Chapter 66: United as One

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: United as One

The crowd followed the sound, subconsciously making way.

A young man with resolute eyes, wearing a black and gray mountaineering outfit, slowly walked out from the crowd. This person was none other than Su Yunzhou.

A few minutes ago, seeing the urgent situation, he had redeemed [Basic Rock Climbing Skills: 2 Skill Points] in the System Mall and upgraded it to Advanced in one breath. Unfortunately, upgrading to Master Level required ten Skill Points instead of two, and he only had five Skill Points left from what he had painstakingly saved up.

After mastering Advanced Rock Climbing Skills, he distinctly felt his control over his body’s muscles strengthen. Although his overall strength hadn’t changed, he felt his muscles had become more resilient and easier to control. If he could only mobilize thirty percent of his physical strength before, now, after mastering Advanced Rock Climbing Skills, his control over his muscles had reached seventy percent.

At the same time, a massive amount of rock climbing techniques was implanted into his mind. He instantly mastered and thoroughly assimilated this dangerous extreme sport. When looking at the cliff face that was so smooth it offered no handholds, he had already planned out several free-climbing routes.

Seeing someone willing to step forward, Wu Heng felt a surge of joy, but a moment later, he began to worry again. To him, this young man looked slightly "thin," not even as strong as the parkour guy from earlier. Climbing while carrying a person’s weight placed immense demands on one’s physical fitness.

Wu Heng couldn’t help but step forward and ask, "Young man, are you sure about this? As you can see, this kind of climbing is much more strenuous than you’d imagine..."

However, before Wu Heng could finish his sentence, the worry on his face turned into a mix of shock and joy.

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Su Yunzhou smoothly climbed down to the bottom of the cliff. His movements were even a bit faster than the previous man’s. While the parkour guy moved like a nimble monkey, Su Yunzhou made it look as effortless as walking on flat ground.

Hong didn’t know why he had this illusion, but seeing the other’s professional climbing techniques with absolutely no wasted movements, he inexplicably felt that this guy could do it. Hong carried the more severely injured girl over to him.

"Brother, thanks for your hard work!"

"Bring her here!" Su Yunzhou replied, leaning his body slightly forward to make it easier for the injured girl to get on his back. After taking on a person, his movements were visibly affected, but it wasn’t a big problem.

Hong didn’t dare to be careless. He guarded from below, terrified that the previous situation would repeat itself.

Su Yunzhou searched upward with his gaze, his eyes gradually becoming resolute. He reached out his fingers, found a spot that could barely be called a handhold, exerted force with his arm, and climbed upward. His movements were textbook, flowing as smoothly as moving clouds and flowing water. Before the crowd could even react, he had already popped his head over the edge of the cliff with the girl on his back.

It was only then that Wu Heng reacted. He immediately grabbed Su Yunzhou’s hand tightly, pulled the two of them up, and exclaimed in awe, "You’re amazing, young man!"

Excited voices also rang out from the crowd.

"This is great!"

"This guy’s movements are so fast; before I could even process it, he was already up here!"

"Exactly! His moves are simple and effective. You can tell at a glance that he’s a highly trained rock climbing expert."

Hope was rekindled within the crowd once more. And Su Yunzhou didn’t disappoint them; in a short amount of time, he brought two more girls up. Moreover, his stamina still seemed fine as he was only panting slightly.

At present, there were four heavier men left at the bottom, along with the parkour guy who had injured his ankle. Hong could climb up by himself, but there was absolutely no way he could carry someone.

After a brief rest, Su Yunzhou hoisted a middle-aged man in his forties onto his back. The man wore a grateful expression, repeatedly thanking him for his hard work.

Su Yunzhou offered a kind smile and said, "It’s alright! We’ll be up there soon. Just relax, don’t move around, and hold off on talking for now."

After giving his instructions, Su Yunzhou climbed upward once again. This time, his speed decreased quite a bit, but he remained as steady as ever.

The crowd watching from above didn’t even dare to breathe heavily, deeply afraid of disrupting his climbing rhythm. It wasn’t until he brought the man up that they let out encouraging cheers. They quickly took the injured man and transported him toward the Cableway Platform.

Meanwhile, the parkour guy from earlier felt a deep, heartfelt admiration welling up inside him. "This is a true master!" he thought.

When it came to rock climbing, he had a bit of authority to speak. The danger and difficulty of this sport far exceeded many others. Aside from his excellent physical fitness, what was even steadier was this man’s mind and his limbs.

Why did he think that? Because in several consecutive climbs, the man had landed precisely on the exact same handholds and footholds. He wouldn’t say there was zero deviation, but it was practically accurate to the extreme. Such technique was utterly impossible to achieve without years of grueling training! In the young man’s judgment, this guy was definitely a professional-level athlete.

The rescue operation continued. Just when everyone thought everything would go smoothly, a clap of thunder suddenly resounded across the sky.

RUMBLE!

Lightning tore through the vast expanse, leaving streaks of light across the heavily clouded sky.

"Oh no!"

A strong sense of unease surged in everyone’s hearts. This... was truly a case of when it rains, it pours.

"Is a rainstorm coming?"

"My God, how could this happen..."

At that moment, another muffled rumble of thunder rolled out. With this roar, raindrops gradually began to fall. In the blink of an eye, it was a torrential downpour. The rain pelted the crowd’s faces, bodies, and shoulders, instantly soaking through their clothes.

Wu Heng’s expression stiffened, his face turning incredibly grim. He clenched his hands so tightly that his veins bulged. The people beside him were the same, all of them completely silent. Under such extreme weather conditions, the difficulty of climbing while carrying a person could easily be imagined.

Hong’s face looked terrible, and it was impossible to tell whether his body was covered in sweat or rainwater, but he still asked, "Brother... can you... still do it?"

Su Yunzhou nodded, leaning against the cliff face as he panted. The rain was making the handholds increasingly slippery.

And right at this moment, he felt a shadow appear at the top of his vision. "What’s going on?" he wondered. This thought flashed through his mind, and as he looked up, his heart gave a violent tremor.

He saw several figures appearing at the edge of the cliff above. Some were using branches to prop up waterproof jackets, extending them forward to block the rain. Others were lying flat on their stomachs directly above Su Yunzhou’s route, stretching their hands downward as hard as they could. Still others were behind them, pulling on their bodies to keep them from sliding off.

An inexplicable quote came to his mind: *There are no heroes who descend from the heavens; there are only ordinary people who step forward in times of need.*

"Come on, brother!"

"Once you climb halfway, we’ll be able to catch you."

"We’ll definitely succeed."

This scene of absolute unity gave birth to a new strength within Su Yunzhou’s exhausted body.

"Come on, let’s keep going!"

Hong strapped the person onto him. Su Yunzhou climbed upward once more. Every movement was immensely strenuous, but every step was taken with absolute firmness.

One...

Two...

Three...

Until the very last person was delivered to the top. Amidst the fierce wind and torrential rain, the united crowd triumphed over the weather.

With the help of the "human rope" above, Hong was the last to climb up. Looking at Su Yunzhou, who was slumped on the ground, Hong’s eyes filled with emotion as he gave a thumbs-up. Following that, many others spontaneously gave a thumbs-up as well.

Beads of sweat the size of peas oozed from Su Yunzhou’s forehead. His body ached, and his fingers trembled slightly, but his heart felt incredibly warm. This was because numerous bottles of mineral water and pieces of food were handed to him from all around.

Wu Heng, who was managing the scene, was equally shaken to his core. "This kid is a hero," he thought.

The injured were methodically transported down the mountain. Su Yunzhou rested for a while, and his stamina recovered. His phone seemed to have been vibrating continuously, and he pulled it out to take a look. He furrowed his brows slightly—there were seven or eight missed calls from Liu Yiyi.

He dialed back, but before he could even speak, Liu Yiyi’s frantic crying and stammering came through the receiver.

"SOB..."

"Yanyan, she... she..."

Su Yunzhou’s expression changed, and he asked in a deep voice, "Don’t panic. What happened?"