Trembling At A High Altitude

Surviving to return, Li Teng's sentence was reduced from eighteen years of fixed-term imprisonment to seventeen years.

After this round of tasks, there were only eight people left alive, including Li Teng.

So, the next round of tasks was to be carried out by these eight people together.

Based on Li Teng's previous experience, the upcoming task was bound to be highly difficult, and in the end, only one person might survive.

Two days later, the task began.

It was indeed a difficult task.

Because there was no title for the task, and no hints were given.

They just herded the eight of them onto a helicopter and sent them to the task location.

The journey was long, and after boarding the helicopter, everyone fell into a heavy sleep.

It wasn't that Li Teng didn't want to stay awake; the helicopter was problematic, forcing all eight contestants into unconsciousness.

When Li Teng snapped awake, he found himself in a car that was speeding along.

It was raining outside the car, and it looked like the rain was coming down quite heavily.

Ahead was a tunnel; not long after the car charged into the tunnel, it started to slow down.

The driver's phone navigation gave an alert, indicating that there was water accumulation in the tunnel ahead causing the vehicles to move slowly.

"Where is this car headed?"

Li Teng asked the driver.

"You hailed the car and you're asking me where it's headed?" the driver replied to Li Teng with a hint of surprise.

"Oh... Sorry, I forgot while sleeping."

Li Teng fumbled around his body and pulled out a cell phone, which was obviously provided for the task.

Inside was a ride-hailing app, and Li Teng found his itinerary after opening it.

He had actually returned to the city where the real world was located?

That is, the city he was in before entering Film and Television City?

This trip was clearly to go home, to his one-bedroom apartment.

That is, the home where the wooden bed on the stone pillar was.

The car slowed down more and more, until it eventually came to a stop.

Because the vehicles ahead had all stopped as well.

The cars following behind also had no choice but to stop.

"Damn! It's jammed like this? How are we gonna get out?" the driver became irritable.

Taking advantage of the moment when all the cars had stopped, Li Teng rolled down the window and stuck his head out to look around.

He didn't see the other seven people who were on the task with him.

There were no task prompts on his watch... Of course, people in this world couldn't see his watch.

Without any task prompts, how would one complete the task?

Although there were no task prompts, based on his experience, Li Teng could still guess the basic requirements of the task.

There was no doubt that he needed to survive.

At least until the end of the task.

Just as he was about to pull his head back into the car, he subconsciously glanced at the ground...

This is bad!

The next moment, Li Teng opened the car door and stepped out.

"Hey! What are you getting out for?" The driver yelled at Li Teng loudly.

"You better get out quick, too! Otherwise, there'll be trouble!"

Li Teng shouted back at the driver, then yelled at the other drivers with their windows open, telling everyone to get out of the car.

For the cars that didn't have their windows down, he banged on their doors, getting them to exit.

"Are you crazy?" a driver started cursing.

The reason Li Teng got out of the car was that he had noticed a large amount of rainwater flooding into the tunnel along the road surface when he had looked down.

By the time he exited the vehicle, the water had already reached his ankles, and after a few steps, the water level quickly rose to his shins.

And this was nearly the deepest part of the tunnel! Based on Li Teng's preliminary estimate, the road here was about ten meters lower than the city ground, and if the rain outside started to pour in fiercely, it could cover the entire area within minutes.

As expected, as Li Teng was shouting for the people in the cars to get out, a large surge of water suddenly flooded in from the entrance of the tunnel, instantly rising to Li Teng's knees.

"Get out of the car, quick! It's too late if you don't leave now!"

Li Teng ran outwards while shouting loudly at the cars stopped inside the tunnel.

The water level rose quickly, filling some cars, and some began to float and wobble in the water.

Some drivers and passengers realized the situation was dire and hurriedly exited, following Li Teng towards the entrance of the tunnel.

But there were still some drivers and passengers sitting motionless in their cars.

"Get out quick! The cars are taking on water! You won't get away if you don't leave now!" Li Teng shouted at a couple with a child in a car with the window down.

"What about the car? We can't just leave it here, can we?" The wife discussed with her husband.

"The water is just passing in bursts, right? It'll flow over this area and then drain away after a while." The husband thought for a moment and answered his wife, both of whom still had no intention of getting out.

Just then, another large surge of water poured in from the tunnel entrance.

The couple watched as the cars in front of them, deeper in the tunnel, were immediately lifted afloat.

And those who had gotten out were knocked down by the rushing water.

The couple realized something was wrong and scrambled to open the doors, taking the child from the back seat and getting out of the car.

The water had already reached their waists.

"Get out! Get out! Run!" Li Teng slapped the sides of the cars, shouting into the windows as he ran uphill; more people realized the danger and opened their car doors, abandoning their vehicles and following behind Li Teng.

More water flooded into the tunnel, and when Li Teng and a dozen others burst out of it, the water inside the tunnel was already close to the top!

Some people desperately swam outwards, while others were swept deeper into the tunnel by the current and instantly disappeared from view.

On the street outside the tunnel, the rain was pouring down so heavily and quickly that it couldn't be drained away by the drainage system fast enough, all accumulating on the ground, continuing to flow fiercely into the tunnel.

When the dozen or so people stood in shock on higher ground outside, the entire tunnel was already submerged.

"Inside... there are still dozens of cars in there!"

Someone shouted in terror.

"Lucky we got out just now, otherwise..."

Someone was relieved.

"Thank you for saving our family's life."

The couple with the child expressed their gratitude to Li Teng.

"It was nothing," Li Teng waved his hand dismissively.

At that moment, his mind was quickly analyzing the task...

But there were no clues.

"Help me..."

A woman fell onto the street and was swept away towards the tunnel by the current; in the turbulent water, she couldn't steady herself and could only let out a desperate cry for help in panic.

If no one helped her, she would quickly be swept into the turbulent flow of the tunnel.

Li Teng hurriedly handed his phone to the couple beside him, then jumped into the water and swam towards the woman, grabbed her, and swam hard to bring her to the higher ground nearby.

"Thank you... my child! Please! Save him!" The woman, still in shock, stood up and pointed frantically at the water, yelling.

Li Teng looked back and saw a five- or six-year-old child being swept away by the water, nearly being swept into the tunnel!

Li Teng gritted his teeth, leaped forward and swam swiftly, grabbing the child just before he was swept into the tunnel. Then he grasped the wall beside the tunnel with his other hand.

But because the current was too strong, he couldn't swim back to the original spot with someone in tow.

The people that he had previously called out from the tunnel saw this and ran over, extending umbrellas and other objects towards Li Teng by the tunnel wall.

Li Teng pushed the child towards them, and they pulled him up to higher ground.

Then, with their help, Li Teng also climbed back up.

"Your phone is ringing." The wife of the couple handed Li Teng his phone and then held an umbrella over Li Teng's head.

After taking Li Teng's phone earlier, she had carefully placed it in a small plastic bag; although there were water stains, it wasn't very wet.

Li Teng looked at the name displayed on his phone.

It was Zhang Mengdi.

"Honey, Nana and I might be home late, if you're hungry, go ahead and make something to eat," Zhang Mengdi's voice said.

"Where are you?" Li Teng asked.

"I'm on the subway. The train stopped just now, went back a bit, and there's water coming into the subway car. I guess we'll have to wait for the water to drain before it can continue, right?" Zhang Mengdi replied to Li Teng.

"How can it continue if water is flooding the subway car? Hurry up and take Nana off the train! Leave the subway station and come up to the surface!" Li Teng said to Zhang Mengdi urgently.

"It's alright, everyone's still on the train! The door isn't open, we're waiting for the train staff to arrange things," Zhang Mengdi replied to Li Teng.

"How can it be alright? Hurry up and make them open the door and leave that place!" Li Teng bellowed.

"Don't get agitated, they're arranging it now! There are a lot of people... uh, they just notified us to move towards the front car, I can't talk more, I need to focus on watching Nana..." Zhang Mengdi hung up the phone.

"What's going on?"

Li Teng hurriedly called Zhang Mengdi again.

After a long while, Zhang Mengdi finally answered the phone.

"How is the situation? Have you evacuated the carriage?" Li Teng asked anxiously.

"They've opened the door of the front carriage, and the train staff are arranging for us to evacuate from the carriage. It's a bit crowded at the front and they've only opened a small door. Nana and I are at the very back, it might take a while for us to get out," Zhang Mengdi answered.

"Which line are you on? Which station are you at now?" Li Teng asked again.

"Line 5, I guess we're between Qinggang Station and Huping Station? Closer to Qinggang," Zhang Mengdi replied.

"Hurry and push through towards the front with Nana, don't stay at the back! You guys..." Li Teng was speaking when the signal was cut off.

When he tried calling again, he couldn't get through!

Fortunately, it was the city where he had lived, and Li Teng knew very well the location of Zhang Mengdi and her daughter... about ten kilometers from where he was currently.

He had to rush over there; otherwise, even if mother and daughter left the subway station, they could be in danger at any time.

Putting the phone back in the plastic bag, Li Teng bid farewell to the family of three, preparing to go to the location of Zhang Mengdi and her daughter.

The downpour was torrential, all the cars on the street had floated away, making it impossible to take a taxi there.

Li Teng could only bring out his parkour skills, hopping and running across water surfaces, car roofs, and flower beds that protruded from the water. From a distance, it seemed as if he were running on top of the water.

As Li Teng ran, he occasionally took out his phone to continue dialing Zhang Mengdi's number.

The phone's water resistance was uncertain, as it was drenched in the rain, but for the moment it was still functional.

After more than ten minutes, the phone finally connected again.

But once connected, he couldn't hear any voice on the other end.

Li Teng tried to redial, but he couldn't get through anymore.

Just then, a message popped up on WeChat.

It was from Zhang Mengdi.

There was text and photos.

"Just as we were about to leave the carriage, the people ahead of us retreated back inside. The water outside suddenly surged, and we couldn't get out. The conductor closed the carriage doors. The water is up to my thighs now, but the water level outside is even higher."

"Someone gave up their seat for me, allowing Nana to stand on it."

In the photo, all the passengers in the carriage could be seen standing in waist-deep water.

There was also a photo of the train window showing the water level outside was at least half a meter higher than inside the carriage!

In the photo, Nana appeared to be just over four years old, looking quite frightened.

"Don't be afraid, I'm on my way to you guys. I'll find you very soon," Li Teng sent a message back, but the network signal was poor, and the message just kept spinning without sending.

The situation in the photos sent Li Teng's heart sinking to the bottom.

Subways are built underground, and with such heavy rain, if water entered the subway tunnels and the rain continued nonstop, the water level would only get higher and higher.

Being trapped in the carriage was extremely dangerous: if the tunnels filled with water, the carriage would not escape doom!

Half a minute later, the message sent successfully.

"Don't come over, someone will rescue us. Don't worry," Zhang Mengdi replied to Li Teng after a few minutes.

Li Teng, who was running, was then blocked by a tunnel.

The tunnel had already been flooded with sewage.

If he took another route, it would take at least an extra hour of time.

Li Teng remembered that this tunnel wasn't very long, probably only about forty or fifty meters.

Li Teng wrapped his phone in a plastic bag and put it in his pocket, then plunged into the sewage, swimming through the tunnel.

With no visibility in the sewage, Li Teng could only swim forward by feel.

As he swam, he felt a car, and with a strong kick against the body of the car, he propelled himself forward a good distance.

Three minutes later, Li Teng surfaced on the other side of the tunnel.

Rinsing off the sewage from his face with the rainwater, Li Teng wiped his face vigorously, gasping for air.

After identifying his direction in the pouring rain, he found a high spot and began leaping and running once again.

The phone rang, and Li Teng ran to a sheltered place to take out his phone from the plastic bag.

It was a call from Zhang Mengdi.

Fortunately, the signal was fairly stable here, and after answering, he heard Zhang Mengdi's voice, panicked and tearful.

"Husband, the water has risen to our necks! It's suffocating in here, my head is so dizzy, we might not make it back, I have something very important to tell you..."

Zhang Mengdi's words were cut short as the signal suddenly dropped again.