Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Sihwa felt the phone slip, she instinctively tried to reach out to catch it, but she missed and could only watch the phone sink into the water.
The mobile phone was heavy, with an outer casing that was slippery. This made it easy for it to sink. The bright screen stood out against the stark contrast of the dark water.
If she moved quickly, she might still have the opportunity to grab the phone, but the surfer whose life was at risk might not be able to hold on. She could only stop looking at the phone, rush to grab on to the limbs of the surfer, and quickly surface.
While Sihwa tried saving everyone, Zhang Zian had also started the live app with his mobile phone and watched the whole process through her live broadcast. When he saw her successfully grasping a surfer’s hand, he heaved a sigh of relief. However, the broadcast was suddenly interrupted and like many others watching, he blurted out countless swear words.
There was nothing else he could do right now. He could only wait anxiously with the others. The only difference was that he was waiting at the scene of where it was happening.
The strongest of the harmattan winds seemed to have passed, carrying with them a large amount of sand and heading to the north. The winds would significantly weaken upon crossing the Mediterranean and would not affect much in Europe.
Sihwa resurfaced at a high speed. She was so fast that her entire upper body was out of the sea too. Her speed was faster than when she’d dived back in. This was because she’d had to search extensively for people when diving for fear of missing them. Now that she had found them, she could go as fast as she wanted.
Under normal circumstances, the rescuer should use their arm to support the neck of the drowning person, lift his head out of the water, and swim to the shore in this position.
However, Sihwa had not learned how to appropriately save people in the water. She’d merely chosen the fastest way to bring the surfer back to shore so that she could pass them onto Zhang Zian. Then she wanted to search for her cell phone and dry it in hopes that it was still usable…
Such a method of surfacing was dangerous for humans, yet under the guidance of Sihwa, they glided like torpedos across the surface of the sea all the way to the shore. This was also the only possible method, as Sihwa did not know how to swim sideways.
Zhang Zian and Galaxy were on the shore and saw her flying toward them with a long tail of white water behind her. If this had been a horror film, she could’ve added a triangular dorsal fin on her back.
“Galaxy, you wait on the shore. I will pick them up.” Zhang Zian took a knee and proceeded forward. The water on the shore was too shallow, and the bottom of the water was all rock. Sihwa would not be able to make it this near.
Sihwa swam very close to the shore and, with a twist of her waist, twisted her tail out straight above at 180 degrees. She came to an instant stop, with her speed dropping to zero almost immediately. However, the waves could not come to a similar stop and started forming a half-meter-high wave wall. The water slammed down hard into Zhang Zian, and the impact pushed him back a few steps. Fortunately, he had learned the art of holding steady in a position from Old Time Tea. If he hadn’t, he would probably have been swept all the way back to shore.
Zhang Zian felt that she was too presumptuous in her actions. Or was she using this as an opportunity to get back at him?
“Quick! Take this guy! I lost my mobile phone! I have to go back and find it!” Sihwa screamed in a hurry, carelessly pushing the surfer to Zhang Zian and turning around.
“Forget it! It’s probably broken. Let me buy you a new one,” Zhang Zian said as he grabbed the surfer’s arms and dragged him to shallow waters.
“What?” Sihwa stopped in her tracks and turned back in disbelief. “What did you say?”
“I said I will buy you a new phone later. Do not go out and look for the old one anymore,” Zhang Zian said casually while putting a stone under the head of the surfer. He leaned over and put his ear on the surfer’s chest to listen for a heartbeat.
“I don’t believe it! Did water get into your brain? You are such a miser. You mean you will not scold me for losing my phone and you will even buy a new one for me? What sorcery is this?” Sihwa looked at him suspiciously, as if not knowing who this person was at all.
“Your brain has water in it! In your eyes, am I that stingy?” Zhang Zian shot back. He had been known as the “bringer of gifts” and “protector of all” by many. How was it that in her eyes, he was nothing?
He made a gesture for Sihwa to keep silent. His hearing was not as good as hers.
Sihwa indignantly kept quiet, her face clearly showing it all. She whispered, “What? You can’t just ask me to shut my mouth…”
Although the surfer’s heartbeat was weak, it was still there. Zhang Zian had studied cardiopulmonary resuscitation for first aid in college. Although he had never actually practiced it, he generally remembered how to do it. With both hands on the surfer’s chest, he started pressing down the way he’d been taught.
Perhaps it was the force from Sihwa’s tail. Or perhaps the surfer was young. With a few hard presses, the seawater in the surfer’s lungs came out with a few violent and painful coughs.
He was in desperate need for air and instinctively wanted to inhale deeply. Yet his lungs wanted to push all foreign objects out as well. The lack of coordination for these two functions led the surfer to breathe and spit water out at the same time. It sounded very painful.
“Do you mean it? Are you lying to me?” Sihwa asked. “If you lie to me, heh…” She laughed for a long time, unsure of how to effectively punish Zhang Zian.
“I am absolutely not lying to you. You should go back to the phone first. He is coming to.” Zhang Zian had no time to say more and put Sihwa into the phone. He turned the surfer to his side and slapped his back, helping him to clear the water in his lungs.
When the surfer finally stopped coughing, Zhang Zian laid him flat, gently patted his cheek, and asked in English loudly, “Hey! Can you hear me?”
After several attempts, Salem finally opened his eyes and looked at the dim sky again.
“I… Am I dead?” he asked weakly.
Zhang Zian smiled. “It’s still early.”