Chapter 18: Chapter 018: A Matter of Great Urgency_1
"Go there, I will put you down." Hawkeye pointed to a gap on the right side.
This gap can lead to the fork in the road on the right.
In this way, the two will separate. How Black Body will choose is not clear to either of them.
Qian Cangyi could feel that Hawkeye's speed was decreasing. He couldn't keep up the sprint for long.
"I understand." After Qian Cangyi finished speaking, he took a deep breath. He was already preparing.
Hawkeye came to the gap location, again increased a little distance. After reaching the gap, he bent down and put Qian Cangyi down.
After Qian Cangyi descended a little first, he gently leaped down and landed amongst the weeds.
Then he quickly ran to the right fork in the road. After that, he turned his head and looked at Hawkeye.
Several continuous flashes of red lightning illuminated the sky.
Behind Hawkeye, the Black Body is at a close distance, ready to grab Hawkeye. However, Hawkeye narrowly dodges by twisting his body.
Afterwards, Hawkeye always maintained a certain distance from the Black Body.
Qian Cangyi understood, this was Hawk Eye "drawing hatred".
If Black Body chooses to hunt based on the distance, then he, who is slower than Hawkeye, would become the primary target after they separate.
After dodging the Black Body's attack, Hawkeye still kept a distance, which was based on the same idea.
Qian Cangyi clenched his fists and started running with his legs.
The soreness of his muscles became increasingly intense, his legs felt like two pieces of wood.
In the pitch dark Yu Xi Village, Qian Cangyi could only rely on the occasional lightning across the sky to guide his way. At the same time, he had to be wary of the Black Body that could appear behind him at any time.
Hunger and fatigue made Qian Cangyi want to lie down on the ground and rest right away.
The only thing that compelled him to move forward was his will to survive.
"A little faster..."
Qian Cangyi put his right hand on the tree trunk beside him, taking deep breaths.
At this moment, he felt as if all the strength in his body had been squeezed out. Every step he took required all his effort.
Each flash of lightning made him tremble with fear. Because he was afraid that Black Body would suddenly appear in front of him, blocking his way.
It was not until he saw the wooden sign at the entrance of Yu Xi Village that he finally let out a sigh of relief.
About 100 meters ahead, a pitch-black bus was parked on the road.
"Is that..." Qian Cangyi's eyes lit up and an unconscious smile appeared on his face.
If he had any doubts before about surviving, then at this moment, all these doubts had completely disappeared.
Qian Cangyi leaned on the wooden sign for a moment and then started running towards the bus.
Although he was running, he wasn't much faster than walking. His body began to sway, as if he would collapse at any time.
The distance was gradually closing.
100 meters.
90 meters.
...
Every time he got a meter closer, Qian Cangyi felt his chances of survival increased a bit.
"Almost there."
When he was about 20 meters away, Qian Cangyi already stretched his hands towards the front.
Another strike of lightning crossed the sky and lightened up the village entrance.
There came a terrifying breath from behind, Qian Cangyi turned his head, the horrifying Black Body was standing at the place of the wooden sign.
The red eyes, the crescent-shaped smile, looked like an evil ghost returning from hell.
"Why is it behind?"
Qian Cangyi suddenly realized that something was wrong.
If he ran faster than Hawkeye, then Hawkeye should appear before Black Body; if he ran slower than Hawkeye, Black Body should appear in front of him.
However, at this moment Black Body appeared behind him.
This meant that Hawkeye might have been caught by Black Body, and moreover, died in Yu Xi Village.
The next one to die would be him.
Black Body was running towards Qian Cangyi. The speed was not fast, but compared to Qian Cangyi's current speed, it seemed uncatchable.
Qian Cangyi swallowed, his heartbeat was pounding.
Even though his body was extremely exhausted, he still scraped the last bit of physical strength from his body.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Qian Cangyi took another step forward, ignoring the pain in his foot as if it was being pricked by needles.
Now the only thing on his mind was to get there, to get on the bus before Black Body caught up with him.
Black Body seemed to sense this too, its speed increasing gradually.
10 meters away.
At this moment, the distance between Black Body and Qian Cangyi had already been reduced by half.
The problem was that Black Body was getting faster and faster, but Qian Cangyi was slowing down.
The distance between the two was gradually closing in.
A breeze blew by his ear, all Qian Cangyi could hear was his own breath and the sound of the wind. He knew that Black Body was right behind him, but he didn't dare to look back.
5 meters.
Qian Cangyi was mentally calculating the distance, at this speed, he would need about 3 seconds to cover 5 meters.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed hold of his right ankle.
Just now, after the distance had been reduced, Black Body lunged forward, snuffing out Qian Cangyi's hope.
Qian Cangyi fell to the ground, splashing water, his strength continuously draining from his right foot.
The bus door was right in front of him, he could grab it if he just crawled another two meters. However, at this moment, this two meters felt as wide as a chasm.
Qian Cangyi raised his body by propping himself up on his elbows, but as soon as he managed to gather a little strength, it was drained away again.
"Why?"
"Why is it just a tiny bit short!"
"I don't accept this!"
He raised his head to look at the bus door, his eyes filled with a defiant red.
In an instant, all the pent up emotions inside him burst out, tears mixed with rainwater flowed down his face.
Qian Cangyi clenched his teeth, his gaze determined. He stretched his hands forward, digging his fingers into the mud, dragging himself onwards.
Every time he moved was barely over a few centimeters, but it reignited the torch of hope in his heart.
Mud filled his fingernail gaps, his elbows and knees scraped raw, but he was still moving forward.
"If I crawl past these two meters, I can go back alive!"
"I don't need big principles, I don't need dreams."
"I just don't want to die!"
"I just want to live!"
Even though his elbows were scraped and bleeding, even though his fingernail gaps were filled with mud, Qian Cangyi was still persistent.
He always firmly believed that to live, you don't need any reason.
However, even Black Body seemed to have noticed this, it wouldn't let its prey escape.
Started climbing towards him.
Qian Cangyi again dragged his body, but the strength in his hands became less and less, they could only sink into the mud, but they were unable to drag his body forward anymore.
At this moment, he was still 1 meter away from the bus door, and this 1 meter was a threshold that he couldn't cross no matter what.
Qian Cangyi clenched his hands into fists and slammed them into the ground, splashing water:
"Why, why won't you stop a little closer?"
"If you stopped a little closer, I would already be this close to hopping on."
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"
In the midst of his roar, he raised his head to look at the bus, his eyes filled with desperation, his right hand reached out as far as he could.
People, after all, have their limits.
The last burst of energy he had just now had already used up his last bit of strength. The fact that he hadn't fainted now was purely because he couldn't accept it.
Tears welled up in his eyes, he closed them, past memories played out like a slideshow in his mind.
Joy? Pain?
Qian Cangyi didn't care, he was just reminiscing the feeling of being alive, cherishing this last bit of time.
Suddenly, the right hand that he was gradually lowering was held by a warm hand.
Qian Cangyi's eyes snapped open, the look in his eyes filled with surprise.
In the black fog up front, a strong right hand reached out, grabbing hold of his right hand.
Hawkeye's face appeared from the black fog, his serene face unflustered:
"Congratulations on surviving!"
After saying that, he exerted some force with his right hand, pulling Qian Cangyi into the black fog.