Chapter 110: Being alive is better than anything else
I tried desperately to pull Xu Shu up, but after several attempts, I couldn't even lift her up one foot. I knew that even if I was down to earth, it would be very difficult to lift a weight of about 100 kilograms, not to mention that I was only hooking my feet on the branch, with no other leverage. How much waist and wrist strength would it take to lift her up?
Xu Shu was still unconscious, and her body seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. I felt horrified that her wrist was slipping out of my grasp inch by inch. My right hand was almost powerless, and I could no longer exert even a little bit of strength.
I quickly stretched out my left hand with difficulty and held her hand, and I felt a little better.
The mountain wind blew fiercely, and Xu Shu's body began to sway slightly. Although I was exhausted, my mind was still very clear and calm. I knew that even if I held her with both hands, it would only delay her for a while. If I didn't come up with a solution, Xu Shu would fall sooner or later because of my weakness. If that happened, I would probably let go of my hands and feet in pain and self-blame, and let my body fall with Xu Shu.
As a result, Xu Shu and I were torn to pieces together! If I didn't want to die, and I didn't want Xu Shu to die, I had to find a way to save myself immediately. But in this situation, what could I do? How could I save myself?
I hung my head upside down, observing the situation on the left, right and below. This cliff is not straight, but it seems that there is no protruding platform. It is difficult to see farther because of the darkness. Apart from these two big trees, the rest are small trees and shrubs, which can't bear the weight of a person.
But I found that the two big trees were growing upward at a 45-degree angle. Xu Shu and I were still at the upper end of the tree. Behind and below me on the left, the old tree's roots were not far from Xu Shu's body. That place was much thicker than the branch I was hanging on, almost as thick as two people could hug together.
I was delighted, and my first thought was to swing Xu Shu up and onto the tree root. But I immediately rejected this idea. Although the tree root was thick, it was round after all. Even if Xu Shu was thrown up accurately, she would definitely slide down the tree root and fall off the cliff because she was unconscious. The chance of success was probably less than one in ten thousand.
But that place was the only place to stay, and the other tree was far away from me, so I didn't even need to consider it. I observed it again, and suddenly I was very grateful to God for his wonderful arrangement, which allowed these two big trees to grow on this cliff.
Although the two trees were not tall, they were almost parallel and close to each other, with branches growing horizontally and intertwining. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't tell which branch belonged to which tree. My feet were hanging on the branch of another tree, which grew horizontally and penetrated the branches of this tree, entangled with branches of different sizes.
The second idea came to my mind: I climbed over along the hanging branch. There was a branch over there that just passed over the trunk of the big tree. As long as I could climb from this branch to that branch and move all the way to the top of the big tree, I could put Xu Shu safely on the trunk. Although it was still dangerous, it was much more reliable than just throwing him over.
My hands started to go numb, I felt excruciating pain in my knees, my waist was sore, and I felt dizzy. But I had only one belief in my mind, which was that I must keep Xu Shu alive. I gritted my teeth and started my action.
I hung upside down on the tree trunk, using my legs hooked on the trunk to move slowly towards the main trunk. To be honest, the distance between the two branches was only a little more than two meters, but for me, it was no less than the Long March of the Red Army.
At this time, my whole body was exhausted. Big drops of sweat were dripping from my head like rain. My mind was highly concentrated, and I was supported only by my faith and my last breath.
Another thing is that the direction I was going was favorable! The mountain wind was particularly strong tonight. Would it rain? But the strong favorable wind still helped me a lot. I climbed from one branch to another, and then climbed to the top of the trunk of the big tree. I don't know how long it took. I almost lost consciousness in my whole body. I just subconsciously and mechanically clenched my hands.
With my last bit of faith, I dragged Xu Shu up to the trunk of the tree and lowered her down along the trunk. The trunk was very thick, and Xu Shu lay steadily on the tree. When I let go of her hand, she did not fall.
I was so happy, but suddenly I lost all my strength, my eyes went dark, and I fell off the branch. Coincidentally, I fell on Xu Shu's back. In the last moment before I fainted, I seemed to hear a very faint moan from her nose.
I woke up again soon. It was the rain that woke me up. I opened my eyes and saw and heard the rustling of leaves. Big raindrops fell from the sky. Although some of them were blocked by the leaves, a small part still fell directly on me.
Except for my brain cells, my whole body seemed to be non-existent and not under the control of my brain. Xu Shu was breathing rapidly, but her eyes were still closed. But I was still happy, at least she was still alive and breathing.
I guessed that the reason for her shortness of breath was probably because I was pressing down on her with my weight of over 100 pounds, so I thought about getting up and leaving her. But my hands and feet were not able to obey me. I had no choice but to keep pressing down and wait for my strength to recover.
The only thing I wanted to do now was to have a cigarette, but my cigarette was in my pocket and I couldn't get it out. Also, I remembered that my lighter was in my coat pocket, and when I was hanging upside down on the tree, it seemed that many things in my pocket fell out, so I guess my lighter was gone too?
The rain began to fall harder and harder. My clothes were soaked through, and the mountain wind made it even colder. The cold wind made my hands and feet regain feeling. I sat up, panting, and slowly left Xu Shu's body. I took out a half-wet cigarette and reached for my lighter. Sure enough, my pocket was empty. Everything had fallen out. I had no choice but to throw the cigarette down the cliff with a wry smile. Out of sight, out of mind!
I looked up at the sky. It was raining heavily. Although there were leaves above my head to block the rain, I was helpless. I looked at the roots of the tree behind me. I was not wet by the rain. It turned out that there were not only dense bushes above the cliff, but also a protruding huge rock, which just blocked the falling rain. I looked down and saw Xu Shu's face was pale and her lips were purple from the cold. I quickly reached out to help her up and held her in my arms. I stepped back with my legs around the tree trunk. I held Xu Shu and retreated to the roots of the tree little by little, with my back against the cliff. Xu Shu was shivering in my arms due to the cold. I quickly took off my coat and put it on Xu Shu. Then I hugged her tightly, wanting to give her a little warmth, even though I was also chattering with cold teeth.
Xu Shu in my arms had been unconscious for a long time. In my embrace, she slowly opened her eyes, but closed them again immediately.
All I heard was her whispering, "Tang Qian...are we all dead?"
When I heard her voice, I quickly looked down at her and said happily, "Are you awake? We are not dead yet, but it is not much better than being dead."
Xu Shu opened his eyes again, looked around, and asked me, "Where are we? I feel dizzy and my body hurts all over! What's wrong?"
I said, "Our car fell off the mountain. We were lucky enough to survive, but we are stuck here and can't go up or down. And it's raining. How unlucky!"
Xu Shu seemed to have remembered something, and she whispered, "Yes... I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I made you..." Suddenly she couldn't continue. Her face was hot, and she couldn't raise her head in shame.
I asked curiously, "What's wrong with you?"
Xu Shu didn't answer, she shrank her head and pulled her clothes tighter. Suddenly she cried out , with a sad face, "Ouch! My wrist... it hurts so much!"
I reached out and gently stroked the back of her hand, apologetically saying, "Does it hurt? I had to use more force just now to hold you back. I'm sorry!"
Xu Shu said: "You saved me, didn't you?"
I said, “I’m just trying to save my life.”
Xu Shu gently moved her wrist, frowning slightly in pain. She turned her head and looked at my arms again, and said, "I understand, thank you! I... feel very cold..."
I reached out my other hand and hugged her tightly, and she buried her head in my arms.
After a while, she asked, "Can we be saved?"
Her words reminded me, yes! It is the 21st century now, communication is so advanced, we can call for help!
I was so happy that I reached into my inner pocket and took out my cell phone. But when I saw the cell phone, I could only smile bitterly because I remembered that my cell phone was out of battery.
I had no choice but to ask her, "Where's your cell phone? Let's use it to call for help!"
"Cellphone? It should be in my trouser pocket, right?"
I saw her holding her wrist, looking in great pain, so I reached into the pockets of her jeans, but there was nothing in them. Could she have fallen off the cliff as well? No way!
Xu Shu whispered in my arms: "It's not here, it seems to be in my back pocket!"
"Really?" I didn't think about it, and in a hurry, I reached out and touched her butt. Unfortunately, her butt was round and full, without any obvious bulge, it seemed that she had really lost it.
I was disappointed and helpless. I couldn't help but sigh and leaned back against the cliff. Xu Shu looked up and asked me, "No?" I smiled bitterly and shook my head, then turned on my phone with the mentality of just in case.
My old phone takes a long time to connect to the signal and make calls after it is turned on, but it can't wait that long. Before I can press any button, the phone makes a series of alarm "beeps", then the screen goes black and it shuts down automatically. For a moment, I was so angry that I just wanted to throw this broken phone out and smash it to pieces. It's useless every time I need it, so why do I keep it?
Xu Shu saw that my phone was out of battery, and sighed slightly, saying, "Can we...get out of danger?"
In order to give her confidence and prevent her from despairing, I said firmly, "Of course! I promise you, I will definitely get you out of this predicament, so don't worry!"
Xu Shu seemed very happy after hearing my promise. She buried her face in my arms again and said, "Now I know that life is the most precious thing. Living is better than anything else, don't you think?"
I sighed, "Yes! Being alive is better than anything else!"
