Book 6: Chapter 20: Should We Cry, Should We Laugh?
Book 6: Chapter 20: Should We Cry, Should We Laugh?
When he previously leapt into the air, Lin Xi already clearly saw that the two great ships were both made from several layers of boards with riveted joints, extremely sturdy. Even after the bows of both ships smashed into each other, the ships themselves didn’t suffer any substantial damage.
Right now, these two ships were stranded here, not even the landslide and flood able to move them anymore, so the people in the ship weren’t in too great of danger. The ones who needed rescue urgently were the wounded individuals on the deck and those who fell into the waters.
Right now, the crew of the two ships already began self rescue operations, ropes were lowered down. Quite a few people were shouting and running on deck, bringing those wounded back into the cabin first. Only, there was still rubble falling from above right now, and the ship itself was too tall, apart from a few especially strong individuals who hadn’t suffered too many injuries after falling into water and who could climb back up onto the boat, even if the others grabbed objects that allowed them to stay afloat, they rose and fell in the violent river, some were swept further and further away.
“Jiang Xiaoyi, help them out here on this deck.”
Lin Xi gave Jiang Xiaoyi a look. He put away the green umbrella, and then broke out into a crazy run on the ship deck again.
A sailor who was about to fling out a rope suddenly saw a blur before his eyes, a wave of undeniable force seizing the rope from his hands. When he saw what happened clearly, Lin Xi already bound the rope around himself, one hand grabbing the rope while jumping off the ship.
The people on the hill couldn’t help but move towards where the two ships were stranded. The dark skinned Xu Sheng berated loudly, doing his best to stop this group of excited individuals. He knew that all of these people wanted to help, but he also clearly understood that if these people immediately rushed over, they might not be able to do much, instead causing much more casualties.
Some ‘Black Oil’ and ‘Stone Rats’ who were good at swimming already rode on small boats, doing their best to head towards that area.
Right now, everyone’s line of sight was gathered on the two youngsters’ bodies.
Their eyes were slightly frozen right now.
Lin Xi leapt off the boat, holding a rope while stepping on the ship, currently running by the surging river surface.
The green clothes he wore were already filthy to the point where the original color couldn’t be seen, yet every action of his body made his body seem as if there was a type of dawn glimmer light radiance on it. When set off by the turbid roaring river water below and the surrounding chaotic scene, this type of brilliance truly left the heart shaken.
The instant he approached the water surface, Lin Xi’s feet stepped fiercely on the ship, and then his entire figure flung outwards, one hand grabbing towards an individual who was about to drown.
“Lin Xi, toss him up!”
The instant Lin Xi’s other hand tightened on the rope, he suddenly heard Jiang Xiaoyi shout from above.
Lin Xi raised his head, only seeing Jiang Xiaoyi tear off a sail like a blanket, immediately understanding his intentions. Following a great shout, the person he grabbed was flung into the air to the deck, landing in the sail Jiang Xiaoyi tore off.
With a release and pull, the one Lin Xi rescued rolled along the sail surface to a corner of the ship, safe and sound.
Even though the current atmosphere was extremely tense, when they saw this kind of scene, there were still many cheers that couldn’t help but erupt from the hill.
With a crash sound, Lin Xi entered the water. However, with a tug on the rope, he quickly climbed back to the ship. After having last time’s experience, he directly leapt onto a floating piece of wood in the water, and then shouted towards Jiang Xiaoyi on the ship. “Jiang Xiaoyi, toss down a bamboo pole!”
Jiang Xiaoyi looked around, only seeing chaos. This large ship’s deck didn’t have anything like a bamboo pole.
“There’s one here!”
He heard several people on another large ship shout out.
Jiang Xiaoyi turned around, seeing that Fortune Memory’s great ship originally hung some spare small boats. Right now, those small boats were already in terrible shape, but there were two bamboo poles that were still hanging at their sides.
Without any hesitation, his legs stamped heavily on the deck, his entire figure continuously leaping out. The instant he grabbed on one of the bamboo poles, he flung it out like a giant spear, throwing it towards the river surface where Lin Xi was.
The piece of floating wood Lin Xi stood on was rocking a bit, so he decided he might as well just lean over on the wood, continuously pat the water. The instant Jiang Xiaoyi’s bamboo pole entered the water, he already hurried over. With a reach of his hand, he seized this bamboo pole.
Water was surging through this place, but the depth was only a few people’s height in depth. Lin Xi stabbed the bamboo pole deep down, the instant he stood back up, he saw another bamboo pole was already whistling over.
His eyes narrowed slightly. With a light shout, he forcibly gripped the bamboo pole that flew over in his hand.
With two bamboo poles that were taller than the river depth, borrowing the support of these two bamboo poles, he began to ‘walk’ on this river.
The bamboo poles that screamed through the air… the youngster who moved along the river surface like he was walking on stilts, this gave everyone a type of illusion-like feeling. However, everything was just this real.
“Xiaoyi!”
“Here!”
After loud cries, everyone saw Lin Xi stab the bamboo poles in his hands deep into the water surface, and then he used his free hand to continuously grab drowning individuals one after another, flinging them into the air to where Jiang Xiaoyi held the sail.
“Young Sir Lin!”
Suddenly, many people on the ships and hills released cries of horror.
Right now, Lin Xi flung a child towards Jiang Xiaoyi. Right at this time, a wave of landslide crashed down on Thriving Prosperity’s great ship, making this large ship rock greatly, many barrels of oil falling. Lin Xi who couldn’t escape in time was smashed into by a great barrel, falling heavily into the river.
However, another world-shaking cheer sounded, because after a few breaths of time, they saw Lin Xi appear above the water surface again.
…
East Port Town, Substitute Town Supervisor Jiang Wenhe was still laying on his bed.
His fever already left, but chills still always ran through his body, his hands and feet lacking strength.
Suddenly, he heard many indescribable sounds on the originally quiet street. A feeling of sorrow immediately filled his mind.
“Sir Jiang!”
He heard disorderly steps outside the courtyard. Someone was forcefully knocking on his door.
He felt sorrow inside, but his eyes were a bit strangely widened.
It was because he could tell that this person was the Hand Imprint official Lu Qiudao who he normally got along with. Moreover, he could sense the urgency, shock, and even a bit of pleasant surprise from this usually quiet Lu Qiudao.
If the order to punish Lin Xi and himself finally came, then how could Lu Qiudao have this type of tone?
He couldn’t help but directly get up from the bed. Without even calling the maid to open the door, he shouted out in a bewildered manner, “Sir Lu, what is it?”
“The dam collapsed… Swallow Descent Town’s dam burst!” Lu Qiudao’s voice sounded again.
The instant he heard Lu Qiudao’s first line, Jiang Wenhe directly jumped off his bed, his entire body covered in sweat. When he heard Lu Qiudao’s second line, his bottom directly sat down on the ground in front of the bed.
His bottom was in pain, but his entire body became warm, his illness seemingly immediately cured.
“Wait a bit!”
Jiang Wenhe said to Lu Qiudao outside. He knew that this time, he won’t be punished… moreover, not only wouldn’t he be punished, he might even go a bit higher.
When he thought about how he reported sick twice, and how both sides of lying down like this produced this type of result, Jiang Wenhe really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
…
The middle-aged merchant who always wiped his hands on his sleeves from time to time, as if there was always grease on his hands, was sitting calmly while looking at a pot of tea.
These days, either he was eating, drinking tea, or sitting quietly in meditation cultivation, waiting for the news he wanted to hear this entire time.
When he heard the uproar in the street outside, this fat merchant who always had a smile on his face leisurely walked out of the inn, arriving on East Port Town’s street.
“Swallow Descent Town’s great dam collapsed!”
“Our East Port Town’s dam and Swallow Descent Town’s dam were built at the same time, but Young Sir Lin didn’t hesitate to pay any cost to reinforce… Swallow Descent Town’s great dam originally had close to three thousand people, all of them were evacuated to a hill behind the dam.”
“Without Young Sir Lin, this time, who knows just how many people would have died!”
“How is Young Sir Lin?”
“Young Sir Lin is fine… It is rumored that Thriving Prosperity and Fortune Memory’s two large ships, when the dam burst, were caught up in the current, smashed into each other, many casualties involved… Young Sir Lin immediately faced danger, rescuing many people…”
When he heard these voices, the space between this fat merchant’s brows revealed a stunned expression.
“The river dam actually really collapsed?”
He was clearly unhappy and shocked, but a smile continued to hang from his face, this expression extremely strange.
With a rip sound, this fat merchant lowered his head, discovering that he rubbed his hands on his sleeves out of habit, but this time, he used too much force, tearing those sleeves.
He immediately cursed out in even greater annoyance.
He felt like the flame he released before was extremely pretty. For him, it was like he planted a flower pot, everything growing well, but when it finally bloomed, what was revealed was instead a pile of dog sh*t.
It was because this fire in the prison room, compared to a river dam, really was just too insignificant.
“I am even more angry now… so I will make your death a bit more miserable.”
The fat merchant looked at his torn sleeves, muttered a few lines in discontent, and then walked into the street.
…
Deereast City Supervisor Manor, Li Xiping’s face was dark.
An hour ago, a Ministry of Appointments official already brought the official document stripping Lin Xi of his official rank out of Deereast City, heading towards East Port Town.
He sent a request for the provincial level Trade Sector to send Wang Zhenxu who was the greatest authoritative figure towards dams to examine Swallow Descent and East Port’s dams, but even today, no one from Trade Sector sent Wang Zhenxu over.
Towards this, he was completely helpless, because Wang Zhenxu’s official rank was two whole levels higher than his own, normally constantly moving about different cities. Meanwhile today was precisely the day when Lin Xi’s official document was to be sent out, nothing wrong even happened to the dam. For Wang Zhenxu to come and examine it, who knew just how long it would be dragged on for.
Half a year? One year?
After such a long time, even if it was proved that there really was an issue, at that time, who knew where Lin Xi would be. At that time, who knew where he himself would be.
“Sir!”
Tie Hanqing’s figure appeared in his line of sight. This steady and calm soldier didn’t waste any words, after a bow, he said with a low voice, “Swallow Descent Town’s dam burst!”
Li Xiping suddenly stood up.
“It burst well!”
He directly blurted out these three words.
The dam had already collapsed, why did he still need Wang Zhenxu to come and check? No matter how much weight Wang Zhenxu’s words carried, what use was there?
When this Trade Sector official came, then he can just take a look at the overflowing river!
However, as soon as these three words came out, erupting in joy, he also knew that it wasn’t that appropriate, that he should first control his emotions.
“How are the casualties looking? How is Lin Xi?”
Li Xiping took a deep breath. He looked at Tie Hanqing, asking slowly.
“The people behind the dam haven’t left the hill, not a single casualty, but when the dam collapsed, Thriving Prosperity’s great ship and Fortune Memory’s great ship collided, there were at least several dozen casualties, the exact number unknown. Lin Xi is fine, he is still leading the people in search and rescue.” Tie Hanqing gave Li Xiping a look, after a slight pause, said with a sunken voice. “Also… Swallow Descent Town Supervisor He Zijing and thirteen of the officials were swept away by the flood, it should be difficult for them to survive.”
“They really know how to be at the right place at the right time.” Li Xiping said with a cold laugh.