Chapter 12 Darkness Before Dawn

Bai Ma Shan and Anna each supported Lili on one side, helping her forward. The torch in Jia Wenjun's hand was almost burnt out. Bai Ma Shan took the spare torch from Anna, lit it with the remaining embers, and handed it to Jia Wenjun.

"Xiao Jia, you lead the way. We'll follow behind."

Anna, supporting Lili, didn't have a free hand to hold a torch, so she didn't object.

Jia Wenjun took the torch, enduring the piercing pain in her leg, and held it high, clearing the path ahead.

The surging waves behind them were like a pack of hungry wolves, waiting for the moment the torches went out to pounce and devour these last few pitiful survivors.

The wind and waves buffeted them, making them stagger and stumble. No one spoke, all their attention focused on their feet. Even so, every step was a struggle.

Each step forward cost them every ounce of strength. Halfway there, they were all exhausted. The pain in Jia Wenjun's ankle was numb. She tried her best to move the torch back so the three behind her could see where they were stepping. She tested the path ahead with her feet, adding new cuts and scrapes in the water.

The fire on the boat was getting closer and closer. Jia Wenjun estimated the distance to be only ten meters or so. The shouts from the people on the boat and Da Huang's barking carried over the wind.

Everyone was excited. Jia Wenjun, in her eagerness, tripped on a reef. The next moment, she fell straight into the water, the torch falling into the sea with her.

Instantly, the sea was plunged into darkness.

"Xiao Jia?" Bai Ma Shan called out anxiously into the darkness.

"Huff." Jia Wenjun struggled a few times in the water, finally managing to stand up again. She wiped the water from her face and realized that the torch she had been holding had disappeared. It was impossible to find it now.

"I'm okay, Brother Bai. What do we do without a torch?" Jia Wenjun felt guilty.

"I think you did it on purpose, easily holding the torch in front and still managing to put it out," Anna said unpleasantly.

"Alright, she didn't mean to." Bai Ma Shan said, then comforted Jia Wenjun in the darkness, "It's okay, we've already come this far. We just need to head towards the fire on the boat. Victory is in sight. If we all work together, we can definitely get on board."

Jia Wenjun didn't say anything and continued forward, but the moment she turned her head, tears fell.

Her nature was such that the more harshly others treated her, the more she would summon up a suit of armor to protect herself. But now that someone was being kind to her, willing to believe in her and speak up for her, her vulnerability, fear, and grievances were amplified. She didn't want to be like this, but she couldn't control her emotions.

Fortunately, there was no light now, and the sound of the waves grew louder and louder, so no one noticed her emotional change.

Hearing Bai Ma Shan defend Jia Wenjun, Anna's face darkened as she looked at Jia Wenjun ahead, her expression unreadable.

On the boat, the people saw the fire in the sea suddenly go out and didn't know what had happened to the people in the water. Their hearts were in their throats.

"Brother Wang, I think they're not far away. Why don't we send someone down to pick them up?" Teacher Lin was only thinking about the phone, afraid it wouldn't be retrieved.

"Send who down?" Grandpa Wang was also anxious, but of the men on the boat, Lü Maowang was injured and couldn't move, and Gong Dalong couldn't even leave his room. That only left him and Hu Sixiang. Hu Sixiang couldn't swim, so wasn't he the only one left?

It wasn't that he didn't want to go down, but what could an old man in his seventies do with four people in the water?

As everyone remained silent, a child's voice rang out, "Grandpa Wang, I'll go down. I've learned to swim. I can take a torch to Uncle Bai."

As soon as Nao Nao finished speaking, Hao Jiening twisted his arm hard and scolded, "Shut up, what does a child know? You're not allowed to go."

Nao Nao cried out in pain, "Wah! I do know! I can swim! Uncle Bai and the others are down there. Their torch fell into the water just now. Without a torch, they can't see the road. How will they get back in the dark?"

Seeing that he was still talking, Hao Jiening slapped the child's bottom hard several times.

"Alright, stop arguing, I'll go down," Grandpa Wang said.

Everyone visibly breathed a sigh of relief, then heard the old man say, "Everyone who can swim or can't swim, go down together. Men and women, holding hands and lining up, it'll be seven or eight meters wide. They're no more than ten meters away from us. We're all on the same boat, everyone go down and help. Otherwise, if something really happens, no one will be spared."

As soon as Hu Sixiang heard this, he immediately objected, "I can't swim. Who will be responsible if something happens?"

Grandpa Wang knew he would say that, and said impatiently, "The water below the boat is only up to your waist at most! You'll have to wait a while to drown! I'm putting my foot down here. Everyone goes down. If you don't go, then you won't get a share of any of the resources on the boat later."

"Why? Sun Jiaojiao and Gong Dalong are occupying a room and stealing everything, and they're not going down. When the rescuers come, won't they be saved anyway? Why is it that only we good-natured people have to suffer? If we don't listen, we won't get any resources? What are you going to do? I'm not going, I'd like to see what you can do to me!"

As Hu Sixiang spoke, he grabbed his son, "We're not going. Whoever wants to go can go."

Hao Jiening hadn't wanted to go in the first place. Hearing that her husband and son weren't going, she naturally wouldn't go either.

Now, only Grandpa Wang and Teacher Lin were left on the boat. One was over seventy and the other was over fifty. It seemed absurd that the two of them, with a combined age of over a hundred and twenty, were going down to save people.

But since the shipwreck and the murder, hadn't everything that happened on this boat been absurd?

If no one came to rescue them and Bai Ma Shan and the others didn't return, then with Hu Sixiang's character, the two old people would definitely not be treated well. Even more absurd things could happen later, so Grandpa Wang couldn't stand idly by.

Grandpa Wang wanted to save people, and Teacher Lin wanted to save the phone. The two old men, relying on their old bones, each took a simple torch and went down, trembling.

Hao Jiening looked at them with some worry and said, "Is it really okay for us not to go down?"

Hu Sixiang spat on the ground, "If you're worried, you can go down, no one's stopping you! Anyway, Lili has already called the police. When you all don't come back, the remaining water and food will be just enough for me and my son."

Hearing him say this, the last bit of pity that Hao Jiening had felt instantly disappeared.

Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindmost. Compassion was worthless. In times of crisis, saving one's own life was the most important thing.