Chapter 59: What an absolute ruthless individual!-O Vento Levanta a Serpente Branca(O canto de uma cigarra anuncia o verão.)

"Help! Help me—!"

The young women on the bank continued to scream in terror.

Some went to snap tree branches, while others looked for bamboo poles.

Everyone was panic-stricken.

However, apart from flowers, grass, and trees, there was nothing else on this patch of ground—where on earth could one find a rescue tool?

Moreover, the river was wide, and the drowning person had already struggled her way to the middle.

Even if they managed to find a bamboo pole, it would not reach that far.

Mei Yanqiu burst into tears by the riverside. She wanted to jump in, but lacked the courage, pacing back and forth in frantic anxiety.

When Huang Beichen arrived with the male students, the women instantly looked as though they had seen a straw to clutch at in a shipwreck.

"Young Master Huang! Hurry! Jump in and save them!"

"Yan'er and Zhaodi have fallen into the water! If you don't go down now, it will be too late! Sob, sob..."

Mei Yanqiu cried out urgently through her tears.

When the young men looked toward the water's surface, however, they could only see Huang Zhaodi bobbing up and down in the middle of the river, swallowing mouthfuls of water. The other person was nowhere to be seen.

Zhang Liyan wept, "Yan'er fell in first and has already sunk to the bottom of the river. Zhaodi went in to save her and drowned as well. Sob, sob, hurry and go save them!"

Hearing this, Huang Beichen's heart sank. He turned his head in a panic and shouted loudly, "Who knows how to swim? Quickly go down and save them!"

To his surprise, the young men behind him, who had just run over in such a rush, now simply looked at one another in blank dismay, not a single one daring to speak.

Mei Yanqiu cried out, "Are you even men? Is there not even one among you who knows how to swim? Hurry! Go down and save them! Yan'er has already sunk to the bottom, sob, sob..."

The other women also urged them on frantically.

Flustered and embarrassed, Huang Beichen shouted at the top of his lungs once more, "Hurry! Those who know how to swim, step forward! Don't be afraid, we will hold hands together and back you up from the shore!"

The crowd remained silent; no one dared to step forward.

The water was so deep, and the river so wide. With one person in the middle of the river and the other already sunk to the bottom, who would dare to go rescue them?

Most of these scholars were weak literati who lacked the strength to even truss a chicken; they grew breathless just from walking, let alone daring to enter the water for a rescue.

Besides, there were truly very few among them who knew how to swim.

"Useless cowards! You bunch of good-for-nothings!"

Mei Yanqiu cursed in desperation, stamping her foot in a panic. "Go to the restaurant and call for people!"

At these words, all the young men immediately bolted together back toward the Taoyuan Pavilion they had just left.

This sight instantly left Huang Beichen and the women dumbfounded.

With his face burning with shame, Huang Beichen hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Just one person needs to go call for help! The rest of you, look for bamboo poles, look for—"

"Eh? Look, everyone! Someone has gone in!"

Right at that moment, a woman pointed toward the river and cried out in excitement.

The crowd hurriedly turned to look.

A figure was now swimming rapidly through the water, arms rotating and stroking powerfully, head bobbing from side to side. Like a fish, his swimming speed was exceptionally fast!

In the blink of an eye, that figure had already swum close to Huang Zhaodi.

Seeing this, the crowd was overjoyed, while secretly feeling a sense of awe.

This person's swimming skills were formidable!

Wang Dafu suddenly turned red with excitement and shouted at the top of his lungs, "That's Brother Luo! That's my Brother Luo!"

The figure swam swiftly up to Huang Zhaodi, grabbed her from behind in a tight hold, and seemed to be asking her something.

A few seconds later, the crowd got the fright of their lives!

Because that figure suddenly grabbed a handful of Huang Zhaodi's hair and forcefully shoved her head straight down into the water!

Huang Zhaodi, who had still been waving her hands and struggling on the surface, vanished completely beneath the water the moment she was pushed down.

Everyone was struck dumb with astonishment.

The excitement on Wang Dafu's face instantly turned into sheer terror. "Brother Luo hates women. Could it be that he's going to... going to silence her permanently..."

After forcing Huang Zhaodi under, that figure suddenly plunged headfirst into the water as well and vanished from sight.

At that moment, Huang Zhaodi popped back up to the surface with her hands raised, continuing to thrash and struggle in the water.

As for that figure, his whereabouts became unknown.

"Splash!"

Right at that moment, that figure suddenly reappeared on the water's surface five meters away from Huang Zhaodi.

He opened his mouth wide to take a few deep breaths, then plunged headfirst back into the depths of the water.

A moment later, he popped his head up once more.

Then, he dived back in.

When he emerged again a few meters further away, he was actually holding another figure tightly in his arms!

"Yan'er! It's Yan'er!"

"He's pulled Yan'er up!"

The women were overjoyed!

Mei Yanqiu, however, wore an expression of profound sorrow. Yan'er had been at the bottom of the river for so long and was now completely motionless—she was probably...

Holding the motionless Sun Yan'er, the figure tilted his head back and paddled vigorously with one arm, quickly reaching the shore.

The crowd rushed forward eagerly to catch them.

"Clear... clear out whatever is in her... her mouth..."

Luo Zijun finished speaking between heavy pants, then immediately turned and swam back toward Huang Zhaodi, who was on the verge of sinking.

When he reached her side, Huang Zhaodi had already stopped struggling and was beginning to sink.

Luo Zijun circled around her once, swam up behind her, grabbed her by the hair, and began dragging her toward the bank.

Halfway across, his head suddenly sank beneath the water, and he choked down a few mouthfuls of water.

He looked completely exhausted.

The people on the shore turned pale with fright, too terrified to speak.

"Splash!"

Fortunately, he popped his head out of the water again, dragging Huang Zhaodi as he continued swimming toward the bank.

Though his speed had slowed to a crawl, he finally managed to reach the shore.

The crowd rushed forward to pull Huang Zhaodi up, and then hauled him ashore as well.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Once hauled ashore, Luo Zijun collapsed limply onto the grass, breathing heavily with his chest heaving violently. He looked as though he didn't have an ounce of strength left in him.

It was at this very moment that Liang Ruhai, the scholar-innkeeper, finally came running up in a rush, leading a group of people and carrying bamboo poles.

"Where is everyone? How are they?"

One man and two women lay sprawled across the grass. Two of the women had bloated stomachs and were completely motionless.

Mei Yanqiu and the other women burst into loud, wailing sobs.

Huang Beichen and the other male students also turned pale as sheets, their eye rims burning red.

Xu Xian began to cry as well.

Seeing this, Liang Ruhai's expression turned grim as well.

At that moment, Luo Zijun suddenly climbed up from the ground, gasping for breath, and hurried to Sun Yan'er's side. He knelt down, placed both hands on her distended belly, and began pressing down rhythmically.

"Squish... squish..."

Water gushed continuously from Sun Yan'er's mouth.

Her belly also began to deflate.

Even so, her face remained deathly pale and her lips bruised as she lay there without the slightest movement.

Mei Yanqiu cried, "It's too late, sob, sob... It's too late... Yan'er has already been at the bottom for so long..."

Ignoring her, Luo Zijun placed his hand over Sun Yan'er's heart to check.

Her heartbeat had stopped.

He immediately leaned over to pry open her mouth, thrusting his fingers inside to sweep out any debris. Seeing no other obstructions, he crossed his hands, placed them over the center of her chest, and began pressing down with forceful, rhythmic compressions.

"What... what is he doing?"

Seeing his bizarre actions—pressing his hands repeatedly against Sun Yan'er's chest—everyone looked on in bewilderment.

Fearing the crowd might misunderstand, Su Bie hurriedly explained, "Brother Luo is not only a student at our academy, but also a physician."

"A physician?"

The crowd was stunned, yet still remained perplexed.

They had never in their lives seen a physician perform such a procedure by placing both hands on a woman's chest.

Disregarding the crowd's confusion, Luo Zijun continued his forceful compressions.

Time was of the essence! Every second counted!

Once, twice, thrice...

Zhang Liyan wept, "Young Master Luo, it's too late... It's too late..."

As if deaf to her words, Luo Zijun suddenly bent down lower, lowered his head, pinched Sun Yan'er's nose shut with one hand, pried open her small mouth with the other, took a deep breath, and pressed his mouth directly against hers.

The crowd was instantly struck dumb with astonishment.

The women, who had been crying in grief, all widened their eyes and fell silent.

The young men were startled as well.

Beside them, Liang Ruhai stood with his mouth agape, a look of utter shock on his face.

"Hoo..."

Luo Zijun blew breath into her repeatedly, then resumed compressing her chest.

He repeated this cycle over and over again.

After several minutes, a miracle finally occurred!

"Gurgle..."

Sun Yan'er, whose face had been deathly pale and motionless, suddenly let out a sound from deep in her throat, followed by a gush of river water spilling from her mouth.

Then, her heaving chest began to rise and fall of its own accord, and her eyelids fluttered open slowly.

"Ah!"

Zhang Liyan, standing nearby, jumped in fright and let out a piercing shriek. Her eyes widened as she covered her mouth in sheer, unadulterated disbelief.

"Yan'er... Yan'er has... woken up!"

Witnessing this scene, everyone was dumbfounded and incredulous.

Mei Yanqiu trembled all over with excitement.

Without a moment's pause, however, Luo Zijun immediately stood up, walked over to Huang Zhaodi's side, knelt down, and began pressing on her abdomen.

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

River water poured from her mouth.

Luo Zijun pried open her mouth, swept his fingers inside to clear it out, gave her a quick glance, and immediately began compressing her chest.

At this point, not a single person dared harbor any doubts; they watched his actions as though gazing upon a deity.

Sun Yan'er also opened her dazed eyes, her chest rising and falling as she turned her head to gaze motionlessly at him from where she lay.

After pressing for a while, Luo Zijun pinched Huang Zhaodi's nose and began performing artificial respiration on her as well.

Since this young girl hadn't been under for very long, she should be fine.

"Hoo..."

Just as Luo Zijun was concentrating on blowing air into her lungs, Huang Zhaodi's hand suddenly snapped up and landed a sharp slap—*whack!*—across his face. She then jerked her head up, widened her eyes, and glared at him furiously. "You... you scoundrel!"

*Crack!*

Luo Zijun froze for a fraction of a second, then without the slightest hesitation, swung his hand back and delivered a resounding slap right across her face!

His cheek burned with a stinging pain, but that was far from enough to vent his fury!

He instantly grabbed a handful of her hair with one hand while raising the other, and began raining fierce slaps down upon her face!

*Whack! Whack! Whack!*

After dealing a dozen consecutive slaps that left her mouth bloody, her head spinning, and her mind completely blank, he finally came to a halt.

The surrounding crowd stood with their jaws hanging open, struck speechless with astonishment.

"Are you out of your damn mind? I almost got killed trying to save your life! And you still dare to slap me?"

After shouting a string of curses, Luo Zijun followed up with one more casual *whack!*, delivering another heavy slap that knocked her flat back down onto the grass.

He had almost been killed by this woman just moments ago, and only survived by exhausting the very last shred of his strength to drag them both back to the surface. He was already shaken, terrified, and furious all at once, and now this ungrateful wretch had actually struck him without rhyme or reason—how could he possibly swallow his rage?

"If there's a next time, whoever saves you is a dog!"

Luo Zijun cursed once more, stood up, walked over to pick up his outer robe, and turned to Liang Ruhai nearby. "Innkeeper Liang, does the restaurant have spare clothes I can change into?"

Liang Ruhai snapped out of his daze and hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, yes! Young Master Luo, please come this way!"

With that, he hastened to lead the way, instructing the waiter beside him, "Hurry and prepare a fresh set of clothes for Young Master Luo!"

As they walked along, Liang Ruhai thought to himself: This youth is truly incomparable to ordinary scholars; not only is his talent startling, but he possesses such daring and skill as well. However... he is genuinely ruthless. If it were any other man, being mistakenly slapped by the woman he saved would at most result in a magnanimous smile, earning the admiration of onlookers and deep guilt from the rescued woman. But this lad? Not only did he not hesitate to return the slap on the spot, but he paid her back tenfold without an ounce of chivalry. Truly a fierce character.

The waiter acknowledged the order with a shout and dashed ahead to prepare.

Following close behind Liang Ruhai, Luo Zijun left the scene in rapid strides, soaked through and leaving a trail of dripping water behind him.

Silence hung over the clearing for a moment.

Mei Yanqiu quickly wiped away her tears and laughed through her joy. "Zhaodi! Zhaodi! You misunderstood Young Master Luo..."

Meanwhile, Sun Yan'er, who was also drenched and lying on the grass nearby, kept her head turned, her gaze fixed motionlessly on that receding figure in the distance.

The other young women also dried their tears and broke into happy smiles.

"Yan'er, Zhaodi, you two owe Young Master Luo a life! You have no idea, just now when Young Master Luo jumped into the water..."

Overflowing with excitement, the maidens chattered away all at once, recounting what had just transpired.

Huang Zhaodi lay flat on the grass with wide, bewildered eyes. Her burning cheeks were covered in bright red handprints, blood still stained the corner of her mouth, and a look of complete stupefaction remained plastered across her face.