Chapter 298 A Glimmer Of Hope
Bai Rong felt safe being by his side.
It just came to her to ask, “I’m secured. But, what about you?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Besides, what if the raft overturns? I must have my hands free to readjust it back in time.”
Even so, she was not convinced. “But what if the wind gets too strong? You might not swim fast enough.” She trusted his capabilities, but mother nature was unforgiving at times.
Seeing her this worried, he tried his best to calm her. “There will still be a long rope attaching me to the raft. This way, I won’t drown. Trust me.”
“Ok, did you tie the knot tight enough?”
Hearing her non-stop worrying, he broke into a smile. “It’s a bowline knot. It’ll only get tighter against pressure. Couldn’t be any safer.”
“Oh, and one more thing, is the rope strong enough?”
“Definitely. These are professional ropes used by fishermen. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.”
After clearing all her doubts, she gave in. “Then, no matter what, don’t let go of my hands. We’ll get through this together.”
Her words had hit the spot; he liked what he just heard.
That night, the rain came later than Bai Rong had expected. Before its arrival, the relentless cold wind assaulted them.
She made sure to grab onto his hand firmly. Meanwhile, he used his free hand to grab onto the pot.
Seeing this had made her anxious. “Forget about the pot! Worry about yourself first.”
“We don’t have much water left. We need to collect some. You won’t want to drink that, do you?” Gu Mingchen gestured towards the sea.
“Who cares? That is nothing compared to your safety.”
“Trust me, I know what I’m doing. I won’t do anything to compromise our safety.”
After drifting for a good thirty minutes, the rain finally came.
He reminded her once more, “Stick close to the raft and don’t move.”
Bai Rong did as told. With her other spare hand, she grabbed his hand tightly. Her eyes were shut tight.
As the night wore on, the rainfall became more intense. The drops beat down hard against their skin. Within seconds, they were soaked to the bone.
Without any notice, he released her grip.
This gave Bai Rong a mini heart attack. Gu Mingchen had positioned into a half squat. Amidst the storm, he was collecting rainwater.
For fear that he would fall off the raft, she gripped his arms firmly.
It did not take him long to fill the empty mineral bottles. Afterward, he made sure to keep it safely in their fishing net.
Just as he was done, a gust of strong wind blew past.
He instinctively poured away the water in the pot and shielded Bai Rong’s head with it. Then he laid down beside her. The storm had arrived.
The churning waves slapped against their back repeatedly. It felt painful. Even so, the layer of clothes she had on had helped cushion some of its impact. Gu Mingchen had used his to cushion her rope earlier on. He was feeling the full force on his bare skin.
Bai Rong felt very guilty. Yet there was nothing she could change now. She swallowed her worries back. She believed the best way she could help was not to drag him down.
For a long while, they were stuck in a repeated motion. They went up with the tide and came crashing down with the waves. Bai Rong started worrying whether the raft would last.
The repeated motion made her feel drowsy. But the merciless waves would wake her up each time she was about to lose conscience.
This lasted for about three hours. Gradually, the waves died down and Gu Mingchen diligently filled the pot with rainwater.
“What time is it?” She was exhausted.
He checked his watch. “One forty-five. The storm has passed. Get some rest, I’ll keep watch.”
She had many things to say to him. However, her energy had depleted and she fell into a deep slumber.
After some time, the sound of seagulls awoke her. She pried open her eyes.
Gu Mingchen sat on the raft, staring intently at the seagulls as if in deep thought.
She forced herself to sit up. “There are seagulls here. Does that mean we’re near land?”
“Chances are, we’re near an island or a reef.” He continued after analyzing their surroundings.
Thank goodness. ”An island would do too.” She knew that she simply had no strength left to go through another storm.
Gu Mingchen observed where the seagulls were flying. “If we follow the direction of the wind, we’ll definitely reach an island.”
He took out their umbrella and set it at a forty-five-degree angle against the wind.
Bai Rong was clueless about the technicalities, so she could only help with holding the umbrella. Looking at him, she felt concerned. “Aren’t you tired? Go get some rest.”
He shook his head. “If everything goes as planned, we should reach within an hour. This is the most critical period. We have to watch out for waves and undercurrents. Besides, we may not arrive on flat land. It could be rocky cliffs as well. If we’re not careful, it’ll cost our lives.”
It was her first time being stranded out at sea. She could only trust his words.
After drifting for about thirty minutes, Bai Rong spotted an island out far. She exclaimed, “Mingchen, look! I see an island! It looks big.”
“Have you heard the story of The Disappearing Nation?”
Bai Rong was puzzled by his sudden change in topic.
“Once, there lived a prosperous nation. It had plenty of wealth and resources. One day, heavy rain caused the sea level to rise a few hundred meters. As a result, the island sank. None of its inhabitants survived. A century later, the island became visible again, but there was no longer anyone living here. This cycle kept repeating itself.”
“You mean to say, this island is the same one in your story?”
“I just want us to approach this with more caution. Whether it’ll sink, we’ll find out when we get there.”
As they got nearer, he adjusted the angle of the umbrella and cautioned once more. “We’ll arrive in approximately ten minutes. There’s no one around so we have to be careful. The sand might sink under our weight. Don’t get off the raft yet.”
“What about you?”
“I won’t get off too. We’ll use this to test out.” With that said, he gestured at the umbrella.
“How can I help?”
“Reel in our belongings under the raft. I need you to tie them securely together. Look after them.”
“Got it!”
The waves got stronger as they approached the island and this helped to propel their raft forward.
At the final push, Gu Mingchen burrowed the umbrella right into the smooth, white sand which served as an anchor for their raft. They came to a halt.
Bai Rong noticed, where they landed, crabs fled in all directions.
Out of curiosity, she asked, “Are they edible?”
“Yes. But more importantly, we need to find shelter on high ground. See those? They’re wolf droppings. Though the island’s safe for us to land, we need to keep a lookout for predators.”
Hearing his words, she cut short her celebration. They now had other worries to face. A person as capable as him couldn’t go against a pack of wolves on his own.
