Chapter 34: You Are the True Hero!

Clark stared blankly at Ms. Martha at the front of the school bus, unaware that the water pouring inside had already reached his chest. Students, swallowed by the river, screamed in terror as they scrambled to escape. But the current surged rapidly, pulling those who tried to flee into its depths.

"Thump! Thump!"

The dull sound of fists hitting glass snapped Clark out of his stupor. He looked to his left and saw A-Zu had already escaped the bus and was pounding on the window from the outside. A-Zu pointed upward, signaling for him to swim up immediately. After a moment of hesitation, Clark glanced at Ms. Martha McConner, took a deep breath, and dove underwater. Following A-Zu’s lead, he escaped the bus and swam toward the surface.

"Splash!"

A-Zu and Clark broke the surface of the river.

"We need to get out of here, Clark," A-Zu said, wiping the water from his face.

"No! We have to save them!" Clark refused to stand by, his voice firm. "Ms. McConner and the others are still inside."

"That’s none of our business."

"Godfather says every life is important. We can't just let this happen."

A-Zu found Clark’s persistence unreasonable. "What do you expect to do? You can't save them."

"I can!" Clark looked at the sinking school bus, his tone anxious. "We can push the bus to the shore. John, you can do it." His own strength had been growing, but he still lagged behind A-Zu. Clark knew that A-Zu had been exceptionally strong since childhood; if they both pushed, they could move the bus and save everyone.

"No, I can't. Dad said we can't expose our abilities." A-Zu shook his head, his expression conflicted as he bit his lip. "We can't do this, Clark. It will reveal what we are."

"But they’re going to die!" Clark pointed at the partially submerged bus, from which cries for help echoed. Consumed by anxiety, he didn't wait for A-Zu and dove back down.

The water was pitch black and bone-chillingly cold. As Clark descended into the murky river, he felt as if terrifying hands had grabbed him, dragging him forward and deeper. In the bruised, dark water, his vision was severely obscured.

Clark swam to the back of the bus, pressed his hands against the chassis, and pushed with all his might. The water resistance was immense; Clark gritted his teeth, unleashing every ounce of his strength to slowly move the vehicle forward. Just as he was struggling to push the bus, he suddenly saw a school of fish swimming toward him. These strange-looking creatures emitted a faint, ghostly green light in the dark, emerald-tinted water. Seemingly curious about the human in the depths, they swarmed toward him.

As he pushed the bus, Clark suddenly remembered the merfolk his godfather had once described to A-Zu. He wondered if, should they truly exist, they looked like these strange fish. Lost in thought, the school of fish reached him and brushed against his skin.

The moment they made contact, a wave of weakness washed over Clark. It was the same sensation he had experienced when holding Lana’s necklace. Stunned, Clark stared at the glowing school of fish. Could these creatures carry the same green stone inside them?

In the next second, the bus he was pushing suddenly felt unimaginably heavy. The freezing river water quickly closed in around him. Clark tried with all his might to swim upward, but his strength drained away rapidly. As he sank to the riverbed, his palms pressed into the silt, his fingertips touched the darkness, and his skin felt engulfed by a profound, crushing void. The cold water, the sand, the mud, and the screams all rushed toward him. Everything felt like shattered glass; there was no signal, no sound, nothing. The fish circled him, and everything at the bottom of the river seemed to have changed.

Clark gasped, trying to breathe, but he was helpless. His throat felt tightly constricted, his lungs flattened, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Thump!"

As his consciousness began to fade, Clark suddenly felt a pair of hands grab him. He struggled to open his eyes and saw A-Zu, holding his arm with one hand and swimming forward, while using the other to swat the fish away.

Once clear of the school of fish, the two of them swam toward the sinking bus. This time, A-Zu didn't turn away. Instead, he joined a recovering Clark, and together they pushed the rear of the bus toward the bank. With A-Zu’s help, the bus moved much faster.

Inside the bus, Ms. Martha McConner was holding a young girl, waiting for the final judgment of fate. The murky water had already risen above her head; she used every bit of her remaining strength to lift the girl above her, giving her a few more breaths of fresh air.

As her own breathing became increasingly labored, she felt her consciousness beginning to slip away. Just as she was about to give up, she felt the bus jolt. Accompanied by a screeching sound, the bus was slowly lifted, and the water inside began to drain out.

Gasping for air, Ms. Martha McConner immediately pulled the girl into her arms. "Anna, are you okay?"

"I... I'm okay, Ms. Martha," the girl whispered faintly.

"Thank God, you're okay." Holding the girl, Ms. Martha looked toward the back of the bus, and what she saw left her stunned. Clark and A-Zu were working together to push the bus toward the shore. The rear panel of the bus had been dented and torn by the impact of the crash, so not only she, but several first-grade girls at the back of the bus, saw the two boys pushing the vehicle.

"My God!" Ms. Martha thought she must be hallucinating; otherwise, she wouldn't be seeing such an impossible sight. The small girls who had just narrowly escaped death stared at the two boys with eyes filled with a mix of shock and fear. On the shore, Old Holley forgot to drop his burnt-out cigarette, his gaze fixed in disbelief on Clark and A-Zu as they pushed the bus onto the bank.

...

Peter was the first to be notified of the school bus accident. After a quick call to the Kents, he drove straight to the scene. Police cars and ambulances were lined up, and paramedics were transporting the injured students to the hospital. When Peter found Clark and A-Zu, they were wrapped in towels, drinking hot water.

"Dad!"

"Godfather!"

Seeing Peter, the two boys immediately moved toward him.

"So... Clark, John." Peter glanced at the bus on the shore and immediately understood what had happened. He looked at the two boys and asked, "You two saved the bus and became heroes?"

"No," Clark glanced at A-Zu and whispered, "I didn't. A-Zu is the real hero."