Chapter 106
When the masked man was about to get across to the other side, Veronica got onto the bridge as well. Unexpectedly, no sooner had she walked a few steps than the masked man slipped, reeled, and fell onto the wooden bridge right away. With half of his body submerged in water, he clung tightly onto the wooden bridge with both arms as his umbrella and stick had been swept away by the flood. “Help! Help me! Save me..” He looked at Veronica for help, waiting for the latter to rescue him.
The scene was extremely perilous, and the current was swift. If Veronica were to act slower, the masked man might even get swept away directly by the flood. Having no time to think about anything else, she immediately rushed forward and stretched out her hand to grab him.
Splash! The floodwater slapped against the wooden bridge, resulting in loud splashes. The situation was dire; the current was so rapid that the masked man almost lost his grip on the wooden bridge.
Hurriedly, Veronica dashed toward the masked man and bent down to grab him. “Hold tight to my hand and come on up!” She didn‘t know where this canal led to. No matter where the canal led to, however, she had to save the man right now.
Stretching out his hand, the masked man held Veronica‘s hand tightly, climbing up slowly as she pulled him up. After struggling for a while, he finally climbed out of the water and barely steadied himself. “Phew, that was a close call! Thank you so much.” His back bent, the man stood in front of Veronica and bowed slightly, thanking her “sincerely.”
Veronica waved her hand and let the masked man standing before her get to the other side of the bridge before her. “It‘s nothing. Let‘s go… Ah!”
Unexpectedly, the next instant, she was shoved into the current right away by the masked man!
Everything happened very suddenly, but it seemed like everything was just as expected. Veronica let out a cry of alarm, but she stretched out her hand and held onto the masked man at the critical moment. With a loud splash, the two fell into the surging river water and were swept far away by the swift current. Everything happened so fast that they were already a dozen meters away from the bridge before they could even cry for help.
In the river water, Veronica clung tightly onto the masked man. She didn‘t let go of him no matter how he resisted. Damn it! I misjudged him after all, she thought. She
knew very well that the man had taken advantage of her kindness, which was why he had purposely pretended to fall into the water in order to shove her into the water when she let her guard down after rescuing him. But in any case, if she were to die, she would never let the masked man get away with it.
In the surging river, the masked man struggled to shake Veronica off. He wanted to lift his foot and kick her away, but he couldn‘t exert his strength at all, for all his strength was washed away by the river water.
With that, the two were swept downstream along with the water current.
Veronica looked for opportunities to save herself all the way, but the turbulent waters had swept away everything on the river banks, so there was nothing for her to save herself with. Not only was she unable to save herself, but she even had trouble staying alive at the moment.
“Mmm…” A strong current came and swept Veronica underwater, forcing her to swallow a mouthful of water that was as muddy as mud. “Cough... Cough...” Exerting all her strength, she raised her head and coughed a few times to relieve her discomfort.
The masked man next to her wasn‘t much better either. Like her, he was swept underwater and choked on the water from time to time.
Just when Veronica was looking at the masked man, her eyes darted a little over his shoulder and caught sight of a thick wooden pole coming at them from behind. Alarmed, she immediately let go of the masked man‘s hand, fearing that the wooden pole would hit her hard and knock her unconscious on the spot if she were to react any slower.
However, one had to say that this was also an opportunity for her to save herself.
Seeing the thick wooden pole being swept toward them, she swam to the side with all her might. Her movements seemed effortless, but she almost exerted all her strength in the turbulent water.
The next instant, the thick wooden polecame at them. Veronica was unable to immediately dodge the wooden pole, which hit her arm and made a cut on it. However, she didn‘t notice the cut at all in such a situation. Instead, she lunged back at the wooden pole right away at lightning speed, clinging onto it tightly. As for the masked man, he sank into the water after being hit in the head by the wooden pole.
Everything happened so fast as though it all happened in an instant.
Veronica had no time to feel sorry for the masked man, but she realized immediately
atterward that something was tugging at her ankle in a tight grip, It‘s the masked man! She wanted to kick that *sshole away, but she couldn‘t exert her strength at all. All her strength was washed away by the water current, which obstructed her movements. Consequently, all seemingly simple things were incredibly difficult to do in practice.
Finally, the masked man emerged from the water and clung to the thick wooden pole before him.
Clinging to the wooden pole, the two kept a distance of less than one meter between them.
The wooden pole was very buoyant in the water, so Veronica didn‘t have to worry about being swept underwater. Looking sideways at the masked man, she asked emotionally, “Who the f*ck are you?” She was emotional not because she was enraged, but because the masked man wouldn‘t be able to hear her at all if she kept her voice low.
The river was surging, and the sound of the surging water was deafening.
The masked man merely glanced at Veronica without responding to her.
Seeing that he didn‘t say a word, Veronica didn‘t speak as well. She remained silent while conserving her stamina.
The river grew wider as the water carried them downstream. Veronica didn‘t know what was ahead of them, but she knew one thing very well—if they didn‘t get ashore soon, they would probably be swept into the lake… or even the sea!
Almeida had a large lake, but the county was also hundreds of miles away from the sea. They were heading eastward when they fell into the water, but Veronica had no idea in which direction the winding river had swept them. Consequently, she had lost her sense of direction.
Suddenly, the silent masked man spoke; perhaps he had also noticed their predicament. “Let‘s team up, shall we?”
“Why should I trust you?” Veronica distrusted the masked man in the first place, but she knew she had to team up with him at the moment. Even if the chance of survival was slim, she had to shoot for it. It was just that whether they would succeed or not would depend entirely on luck.
“If you don’t trust me, we‘re both gonna die!” the masked man replied in a loud voice.
If one of us is going to die, it‘s better that we die together so that none of us dies alone, thought
Veronica. Inwardly, she wanted to say that, but she knew very well that dilly–dallying would place them in more danger. They had already used up a lot of stamina after dritting in the water for a long time. If they lost all their strength in the end, only one thing awaited them: death. “What should I do?” she asked.
Clinging onto the wooden pole with one hand, the masked man reached under his clothes with the other hand. Finally, he took out a long hemp rope that was as thick as the little finger. Since he had always been stooping, no one could tell that the rope had been hidden around his waist. Swimming little by little to Veronica‘s side, he said to her, “Tie the rope around your waist.”
Veronica hesitated, saying, “You first!” As she wouldn‘t trust the masked man anymore, she was wary of him at every turn.
Without saying another word, the masked man held one end of the rope with his hand and wound the rope around his waist. However, he couldn‘t tie the rope to his waist, so he looked at Veronica to signal her to lend a hand.
Veronica reached out her hand and took the end of the rope before working with the masked man to tie the rope to his waist. Then, the man helped Veronica tie the other end of the rope to her waist.
By doing this, if one of them managed to hold onto something, the other person would be saved.
Even so, Veronica didn‘t trust the masked man, after all. The two of them looked ahead together. Coincidentally, there was a tree ahead of them that was leaning over the river with a part of its trunk submerged in the water.
