Chapter 950: Shirt Drenched in Blood
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Xia Moyan’s injury was critical, and his white shirt was soaked in blood.
However, for his sister’s safety, he still hoisted his sniper gun forcefully and used all of his willpower to aim accurately at the flying snakes in mid-air. One time, two times, he maintained the life passage on the short bridge.
Li Lei had already been bitten by the snakes twice.
These kinds of snakes were poisonous, and although he already knew that Li Feng liked poisonous snakes before he had come to rescue her, and had done some protective measures for this purpose—such as antidote shots—but after all, it was impossible to be completely unaffected, and the injury caused his movements to become dull and awkward. He struggled to advance in the midst of the protection of the gunshots before finally arriving at the platform where Li Feng was previously standing. He closed the chainsaw’s button immediately.
The steel chain in the automatic operation stopped.
Xia Ling, who was suspended in mid-air, also stopped just a few inches away from the chainsaw.
However, she was in another isolated platform.
“Xiao Ling, hold on!” Li Lei yelled at her.
Xia Ling stared after him, her eyes filled with tears. The corners of her skirt were almost rolled into the chainsaw—if he had not arrived on time, she and her baby would have already turned into a puddle of mud by now. However, the excruciating pain of her lower body was becoming more intense, and she did not dare think about what condition her baby was in. She forced herself to focus all of her attention on Li Lei, and said in a crying tone, “Be careful!”
Li Lei was covered in blood, and it was hard to differentiate whether it was caused by the enemy or by the snake who had just bitten him.
He gestured an “OK” sign to her and took off his outerwear, tying it into a rope and hanging it on the steel chain, then sliding over in her direction. The strenuous exercise made the blood in his body flow even faster, and the poison spread, making his head feel giddy. He held onto his breath and slid over to her side of the platform, carefully releasing her away from the steel rope. “Xiao Ling, are you okay?!” He asked anxiously.
Xia Ling swallowed and did not say a word, only knowing to shake her head.
He surveyed her. She was wearing a thin dress, and the slashes across her chest done previously by Li Feng were almost impossible to cover. What was even more terrifying was that her white fair skin now had traces of long thin bloodstains left behind. If it had cut a little deeper, it would have been enough to open up her belly!
Afraid, Li Lei helped her tidy her clothes before carrying her on his own back.
“Hold on to me,” he said to her. “This platform has snakes in all directions, I am taking you back to the platform on top. After that, we will cross the bridge from there and head to somewhere safe.”
The pit was boiling with snakes, and they arched their heads, slithering and spitting their red forked tongues as they looked at them on the platform. Xia Ling looked up over at the platform he had leaped from, her voice slightly unstable as she asked, “Can we climb over?”
Between the two platforms, there was a slope.
They were currently at the lower levels, which was why Li Lei could use the tied clothes as a rope to sway down so quickly. However, swaying back there from the bottom level to the higher level was much more difficult.
Li Lei’s voice was stable and powerful, just like a mountain, calming her heart. “It’s okay, you just have to grab on tightly to me. I will not take you and our child’s lives lightly.”
The child…
Xia Ling could only feel unbearable pain in her lower belly, and she did not know how the child was. Was it still alive? She continued to heal, yet more and more snakes were gathering below the platform. A few of the snakes even used the help of their accumulated companion’s strength and almost flew up the platform several times!
It would not be long before the platform fell into the midst of the snakes.
There was no other choice.
Xia Ling recognized the situation quickly and hugged on tightly to Li Lei’s back.
Li Lei said, “Hold on tightly.” He climbed the thick steel rope with great force, alternating his hands and slowly moving towards the upper platform with much difficulty. His physical strength had always been good, and even with someone on his back now, he was still stronger than most ordinary people. Furthermore, Xia Ling had lost so much weight these days, relieving him of further burden.
However, even though that was the case, carrying the weight of two adults and climbing up against gravity was much more difficult, and sweat dripped from his forehead bead by bead, soon drenching his whole body. The hand he was gripping the steel chain with was trembling, and a few times he almost slipped. However, at the thought of his back carrying the lives of the woman he loved and his own child, he gritted his teeth and carried on no matter what…
Xia Ling did not dare speak nor move, and even her breathing was taken with care.
She was afraid that she would distract him, making him lose his grip accidentally and fall into the terrifying snake pit. Underneath the steel rope, countless colorful snakes were gathering at the places where his sweat and blood dripped on, and their hissing sound grew louder still. The flying snakes continued to leap at them, trying to bite their bodies.
Through the soaked clothes, she could feel his muscles trembling and stretching out, as if every force in the body was being squeezed and used without mercy, working hard for their survival without reservation.
Suddenly, one of his hands slipped, and the two of them lost their balance and almost fell into the snake pit.
“Ah!” Xia Ling cried out in shock.
Li Lei stabilized his body in shock. This slip had, however, retreated them back by almost half a meter. For God’s sake, when he was climbing just half a meter just now, he had felt like a century had passed…
He gasped vigorously, sweat dripping off him.
At his feet, flying snakes leaped one after another, and even with Xia Moyan’s sniper’s protection, all the snakes could not be hit accurately due to his injured state. One thick snake almost touched Li Lei and Xia Ling’s feet but was kicked away fiercely by Li Lei.
“Li Lei!” She looked over at the platform that was still far away, opening her mouth and her voice carrying her tears. “Put me down… if only one of us can survive, just put me down!” She was afraid. An unprecedented fear filled her. She was truly afraid that he would not make it to the end, and let the family of three perish together in the snake pit.
If God had decided to let her die, then she did not want to drag him down too.
Li Lei panted heavily and stopped for a while before saying, “Don’t be ridiculous.”
One bite of lip, one forceful movement, and they moved up again with great difficulty.
The steel cable was dangerous, and the snakes below were piling up higher and higher. There were always snakes leaping up, and one of them even managed to bite his calf. She could hear his yelp of agony, yet he still gritted his teeth and climbed upwards.
Xia Ling hung onto his back, the clothes on his lower body tying a marvelous knot and clinging onto his waist, binding the two together. At that moment, she only wanted to find a tool and cut off the clothes that were blocking her from fulfilling her intentions. Maybe then he would have less burden and could make it across the platform alone.
Her tears fell like broken beads of a necklace.
Unfortunately, there were no tools, and even if she let go of her hand, she would not fall directly into the snake pit and would cause him even greater disturbance by causing a sudden loss of balance. Xia Ling was both afraid and anxious, what on earth could she do?