American homeless people, surviving in the city

Chapter 151 A Short Story in the Rain

Lynch didn't hesitate for long.

This was a matter of life and death for both of them, and he couldn't afford to think too much about it.

He composed himself and then spoke calmly, "Sylvia."

"...Hmm?" Sylvia forced herself to stay awake and let out a nasal sound to indicate that she had heard Lynch's call.

Lynch: "Let's take off our clothes."

4

..Uh-huh???"

Sylvia instinctively agreed as usual, but soon, even though her mind was too tired and her reaction was a beat slow, she realized that something was wrong.

In the firelight, Lin Qi could see that her face, which had been extremely pale, had instantly regained some color.

Sylvia cried out in a panic, "Wait...wait, wait a minute! What are you saying?!"

"I said I trusted you, but that's not what I meant! You can't take my trust unconditionally!"

In her haste, even her already weak voice sounded somewhat lively.

Lin Qi sighed. He knew that if he spoke up, this awkward situation would inevitably occur, but for the sake of their lives, he had to do it.

So he slowly explained, "...That's not what I meant. It's just that we're all wearing soaking wet clothes, which makes us very susceptible to hypothermia. The best solution is for us to take off our clothes and dry them by the campfire."

"Eh?"

Sylvia was taken aback, but immediately understood what Lynch meant. Her face flushed even more. "Um, ah, oh... umm, I understand, I knew it... um, what you said makes sense, but one..."

Her tone clearly showed some hesitation, and she mumbled incoherently, making some noises.

Seeing this, Lin Qi continued calmly, "Since you've trusted me so many times, please trust me this time too. If the rescuers don't arrive in time, hypothermia can be fatal."

"Of course, I don't have the strength to force you to do anything... but I have to tell you first that I'm going to take my clothes off now."

"Huh? Feed—! Don't do that yet!"

Before Sylvia could finish speaking, she watched as Lynch slowly raised his hand and began to take off his clothes.

The process was anything but graceful. Blood, rainwater, mud, and dried scabs mingled on his body, making his clothes almost completely stick to him. When he took off his clothes, Lin Qi felt as if he had peeled off a layer of skin.

The process of undressing inevitably touched the wounds all over his body, and the feeling of tearing fabric off the wounds gave him a feeling of being slowly tortured.

As Lin Qi exerted his strength, he cried out in pain countless times.

Sylvia watched all this quietly from the side. At first, her slightly flushed face revealed that she still had some erotic fantasies in her mind, but when she saw Lynch's pained expression and heard his exclamations, her heart calmed down completely.

This is simply about survival; staying alive is the sole purpose of all actions.

After some effort, Lin Qi finally managed to strip off all his clothes. A T-shirt that was already torn to shreds.

A T-shirt, a pair of loose trousers, and a pair of shoes and socks soaked in mud.

He arranged them one by one around the fire, waiting for them to dry.

However, considering Sylvia's presence, Lynch kept his underwear on. This small piece of fabric could still be dried by his body heat and the warmth of the campfire.

He then moved closer to the fire, changing his position to bring his hands, feet, chest, and abdomen as close to the fire as possible, so that his extremities and the areas with the richest blood vessels could warm up as quickly as possible.

Only then did his body finally feel a rare warmth.

As long as the campfire doesn't go out, he can quickly restore his body temperature to a stable level.

After doing all this, Lin Qi collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted. He wanted to close his eyes, but he knew he couldn't sleep under these circumstances.

Besides, Sylvia's problem hasn't been solved yet.

After catching his breath, he looked at Sylvia again: "I've already demonstrated it once, how about you?"

"Well... in that case, we'll have to do as they say. After all, life is more important... you're right..."

Sylvia didn't hesitate any longer and readily agreed. However, although she agreed quickly, her actions were still hesitant, and she kept muttering to herself, as if responding to Lynch or trying to convince herself.

She gently pinched the corner of her clothes, but hesitated to make any further move.

Seeing this, Lin Qi chuckled, "Is it really necessary? This is a matter of life and death, is it really necessary to care so much?"

"...I thought you Americans didn't care much about this kind of thing."

"What did you say?" Sylvia raised an eyebrow slightly, looking somewhat displeased. She scoffed, "It's true that there are quite a few people who don't care about this... In fact, as far as I know, many celebrities are quite open about it."

"But I'm different! Our Lopez family has a history spanning hundreds of years, with Spanish aristocratic blood! We're not like these rude Americans."

...Although he hadn't expected that in the 21st century, someone would still sigh with such pride about their noble lineage, Lynch could still sense that Sylvia's pride was genuine.

"...Okay, okay, whatever you say." Lin Qi smiled, then simply closed his eyes. "Since you care, then I'll just close my eyes, okay?"

"I'm thinking about your safety. In an emergency, don't worry about anything else."

"...Okay, alright." Sylvia pursed her lips, remained silent for a moment, and finally nodded. "But, no peeking!"

"Of course. We've come this far, how could I possibly have the energy to peek?" Lin Qi said with a wry smile.

"...Oh, right."

Sylvia nodded blankly, then suddenly remembered something: "...But you're not allowed to fall asleep! Absolutely not allowed to fall asleep!"

"Uh-huh."

Lin Qi gave a perfunctory hum.

With Lynch's assurance, Sylvia finally felt relieved. Lynch closed his eyes, and in the darkness, he heard the rustling sound of fabric against fabric.

Of course, Sylvia's cries of anguish were also indispensable.

The rustling of fabric continued for a short while, then stopped. Just as Lynch thought Sylvia had finished dealing with her clothes, he suddenly heard her voice, tinged with tears, say, "...Waaah, I can't take it off..."

"...What's wrong?"

Lynch instinctively tried to open his eyes, but Sylvia's predictable, soft shout startled him back: "Don't open your eyes!"

Then, somewhat helplessly, she said, "...My arm is broken, I can't use my strength...I can't take that sleeve off..."

Faced with this unexpected problem, Lin Qi was momentarily at a loss. His mind went blank for two seconds before he tentatively asked, "...What should we do? Do you need my help?"

"

"How can you help me take off my clothes with your eyes closed!" Sylvia shouted.

"Oh, that's true."

Lynch was at a loss, but Sylvia just sighed.

Then, she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, grabbed the sleeve that was stuck to her severed arm with her healthy arm, and pulled with all her might!

With a cry of pain, she managed to tear off her clothes using only brute force!

The price was that her severed arm was also violently impacted by that force during the process, causing her so much pain that tears almost streamed down her face.

...It seems she really cares. This thought suddenly popped into Lin Qi's mind.

In any case, after a series of difficult attempts, the two finally succeeded in solving the hypothermia problem.

After Lynch heard the rustling of the fabric disappear, he heard a series of sparse sounds coming from the other end of the fire, as if Sylvia was imitating his posture as she warmed herself by the fire.

Sylvia, who had moved closer to the fire, let out a sigh of relief.

Having resolved this last problem, Lin Qi felt completely at ease. Furthermore, as he warmed himself by the fire with his eyes closed, an overwhelming sense of weariness washed over him.

To keep himself from falling asleep, Lin Qi spoke first: "Since there's nothing else to do now, let's chat for a while."

7

"Speaking of which, I've always been curious, Sylvia... what does your family do? I remember your family is quite wealthy."

""

"I've never understood why these cults would target ordinary people like us, but why would they dare to target a family like yours?"