Above Destiny

Chapter 584 A Torrent of Ten Thousand Feet
People instinctively seek a way to survive. When a flood comes, very few people sit idly by and wait to die. People around them instinctively gather towards the church, one after another.

The hall, now riddled with holes, is almost overflowing, and even the roof is packed with people.

In the darkness, only two flickering lights were shining.

On the steps at the entrance, amidst the raging wind and rain, Elder Long sat in a wheelchair, his withered hands gripping the railing tightly, almost without any strength left.

His gray hair was disheveled and stuck to his face, making him look quite pathetic.

The water level is rising.

In less than half a minute, it has already climbed another step...

At that moment, as he watched the massive convoy speeding towards him, his stern and gloomy face twitched twice, as if he had finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rescue! Rescue is here!!"

Excited shouts rang out, and the crowd surged forward again, jostling for the entrance, regardless of how the church members tried to maintain order.

Even before the truck had come to a complete stop, people were already jumping down from the building, floundering in waist-deep mud and water, trying to climb into the truck bed under the tarpaulin.

The crowd was surging.

The final order has completely collapsed.

"Don't rush! Don't rush!" The young nanny stood in the doorway, shouting hoarsely, "Let the children get on the bus first, let..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was pushed aside and almost swallowed up by the crowd and trampled.

A withered hand reached out and pulled her out.

Elder Longge.

It's hard to imagine that such strength remained in his disabled body, as he gripped the rotten railing with one hand and pulled her up from the ground with the other.

The other members were still shouting, but it was no use.

With survival at stake, no one cares about order anymore.

They scrambled into the truck bed.

Then... a large mechanical hand reached out and grabbed the neck of the burly man who had led the shoving and rushing out.

It was like picking up a chick.

In front of everyone, he swung it, gathered his strength, and then...

Throw it out!

boom!
The muddy water suddenly stirred, splashing up a spray of water.

Under the dazzling lights, a civilian version of a riot control cat emerged from the carriage, with red lights and safety signs flashing on the screen above its head. A loud horn blared, repeating the words of church members.

Bang!
Yan Fei climbed onto the roof of the car, raised his hand without hesitation, and fired a shot directly into the air.

Then, expressionless, he pointed to the few faces that still wanted to climb higher and warned them in fluent Chinese: "If you can't understand human language, you can try a bullet."

I'm not a member of the church.

Some people refused to believe it and tried to push their way up, but then they heard a loud bang, and a burning pain spread across their foreheads. A bullet grazed their heads, cutting their scalps, and blood gushed out.

Throughout, Yan Fei remained expressionless, his eyes fixed intently on the faces that had squeezed to the front, showing no weakness or compassion.

Under the threat of gunfire, those who wanted to rush forward finally made way.

Those who were unwilling to accept this pushed back, watching as one child after another was put on the bus in the arms of church members, and becoming increasingly impatient as they noticed the water level rising again.

Amid the chaos, someone let out a hoarse scream.

"The church is killing people! The church is abandoning us!"

Some people were shouting, "Don't believe them! The church wants to sell us out!"

The crowd stirred for a moment, but then quickly returned to calm.

Nobody paid any attention, and nobody believed it.

The answer is the name of Chongguang Church.

Amidst the gradually weakening shouts, Elder Long, standing guard in front of the door, remained stern-faced, deaf to their cries, as he had long been accustomed to them.

If one cannot accept the wickedness of human nature, how can one become a baptized member of the church?

It was just a few doubts.

Compared to the impending flood, it's nothing.

But in the brief silence, the distant roar grew even louder, causing everyone to instinctively shrink their necks and lower their heads in fear.

It was gunfire.

From the direction of the city center...

Long was stunned for a moment, then seemed to understand something.

He gripped the armrests of the wheelchair tightly.

Closed his eyes.

"Let's go, let's go quickly."

His lips trembled slightly as he forced a smile and waved to Yan Fei: "Move the children over first, then the elderly and disabled. The church members and I will leave last."

Yan Fei didn't dawdle. He patted the truck bed, and immediately the truck started and drove away.

Meanwhile, in the distance, another batch of trucks that Ji Jue had just borrowed from Huanyu Heavy Industry were already on their way. Amidst the dark mud, cries, wails, and curses echoed continuously.

Yan Fei remained silent, not uttering a single word.

When the first batch of relocated personnel arrived at the factory on the coast, Lao Gou had already set up the water heater with the employees who remained at the factory.

Since there weren't enough beds available, they had to lay down a moisture-proof cloth on the floor.

Inside the factory area, riot police lined up to unload the mountain of relief supplies from the truck, and the crying or numb children were sent into the temporarily emptied factory buildings.

Things gradually became chaotic.

The second group transferred over consisted of patients, medicines, and doctors from Tacheng Jici Hospital. Amidst the chaos, a semblance of order gradually emerged under the doctors' guidance.

Old Gou and the head of the hospital connected, noted down the urgently needed supplies, and directed the factory workers to urgently bring over the power lines, as the medical equipment required too much electricity.

Elder Long and his assistant were among the last to be transported.

Fortunately, I made a quick decision.

The floodwaters had risen to the second floor, and trucks were barely able to move. Outside the city, in the mudflats, chaos reigned; the situation inside the factory was no better—a chaotic mess, filled with cries and shouts.

To make matters worse, the winds are still picking up, and the rainfall continues unabated.

Even if this typhoon only grazed the edge of Tacheng, it would take at least four or five days for the aftershocks to subside. In Ji Jue's perception, the natural disaster hadn't even truly arrived yet…

Elder Longge's wheelchair was lost, and he was now wearing two clumsy prosthetics and leaning on a cane, limping toward Ji Jue.

Muddy water kept dripping from the hem of his clothes, making him look extremely disheveled.

His usually stern face was forced to force a smile.

"Mr. Ji, could you..."

Ji Jue raised his hand, interrupting him: "It's just a matter of a few more mouths to feed. We've stockpiled a lot of compressed biscuits, more than we can use. Before the typhoon passes, please ask the church to stay here for now. At least we won't lack water or electricity."

"No need for thanks, Elder."

Long paused for a moment, then a bitter and sorrowful smile appeared on his face: "Because besides gratitude, I have nothing left to repay you with."

"Then it should be my responsibility to repay the church."

Ji Jue laughed, “Let’s just consider it the coast’s way of repaying the Chongguang Church. If you do good, you must repay it. Isn’t that the church’s tenet that you taught me?”

"Been taught a lesson."

Longe forced a smile, finally letting out a sigh of relief. He could barely stand and was supported by Ji Jue. Soon, a wheelchair was brought over by the riot cat.

"I remember donating a prosthetic limb to the church before, didn't I?" Ji Jue frowned. "Was it embezzled?"

"No, I sold it. Sorry."

Long awkwardly patted his bare knees: "There are gaps everywhere, there are many places where money is needed, and the wheelchair is quite convenient."

"It's ok."

Ji Jue shook his head indifferently, thought for a moment, and suddenly said, "Anyway, the market on the coast can't be opened up for the time being. As for the prosthetic exoskeleton, let's ask the church to help sell it. It will save me some trouble. Even if we don't make much money, it will still be a source of income."

The elder hesitated for a moment, then nodded decisively:

"Then I won't refuse."

Face? What's the point of having a face? Is having a face even useful?
There are gaps everywhere. After this typhoon, we're almost out of money to rebuild the church. At least we have some income.

Moreover, the church's refusal to sponsor the project was merely a way of preventing the military-industrial enterprises from using it as a shield; it did not want to be complicit in such activities.

The church also has a stake in the coastal industry, in the exoskeleton prosthetics project and promotion. Old Deng, that stingy guy, can't stop smiling when he talks about it. He's boasted so many times that the money is clean and honest, why push it away?
This kind of thing has no trouble selling in the Central Plains.

Surprisingly, a smile appeared on that usually stern and gloomy face.

fleeting.

Shouts rang out.

At the factory gate, a limping figure walked in. The last victim brought in by the last truck was a man with dark, sun-tanned skin, now covered in mud, but he couldn't suppress his smile.

There were also messy plastic bags tied around his waist, it seemed like all his possessions were there.

His arms were bulging, and it was unclear what he was holding.

You can vaguely see colorful plastic, which he carefully holds in his arms.

It was like celebrating the New Year. He shouted another name, looking around, repeating it over and over again, but no one responded. He was stunned for a moment.

They froze.

He started by grabbing people from the church one by one and asking them questions. With each shake of his head, his back gradually became hunched and he began to stagger.

Until, members who couldn't bear it took her to a corner.

In the open space at the edge of the factory, something was faintly rippling under the rag, but then there was no more movement.

He was stunned.

Mustering his courage, he lifted the tattered cloth, but dared not look.

Only the few packets of puffed snacks he had risked his life to retrieve finally fell to the ground.

Ji Jue withdrew his gaze, no longer wanting to look.

A cry rang out, another cry, heart-wrenching and drowned out by the noise, going unnoticed.

Then, Ji Jue realized that, without him noticing, there was crying everywhere.

It's far away, yet so close at hand.

A disheveled and emaciated woman squeezed past the church members' obstruction, grabbed Elder Long's clothes, knelt on the ground, and cried out something. It wasn't the mainstream Central Plains language, but a dialect with a heavy accent, spoken very quickly, which Ji Jue couldn't understand clearly.

All that could be seen were tear tracks on his face, washed out of the mud.

There were no more tears left to shed.

Long listened in silence for a long time, then shook his head helplessly. The woman collapsed to the ground, like an empty shell, with no strength left to struggle.

"What happened?" Ji Jue asked.

Elder Long hesitated for a moment, then sighed hoarsely, "Her son owed money and was arrested and is being forced to work in a factory... you know... those kinds of factories... the church can't get involved..."

The slums of Tacheng are home to all sorts of people, a chaotic mix of all kinds.

This includes production lines for banned drugs.

“She said her son was locked in the basement, and someone saw him when they ran out.” Long hesitated for a moment, then frankly told her, “By now, he’s probably…”

It's obvious to anyone with a brain that when the flood hit, how could those drug dealers possibly think of the slaves locked up in the basement when they were running away?
"……I see."

Ji Jue thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "I'm quite free right now, so I can go take a look. Leave it to me."

The elder hesitated, then offered no further objection.

After finding out the exact location, Ji Jue turned around, pushed open the door, and rushed out, making the most of every second.

There might still be hope, there might still be a chance, or there might not be.

He just wanted to go out for a walk and get some fresh air.

Anything is fine.

I just don't want to hear crying anymore...

(End of this chapter)