash…”
Torrential rain, accompanied by thunder, instantly obscured everyone's vision. The heavy downpour destabilized the bamboo raft, causing it to shake. Chu Huaiqin gripped the oars tightly, a cold sweat breaking out as his vision darkened. The downpour also affected the raft pullers, who felt the current accelerate, nearly being swept away several times. The viewers in the livestream were terrified, especially when they saw the dense flashes of lightning across the sky, their hearts rising to their throats.
"I'm so scared that lightning will strike the water. It's so scary!"
"We're almost there, almost there, ah, come on, swim a little more, swim a little more, as long as the people pulling the raft reach the shore, we won't be afraid."
"I think it would be quicker for everyone to jump in the water and swim over now."
"Ahh, come on, hurry up, the rain is getting heavier."
"Oh my god, this has been the hardest season in six seasons. If we don't get good results in this year's international competition, it won't be scientific."
"arrive!"
Someone in the livestream spotted someone reaching the shore through the dark camera lens. It was Xia En. The mountain's shoreline was gravel, with grassy lawns further in. Beyond that, a recessed rock barrier formed a natural barrier. Using the dim light, the livestream audience took in the area.
The live broadcast room cheered, and the screen was filled with "Come on".
The six- or seven-meter-long vines used the buoyancy of the water to pull the raft toward the shore. Su Huaichen and the others didn't care if their hands hurt, not even wiping the rain off their faces, as they bent over and raked the raft with all their might. But after just a short distance, no one expected the raft to suddenly lose control and sway violently. The people still on the raft were instantly overturned, and their backpacks fell into the water.
Many viewers watching the live broadcast on their computers and TVs screamed in fear, and those worried rushed to their screens, wishing they could dive in and save the people. However, the contestants in this season of wilderness survival were all swimmers, and while they were startled when the raft flipped over, they quickly reacted, emerged from the water, and swam to shore, grabbing their backpacks.
"I was so worried, luckily everyone knows how to swim."
"No, where's my brother?"
"who?"
"My dear brother! Chu Huaiqin!"
Only then did everyone realize that everyone had surfaced, but Chu Huaiqin had not.
Chu Huaiqin's mind was confused when he fell into the water, but his body reacted faster than him and became completely stiff. He didn't even have time to struggle or call for help.
He felt very conscious, even with his eyes open, and could clearly see the beautiful splashes of water from the rain falling on the lake. Some images flashed by, making it difficult for him to distinguish between reality and dreams...
"Brother! Let's see who can swim faster."
The brat took off his clothes, jumped into the water, and waved to him with a smile. The sun was shining brightly. Chu Huaiqin saw himself jumping into the water as well, and with his agile swimming strokes, he pressed the brat into the water and rubbed it. He thought back to when he was also a little white dragon in the waves. When did he become afraid of large bodies of water?
It seemed as if someone had tied it up in a sack and thrown it into the sea.
Hey, it seems like the little brat is here.
The light hit the water. Chu Huaiqin faced the light, watched the familiar yet unfamiliar figure swimming towards him, and slowly closed his eyes.
At that time, wasn't it the little brat who saved him?
Xia En was nearly going crazy when he saw Chu Huaiqin close his eyes. He swam over with all his might, grabbed him by the waist, lowered his head, and pried open his tightly closed mouth, breathing through it. His feet kicked in the water like engines, swimming rapidly upwards.
With a "crash" sound, the two people who were close to each other appeared in the circle of light created by the drone. The worried people and the audience in the live broadcast room were stunned for a moment.
“Ahem!”
Chu Huaiqin, who had not fallen into a coma, woke up instantly after coming into contact with the air. He coughed hard a few times, and a lot of water sprayed out of his mouth and nose, splashing all over Xia En's face, who was closest to him.
"Excuse me."
Chu Huaiqin wiped his mouth, stretched out his stiff hand to scoop some water to wipe Xia En, but unexpectedly it all leaked out.
The rain continued to fall. Xia En held Chu Huaiqin's waist with one hand and supported himself on the director's motorboat with the other. His dark eyes stared at him, his chest heaving violently, and the corners of his eyes reddened.
Chu Huaiqin blinked and was about to ask him what was wrong?
Xia En turned his head, put his arm around Chu Huaiqin's neck, jumped into the water, and swam towards the shore.
Chu Huaiqin, who was forced to look up and had his neck pulled, said: Xia En, I will kill you.
The rain was pouring down. The people who had come ashore first had already pulled the bamboo raft ashore. Seeing Chu Huaiqin and Xia Entang coming back, their eyes turned red. Lin Zhinan ran over crying, "Brother, brother, I thought, I thought..."
"Ahem, it's okay," Chu Huaiqin moved his throat and touched it, feeling that it might be a little hurt. The rain was still falling, hitting everyone. Many people's faces were pale from the cold. Chu Huaiqin said in a hoarse voice: "Let's find a place to hide from the rain first!"
The little monk looked at him worriedly, "Brother, are you okay?"
"It's okay," Chu Huaiqin waved his hand. He had no other problems except a sore throat. "If the rain continues, the water level here may rise. Let's look for a place to stay up there."
"Okay." Bing Xiang responded, glanced at Xia En, who was following Chu Huaiqin with a sullen face, thought for a moment, then walked over to him and asked others to tie the bamboo raft.
Everyone's luggage floated up when it hit the water, so it didn't sink or drift away. It's just that the things inside might have been a little wet. In the light that was not completely dark yet, everyone tied up the bamboo raft, put on their backpacks, and walked into the mountains in the rain.
The author has something to say: I saw a comment earlier saying that the safety of this program is not good. Actually, that's the true nature of this program. The international competition is when things get really brutal. Compared to the past, now it's just a leisurely trip.
I won’t write too long about the domestic competition, it should be almost done.
PS: I had originally agreed to update at 9:00 today, but something unexpected happened and I had to go out to pick someone up. My ten-year-old daughter's mother had left her to take the train back alone. When I went to pick her up, I watched as one bus after another got off and wondered why hers hadn't arrived yet. My heart was in my throat. Her mother was incredibly kind, telling me about this after we got on the train.
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