The boom rang out, and the hull of the ship lurched violently.

Feng Jiu’er felt as though her body was about to be launched into the air. By great fortune, Qiao Mu immediately threw herself forward and pinned her back down.

Had she not, Feng Jiu’er would certainly have slammed head-first into the wooden planks overhead.

Qiao Mu wanted to go outside and see what was happening — but Jiu’er had not yet regained consciousness, and someone had to stay at her side.

Yet everyone was running out to the deck to help, and not knowing what was happening while sitting alone in here set her heart ill at ease.

“Long Yi!” She happened to spot Long Yi running past the doorway and immediately called out to stop him.

“What’s happened? Why is the ship rocking so violently?”

“The ship hit a reef. Everyone’s helping with repairs!”

Long Yi was anxious to get back and could only explain quickly. “There’s a hole in the bottom of the hull — it’s not large for now, but Zhao Yusheng says if we don’t patch it quickly, it’ll be torn right open.”

“Go, quickly!” Qiao Mu understood the gravity of the situation and did not dare to delay him a single moment.

Long Yi immediately charged back out. Qiao Mu looked toward the doorway, then looked back at Feng Jiu’er, her heart seized with anxiety.

Another BOOM — this time the impact wasn’t as violent as before, but the ship rocked even more severely.

Could it be that, just as Zhao Yusheng had said, the small hole had been torn open into a large one?

Qiao Mu paced anxiously around the cabin. Jiu’er’s body was rocking on the bed.

Thinking fast, she suddenly grabbed a long strip of cloth and bound Feng Jiu’er’s body tightly to the bed frame, legs and all.

“Jiu’er, I’m a strong swimmer — I need to go outside and see if I can help. Stay right here and don’t move. I’ll be back soon.”

Feng Jiu’er’s brow creased very slightly — but Qiao Mu’s mind was too frantic and she never noticed.

She secured Jiu’er, then immediately left the cabin.

Jiu’er felt deeply uncomfortable — uncomfortable all over.

The ship had struck a reef. The situation could be mild or severe. One moment of carelessness, and everyone would be swallowed by the depths of the sea.

She desperately wanted to open her eyes, desperately wanted to get up and see what was happening — but why did her eyelids remain this impossibly heavy?

Her consciousness had clearly already returned — so why couldn’t she simply rise?

Her fingers moved ever so slightly. She couldn’t tell if it was her imagination, but her fingers felt as though they actually could move now.

Was she finally about to wake up?

Then, some unknown breach was torn open again — BOOM — and the hull shuddered on.

Could this ship truly hold together?

Out on the deck, everyone had descended into chaos.

Two holes in the ship’s bottom had just been patched, when the first one repaired suddenly split open with a crack.

An enormous surge of seawater poured in. Some continued mending the breach while the rest grabbed anything that could carry water and bailed it out as fast as they could.

Qiao Mu, seeing this, immediately walked to the side, picked up a wooden bucket someone had tossed on the ground, and jumped into the lower deck to bail water out bucket by bucket.

“Qiao Mu!” Xue Gu was the first to spot her coming out. Her heart clenched, and she immediately went over and seized her by the wrist. “What are you doing out here? Where is Jiu’er?”

“Jiu’er — I tied her to the bed.” The noise was deafening, and Qiao Mu had no time for a full explanation.

She shook off Xue Gu’s hand and immediately went back to bailing water. “Don’t worry — she’s tied down securely. She won’t be thrown off.”

Right now they had to bail the seawater out quickly — otherwise the ship truly would sink.

Xue Gu was deeply worried, yet with the seawater flooding in growing heavier by the moment, she too had no choice.

She grabbed a basin and threw herself back into hurling water overboard. No matter what else — they had to keep the ship afloat first.

If they truly sank to the bottom, everyone was finished.

Without warning, overhead — a crack and a flash, and a bolt of lightning sliced across the sky.

Misfortune never arrived alone. The seawater pouring into the ship had not yet been cleared when the skies opened up, and fat raindrops began hammering down overhead.

Every heart aboard turned cold. Seawater surging in from below, rain cascading in from above — if things continued like this, this ship truly could not survive.

“I’m going below to make repairs. Someone come with me.” Zhao Yusheng walked to the side of the ship, picked up a wooden plank, and called out over the din.

“I need someone with strong swimming ability to go down with me, to pass me planks.”

But going in now — in gale and driving rain, the waves growing ever larger — was extremely dangerous. Whoever went down might not come back up.

Xue Gu called out urgently, “See if it can be patched from above first!”

“There’s no time!” Zhao Yusheng turned back, and suddenly seemed to see something. A light leapt into his eyes.

He wanted to say something, yet at a moment like this, so many things seemed superfluous.

“Wait for me to return.” He said softly, the words seemingly only for his own ears. “My wife.”

With that, he scooped up a plank and his tools, stepped over the deck railing—

“Remember to find someone to give me a hand!”

The moment those words left his mouth — with a resounding splash, he jumped overboard directly.

Below, the waves raged and the wind howled, the rain torrential, the surface of the water anything but calm.

The longer one watched, the more the heart seized with fear.

And yet this young man had jumped just like that, not even knowing whether there was truly anyone willing to go down with him to help.

He was truly a man of remarkable spirit.

Xue Gu stood up, lifted her gaze, and saw two figures clutching wooden planks of their own dive in — splash, splash — one after another.

Mu Mu and Jiu Qing. Then Jian Yi, already picking up a plank.

“Jian Yi, patch from above — don’t go in.” Xue Gu called out to him in a loud voice.

The rain was too fierce, the sound of wind and waves and rain drowning out nearly everything else.

Jian Yi caught only a faint echo of her voice. He hesitated, and then finally took the spare planks back into the lower hold to continue repairs.

“Qiao Mu — you swim well. Take some planks and stand watch at the railing. Keep an eye on when they need help.”

“Understood!” Qiao Mu said no more. Planks already in her arms, she walked straight to the railing.

Her swimming was solid, and Xue Gu feared that anyone with lesser ability standing watch here would be swept overboard by the waves, unable to return.

Below — only Mu Mu was visible. Jiu Qing was nowhere in sight.

But judging by Mu Mu’s composed manner, Jiu Qing had likely gone with Zhao Yusheng and dived to the underside of the ship to patch the hull.

Repairs from within and without at the same time — the odds of success were far greater. And most importantly, the reinforcing strength was now doubled.

After an unknowable stretch of time, Jiu Qing finally broke through the surface of the water. Zhao Yusheng emerged shortly after.

Both took a plank each and immediately submerged again.

Diving beneath the surface while holding a plank — it was sheer madness. Even Qiao Mu felt certain she couldn’t manage it.

The planks were not small, and their buoyancy was enormous. An ordinary person simply could not dive with one.

After some indeterminate time, a figure suddenly appeared beside her.

Qiao Mu didn’t even glance over, calling out, “Don’t stand here — it’s dangerous!”

This spot could sweep anyone into the sea at any moment.

Even someone with exceptionally strong swimming ability would be in terrible danger here.

In waves like these, anyone who went in would be instantly swept away in seconds.

But that person still gripped the railing tightly, staring down below.

Qiao Mu lost her patience, turned her head, and glared. “Don’t stand here — Jiu’er?!”