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墨書 Inktalez
Knowledge is power. Fear can generate an even more direct form of strength. At this moment, fear outweighed the suffocation and death that loomed over me; the severe pain in my back could not quell my desire to ascend. I desperately grasped at higher branches, climbing upward. When one leg left the pavement and found a branch to step on, I knew I could escape.
The first thing I did after leaving the pavement was to throw the old man onto the trunk of a tree. I wanted to kick him a couple more times out of frustration, but seeing the wood shavings sticking to his back and buttocks stopped me from acting on that impulse.
The old man lay on the wood, struggling to turn his head, and with a stiff voice, he managed to utter two Chinese characters: "Thank you." I looked at the flesh on his back that was still trembling slightly and silently gave a thumbs-up to this human shield.
I could hear his voice. It was truly unexpected. A strange feeling washed over me; I felt that we might have succeeded.
The sound he made was muffled—not because his voice was inherently dull, but because it reached my ears in that way. It felt as if the sound was emanating from a podium. Of course, I knew it wasn't; our surroundings had changed, causing the sound to be muffled.
I immediately shone my flashlight to the side. Right in front of me was a wall—a wall rapidly retreating behind us, caused by our swift movement forward. I quickly turned around and directed the flashlight across from me; another wall appeared in my line of sight. We had entered the drainage channel. We did it. A wave of joy surged through me, almost bringing me to tears.
However, this joy was fleeting. I quickly pointed the flashlight back at the pavement; I needed to know what dangers lurked in the water—what was gnawing at the branches and leaves, and whether something might leap out from the pavement to attack us.
The water flowed swiftly, yet there were no splashes caused by the rushing water behind us; the turbulent pavement was eerily calm. It felt as if the water in the drainage channel wasn't being pushed forward by flowing water but rather being pulled ahead by some unseen force.
If we were to explain this situation using physics, there could only be one possibility: the drop in the drainage channel was significant—so much so that its flow rate exceeded that of any water entering it. But how could there be any life in such a turbulent drainage channel?
The old man lay face down on the wood, positioned in such a way since I had thrown him there. Perhaps too many wood shavings had lodged into his back, preventing him from taking any other position. I had been standing in front of him to get a better view of what was happening in the water, but now I crouched down right in front of his head.
Yet something truly lurked in this turbulent drainage channel. The moment I crouched down, a furry hand suddenly emerged from the water before me. That description isn’t quite accurate; this hand had long hair on its back that clung wetly to it. But I knew it should be furry. The appearance of this hand was abrupt and perfectly timed with my crouching down; it seemed as if it had been lurking in the water for a long time, waiting for just this moment to pull me under.
I crouched at a distance from the pavement, otherwise I wouldn't have struggled so much to climb up. The sudden appearance of this hand startled me, but it didn't throw me into a panic; I certainly didn't jump up. Instead, I jumped down.
The hand gripped the pavement forcefully a couple of times before sinking down, seemingly vanishing in an instant. As it flailed in the air, a glowing watch on its wrist reminded me of its owner. Yes, it was Jack. This watch belonged to him; he had once proudly shown off this high-end waterproof watch in front of me. Naturally, I felt a pang of envy. For someone like me who often worked in the wild, I had an obsessive love for such versatile waterproof watches. I also knew its price was beyond my means, so all I could do was envy it from afar, which is why I recognized the watch and its owner at a glance.
The whole event happened and ended quickly, almost in the blink of an eye. It wasn't the hand that mattered, but everything that occurred in that fleeting moment after I saw it—so fast that if it were a movie frame, it would be over in forty-eight frames, at most seventy-two. But for me, the situation was complex, filled with thoughts and many subtle actions that could determine the outcome, which couldn't be easily summarized. If it were played back in slow motion, everything would be crystal clear.
I first shoved the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight into Lao People's mouth. This flashlight had often been stuffed into my own mouth during our journey; I had had enough of it. Now it was Lao People's turn to provide illumination; I didn't think that was too much to ask. Of course, I would have preferred to put the flashlight in his hands, but he lay sprawled on the wood like a dead dog, his arms limply hanging by his sides. His eyes were wide open, staring intently at the pavement alongside me. Watching this scene made my anger boil; just moments ago he had nearly choked me with his iron grip in the water, and now he lay there like a dead dog on the wood. If only we could communicate…
Forget it; the reality was that communicating with him was indeed difficult, and kicking him wouldn't change anything. The wood shavings stuck to his back like quills prevented me from venting my frustration on him. When I forced the cylindrical object into his mouth, Lao People resisted strongly; the alloy shell of the flashlight clashed against his teeth with a clattering sound.
My actions were rough and carried a bit of a domineering attitude; I simply didn't have time to explain things to him. Lao People quickly yielded; perhaps he wanted to protect his teeth while casting me a resentful glance.
I could have bitten down on the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight myself; there was some intention behind stuffing it into Lao People's mouth. I needed to save Jack and might even end up in the water myself; I had to stay connected to the wood. I didn't want to risk saving someone only to drown myself in the process. The rope tied to the flashlight was my only link to the wood.
Ignoring Lao People, as soon as I shoved the One-Eyed Beast Flashlight into his mouth, my body began to slide down sideways. Of course, I wasn't foolish enough to jump directly into the water; my left hand grabbed onto a branch while both legs locked onto another branch as my body slid down along the trunk's curve. Just as that furry hand was about to submerge in the water, I caught hold of it.
It was my right hand that grasped that furry hand—strong and painful. The severe pain in my back made me curse under my breath and robbed me of strength to pull him out of the pavement; I couldn't even manage a bending motion. As Lao People's body slid down beneath me, he must have understood my intention because the flashlight followed my movement and shone into the water. Due to our coordinated actions, light directly illuminated our tightly clasped hands.
The grip on my hand was equally strong, and my heart relaxed instantly; what worried me was whether this person in the water would lose their ability to save themselves. If that happened, given my current state, rescuing him would be unimaginably difficult. But now I wasn't worried anymore.
Sure enough, from that strong hand came an immense downward pull, and in an instant, a head popped out from the pavement. (To Be Continued…)
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