Chapter 177：Typhoon Attack [2]

"Am I death ?" Xiao Ping asks herself inwardly. She feels herself floating above the ground and it is so silent and peaceful. She remembers couple of seconds ago she was helplessly drifted by the wind. "I must be death," she convinces herself. But once she opens her eyes and inhales, she knows she is not. Water immediately bursts into her eyes and nose. Quickly she closes her eyes and holds her breath again.

She now can feel Yu Jin's arms embrace her so close and tight. One arm covers her head that rest onto his chest, the other grips her waist tightly. Then she starts panicking. How long will they be captured in the eye of typhoon ? How long can they hold their breath ? They will soon be out of breath and drowned eventually. I haven't even return his words. Please, God.. don't let us die now, she prays in her heart.

She feels her body is swirling even harder now, like when she rode the dizzy cup at theme park, but multiplied by ten. She tightens her hug to Yu Jin as he is also. God, don't let us die.. I haven't said my feeling to him, Xiao Ping once again prays as she feels her lung starting to long for oxygen. She can feel the pain of wet wind slaps her whole body and they swirl even faster. God, please..

Suddenly, their body are ejected with so much speed that less than a second later she feels they are touching water and starts drowning. Before she can react, Yu Jin pushes her body up while his legs kicking the water, trying to get theirselves to the surface.

Once she can feel her face above the water, Xiao Ping opens her mouth, panting for air. Soon, Yu Jin face appears beside her. "You alright ?" he asks still in short of breath. Xiao Ping nods. The water flow is very swift in fluctuate direction. It requires all her power and strength just to stay on the surface. Yu Jin is drifting beside her. He holds her hand so tight to make sure they are not separated.

"Watch out!" Yu Jin warns her while suddenly pushes her head down to the water. Right when her head totally in the water she hears something big and heavy hits the water. Yu Jin who also down in the water reaches his hand up to grab the thing. He then pulls Xiao Ping to go above the water again. "Hold on to this branch," he suggests her, handing a big branch to her. It is so big that Xiao Ping actualy can rest half of her body on the branch.

While she is hugging the branch so tight, Yu Jin is holding on to its edge. His eyes are looking around. He doesn"t know where they are exactly, but they definitely are not at the same place where the typhoon took them. They are now drifting along in between buildings. The water is already as high as first floor. The rain hasn't reduced its intensity, so hasn't the wind. His body is painful and tired to have the slap of water countless times. He glances at Xiao Ping who is also struggling to stay above the surface. Luckily they have this branch to help them float. But how long do they have the power to hold their grips to it against this heavy wave ? Yu Jin once again looks around. The buildings are high but unfortunately most of them are windows and don't have balcony or door on second floor to be entered. Moreover, he must think a way so both of them can enter the building with this fast stream as their enemy.

Then, Yu Jin sees something red floating, just few meters away from them. To his surprise, it is a rolled rope. Since it is floating, hopefully it is a polypropylene one. He tries to reach it, but it is beyond his reach. The rope is like gift from Heaven, and he must not wasting it. But to take it, he must let go his grip from the branch. A wave hits them, to make the distance further.

Finally Yu Jin makes up his mind. He lets go the branch and swims to reach the rope. "Yu Jin!!" Xiao Ping screams in fear. Quickly. Yu Jin puts his right arm inside the hole in the middle of the roll then swims back to Xiao Ping. At that moment a huge wave hits him hard, as if wants to drown him dowm. Yu Jin's head and body are drowning. Luckily, the rope help him floating al though still he is struggling to come back to the surface. "Yu Jin !!!"

He hears her devastating scream again. He forces his legs to kick as hard as possible in the water to boost him up to the surface. His head hits a hard thing that float on the surface. Then a hand is reaching down. It's Xiao Ping's hand. He grabs the hand. Xiao Ping pulls him with all her might. Yu Jin then grabs the branch, hugs it tight while coughing and trying to breathe. Yu Jin can hear Xiao Ping saying something, but he can't hear it clearly as there is much water inside his ears. He can feel Xiao Ping hugs him tightly while crying. "I'm okay.. I'm okay," he murmurs to calm her down. He looks at the rope on his shoulder happily. It is indeed a polypropylene, the solid braised one. It can hold weight up to 200 lbs. And he has around 30 feets of it.

"Get ready!"

"Ready for what ?!" Xiao Ping asks in panic.

"When I tell you lose the branch, just let it go."

"What ?!"