Chapter 80: A Corpse? A Pale Hand. [Xi Yun, You Useless Thing, You…]
At the beginning of his transmigration, Le Can had wondered if the Le Can here had any connection to him.
Something like a past life or a parallel-world self. However, after inheriting the memories left by “Little Soft Bun,” Le Can quickly dismissed that idea.
Among other things, besides their different tastes and dietary restrictions, the most obvious point was that Little Soft Bun was a “landlubber” who couldn’t swim. This was something the original host had accidentally discovered while working a part-time job.
But Le Can was different; he was an excellent swimmer. Having grown up in a water-town village surrounded by mountains and rivers, as a child raised in the countryside, learning to walk and learning to swim happened almost simultaneously.
Water had accompanied Le Can throughout his entire childhood. When he let his imagination run wild as a kid, he even fantasized that he was a fish that couldn’t leave the water.
Even after moving to the city, Le Can tried his best to create opportunities for himself to swim. Of course, he didn’t go as far as sneakily swimming in the rivers there; that water wasn’t like the river back in the village.
When he was tight on money at first, he would buy those inflatable pools online. Later, after earning money, besides moving into a house with a large bathtub, Le Can also regularly went to the swimming pool.
Therefore, his swimming skills had not grown rusty. In fact, because he had received formal instruction, he was even more at home in the water.
During the process of falling from the cruise ship, Le Can recalled the figure in the crowd who had turned to leave after a single glance. Those indifferent, pitying eyes kept replaying before him.
It seemed that because the person knew he couldn’t swim, and perhaps because of the distance from the deck to the water, they were certain he would not survive this “accidental” fall into the sea.
So, that person stood outside the crowd, quietly watching everything.
Because they were so sure of his demise, they didn’t even bother to hide their identity from Le Can, a “dead man,” revealing a demeanor they didn’t usually show.
Le Can took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his posture in mid-air.
His back hit the safety net, briefly slowing his descent. Immediately after, the seemingly normal safety net—just like the railing where he fell—suddenly snapped!
The sturdy safety net had been replaced at some point; it was a fake that had the appearance but no weight-bearing capacity!
Le Can kept his eyes open, calm to the point of being sharp. His hands constantly grabbed at those superficial rope knots, trying his best to make his descent slower.
The rough surface rubbed against his arms and the gaps between his fingers, instantly leaving trails of blood…
After a muffled groan, the man whose wrist had been dislocated by the force could only powerlessly let go of the remaining foam-like knots in his hand.
Le Can’s ruddy complexion turned deathly pale in the cold wind and pain.
The fall continued. The unknown, pitch-black sea below seemed like a silent beast with its mouth wide open, waiting to swallow the little snack that was about to be delivered.
He tensed all the muscles in his body, tucking his limbs in tight. Finally, like a straight needle, his locked feet were the first to pierce the water.
The water, which should have been soft, squeezed his body from all directions. Le Can groaned again. After his entire body was submerged, his arms crossed over his chest and his straight legs suddenly paddled outward.
The man who had been as stiff as a piece of wood suddenly became like a fish that had been away from water for a long time. He moved his body flexibly and skillfully, possessing the composure and ease of returning to his home ground.
…As if!
The ocean and a lake were worlds apart.
The moment Le Can broke the surface, he took a sharp, deep breath. Once sufficient oxygen filled his lungs, he didn’t stop to “ptui ptui ptui” the water out.
Not only was it bitter and salty, but there was also an irrepressible fishy smell. He didn’t know if it was because of the giant cruise ship floating nearby, but with his sensitive sense of taste, Le Can even detected a hint of rust.
Ignoring the soreness and pain in various parts of his body, he tried to relax as much as possible, spreading his legs naturally and extending his arms to his sides. He floated on the surface in a supine position, his back resting quietly against the water.
The seawater gently lapped against the side of Le Can’s face. The waves pushed the only foreign object on the sea surface, carrying him slowly away from the cruise ship.
Le Can quietly gazed at the sky. Regarding the massive cruise ship that was gradually disappearing from his line of sight, he let out a silent sigh in his heart.
Right now, in the icy sea, he could only conserve his energy and wait for rescue.
Facing the vast ocean, Le Can wasn’t so delusional as to think he could save himself. Achieving what he had so far was already the limit of what a person could do.
He drifted like this for a while, during which he felt the water surface heave violently several times. Le Can guessed that perhaps the lifeboats on both sides of the ship had been lowered into the water.
Although his body was gradually turning cold, his trust in a certain person kept a spark of conviction burning in his chest.
It was like a small furnace tucked in his shirt, continuously sending warmth to his limbs.
Like a rootless duckweed, even on the suspended sea and in this entire other world, he did not feel fear because of the invisible tether to someone who cared about him—a tether he hadn’t realized he possessed until now.
Looking up at the sky, a crescent moon quietly watched over him. Le Can calmly traced the shape of the moon with his eyes.
It wasn’t out of any sentimental poetic feeling; it was purely out of boredom.
However, the Heavens seemed to think he was too bored and quietly delivered a “surprise” to this man who had survived a fall into the sea.
Initially, when something lightly touched his hand, it was the dislocated one. Having been soaked in cold seawater, Le Can’s hand—whose pain and tactile sensations had dulled—did not accurately convey this important information to its zoning-out owner.
It wasn’t until something was washed onto Le Can’s face by the sea that he shuddered in shock.
That single splash nearly broke the balance Le Can had maintained for so long. He unfortunately choked on a mouthful of hard-to-drink and bitter seawater.
But even so, Le Can was in no mood to spit it out. He didn’t hesitate to kick his legs, using his remaining strength to help him move away from the dark mass beside him.
The moonlight, which was not very bright, spilled onto the water. The visibility could only be described as terrible. Considering he had waited this long and not a single rescue boat from the ship had arrived, one could tell.
On such a pitch-black night, in such a wide stretch of open sea, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. This was the only way to describe the difficulty of the rescue at this moment.
After waiting for a while, the dark mass showed no movement. In fact, the part floating on the surface was gradually becoming smaller; it was starting to sink.
Inexplicably feeling uneasy, Le Can suddenly thought of the cry for help he had heard when he was pushed off the ship. He bit his pale lower lip, his dry throat bobbing.
Damn! So someone falling into the water was real.
It wasn’t just an excuse to lure him over and create chaos?
Le Can couldn’t afford to be afraid anymore. He reached out to push the seawater aside. At first, because he was too anxious, he used the dislocated hand.
The intense pain caused by the impact after his arm reached out made Le Can gasp. He held his breath to suppress the pain, the corners of his eyes turning red.
He switched to the other hand to check, only to pull up… a pale hand.
Suddenly dropping the cold hand, Le Can was scared out of his wits. But the next second, he gritted his teeth and actively swam forward, lifting the person whose nose and mouth were almost submerged.
He couldn’t see the person’s face clearly, nor did he know if they were still alive.
Le Can took a deep breath and held it, pressing his fingers together against the person’s neck…
At first, he didn’t find the right spot and felt no pulse at all. Tears were almost forced out of the corners of Le Can’s eyes.
Combined over two lives, he had nearly fifty years of memories. However, in neither set of memories did he have the experience of being so close to a dead person.
And being soaked in the same water as a corpse… Le Can almost gagged.
But soon, his finger, which had only twitched once, finally felt a faint, weak throb under his persistence.
The emotional rollercoaster made Le Can want to vomit even more.
He tilted his head back and took several sharp breaths. Then, he fumbled for the person’s philtrum and pinched it hard. After pinching for several minutes without any reaction, Le Can felt a chill in his heart.
But soon, a bright beam of light swept across the sea, sliding back and forth with clear purpose in the area where he was.
Immediately after, Xi Yun’s anxious voice rang out:
“Le Can, I don’t know if it’s you.”
“If it is you, if you are still conscious, then please hold on a little longer. Please give us a little more time…”
By the end, his voice was trembling, nearly breaking into sobs.
Le Can’s spirit jolted. Then, he vaguely heard a plop, as if something had crashed into the water.
He suddenly tightened his grip on the collar of the other survivor, his eyes fixed on the direction of the disturbance in the sea. The heartbeat in his chest went thump-thump, getting louder and louder.
Before long, the sound of splashing water rang out, and large ripples formed on the surface.
Something—or rather, someone—was swimming over…
Le Can slowly swam behind the half-dead person, biting the person’s collar with his teeth. His intact hand reached behind him, quietly pulling out a triangular rasp he had hidden in the middle of his back.
Because he knew the wedding wouldn’t be peaceful, Le Can had thought for a moment while changing clothes and decided to carry this rasp, which he had never used, with him.
He hadn’t expected that he would have no chance to use it on the ship. Now that he had fallen off, the item finally had a use.
If it was a trustworthy person, that would be fine. But if it was an unidentified enemy hidden on the ship who wanted his life, they would have to see if they could actually take it…
The heartbeat in his ears became louder, yet Le Can’s heart became calmer.
The sound of water grew.
In the darkness, the hand holding the rasp underwater slowly rose.
“Yaoyao, is it… you?”
The tentative voice carried a tremor, like a bolt of lightning suddenly piercing the sky.
Le Can’s hand holding the rasp shook, nearly losing his grip. He quickly tightened his palm and bit the tip of his tongue to keep himself steady.
He didn’t speak. After two seconds of silence, Le Can chanted in his heart:
[Xi… Xi Yun?]
The person who had hesitated to step forward two paces away suddenly lunged. His voice, thick with suppressed fear, was unstable as he said, “It’s me, Xi Yun!”
The strength supporting Le Can seemed to be suddenly drained. He moved his fingers, and his mouth, which was biting the other person’s collar, loosened slightly.
Before he could fully let go to speak, the person in his mouth was suddenly yanked forward with great force! His teeth, which had bitten into empty air, collided, making Le Can “ow” out loud.
[Damn! It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts…]
[Xi Yun, you useless thing, what are you grabbing for?!]
Recommended Reads
