Chapter 259: The Power of Love (2/2)

For three minutes I tried but to no avail, until I finally hardened my resolve, snapping my thumb off in one move and tearing the skin between my thumb and index finger. As the blood spewed from my wound, an indescribable pain ravaged my nerves and my tears came streaming down uncontrollably. But in spite of the unbearable pain, I was filled with excitement and a zealous desire to live as I carefully pulled out my hand from the shackles.

I knocked on the surfboard once more, my voice coming out in ragged breaths, ”Xiaotao, I can move my right hand now. Please come up and take a breath first.”

”Song Yang, how did you do it?” Xiaotao asked as soon as she came up for air. “I heard a click. Did you break your thumb? I’ll do it too!”

When we exchanged places again, I said, ”It's okay, it's just dislocated. I can pop the bone back in later. I'm going to take a hairpin from your head to try to unlock the shackles.”

One free arm meant a quarter of my body could be moved and an improved range of vision.

While keeping my balance, I sat up and observed the design of the shackles. Unfortunately, it was a U-shaped metal loop with both ends tightly screwed to the surfboard.

The surfboard was made of durable material so it was unlikely I would have enough strength to pull out the screws with my bare hands. ”Do you have anything on you that I can use to unscrew the shackles?” I asked. “It's your turn to come up and breathe.”

”The murderer took all my belongings and left me with nothing,” Xiaotao said in dismay.

Her reply greatly frustrated me. There was nothing worse in the world than to realize you’d reached another dead end even after fighting with all your heart and strength.

”Song Yang, is there no other way?” Xiaotao anxiously asked.

I kept my eyes closed whenever I was submerged in the water for fear that the corrosive liquid would enter my eyes. Perhaps, the effect of the chemicals had started taking a toll on my body. After soaking in the water for such a long time, I felt unwell. I thought I might as well open my eyes and examine the pool. There was nothing above that could help us escape but perhaps there might be something underwater. Who knows? Maybe the previous visitors might have dropped something.

I no longer hesitated, opening my eyes and trying to ignore the stabbing pain that felt like countless needles pricking my eyeballs. The pain almost made me choke on my own saliva but I fought back the excruciating sting and scanned the waters. Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to something.

”It's your turn to breathe!” shouted Xiaotao.

The water sloshed around as we exchanged positions again. ”I’ve found a way!” I exclaimed. “There’s a water outlet below. If I can free both of my hands, I’ll be able to reach it with my height. If we drain the water, we can definitely make it till dawn.”

The lure of survival motivated me to break my other thumb, and this time I succeeded very quickly.

As my upper body broke free from the shackles, the surfboard suddenly lost its balance and swung back and forth a few times. Then, I crashed into the water.

”Are you all right?” asked a worried Xiaotao.

Underwater, I grabbed my thumb and forcibly pushed it back to its original position. I was thankful for the cold water that eased much of the pain.

Then I proceeded to dive down, reaching my hands out to the bottom of the pool. In my heart, I repeatedly thanked my dear old mum for giving me my height.

The floor of the swimming pool was covered with blue ceramic tiles but the steel plate of the water outlet was a different color. With acrobat-like movements, I hooked my fingers around the edge and pulled hard. The water pressure from the entire swimming pool acted on the steel plate, heavy as lead.

I wasn’t sure how long I remained in that position until my fingernails had started to crack. My lungs felt like they were about to run out of air, my hands cramped from the force. But right then, the steel plate moved a few centimeters apart and a strong suction came from the edge, slowly forming a small whirlpool in the place where water poured in.

I was overjoyed. I had succeeded!

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