Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 99

Here, the channel of the Yellow River narrows from wide to narrow, and the turbulent water from the upper reaches is suddenly absorbed by both sides of the river, causing huge waves on the banks, and countless eddies hidden under the calm river water.The reef to which the iron chain was tied was exposed after a cliff collapsed by the river.

Before they reached the rock where the iron locks were hidden, the turbulent waves slapped the shore and brought up mist and rain, which already soaked the clothes of the two of them, and the momentum was even more shocking when they got close.Looking up from the reef, it looks like a tiankeng. The erosion and hollowing out of the river day after day makes the banks on both sides stand up like dangerous rocks, which makes people feel nervous.The roar of the waves, which can be heard tens of miles away, swells repeatedly in this narrow groove, like hundreds of war drums beating at the same time, or like thousands of thunders ringing in the ears alternately.Therefore, according to old legends, this is the roar of the river god, which can make people's souls seized by it.

Li Ruoxue bit her lip tightly, watching Zhao Xingde tighten his clothes and trousers, stepped into the river water, and bent over to pull up the iron chain hidden in the river water.

He exhausted all his strength to pull up a section of the iron chain, and hung the iron ring of the chain on the cast iron hook that was driven deep into the reef.If the leader of the river crossing saw this scene, he would be extremely amazed. The weight of the iron chain and the huge momentum of the river water, it usually takes three big men to pull it.Even though his physical strength was astonishing, Zhao Xingde still felt his shoulders sore and numb. He leaned against the reef to rest for a while, and then he bent down and pulled the iron chain, exhaled loudly, and with every inch of strength, he pulled it up again, and the iron ring snapped. Fasten it to another iron hook at once, and at this moment the chain between the two iron nails loosens, and then the iron ring that was hung last time is removed, leaving the iron hook empty.Do this more than a dozen times, just now the iron chain slowly appeared on the water surface, swaying with the waves, at this time no matter how hard Zhao Xingde tried, he couldn't pull it up halfway.

"It has to be like this." Zhao Xingde wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked ashore step by step. He gently hugged Li Ruoxue, and said in a deep voice, "You wait for me here." Then he turned and stepped into the river, along the river. The iron chain slowly fumbled forward, and suddenly his feet were empty, and there was no longer any strength, so he could only hold on to the thin iron chain tightly, exchange hands, and crawl towards the other side of the river foot by foot.

The more you get to the middle stream, the greater the force of the river's scouring. If there is not an iron chain to resist this force, you may fall into the downstream waterfall before you swim one-tenth of the distance.

The river is full of undulating waves and looming eddies. When the waves come, it seems that there is a huge force that knocks him down from the water. Zhao Xingde can only close his eyes and hold his breath, and hold on to the life-saving iron chain until his chest Loosen, the nose regains air, and you know that the wave has passed.When passing through the vortex, it seemed that countless water demons and river monsters were desperately pulling him deep under the water surface, and there was even a feeling that his ankles and waist were being held by invisible hands and pulled down with great force.At this time, the only thing left to do is hang on to the iron chain with both arms, even if it moves a few inches to the other side of the river, it still has to get rid of the suction of the whirlpool.

Every time Zhao Xingde went ups and downs in the river, Li Ruoxue's heart tightened. She was afraid that Zhao Xingde would be distracted, so she kept her mouth tightly shut to prevent herself from exclaiming, her eyes were filled with tears. "If he is submerged in the river, I will jump in too." Only when I read this sentence, I feel a little bit at ease.

Passing the distance of less than [-] feet on both sides of the Yellow River, it was as far away as walking in hell. When he gradually felt that the scouring force of the river was weakening, Zhao Xingde knew in his heart that he had passed the most turbulent section in the center of the river. After exhausting his strength, he stepped on the water with his feet, turned his head and waved to Li Ruoxue, and suddenly pretended to be exhausted, dived into the river water, and when he surfaced, he was already several feet away, still holding onto the iron chain tightly .

It doesn't matter what he's doing, Li Ruoxue felt dizzy, and after calming down a little, she saw Zhao Xingde continue to move towards the opposite bank with vigor, she bit her lip and stomped her feet and said angrily: "Bad thing!" slide down the cheek.

After Zhao Xingde reached the other side of the river, he first checked the iron chains there.The end is also nailed to the rocks, and there are two hooks for retracting the iron chain.In what year was this black iron chain hung here, and how many people have passed through it, only the torrent of water knows.

After resting his strength, Zhao Xingde followed the iron cable back to Song Guo on the other side. He set foot on the solid ground on the bank and walked towards the river bank with water.Li Ruoxue rushed into the water recklessly, and the two of them hugged each other, "Bad thing," she thumped and hit him hard in his arms, "don't leave me behind." The monstrous waves wet her hair, and she couldn't tell the difference. Clear which is the river, which is the tears.

After resting for about an hour, Zhao Xingde tied Li Ruoxue tightly behind his back, then went down into the Yellow River again, and the two of them crossed the river together.This time he also tied a hemp rope around his waist, and the other end of the rope was tied into a big loop and hung on the iron chain. If he missed it, the rope could save his life.

Li Ruoxue hugged Zhao Xingde's armpits with both hands, and her chest and abdomen were tightly pressed against his back. She felt her cheeks were burning hot, and she couldn't hold back her shame. Her feet were empty, and the cold river water soaked her whole body, and her mind suddenly calmed down. Moving towards the opposite bank with the iron chain, Li Ruoxue hugged him tightly, and the rushing river seemed to be roaring past with thousands of troops, but only his back was in his eyes, and he felt more at ease than when he was on the bank just now.The river was getting more and more urgent, and the waves were getting bigger and bigger. She only followed the method Zhao Xingde told her, and kept her head up, trying to breathe the watery air.Suddenly, a big wave hit the head, and the river water with silt in it was immediately blinded, followed by a thud, the blue sky disappeared, as if falling into the water, she tried her best to hold back her fear and panic , except for hugging Zhao Xingde tightly, he didn't do any unnecessary struggle, just held his breath hard, waiting for the river to recede and see the sun again.But this time, it seemed too long, her consciousness gradually blurred, and only one thought remained: "You can't let go, you can't... Yuan Zhi..."

With the experience of the previous two times, Zhao Xingde passed the torrent in the middle of the river smoothly, except that he needed more strength this time. Li Ruoxue kept holding him tightly with both hands, and he smiled happily: "It's finally here." But the beautiful woman on his back didn't respond, an ominous warning surged into Zhao Xingde's heart, he looked back and saw Li Ruoxue was already lying softly on his back.

"Ruoxue!" Zhao Xingde shouted loudly, but she still didn't respond at all.

"Ruoxue, wake up!" There was already panic in his voice, "You must hold on!"

The water of the Yellow River poured mercilessly by, and the roaring waves in the sky were like clouds of smoke at this moment. Zhao Xingde's mind was blank, and there was only one thought in his heart, that he must save her back, and he moved forward desperately, crossing his hands. The iron chain, which was tense due to the impact of the river, was also violently pulled by him and kept shaking.

Finally, his feet stepped onto the solid ground on the bank. Zhao Xingde almost lost his strength, but hurriedly put Li Ruoxue off his back, knelt down on one knee first, and let her spit out the mud and water that had choked into her chest and lungs face down. Then he leaned against Li Ruoxue's chest and heard Weiwei's heart beating, Zhao Xingde was ecstatic, immediately lifted her chin, pinched the bridge of her nose and blew into his mouth.

At this moment, time passed as slowly as if it had been frozen. Li Ruoxue coughed a few times and woke up leisurely. Seeing Zhao Xingde's blurred shadow with colorful rays of light behind her, she couldn't help murmuring: "Yuan Zhi, we are reborn Is it the world of bliss?"

When she said these words, Zhao Xingde couldn't help crying with joy, held her face and said: "Yes. Wherever you are, there is the Paradise of Elysium." Li Ruoxue smiled slightly, curled her lips and said: "Slick tone." She also saw clearly at this time Now, where is the colorful glow behind Zhao Xingde, it is clearly the water mist formed by the torrent of the Yellow River on the bank, and under the reflection of the sun, it reflects the colorful and changing beautiful colors like a rainbow.

Just as the two faced each other, forgetting everything, the sound of horseshoes approaching from far away, a dignified voice came from mid-air: "Did the two of you escape from the Song Dynasty?" Zhao Xingde was startled awake, Looking up, one person and one rider were standing in front of them.