Chapter 228: Chapter 114: Going Against the Current

“Help!”

Cries for help rose and fell across the beach.

“Anyone who can swim, follow me! We’re going to save people. Be careful, and don’t overdo it!”

Zhao Rui shouted, his body moving like a bolt of lightning as he shot toward the shore.

Qin Rui and the others used their Lightweight Skill to follow close behind.

Three members of the Martial Arts Team were left behind. None of them could swim, and they hesitated for a moment.

“Uh, guys, don’t look at me. I’m scared of water!”

Cai Zhengyang scratched his head sheepishly.

“We’re not looking at you! Look behind you!”

One of the third-year students who had stayed back pointed behind him, his face a mask of horror.

Hearing this, Cai Zhengyang spun around. His eyes widened in terror at what he saw.

’Oh no! This is bad!’

Cai Zhengyang quickly circulated his Inner Strength and yelled at Zhao Rui and the others, who were already rushing into the distance:

“Zhao Rui, get back here! There’s a huge wave behind you!”

“Come back!”

The other two came to their senses and also started shouting frantically.

The few people at the back of the group heard the commotion, stopped in their tracks, and glanced into the distance. The sight sent them scrambling back in terror.

They continued to yell for the others to stop.

“Holy shit, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

Zhao Rui naturally heard the shouts, but he was moving so fast he had almost reached the water’s edge.

Right behind him were Shen Xinzhu, Luo Min, and Wang Dalong.

Their Power was the greatest, and their Lightweight Skill was exceptional. They were only a few dozen meters behind Zhao Rui.

“Get back! Get the hell back!”

Zhao Rui was frantic. There were limits to being a good samaritan. He was at the Grandmaster Level, capable of generating his own True Qi, so he wasn’t afraid of being swept away by a giant wave.

But they were not.

Hearing Zhao Rui’s shouts, Qin Rui and the others further back managed to stop in time. They looked at the giant wave in panic and retreated hastily.

But Shen Xinzhu and her group were too fast. In the blink of an eye, they had reached his side.

“Get up the beach!”

The wave came fast, like a shadow blotting out the sun, bearing down on them. Some tourists who couldn’t run fast enough were swept into the sea, tossed about like ragdolls.

As Zhao Rui spoke, he snatched up a graceful young woman and her little kid, tucking them under his arms.

Shen Xinzhu and the other two followed his example, grabbing any ordinary people they could reach and charging toward the upper part of the beach. The ground was higher there, and there was a seawall that could block the first wave.

“AH! AHH!”

The woman being dragged by the arm by Shen Xinzhu screamed in terror.

SLAP!

She’d barely gotten two screams out before a hand slapped her across the mouth.

The screaming stopped abruptly.

Shen Xinzhu was no bleeding heart. The fact that she was saving the woman at all was a miracle in itself.

The group was fast, but the wave was faster.

Just as everyone leaped onto the greenstone and concrete seawall, the first giant wave crashed against the stone with a thunderous SMACK.

They didn’t dare relax. The one behind it was the real monster—a wave five or six meters high, a sight that made their hearts tremble.

A wave of this magnitude was beyond what an ordinary coastal seawall could withstand.

Everyone kept running as the next massive wave followed close behind. Cars and other debris on the shore were tossed about like driftwood, battered and thrown every which way.

In a moment, they were submerged by the seawater.

Throngs of tourists ran frantically for their lives.

Zhao Rui glanced around at the dense crowd of people fleeing like ants.

His heart couldn’t help but tremble.

’There’s only so much one person can do. In the face of the Majestic Power of Heaven and Earth, what good are these Martial Arts?’

’Even if I risk my life, how many can I save?’

But this was no time for idle thoughts. Zhao Rui accelerated, bounding up to a five or six-story hotel building nearby in a single leap, where he set down the woman and child.

“You three are not to go anywhere! Stay here!”

Seeing Shen Xinzhu and the other two follow him, he gave a stern command before leaping off the hotel again to search for other slow-moving children and elderly people.

Shen Xinzhu watched his departing figure, her eyes flickered, and then she suddenly leaped off the hotel roof, following in Zhao Rui’s footsteps.

“What are you doing here? This is reckless!”

Zhao Rui hadn’t expected her to follow and couldn’t help but scold her. Even as he spoke, he didn’t forget to grab four children and start running back.

“I know what I’m doing!”

Shen Xinzhu said coldly, likewise rescuing four little kids.

Seeing the two of them in action, Wang Dalong and Luo Min on the roof didn’t stay idle either. They quickly began moving slower people from the vicinity to the rooftop.

Besides them, a few other Martial Artists who were visiting as tourists were doing the same thing.

In the face of great disaster, there are always those who go against the tide. Perhaps by today’s values they seem foolish, but some things just have to be done by someone.

After just two such rescue runs, the giant wave was upon them, sweeping over everything in its path and crashing thunderously into the hotel building.

At that moment, Zhao Rui was carrying two children, running frantically toward the hotel.

“Faster, faster!”

From the rooftop, Luo Min and Wang Dalong shouted nervously at Zhao Rui.

Fortunately, Zhao Rui’s Lightweight Skill was superb. At the last second, he summoned strength from nothing, propelling his body several meters into the air. He used the building’s exterior decorations as footholds and, with a few bounds, leaped onto the tall building.

After putting down the children in his arms, Zhao Rui looked around and asked, stunned, “Where’s Shen Xinzhu?”

“She was on the roof just a moment ago!”

Luo Min was taken aback. Shen Xinzhu had just brought two children to the roof.

’Did she go down again?’

Zhao Rui grew anxious and rushed to the edge of the roof to look down into the water.

Suddenly, he spotted a figure floating next to a wooden plank in the distance, drifting their way.

Zhao Rui looked closely. Who else could it be but Shen Xinzhu?

He quickly turned back to Luo Min and Wang Dalong. “You two, don’t move. Contact the others and confirm they’re safe. I’m going to save her.”

With that, Zhao Rui handed his phone to Wang Dalong, ripped off a piece of an advertising sign from the edge of the roof, shattered it into several pieces with a palm strike, and threw them out one by one.

The fragments formed a long arc, flying swiftly into the distance.

His body flickered, and he quickly caught up to one of the pieces, using it to launch himself into the air. With True Qi circulating throughout his body, he shot toward Shen Xinzhu.

This technique of using thin air for leverage left Wang Dalong and the others utterly astonished, to say nothing of the ordinary people watching.

Everyone gasped involuntarily.

For some of the rescued children who were still trembling, the term “superhero” had just taken on a whole new meaning.

Unfortunately, this graceful display didn’t last long. When the last piece of the sign fell, he had no choice but to dive headfirst into the seawater below.

By then, however, he was not far from Shen Xinzhu. After entering the water, he quickly began swimming toward her.

When he reached her, he surfaced and looked at the girl—her hair wet at the temples, her pretty face flawless. Seeing that she was unharmed, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you okay? You can’t even swim, yet you’re still trying to be a hero.”

Zhao Rui wiped the seawater from his face and let out a long breath.

“I’m fine. There was an undercurrent in the water just now. I wasn’t paying attention and got swept away by the wave. I may not know how to swim, but I can hold my breath!”

A faint smile appeared on Shen Xinzhu’s beautiful lips. She was clearly in a good mood now that Zhao Rui had arrived.

“Let’s swim toward the building first!”

Zhao Rui was surprised she was still in the mood to joke. After speaking, he and Shen Xinzhu each grabbed one side of the plank and started swimming toward the hotel.

But they hadn’t been swimming for long when the third wave came rolling in.

This wave was even higher than the last one, crashing down and pulling them both, along with the plank, under the water.

Zhao Rui quickly held his breath, regulated his Inner Breath, and started swimming after Shen Xinzhu.

The girl could only hold her breath. Her limbs flailed wildly, and her body just floated in the water, drifting aimlessly. She clearly didn’t know how to swim.

Zhao Rui hurriedly swam over, grabbed one of her hands, and began to swim upward.

Soon, the two of them reached the surface. Shen Xinzhu spat out a mouthful of seawater, hacking a couple of times and gasping for air.

“We need to get to shore, now!”

Without another word, Zhao Rui grabbed her arm and started swimming forward.

“Let me hold onto your waist, otherwise you can’t put your full strength into it!”

Shen Xinzhu was a Martial Artist, after all. Now that she was above water, she wasn’t as helpless as an ordinary person would be.

“Okay!”

Zhao Rui grunted in agreement.

Shen Xinzhu reached out with her right hand and wrapped it around Zhao Rui’s waist. Her full, graceful figure pressed tightly against him as she followed his rapid pace forward.

With his arms and legs free, Zhao Rui’s speed increased significantly. In just a few moments, he reached the base of the building.

Luo Min and Wang Dalong quickly threw down a rope provided by the hotel and pulled the two of them up.

Once on the roof, Zhao Rui finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

He took off his shirt and wrung the water out of it.

“You should go change your clothes inside the hotel!”

Luo Min glanced at the two of them, her eyes lingering on the soaking wet Shen Xinzhu with a flash of envy.

’So big, so perky!’

’So long, so straight!’

She had always considered herself beautiful, but this comparison couldn’t help but make her feel a little down.

’I’ll have to buy more papaya to eat when I get back!’

Hearing Luo Min’s words, Zhao Rui couldn’t help but glance at Shen Xinzhu. Her wet clothes clearly revealed the underwear beneath.

’It’s pretty revealing.’

He quickly handed his t-shirt to Shen Xinzhu and told Luo Min to take her to change her clothes.

After the two left, Zhao Rui asked Wang Dalong, “Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone’s fine. Here’s your phone. Qin Rui and the others called just now. They said they’re all taking shelter in a nearby residential building. Coach Wang called too.”

Wang Dalong took the phone out of his pocket and handed it to Zhao Rui.

“Okay.”

Zhao Rui nodded, took the phone, and called Qin Rui and the others back to let them know he was safe.

After that, he called Wang Zhanshan back.

Hearing that Zhao Rui and Shen Xinzhu were both fine, Wang Zhanshan sighed in relief. “As long as you’re okay. Wait for the Court’s rescue teams. The exchange meet is canceled. For the next few days, you’ll probably have to participate in disaster relief!”

“Okay, Coach. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know! The Court hasn’t released any specific information yet. It was all very sudden.”

“Oh.”

Zhao Rui hung up the phone. He looked out at the giant waves still rolling in from the distance and muttered, “For it to be this sudden, there must have been an earthquake or something in the sea.”

“My phone is flooded with videos of the seawater surging. A lot of people must have died.”

Wang Dalong said, his heart aching at the thought.

In the night, the waves rolled on like a sky-swallowing beast. There was no telling how many lives had been lost in them.

After waiting on the roof for a while, the two of them went down the stairs.

The hotel had opened up some rooms to accommodate them.

The lower floors were flooded, so all the staff had moved to the third floor and above.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep