Lin Qi dragged Xiao Jing to the shore and pressed down hard on her philtrum, but there was still no response from her.
"Can you hear me, Second Lieutenant Xiao?" Lin Qin cradled Xiao Jing as he slapped her hard on the back. He put her down again when he realized that there was still no response from Xiao Jing.
Lin Qin placed the heel of one hand on the center of Xiao Jing's chest and the heel of the other hand on the first hand and laced his fingers together. He pressed down hard. He pinched her nose and got ready to apply mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Xiao Jing.
"What do you think you're doing?" A third voice rang out from a distance.
Lin Qi barely had time to respond before he received a punch in his face, causing him to fall to the ground.
Xiao Ye crouched down, and carefully studied Xiao Jing. With a roll of his eyes and a somber expression, he slung her over his shoulder. "Spit out the water," he instructed.
Although Lin Qi did not know who Xiao Ye was, he quickly stood up and saluted when he saw his rank. "Sir."
Xiao Ye was in no mood to pay him any attention. He placed Xiao Jing on the ground again and was feeling a bit more assured after watching the color come back into her face.
Xiao Jing's chest heaved as she coughed and spat out the water. She panted breathlessly and slowly opened her eyes.
Staring expressionlessly at her, Xiao Ye roared, "What the f*ck are you doing here? Are you a little tadpole looking for your mother?"
"What happened to me?" Xiao Jing rubbed her chest, which was hurting as if some bast*rd had just punched her twice in the chest.
Xiao Ye then turned his attention to the figure who was standing there, unmoving. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked.
Lin Qi puffed out his chest, before answering loud and clear, "We're here to learn how to swim, sir."
"Learn how to swim?" Xiao Ye gave Xiao Jing a once-over. "You're such an uncoordinated, clumsy oaf, and you're thinking of learning how to swim?! Not afraid of drowning, are you? Maybe it isn't a bad idea for you to drown to death. I suppose it's better than you becoming a hindrance on the battlefield."
"Are you looking down on me for not knowing how to swim?" Xiao Jing retorted.
Xiao Ye crossed his arms in disbelief, before exclaiming, "You can't blame me for having my doubts. Remember how adamant you were about not going near water in the past?"
Xiao Jing looked away shiftily, and mumbled, "Just because I was ignorant in the past doesn't mean that I still am."
"So you mean to say that you still want to go into the water? Haven't swallowed enough of it?"
Xiao Jing was indeed still feeling traumatized by her ordeal. She looked at Lin Qi hesitantly, hoping he would help her out.
Having gotten the hint, Lin Qi replied resoundingly, "Sir, I promise to try my best to teach Second Lieutenant how to swim. She will be able to swim as well as she walks."
Xiao Jing's mouth twitched.
"You still want to learn? Had I not appeared in the nick of time, ahem," Xiao Ye cleared his throat before continuing, "he would have administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on you."
Xiao Jing was at a loss for words and stared at the man whose face remained deadpan.
Sensing her eyes on him, Lin Qi responded with a gummy smile, "I learned how to administer CPR. First, you drag the person who has drowned out of the water, then apply chest compressions, followed by giving them rescue breaths."
"That's enough. Don't go on anymore," Xiao Jing smiled wryly. "The process doesn't matter; what matters is the results. Let's try again. This time I will learn how to control my breath properly."
Standing by the side of the lack, and watching unblinkingly at the two people who had just entered the lake, Xiao Ye had a sudden flash of inspiration.
A cell phone in the office started ringing.
Face devoid of emotion, as usual, Shen Chengfeng answered the call and asked, "What do you want?"
"Master Shen did very well today. I heard that you brought a rookie with you to tackle Zhan Yi, and managed to obliterate an entire team of elites. That fellow, Mo Luo, was so mad that he almost passed out from his anger," Xiao Ye's mocking tone could be heard coming from the other end of the call.
Leaning against the chair and tapping his gloved fingers lightly on the desk, Shen Chengfeng looked leisurely out of the window at the passing clouds. "Master Xiao must have a lot of free time on his hands, to take such interest in my personal affairs with Mo Luo. Could it be that your 505 is disbanding?"
"I just wanted to compliment that useless fourth brother of mine. Look how much effort he's putting in. Right after helping you to annihilate Zhan Yi, he's now keeping busy by learning how to dive. What an eye-opener. He's indeed been well-taught by Master Shen."
Diving? Taking off clothes?
There was a sudden cold draught in the large office.
Qi Yue, who had been busy drawing out the next step of the plan, looked up. He had no idea what brought the sudden draft of cold air that had brushed past his arms. "Has the temperature of the air conditioner been lowered?" he wondered.
Meanwhile, Shen Chengfeng turned on his computer and silently typed in a string of numbers. Moments later, a little red dot started appearing on the screen.
Xiao Ye asked teasingly, "Why aren't you saying anything? Don't tell me you've managed to trace my location?"