Chapter 278 - War Without Wounds’ Sin
The person’s scream traveled from the simple wooden bridge to the abyss below. Gu Fei and company inclined their heads toward the shrill scream’s direction in hopes of hearing the sound a heavy object made when it crashed onto a flat surface. People said that this sort of sound was very wondrous; valleys, deep rivers, and lakes could produce such a sound. Naturally, using a human to make that sound was very cruel.
In the end, all Gu Fei and company could hear was the trembling voices of those players that had their backs leaning against the cliff’s rockface. These players looked queasy as they mumbled, “No point in listening… Nothing to hear….”
“‘Nothing to hear’? Is it that deep?” That man had been falling for quite some time now. His voice grew fainter and fainter until it finally vanished, yet the sound that they were yearning for never came.
“Is this mountain pass that high up?” Gu Fei mumbled.
June’s Rain was still holding on to the wooden board. When she saw that the person in front of her had disappeared, she could not help but be stunned, “He was just here a minute ago. Why did he fall down? Is this bridge not sturdy enough?” June’s Rain took two stomps backward.
“AHHHH!” A full-Strength build Warrior taking two stomps backward caused the entire bridge to sway slightly. Those players navigating across the bridge received the fright of their lives and half of them quickly got down on all fours as they glared at June’s Rain with rage-filled eyes. In their current situation, even a beauty would earn hate-filled glares from these men for doing such a thoughtless action.
Unfortunately for them, June’s Rain cared not for their hate-filled stares. And even if she somehow noticed their stares, she would never understand the reason behind them. Lowering her head, she muttered, “It’s actually pretty sturdy…” She continued taking long strides forward as the people behind her cried for mercy, “Oh, heroine, please put back that wooden board you’ve picked up!”
It was unknown whether June’s Rain had heard their plea or not, but the board remained wedged under her arm as she walked onward.
The man trailing after her quickly retreated from the bridge. Plenty of the Amethyst Rebirth ladies by the bridge glanced at him, “Hey, surely there’s no need for that? It’s just one board; you can just stride over it.”
The man stared intently at June’s Rain’s back and said, “I think it’s better to wait for that heroine to cross the bridge first!”
The Amethyst Rebirth ladies naturally understood June’s Rain the best, and they too thought that her stomping about was really frightening. Their hearts could not help but tremble just from looking at the wooden bridge; after all, not all the ladies were as unrestrained as Svelte Dancer or as witless as June’s Rain.
Despite this, the entire Amethyst Rebirth was determined to not be cowed by this daunting task. Apparently, the gutless players already made up their minds to give up this mission; they would return to Yunduan City once the others crossed the bridge. The lechers among them found it regrettable that not one lady from Traversing Four Seas or any other mercenary groups was in this bunch.
The men of Young Master's Elite were rather calm about this. Although Brother Assist was a certified worrywart, he was still someone who based everything from logic and evidence. Seeing that many men had successfully crossed the bridge, he was confident enough to cross it as well.
Demonstrating the ‘ladies first’ chivalrous custom, Young Master's Elite graciously allowed Amethyst Rebirth to go ahead before following after. Brother Assist was the first to step on the bridge; his footsteps were sure and his heart was firm as he crossed it. Sword Demon, Young Master Han, Gu Fei, and Royal God Call followed behind. War Without Wounds, who was the last one among the group, tapped Royal God Call’s back, “Hey, Royal, is this bridge sturdy?”
“What a nonsensical question!” Royal God Call remarked.
“Will it hold someone of my size?” War Without Wounds asked.
Royal God Call blinked. Indeed, they had not seen anyone with War Without Wounds’ frame cross the bridge. Seeing War Without Wounds’ hesitation, Royal God Call was visibly elated, “WHAT?! ARE YOU SCARED?!”
“What are you saying? Why would I be scared? It’s just that these wooden boards look a little thin, even somewhat brittle,” War Without Wounds defended himself.
Royal God Call nodded his head, “Perhaps, you should keep yourself as close to the surface as possible when you are crossing the bridge. Increase your contact to the surface for the pressure to be evenly distributed. I suggest you get down on all fours and crawl your way forward. HA HA HA HA!” Royal God Call walked forward once he said that.
“Bro, are you crossing?” The player following War Without Wounds saw that he was hesitating and started pestering him to let him cross first.
The Amethyst Rebirth ladies in front of him were currently looking at him. Their concerned look gave War Without Wounds the courage to cross the bridge, “Of course, I’m crossing it! Why would I not cross it?!” With that, his leg stepped on to the wooden board.
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It was clear how different War Without Wounds was from the others just from that one step, as the wooden board visibly strained to support his weight. He could even feel himself sink ever so slightly, scaring War Without Wounds’ very soul, and he reflexively retracted his foot. The player behind him eventually lost his patience. This man had been following War Without Wounds closely behind, so that one back step the latter took pushed the former back toward the other players behind him who were also waiting to cross the bridge. War Without Wounds was strong, but his strength was not stronger than the combination of the many people behind him. There was no retreat for him in the end, and the man behind shoved him forward, “What are you doing?! Get on with it already!”
War Without Wounds staggered from that shove. Cursing out, his feet finally landed on the bridge. The wooden board sagged under his weight, but it did not snap. This assured War Without Wounds, and he began to steadily walk forward.
Gu Fei and the rest had already gotten off the other end of bridge. There were actually more people gathered at this part of the path. After expending so much effort to make his way across the bridge, he discovered that there was no space for him to land his feet on.
“Move! Why aren’t you advancing forward? Come on!” War Without Wounds felt danger lurking just below his feet; with him standing still, he felt the uneven surface was straining to support his weight. It was as if it would splinter at any given moment.
“Quickly give me some space to get off the bridge!” War Without Wounds anxiously cried out.
“No space. There’s really no space left.” Royal God Call was the last person to get off the bridge and he was occupying the last remaining spot of land for anyone getting off it. The entire mountain pass was already filled with players, and War Without Wounds knew that he could not force his way in. This was not a bus; he knew that he could snatch a spot if he forced his way in, but he was also certain that quite a few people would fall off the edge as a result of his action. War Without Wounds was not inconsiderate enough to do that.
“Why aren’t you guys moving forward, then?” War Without Wounds asked, feeling flustered.
Young Master Han looked him in the eyes and said, “There’s another part of the path ahead that has corroded. They’re currently building a bridge for that. They’ll have to cross that bridge one by one once more, and that’s why we have slowed down.”
Oathless Sword and the other two core members of Traversing Four Seas were currently at the very front, so they were the first to know what was happening. Youthful Reflection relayed this information to the mercenary group leaders who then informed their members accordingly. Young Master Han was obviously not the responsible type. When he learned of this information, he did not relay it to his fellow mercenaries. None of the other players behind War Without Wounds asked a word about this stall, clearly showing that their mercenary leaders had informed them of the situation.
D*mn! So unlucky. Why must it be me that has trouble finding a spot to squeeze in?! War Without Wounds was seething. He could feel the board under him sink deeper with every passing second.
“Ha ha! Stand firmly! If all else fails, you can still get down on all fours!” Royal God Call ridiculed War Without Wounds aloud. The Amethyst Rebirth ladies were just in front of Young Master's Elite’s men, so they heard their conversation. Each of them appreciated the anxiety on War Without Wounds’ face as they stifled their laughter.
This was unbearable to War Without Wounds, so despite the fear he was feeling, he could only project a courageous front to the ladies. He glared disdainfully at Royal God Call, “Hmph! I’m standing perfectly firm. In fact, using two legs is overdoing it; I think just one foot is enough.”
Although War Without Wounds said that, he was not about to demonstrate it. It was only a passing thought, yet he subconsciously lifted his leg off the board as he spoke. No one noticed his seemingly innocuous move, but things took a turn for the worse because of it.
War Without Wounds’ worry was actually logical. Indeed, the wooden board could barely hold him up, especially when he lifted his one foot like that. The board happened to be the last piece people stepped on before getting off the bridge. After their unnerving journey across the three-meter-long bridge, these people felt somewhat emotional with that last step, so many of them happily stomped on it. Thus, this final wooden board suffered quite the abuse, far beyond any other board that was forming up the entire bridge.
It would have been fine if War Without Wounds had stood on it with his two feet. Once he lifted his leg when he subconsciously thought of doing so, the final piece of wooden board already had enough and broke.
CRACK! The sound everyone was worriedly expecting finally echoed about. As War Without Wounds cried out in surprise, he could feel himself sinking down with the broken board.
It was a really close call. War Without Wounds spread his arms and hooked them on to the two long planks of lumber on both sides. While the two planks were sturdy enough to bear War Without Wounds’ weight, his action caused a far more severe chain reaction than June’s Rain’s. The terror-filled screams from behind him easily drowned War Without Wounds’ cry, as each of them fell on to the abyss below. Many of these players were still clutching on to the little wooden boards that they instinctively reached for when everything gave way, failing to grab a hold of the long planks like War Without Wounds. It was truly embarrassing to watch them fall to their deaths while hugging the planks so close to their chest.
Every player on the bridge succumbed to gravity with the disappearance of several wooden boards. No one else seemed to be able to cross the bridge after.
The players standing on both sides of the now broken bridge gawked. Eventually, someone lamented, “What a horrendous sin!”
All the players sighed. Suddenly, someone from the opposite side pointed, “Look! There’s a survivor!”
The people on the other side did not know that War Without Wounds had caused the tragedy, so they happily applauded his lucky escape from death.
Brother Assist shook his head, “This is what it truly means to commit a sin!”