WS - Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Song Shiyue was focused on the work and had to watch out for falling rocks from above, so she naturally paid no mind to the people inside. She could hear faint, rustling voices from that direction, but at that moment she had no interest in their low murmur, which was surely of little substance.
Horizontal logs were wedged into the top, then support posts were stood up, and the space was hollowed out. This process repeated, and now success was nearly at hand.
At this juncture, Song Shiyue dared not relax. As more and more stones were pried loose, her posture shifted from standing beside the rock pile to bending over and peering inside. If more rocks were to fall from above now, even if she heard them in time, dodging would certainly be less convenient than before.
Mindful as ever of the time, Song Shiyue still slowed down and steadied her movements for safety's sake.
Director Zhang and the others' three flashlight beams shone squarely on the rock pile as they waited and waited, and at last!
A small stone was pushed out, then another, and another, and another!
Before long, they could even see the flashlight beams from the opposite side shining through the horizontal crack in the rocks.
Song Shiyue had done it!
Director Zhang and Wang Daming could barely contain their urge to cheer.
Captain Yang was just as excited.
No matter how much trouble Song Shiyue had caused him before or how much friction there had been between them, the fact that she came back on her own to rescue them after escaping danger—that, Captain Yang felt, was enough to smooth over everything in his mind.
When life is at stake, the hand extended before you—no matter what past rifts existed—you will be moved to grasp it at once.
So lamented Captain Yang.
Fortunately for Song Shiyue, who was propping up the rock crevice with one arm while wedging in a horizontal log with the other, she could not hear Captain Yang's inner thoughts—otherwise she might have been so cringed out she couldn't hold on.
One at the top, one on the left, one on the right—with the final supports in place, the stones rolled out one by one.
Out with the stones came Song Shiyue, clutching a flashlight in her teeth, holding a wooden stave in one hand and a lunchbox in the other.
Without a close look, the moment the gap was opened, Director Zhang and the two others couldn't help but surge forward, babbling excitedly.
Song Shiyue had no time to spare them; as soon as she was out, she immediately turned around and stuffed a smaller wooden stave into the edge of the dug-out opening, adding a diagonal brace by the side.
"Be careful of the rocks above when you go through. Also, there are several diagonal braces inside that keep things stable—try not to knock them over as you pass. If they do fall, pick them up and brace them again right away." Song Shiyue took the flashlight from her mouth and instructed them as she brushed past the three.
At this moment, no one minded that Song Shiyue seemed full of herself or walked away too quickly.
Not even anyone had time to wonder what those slices of meat and soup-like liquid in the stainless steel lunchbox Song Shiyue was carrying might be. The three of them were now entirely focused on the rock pile and the waist-high hole that Song Shiyue had tunneled through.
In the flashlight beams, the wooden logs inside the rock pile formed a series of linked wooden doorways. Was that the passage to the outside...?
Wang Daming's flashlight roamed back and forth, but his feet refused to move forward. He couldn't help but ask, "Director Zhang, is this... sturdy?"
"You ask me, but who am I supposed to ask? Why didn't you ask Song Shiyue while she was here?" Director Zhang shot Wang Daming a sidelong glance and slowly inched forward.
"If you move quickly, it's just two or three steps, a few seconds—how unlucky could you be?" After saying that, Captain Yang, who had already examined the passageway, didn't bother to persuade them further. Imitating Song Shiyue, he stuck the flashlight in his mouth, covered his head with both hands, and limped toward the rock pile.
A person's ability determines the confidence with which they survive in this world.
Yu Nianbing could no longer quite remember where she had once seen such a line.
What she once thought to be a platitude now struck her, on reflection, as sorrowful and wistful.
As a hopeless weakling with little survival ability, the best support Yu Nianbing could offer Song Shiyue was to stand in a relatively safer place and wait.
It had been so when Song Shiyue risked digging the passage, and now that she had gone in to rescue the others, Yu Nianbing could do nothing but the same.
From the rock pile, a beam of light appeared, coming toward her.
Even though she knew perfectly well that Song Shiyue had only just gone in and could not possibly be back so soon, Yu Nianbing's heart still skipped a beat at that sudden brightness.
Then she saw a figure, clearly a man, limping out from the passageway.
Oh.
The knuckles of Yu Nianbing's hand tightening around the flashlight went slack, deflated.
Under the dual flashlight beams of Director Zhang and Wang Daming, Captain Yang limped across in just three or four seconds.
As soon as Captain Yang had passed, his back still visible at the opening on the other side, Director Zhang immediately said, "I'll go first."
Wang Daming: "..." Heh.
Of course, it was not yet so life-or-death that they needed to fight to decide the order.
A few seconds, and Wang Daming swallowed his irritation.
Director Zhang imitated Captain Yang, but perhaps due to his build or lingering fear, he was much slower, though he still squeezed through in five or six seconds.
Midway, perhaps in his haste, he failed to avoid it, and his elbow knocked over one of the diagonal brace logs.
"You came out without propping it back up?" Captain Yang glared at Director Zhang, who had just emerged.
Director Zhang said nothing.
Behind him, Wang Daming also came out quickly, this time without knocking anything over.
"You didn't prop it up either." Captain Yang's look at Wang Daming was no kinder.
It wasn't his doing... Wang Daming wanted to talk back, but after a glance at Director Zhang, he held his tongue.
But Captain Yang, as if possessed, didn't just leave it at lip service; he actually bent down, squeezed back into the passage, and propped the diagonal brace back into place.
Yu Nianbing, who had been walking over anxiously upon hearing their exchange, intending to go prop the log back up herself, came to an abrupt halt.
Never mind the various entanglements here.
Deeper inside the cave, Song Shiyue was shoveling the jerky Yu Nianbing had freshly soaked into her mouth as she walked, in order to save time.
This batch had been soaked for a relatively short time; even though Song Shiyue's jaw strength was formidable, chewing down such large mouthfuls was still hard on her teeth.
After a short distance, Song Shiyue spotted Guan Yongyi and the smaller rock pile they had mentioned earlier.
"Song Shiyue! You really dug through the passage ahead!" Guan Yongyi had heard the commotion up front, but when the footsteps drew near he hadn't expected it to be Song Shiyue already inside. Now he was astonished and overjoyed.
Song Shiyue noticed Guan Yongyi's left hand, which was badly injured; though it was no longer bleeding heavily, the bloodstains mixed with the bruising on the back of his hand still looked quite serious.
But with her mouth stuffed full of meat, Song Shiyue couldn't say much. She merely nodded at him, then stood before the rock pile, gulped down the oily broth from the lunchbox, stuffed all the remaining meat into her mouth, and started climbing the rock pile.
By this time, the people on the other side of the rock pile had already heard Guan Yongyi's voice.
As soon as Song Shiyue reached the top of the rock pile, several flashlight beams hit her squarely, nearly blinding her and making her fall off.
Luckily, she steadied herself.
Ning Chuyang and Ni Jinghe's head wounds had been dressed; the bleeding seemed to have stopped. Ni Jinghe had also regained consciousness, but she looked rather weak and was just sitting there leaning against Ning Chuyang.
Those two were not a major problem.
But the stone pinning Feng Qianqian was even larger than Song Shiyue had imagined.
After circling the stone once, she finally managed to swallow the mouthful of meat. Only then did she notice Mu Xingzhou standing beside Feng Qianqian, his eyes red-rimmed—whether from having cried or being about to cry, she couldn't tell.
In the face of disaster, it was only human to grow fragile. Song Shiyue merely glanced at him before returning her gaze to the large stone, without giving it a second thought.
"We were afraid we might not be able to lift this stone, and if it fell again, Feng Qianqian could be hurt even worse." Zhao Er looked at Song Shiyue and ventured, "Teacher Song, what do you think we should do now?"
What to do?
Just do what needs to be done.
"Let's all work together and flip it to the other side." Song Shiyue had no better plan. If they didn't move the stone, were they supposed to leave Feng Qianqian here and wait for aftershocks?
Give it a try; at worst, they'd have done all they could and left the rest to fate.
Even after eating most of a jar of beef fat and soaking jerky twice, Song Shiyue had not recovered enough to move this stone on her own.
Rather than having everyone spread out and apply even force, it was better to concentrate on one spot and flip it.
Unfortunately, because of the two rock piles and the winding path here, there was no way to bring a long pole in as a lever. Otherwise, using the lever principle would have given them an even higher chance of success.
Still, they had at least a seventy or eighty percent chance now. Of course, at least half of that rested on Song Shiyue.
Song Shiyue quickly chose a leverage point, then instructed Ning Chuyang and Ni Jinghe to pull Feng Qianqian out when she said 'pull'.
Of course, having a man pull would be faster. But right now, any available hand had to be used.
Song Shiyue didn't care what they thought; this was no time for a democratic vote. Everyone just needed to hurry and get it done—otherwise, if aftershocks came or the outside passage collapsed, it would be goodbye for all of them.
Having received Song Shiyue's care all this way, Zhuang Jiachuan and Mu Xingzhou naturally had greater trust in her. The key was that, regardless of whether Zhao Da and Zhao Er's waiting had been justified, in their anxiety they had always grumbled a bit.
Song Shiyue was different. She came bearing the hope of breaking through the rock pile, and she acted as soon as she spoke, which matched their long-fretting mood perfectly. They immediately took the positions she assigned.
Zhao Da and Zhao Er exchanged a glance, then also stood where Song Shiyue directed.
"I'll count one-two-three; on three, we lift together." Song Shiyue reiterated, then looked at Ning Chuyang and Ni Jinghe. "No matter what happens when the stone is lifted, pull when I tell you to. Don't be afraid, don't hesitate, and don't worry about hurting her. Be decisive and quick."
Whatever each was thinking, they all nodded in unison.
Two minutes before the moment that would decide Feng Qianqian's fate, on a road on Mingtan Prime where the greenery was gradually increasing on both sides, several vehicles sped into a farm estate and came to a stop.
Three or four minutes earlier, the livestream Ye Liu was monitoring had shown Song Shiyue about to climb the rock pile next to Guan Yongyi. At that moment, the technical staff in the car behind sent word that the simple livestream page was finished, encryption had been layered up to the fifth level and efforts were ongoing, and if they wanted to push it live now, it was already possible.
Yao Group was a technology-oriented conglomerate, and Ye Liu knew these people had genuine skill, but she still hadn't expected this level of efficiency. However, for safety's sake, Ye Liu waited until everyone had entered the farm estate before transferring the livestream permissions to the technical staff in the car behind. By then, Song Shiyue was just beginning to assign everyone their positions.
After the Yaoxing Storm, The Wilderness Journey's livestream interface was left with one black, soulless window after another.
Because the production team hadn't issued a timely notice to close the page, viewers could still post danmaku in the windows. And many people following the Wilderness Planet Yaoxing Storm incident also flooded in; for a time, the page traffic was double what it had been during the original livestream.
However, this was hardly something that could make the production team, already taken away by the Armed Forces, feel any better.
Just as The Wilderness Journey livestream page—with neither a broadcast nor any staff—began to resemble a wilderness itself, a line of text scrolled across all of The Wilderness Journey's livestream windows like a screen-wide announcement.
[The Wilderness Journey livestream continues. Click {here} to enter!]
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