Chapter 806: The Story of Ling and Heng (69)
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Just as Feng Ling urged Qiao Fei to first jump onto the raft, an accident occured.
By then, the fire had already spread from the rear. When they saw that the flames were about to fully engulf the cruise ship, the mayor’s wife was filled with panic. The child in Feng Ling’s arms was also wailing loudly. The mayor’s wife was flustered and screaming for help, but she did not dare to jump off the cruise. She was fearful that she wouldn’t land on the raft, and that she would lose her life after jumping off.
They were surrounded by thick smoke. Mayor Ted’s wife was coughing while she cried and screamed. Her voice was accompanied by the three year old’s sobs. Feng Ling felt that her world was about to explode from their cries.
The flames were growing stronger and stronger and the raft could not approach the cruise too closely. As time was gradually being spent, they had to increase their distance from the cruise; otherwise, if they were affected by the flames, it would be impossible for them to take on any more passengers.
Feng Ling saw that the mayor’s wife was crying and screaming while refusing to jump down; she furrowed her brows and shouted sternly: “Jump down! Hurry!”
“No… I don’t dare…”
“Jump if you wish to live! Hurry up—”
“I’m afraid…”
“If you continue wasting time, the two of us and this child will all die. Do you know how big the oil tank of such a cruise is? Do you know that the moment the oil tank explodes, it’s likely that our body will be smashed into smithereens? Hurry up and jump!” Feng Ling shouted at her angrily: “Jump!”
When she saw that Mr. Ted’s wife was crying while shaking her head, Feng Ling was angered. She held the child with one arm and pushed her down with force.
However, Mr. Ted’s wife kept her grip tightly around the railings, refusing to jump off no matter what.
She shrieked: “I can’t swim! I’m afraid of water! I’m really afraid! I don’t dare!”
“Hurry up and jump!” Qiao Fei could not hear their voices from the raft. He did not know why they were delaying so much time. Originally, the raft was placed at a suitable distance to receive them, but were gradually being forced to back away. If they wasted any more time, they would be beyond the safe distance recommended.
“Jump!” Feng Ling glared at her impatiently: “Do you wish to die?”
While speaking, she pulled off her own life vest and wrapped it around the child. She could not give it further thought as she first tossed the child down.
When she saw her own child being tossed down, the mayor’s wife immediately released a shrill cry.
The people on the helicopter above could not hear them. However, Qiao Fei’s angered voice could be heard firmly through the intercom: “The victim is unwilling to jump off the cruise! The wind is too strong, and the flames are spreading too quickly. The raft cannot approach any further.”
“Please move aboard the ship to rescue them.”
Qiao Fei spoke while reaching out to receive the child. The child was wearing Feng Ling’s lifevest and was quickly brought up by Qiao Fei the moment she landed in the water. The child did not choke on the seawater and was immediately brought onto the raft.
At this moment, the rescue team members on the helicopter glanced down and furrowed their brows. “This is bad. The flames are too strong. There isn’t enough time for us to move aboard. The ship is about to explode.”
In the next moment, one of the rescue team member’s voice filled the intercom in a message connected to the second line of communications: “Boss, the trapped victim is refusing to jump off the cruise. Feng Ling is also still aboard. If we waste any more time, I’m afraid the risk will only increase further. All of the nearby rescue ships and helicopters will be affected by the explosion.”
Although Feng Ling was also wearing an earphone, she could not hear them clearly due to the chaos on the cruise. She could only catch the vague noise of the electric current. For a moment, she felt as though she had heard Li Nanheng’s voice; however, she could not be sure of this.
Her eyes were stinging painfully from the smoke; the mayor’s wife who was crying by the side was in an even worse state.
All of a sudden, Feng Ling seemed to have heard some movements. She abruptly lifted her head to see the rescue team’s helicopter descending without any hesitation. She immediately furrowed her brows. What were they trying to do? In such a situation, when the cruise was already about to explode, shouldn’t they be moving further away to protect the other member’s safety? Why were they approaching all of a sudden?
Following which, the helicopter cabin door was opened and a rope ladder was extended down. The rescue team leader was personally climbing down.
Feng Ling was startled. She tugged off her headphone and stared in that direction.
The helicopter was leaning too closely to the burning cruise and the heat affected its propellers, causing a loud rumbling noise to fill the air. The propellers were still moving rapidly, and the rope ladder was still swaying in mid-air. The rescue team leader climbed down just like that and quickly approached Feng Ling and the mayor’s wife.
“Quick! Over here!”
Feng Ling faltered for a moment and understood that they had come to save her.
However, she did not forget her own mission. The one who was frightened of jumping off the cruise was the mayor’s wife. If she remained frozen here, she would lose her life; their mission would then end in a failure.
She abruptly turned and gripped the woman’s arm, tugging her forward and pushing her to the rescue team leader.
The rescue team leader only glanced at Feng Ling once; he understood her intentions without asking further and did not object to her actions. He directly brought the flustered and crying woman with him and climbed back up through the rope ladder. As the rope could only support the weight of two people, and they had already successfully brought someone with them, in order to prioritise everyone’s safety, the helicopter quickly ascended and moved away.
She watched as the rescue team leader and mayor’s wife hung on one end of a rope ladder; at the very least, they had already left the explosion zone.
Feng Ling immediately tossed away the distracting earphone that could no longer be used due to the high heat. Qiao Fei was shouting at her repeatedly to jump down; she spun around and immediately leaped off the cruise.
Almost one and a half seconds after Feng Ling jumped off, the cruise’s oil tank exploded in red flames in all directions; a loud noise reverberated behind Feng Ling.
The instant Feng Ling came into contact with the ice-cold water, she felt a burning impact against her back. Her chest was forced forward and the taste of blood immediately filled her mouth. She could hear Qiao Fei’s heart wrenching cry as the flames engulfed her back. Initially, she instinctively wanted to swim up. However, the intense pain in her back and chest made it impossible for her to move.
Qiao Fei’s raft was also affected by the explosion. However, the child was already successfully brought aboard the rescue ship. He turned to look in the direction Feng Ling had fallen in and wanted to release another raft to go down and save her. However, he was held back by the US military members. They prevented him from jumping down and reminded him: “You can’t use the raft. You’ll cause a chain explosion. The surface of the water is also affected. You can’t jump…”
“But Feng Ling is still underwater! He was injured, let go—”