Chapter - 281 Huge Rock of a Thousand (12) (1/2)

The water had already covered his nose and he was exhaling the last bit of air but his ears could still hear their conversation, so when the 'straw' reached his mouth, he breathed hard and felt comfortable and he momentarily forgot about the pain in his legs. Ouyang Feng said, ”Quick, hurry, let's connect the ropes.”

Huang Rong laughed, ”Uncle Ouyang, you want me dead to accompany your nephew, right?” Ouyang Feng started and thought, ”How did she hear what I said?” Huang Rong laughed, ”If you kill me and then you meet some trouble later, who's going to help you?” Now that Ouyang Feng was depending on her, he could only pretend not to hear her and went to work on the tree bark.

They worked for more than 2 hours and made an enormously thick rope nearly 100 metres long; the sea level was already up to half the rock. Ouyang Ke's head was a few feet under the water and only the tip of the 'straw' was exposed. Ouyang Feng was still worried and occasionally stretched his hand under water to check on him.

After another hour, the water receded and Ouyang Ke's head was slowly surfacing. Huang Rong measured the ropes' length and shouted, ”Enough, now I need 4 massive poles for the 'masts'.” Ouyang Feng was doubtful, he knew that on this deserted island, even a knife was hard to find, not to mention an axe sturdy enough for their task. He asked, ”How do we get that?” Huang Rong said, ”Don't worry, just find the wood first.”

Ouyang Feng was afraid she would throw a tantrum and refuse to help him, so he did not ask further but ran around looking for trees with thick trunks. He crouched down and gathered his strength and launched his palms at each of the trees. The trees fell after a few strikes. Guo Jing and Huang Rong witnessed this powerful display of internal strength and shuddered. Ouyang Feng found a long and flat rock and he used that to cut away the tree leaves.

Now Guo Jing and Huang Rong tied the rope round 3 of the thick tree trunks and looped the rope around the large rock before tying the end to the final tree trunk. That trunk was a centuries-old oak tree and even 3-4 people were not enough to circle the tree. Huang Rong said, ”I guess this tree can handle the rock, right?” Ouyang Feng nodded.

Huang Rong told them to connect one more thick rope and they surrounded the 4 tree trunks around the rock, forming a '#' shape and looped the rope round the top. Ouyang Feng praised her, ”Good lady, you're really smart, just like your father.” Huang Rong laughed, ”But how can I be compared to your nephew? Let's start!”

They acted together and used the oak tree as the pivot to pull the '#'-shape formation. The rope became taut and the rock was lifted slowly. The Sun was about to set and the sky was red, illuminating the golden surface of the water.

The tide had already gone out and Ouyang Ke's body was in the mud and his eyes were fixed onto the rock. It moved slowly and steadily with a creaking sound, causing him to be anxious yet happy. Though the rope had made one complete turn around its loop, the rock had only moved an inch and it was already causing great strain on the pivot.

Although Ouyang Feng did not believe in divine intervention, he was silently praying throughout the process. Suddenly the rope snapped and the rock slammed down onto Ouyang Ke again, and he tried to scream but no sound came out. The rope flew up and hit Huang Rong, throwing her off her feet. Guo Jing quickly helped her up.

At this stage Ouyang Feng lost all hope while Huang Rong could hardly smile. Guo Jing said, ”We can join them back and add another rope and try again.” Ouyang Feng shook his head, ”That'd be harder, the 3 of us aren't enough.” Guo Jing mumbled to himself, ”If only someone would help us.” Ouyang Feng got angry and snapped, ”Obviously!” He knew Guo Jing had good intentions, but in his depression he vented his frustrations on him.