Chapter 204: Chapter 171: 18 Minutes
She looked so anxious she was on the verge of tears.
The Defense Army soldier shook his head. "Don’t do this next time."
Huai Yu nodded and immediately dashed over to the adjacent vehicle. She inspected its back seat and cargo bed before looking back at the four people in Chen Xing’s car. She had no idea how they had managed to escape with their lives, but right now, only one of them was still conscious.
His name seemed to be Xue Bao. She’d heard he was only sixteen, picked up from an orphanage by Chen Xing. Right now, he was slowly fumbling with the car door to climb out, one hand clutching his stomach as a large bloodstain seeped through his clothes.
Vehicles heading into the Wilderness were all lifted and heavily modified. Huai Yu grabbed the edge of the cargo bed, peered inside, and made a prompt decision. "Let’s lay them side by side in the back. We’ll ride with them to make sure they don’t get bumped around. Can we get them to the hospital as fast as possible?"
The soldier nodded. "We’ll have it cleared out in a second. Don’t worry, we won’t take your 1,000 points for nothing. We’ll get you there in eighteen minutes." With that, he quickly hopped down from the truck and helped Huai Yu carefully extract Chen Xing from the driver’s seat.
Meanwhile, Huai Yu secured her woven bamboo basket on her back. Through a narrow gap in the lid, Big and Second huddled inside, watching her obediently. They hadn’t made a single sound during all her frantic running. Overwhelmed by a mix of emotions, Huai Yu couldn’t help but shed a few tears. She discreetly slipped a hand inside to pet them. "Good boys."
Placing the injured in the back was a wise choice, as it significantly improved efficiency. All they had to do was throw down a blanket the soldiers usually used for resting.
The designated driver gave a few more instructions before quickly turning to Huai Yu. "Captain Chen’s car can’t stay here. I’ll have my teammates drive it to the company first. You can let her know once she wakes up."
However, he recalled that although Star River Company wasn’t large, it had operated reliably over the years and had managed to save up enough for three vehicles. But now, only one had returned, and it seemed they were missing a person... The driver shook his head. For a Wilderness Explorer, this was hardly an uncommon occurrence.
Huai Yu and Uncle Zaozi climbed into the back, panting heavily. They positioned themselves on either side of the injured, acting as human shields to prevent them from crashing into the side panels during sharp turns or bumps. It wasn’t until the engine roared to life that the two of them finally let their shoulders sag.
Uncle Zaozi’s face was twisted in agony. "I really took a massive loss tonight!"
He had been doing nothing but manual labor all night long! First, he had pedaled a bike for two hours to bring Huai Yu to the highway entrance. Then, instead of snagging any good cargo, he ended up snagging Chen Xing and her dying crew. Now he was hauling bodies around, and once they reached the hospital, there would undoubtedly be even more running around to do.
Tsk! He wasn’t like Huai Yu, who felt completely full of hope just seeing that someone was still breathing. Out of the five people in this team, only four had returned. Three cars were reduced to one. Every single survivor was severely injured, with the worst among them completely unconscious.
Sigh. How long would it take Chen Xing to pay him back for the medical bills he was inevitably going to cover at the hospital? This woman had even beaten him up last time! How could he be so kind-hearted?
Right in the middle of his lamentations, the truck suddenly swerved. Seeing the prone bodies about to slide into the side panel, Uncle Zaozi immediately lunged to block them! As a result, his own waist slammed into the metal, causing him to bare his teeth in pain.
Meanwhile, Huai Yu, still wearing her basket, sat dutifully against the panel, managing to steadily catch the sliding Fen Da.
Except...
"Fen Da’s hands are so cold," she muttered. She held his hands. The contrast between her warm palms and his freezing, rigid fingers felt like gripping a piece of stale, refrigerated meat at a wet market. Goosebumps instantly erupted all over her body!
She hurriedly pressed her fingers against his neck, but the truck was speeding so fast that she couldn’t find a pulse even after a long while. Giving up, she simply pressed her ear directly against his chest! It took a long time of absolute concentration before she finally caught the faint, erratic sound of his heartbeat.
The truck barreled down the dimly lit road. An eighteen-minute drive sounded short, but right now, it felt like an eternity.
Suddenly remembering something, Huai Yu checked to ensure the road ahead was still smooth. She quickly let go, took off her basket, and pulled out a water cup. In this critical moment, she didn’t bother being gentle; she aggressively gripped Fen Da’s jaw and squeezed hard. The moment his mouth opened, she poured a mouthful of thick, brown ginseng tea in. Seeing that the liquid was about to dribble mindlessly out of his mouth, she quickly clamped his jaw shut.
Uncle Zaozi stared at her in silence. He originally wanted to warn her not to choke the guy. However, considering Fen Da was already breathing out more than he was breathing in, there was no point in saying it. Instead, he leaned over and pinched Chen Xing’s mouth open. "What is that? Brown sugar water? Pour some more in!"
Next was Qixi, and then Xue Bao, the only one who was conscious and able to move. "I can do it myse—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Uncle Zaozi swiftly pinched his cheeks, forcing another mouthful of ginseng tea down his throat. Xue Bao instantly choked, flailing his arms wildly.
Being so close, Uncle Zaozi sniffed the air and was instantly shocked. "Holy shit! Aged ginseng!"
But Huai Yu had no time to pay him any attention. She checked the cup—there was still less than half left. Without a second thought, she poured the rest down Fen Da’s throat, since he was the closest to death.
At this moment, she couldn’t help but wish Ke Taichiro were here to provide some proper medicinal pills!
Meanwhile, in the driver’s cabin, the two soldiers who had come to help let out a collective sigh. "Chen Xing is pretty capable. Who would have thought she’d end up like this after just one trip?" ℴ𝒗ⅇ𝑙.
The other soldier nodded. "The kids on her team were either sponsored by her or raised by her during the disaster. They’ve always had great teamwork, but now..."
Although they had promised to reach the hospital within eighteen minutes, they were all in a life-and-death line of work; they could more or less tell who was going to survive and who wasn’t.
Especially when they were helping carry the bodies. "That orange-haired guy felt like dead weight when we lifted him. He’s probably not going to make it."
"Chen Xing is in bad shape too. She brought the car back running on fumes and pure willpower. If she hadn’t run into acquaintances, she might have just clung to that last breath until the Defense Army could take over."
Instead, she seemed to have spotted familiar faces the moment she reached the highway entrance. The soldiers had been standing on the roof of their truck moving cargo at the time, and their rear vehicle was parked quite close to Chen Xing’s. Because of that, they had seen everything clearly. The moment Chen Xing’s car stopped, the middle-aged man who had come to collect goods patted her window and said something, and she immediately passed out.
Everyone involved was an Explorer. Though the soldiers hadn’t rushed to rescue them right away, their captain would have eventually arranged for them to lend a hand once he found out. However, there were too many people around, combined with the cargo inspections... if they had waited until then, who knew how many of Chen Xing’s team would still be breathing. It was natural to feel sympathy for a fellow Explorer in distress.
Then there was another harsh reality. "It’s not easy to save up assets, but losing everything happens in the blink of an eye. Star River Exploration has suffered a massive loss this time. If it comes down to major resuscitation efforts, they probably won’t even be able to afford the medical bills."
It was highly likely that, by tomorrow, Star River Expedition Company would cease to exist.
And then there was the car... Sigh. It looked battered and broken, but since she had managed to drive it back, the critical main frame was probably intact. When the time came, they could buy it off her. Their captain’s asking price would at least be reasonable.