Chapter 189: Saving a Person

The shout startled both Su Qing and Cheng Beilin, who quickly looked in the direction of the sound.

"Oh, isn’t that where those kids are fishing?" Cheng Beilin suddenly grew nervous. "Don’t tell me a kid fell into a hole in the ice."

"Come on, let’s go see."

Without another word, Su Qing grabbed Cheng Beilin and ran toward the shouting.

To avoid disturbing the children’s fishing, Su Qing had chosen a spot some distance away. By the time she and Cheng Beilin rushed over, they saw the kids gathered around a patch of reeds, panicked and helpless. They were shouting for help as they tried to rescue someone, and two of the girls were so scared they were wailing.

Su Qing looked over and frowned. ’Normally, even for ice fishing at the Pond, you’d only make a hole a few inches wide. Partly because the ice is so thick, and partly to keep people from falling in. After all, with a hole that small, even if a child slipped, they wouldn’t fall all the way through.’

But behind this patch of reeds was an enormous hole in the ice. There was no longer any sign of struggling in the water. A few of the children were fruitlessly shoving sticks down into the hole, hoping the person who fell in would grab on and climb out, but it was no use. No one was taking them.

"Who fell in?" Su Qing asked as she shucked off her padded cotton jacket and handed it to Cheng Beilin. She intended to go into the water herself to perform the rescue.

"N-Not from our village! It’s Little Heizi from Lu Hua Village next door," one of the kids said. Seeing an adult had arrived, he couldn’t hold back his fear any longer and started crying. "He walked over here, and the ice just suddenly gave way, and he fell right in."

"Okay, I understand." Su Qing nodded. Just as she was about to jump in, Cheng Beilin grabbed her arm. "Are you crazy? That water is freezing! You’ll be frozen stiff if you jump in!"

Cheng Beilin was worried about Su Qing. The water the big black fish had splashed on her face earlier was already bone-chillingly cold. Plunging her whole body into it would be completely unbearable.

"It’s okay, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry," Su Qing said, trying to reassure the concerned Cheng Beilin.

With that, Su Qing plunged into the water.

The moment she entered the water, Su Qing immediately circulated the green mist around her body. The bone-piercing chill vanished instantly. She swam through the water, searching for the child who had fallen in.

Soon, Su Qing spotted a figure floating in the water. Her heart sank at the sight of the motionless form. She quickly swam over and grabbed the child’s wrist. There was no response. Su Qing sighed to herself.

However, when Su Qing tried to pull the child, he didn’t budge. She then realized his ankle was tangled in underwater weeds. With a few quick yanks, she freed him and started swimming toward the surface, pulling the boy with her.

"Look, she brought him up!"

By the time Su Qing broke the surface with the child, Zhao Youcai had arrived along with several other villagers who’d heard the shouting. With many hands helping, they pulled the boy out of the water, and then hauled Su Qing up right after.

"Put this on, quick." Cheng Beilin hurried forward to drape the padded cotton jacket over Su Qing. She felt Su Qing’s hand and found it was ice-cold. "You’re definitely going to catch a chill," she said worriedly. "We need to get you home for some ginger brown sugar water right away."

Aunt Cuihua was there too. She took out a handkerchief and quickly wiped the icy water from Su Qing’s face. "Oh my, child, you’re so reckless! What would you have done if you’d gotten a cramp in that cold water? You’ll give us all a heart attack!"

"I’m fine, really," Su Qing said, reassuring Cheng Beilin and Aunt Cuihua before turning her attention to the rescued boy.

Several people were already crowded around the boy, Little Heizi, administering first aid. Su Qing stepped forward, touched the side of the boy’s neck, and secretly infused him with a stream of green mist.

However, it was no use.

The child wasn’t breathing. Su Qing couldn’t sense even a flicker of life in his body.

Su Qing’s Wood Ability could heal injuries, but it couldn’t conquer death. If there had been even a sliver of life left, she was certain she could have saved him. But this child was already gone. Su Qing let out a soft sigh and straightened up.

However, the few adults there refused to give up and continued their frantic efforts to save the boy.

"Do you think... is there any hope for him?" Cheng Beilin asked softly, coming to Su Qing’s side.

Su Qing just shook her head gently.

Cheng Beilin’s eyes went wide. She looked with pity at the little boy on the ground. His eyes were closed, and his lips were purplish-black. He couldn’t have been more than eight or nine years old. She sighed softly. ’Such a shame.’

"Why would you kids cut such a huge hole in the ice?" Zhao Youcai demanded. He recognized the boy was from out of town, but he had died here in Lihua Village. His brow knitted into a deep frown.

"We didn’t make it!" the children cried out. Through their jumbled, overlapping explanations, the adults pieced together the story. The kids had come to the Pond to go ice fishing. Little Heizi and another boy were fooling around, and when they walked onto that particular spot, the ice suddenly gave way, and Little Heizi plunged through.

"My god, who would cut such a huge hole in the ice?" someone wondered aloud. "Even for ice fishing, you wouldn’t make one this big. And it’s behind these reeds—not even a good place to fish."

Clearly, a previously cut hole hadn’t frozen over properly. When Little Heizi stepped on it, the thin layer of ice shattered instantly.

"Who knows? It’s just despicable. A real shame about the poor kid," the crowd murmured. Who would have imagined someone cutting a hole that big in the ice in the middle of winter? It was practically a death trap.

"My Heizi!" Just then, a woman’s shrill cry cut through the air from a distance. Someone had already run to Lu Hua Village to inform Little Heizi’s family. Hearing their son had fallen through the ice, they had rushed over in a panic.

Seeing her son lying motionless on the ice, Heizi’s mother completely broke down. She threw herself on top of his body. "Heizi, wake up! My boy, my son, wake up! Look at Mama!"

But no matter how much Heizi’s mother shook him, Little Heizi showed no sign of life.

"Heizi’s mother, the boy is... he’s gone," someone tried to console her. "Please, try to accept it."

"No! My Heizi, my son!" Heizi’s mother had given birth to five daughters before finally having this one precious boy. How could she possibly endure seeing her only son die just like that? "Damn it all! Who killed my son?! I’ll tear them apart!"

As she spoke, Heizi’s mother fixed her bloodshot eyes on the children who had been playing with Heizi.

The boy who had been roughhousing with Heizi earlier, terrified that the mother’s rage would fall on him, immediately pointed at Cheng Beilin. "It was her! She was holding Sister Su Qing back and wouldn’t let her save Heizi!"