Yao Tang’s mood grew heavy.
She surveyed her surroundings with a grim look on her face.
Broken rocks were strewn everywhere.
It looked like the aftershock had done immense damage to the overall landscape of the mountain.
But to her surprise, she realized that the rocks that had already been in the pit didn’t look cracked in the slightest. It even seemed like they hadn’t moved at all.
Upon closer inspection, she found that they were made from a different composition compared to those on the surface.
Meanwhile, above her, everyone was still in a daze as the tremors gradually subsided. They were aware that some of their schoolmates had fallen to their deaths. As for the survivors, they were all muddy and dirty, but they were glad to be alive.
Lin Xin was in a state of shock. She played the scene just now over and over in her head.
Yao Tang had saved her, but she ended up falling into the crack herself.
A terrible cry emerged from Lin Xin’s throat, as one in pure agony could only emit.
“Yao Tang! Yao Tang, hurry and get out of there!Yao Tang!”
She crawled over to the crack as she called for her friend.
Meng Yang andYan Yurushed over to hold onto her, afraid that she might do something stupid.
But Lin Xinwas too deep in despair to notice. She wept and wailed against the ground. “If it wasn’t for me,Yao Tangwouldn’t have fallen. It’s all my fault. I should have been the one who fell. Why did she do something so stupid…”
Her shoulders shook as she choked on her sobs.
“Yao Tang… Yao Tang!”
Lin Xin refused to accept that she was gone.
Then, all of a sudden, something else clicked in her mind. She remembered why she had lost her balance—somebody had pushed her from behind.
And the one who had been standing behind her back then was…
Lin Xin whirled around and found thatChen Yiwas already looking at her. The moment their eyes met, the latter instantly averted her gaze.
Chen Yi raised her head and looked at the sky as if no tragedy had occurred.
Lin Xin narrowed her eyes. No one else had been next to her andYao Tangat the time.
It couldn’t have been anyone else.
Lin Xin suddenly shot to her feet and strode over toChen Yi. The next thing they knew, she had landed a sharp crack on the girl’s face.
“Chen Yi! Why did you push me? If you hadn’t, then Yao Tang wouldn’t have saved me, and she wouldn’t have fallen into the crack! She’s gone because of you!”
Chen Yi curled her lip and sneered. “How dare you accuse me? So what if I was beside you, do you have any proof that I pushed you? You’re the one who lost her balance and forced her friend to sacrifice herself. Don’t shift the blame on me!”
But in Lin Xin’s eyes, this was as good a confession as any.
In a fit of rage, she grabbed Chen Yiby the hand and dragged her over toPrincipal Kongto demand justice forYao Tang.
Principal Kong listened as she recounted the sequence of events. In the end, she looked between the heartbrokenLin Xinand the indifferentChen Yiand sighed.
“This isn’t the time to pursue this matter. Our priority remains the safety of the survivors.”
Besides those who had sadly fallen into the hole, there were others who had scampered off in an attempt to flee.
What once was a united group was now separated, and they had no way of knowing everyone’s status.
Principal Kong brooded.
Considering Yao Tang’s identity…
He was supposed to raise the highest level of alarm upon her disappearance, but there was no signal.
Lin Xin pressed her lips into a thin line and swallowed her fury. She did know what their priority was.
At least for now, she had no choice but to suppress her emotions and cooperate with everyone until they were safely out of the mountain.
Since the aftershock had changed the land, their movements were once again restricted. Principal Konggathered everyone and did a head count.
They might have survived, but they couldn’t stay here any longer. Every minute they delayed was a risk to their lives.
What grieved Principal Kongthe most was thatYao Tangwasn’t the only casualty. They had lost many others, too.
Fortunately, the path they had originally planned to take was still intact.
After thinking about it for some time, he decided to put an eye-catching landmark in the area.
That way, when the rescuers finally came, they would know to search for the poor students’ bodies that were buried in the earth.
