Chapter 20: Painful yet exhilarating!

  Yeah! New book uploaded for more than half a month, strongly recommended here. Thanks to the editor and brothers who read, voted and collected, no need to say, strong push during this period, two updates per day, repaying brothers.

  Di Lie's plan was simple, he first swam to the opposite bank and tied up the ferry rope. After Yang Zhe charged across the river, he guarded the opposite bank, then he swam back to meet Ye Die'er.

  The plan sounds simple, but it's not that easy to execute. At least in Yang Zhe's view, wanting to cross the river without alarming the Jin army patrols is quite difficult. To know that the Jin army has set up strict surveillance near the shallow and relatively narrow river surface where it is easier to cross the river near the Wan water, making it basically impossible to cross the river from these places under the eyes of the Jin army. As for other sections of the river, either the current is too rapid or there are many hidden whirlpools, which are not suitable for wading.

  Just like the story of the little horse crossing the river, the feelings of the little squirrel and the little horse are completely different.

  Yang's stealthy crossing action, in the eyes of Di Lie, a former marine, was no big deal. For Di Lie, who could jump into the Atlantic Ocean and play in the midst of raging winds and waves, this river surface of over 100 meters was nothing more than a bathtub. He could easily swim to the other shore with one breath, without even exposing his head. Even if someone shone a bright searchlight back and forth, they wouldn't be able to detect his presence.

  What really made Di Lie scratch his head were those two soy sauce bottles. Yang Zhechong was okay, he thought he was quite good at swimming and even performed a few strokes in a pond for Di Lie. To be honest, for most people living on the dry Loess Plateau, Yang Zhechong's swimming skills were indeed "not bad", enough to get by with a few dog paddles. But as for Ye Die'er... probably she had only swum in a bathtub.

  How to safely send these two people across the north bank of the Wan River is the most severe test for Di Lie.

  A thick layer of clouds obscured the sky, making it pitch black, and the moonlight was dim. Such a night was actually quite suitable for doing some murderous and arsonous deeds.

  Because there was no aiming mirror, no matter how hard Yang Zhechong and Ye Die'er tried to open their eyes wide, they couldn't see clearly when Di Lie sneaked onto the riverbank and into the river, and how he crossed the river silently without disturbing the Jin army's patrol on the riverbank. The two could only feel the rope being pulled forward continuously, with fewer and fewer loops, until it was stretched straight - this also meant that Di Lie had already fixed the anchor point on the opposite bank of the river. Next, it was Yang Zhechong's turn to take action.

  Compared to Di Lie, Yang Zhechong's action was much simpler and easier. He only needed to tie one end of the rope around a large stone that had been previously selected, then climb along the rope to cross the river.

  In Yang Zhe's mind, Di Lie's entire river-crossing action probably took about the time it takes to burn an incense stick. With his own tools for crossing the river, he should be faster than the other party, right? At worst, they should take about the same amount of time, but when he actually got into the dark and turbulent river, he realized that things were not like that at all.

  A somewhat water-repellent person, on a dark and gloomy night, slipped into the deep and ink-black river. The kind of inexplicable fear can only be felt by those who have experienced it personally. The river was turbulent, with hidden currents surging, the upper body holding onto the rope and swaying, while the lower body was tossed about by the rapid current. On a river surface over 30 zhang wide, the feeling was like climbing a mountain. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he were discovered by enemy soldiers on patrol during this process. He feared that without even wasting arrows, simply cutting off the rope would send him drifting with the current, and then being swallowed up by the turbulent waters.

  When Yang Zhe crawled up the bank, drenched and dripping wet, he looked just like a drowned dog. Not only was his whole body soaked through, with water streaming from his hair, but even the way he stuck out his tongue to pant for breath was indistinguishable from that of a drowned dog.

  A soothing voice reached his ears, although the words were not exactly pleasant to hear: "You actually used half an hour, you're at least a special forces operative of this era... Never mind, maybe I'm asking too much. You take good care of yourself, I'll go pick up Ye Xiaoniang."

  Yang Zhechong panted and nodded, then slowly raised his head. The scene before him gave him a fright - in front of him, apart from Di Lie who was fully armed, there were also four corpses not far away, as well as several horses that had been fitted with muzzles to silence them, tied together with reins.

  Yang Zhechong stuttered: "Th-this... is..."

  "This is the patrol that has been passing through this section of the river during the half hour it took you to cross. To ensure your safety, I had to take out their security detail. So, I left both their men and horses behind." Di Lie said as he quickly walked towards the riverbank. After a moment's thought, he turned back and added, "Based on the patrol schedule of the Jin soldiers, it will take them at least a quarter of an hour to react. This time should be enough for me to bring Ye Xiaoniang and the war supplies over. You just stay alert, there shouldn't be any problems."

  As soon as the words fell, Di Lie had quickly slid to the middle of the river along the rope, with a relaxed and natural state, as if sliding down a slide. Yang Zhe looked stupidly for half a day, lowered his head in resignation, and smiled bitterly. No wonder people often say "people are compared to death, objects are compared to abandonment", how did I not discover before that I am so useless? When Di Lie's wet figure suddenly appeared in front of Ye Die'er, Ye Die'er, who had been in a state of high tension, reflexively stabbed out the short knife she had been holding with a handful of sweat. Although it was unexpected, Di Lie's combat awareness and reaction were unknown how much higher than Ye Die'er. He simply rotated his right heel half a step, his body naturally shifted, and the short knife stabbed empty along the front of his clothes.

  Di Lie raised his hand and grasped Ye Die'er's right wrist, lightly twisting it to take the knife away. This was a wrist-release knife, eight inches long, thin and sharp, a perfect self-defense tool. It was something Di Lie had confiscated from a Golden Soldier and given to Ye Die'er for her own protection.

  Di Lie tossed the dagger up and down, smiling ambiguously as he gazed at Ye Die'er's flustered expression: "I gave you this dagger, not for you to stab me with."

  Ye Die'er felt increasingly embarrassed, unable to bear his piercing gaze, and finally lowered her head, brushing past him: "I'm going to cross the river, don't let Yang Xiaoge wait anxiously..."

  Di Lie stretched out his hand and pulled her slender body over. Ye Die'er almost let out a shrill cry, hurriedly covering her mouth with her hand, looking at Di Lie with both shame and panic.

  Di Lie exerted a slight force with one hand and pressed Ye Die'er's slender body onto the grass.

  "Finally, Ye Die'er murmured: 'No... don't do it here...'"

  Just as her entire body went limp and her mind was a complete blank, she heard Di Lie's stern voice beside her ear: "Do you think this is your own backyard? Walking with your head held high and strutting around like that? Watch my movements and follow me."

  Ye Die'er looked at Di Lie's figure crawling forward and suddenly felt embarrassed, knowing she had misunderstood, her face turned bright red in the dark night.

  Creeping forward, this action is difficult to practice standardly, but if you don't pay attention to it, anyone can do it. Ye Die'er did it very seriously, while Di Lie frowned straight away. It's not that Ye Die'er's movements were bad, but her skirt was a problem.

  During the Song Dynasty, women's clothing was mainly based on skirts, with a "back child" like a vest worn over the top, and an inner skirt and outer skirt on the bottom. There were no pants, whether they were outer pants, shorts, or underwear... None at all. Hmm, if you say there wasn't even any covering, that doesn't seem quite right either. Inside the inner skirt, there was also a "knee cover", like an ultra-short apron, serving as a primitive form of "underwear". It's easy to imagine what kind of state their clothes would be in when they played on all fours.

  Fifty meters from the riverbank, Yedian'er stopped moving. Di Lie, who had already climbed up the rope and was ready, could only come back down again, suppressing his anger and saying in a low voice: "I said, miss... little lady, what's wrong now?"

  "Skirt... it's caught..."

  Di Lie didn't say another word, and with a swing of his knife at the part where her clothes were tied, a soft ripping sound was heard, and Ye Die'er could finally move again. Di Lie casually handed the wrist knife back to her: "Take it, looks like you still need this thing. In the future, when going out, it's better to wear pants."

  Ye Die'er was taken aback: "Pants? Are they horse pants? I've heard that only Hu women wear them..."

  "There's nothing in this world that is the best, only what's most suitable - and what's most suitable is the best." Di Lie said, not caring whether Ye Die'er could understand his paradoxical words, he scooped up her slender body and pushed her onto the ferry.

  A ferryman had already secured a life buoy on the cable, and all Yedie had to do was hold tight and not let go. With Dilie's push and pull, she would be able to cross the river safely without any mishap.

  Di Lie's request was simple: "I only want you to do one thing, shut your mouth tight and don't make a sound."

  In terms of the ability to cross rivers in the dark night, Yang Zheshuang was no match for Di Lie, but compared to Ye Die'er, he was much stronger. However, under Di Lie's protection, Ye Die'er's river-crossing movements were far more smooth than Yang Zheshuang's.

  By her side stood a majestic figure, like a wall blocking the torrent for her; behind her was a strong arm, firmly holding her slender waist and pushing her forward. In this way, crossing the river, not to mention a small stream, even the rolling waves of the Yangtze River, it's as if strolling in a leisurely courtyard, safely crossing over.

  When they passed through the deep water area, there was no problem, but when they were about to reach the other shore, since her feet could touch the bottom of the water, Di Lie also let go of Ye Die'er. At this time, Ye Die'er's foot stepped on a cobblestone at the bottom of the water, and her body slipped backwards - fortunately, she remembered Di Lie's words, one hand tightly covering her mouth, forcing back the cry that had already reached the tip of her tongue into her throat.

  Di Lie was just two steps behind Ye Die'er at this time, and seeing the situation, he hastily stepped forward one step, with one hand supporting her back to prevent her from falling into the water and making a sound, while the other hand simply passed through her double knees, holding her entire body horizontally.

  Di Lie's emergency measures should be said to be timely and effective. However, he neglected that the skirt at the bottom of the water would float up like a canopy due to buoyancy. In other words, Ye Die'er's skirt was completely exposed, with nothing left to the imagination. What's worse, Ye Die'er's already slender and smooth legs became even more slippery after being soaked in the river water.

  Di Lie originally was going to pat someone's knee, but his hand slipped and slid up the smooth inner thigh all the way to the top... And that still wasn't the worst of it, his fingers, which had slipped all the way up to the top of the thigh, coincidentally poked into a warm, tender, and delicate place... Using his middle finger, no less.

  Ye Die'er's hand was almost unable to cover the girl's cries, so she hastily added her other hand, pressing down hard on the girl's moans and screams. Only her slender body trembled violently, not from the cold, although the midnight river water was indeed icy, but her body was like hot coals.

  Di Lie didn't say a word, and just carried Ye Die'er to the riverbank like this - heaven knows what kind of "torture" they went through in that short distance of over ten meters!

  When Di Lie gently placed Ye Die'er's curled up body on the riverbank and withdrew his hand, Ye Die'er shuddered all over and let out a low moan. Di Lie stretched out his hand to lightly stroke her wet hair, wanting to say something but ultimately unable to speak.

  Daiyu saw Yang Zhao rushing over, and Di Lie withdrew his palm, but unexpectedly found himself grasping a soft and delicate hand. Di Lie raised his eyes to meet a pair of bright, shining, and bashful big eyes - in which was filled with some inexplicable expectation.

  Di Lie's palms came together, gently grasping the soft hand, nodding vigorously at those black eyes like lacquer dots, then releasing his hand and turning around, rushing quickly towards the riverbank.

  In times of war, even promises were unspoken.