Qin Feng was concerned about the danger of landing in an area that had been undisturbed for many years; there was the possibility that unknown gases had built up over time. He expressed this concern to the team, then reminded them to pay attention to the wind and air pressure. Everyone listened to his warnings, then readied themselves to descend. .
Green Dragon jumped first, followed by Zhang Shan. The other two members of the Eagle Team went soon after. Watching everyone land safely, Qin Feng said calmly, "See? Relax. It"s easy."
"Got it," said Lei Ming nervously. He lined himself up on the edge of the cliff, then closed his eyes and jumped. Qin Feng followed at a distance of ten meters, wanting to keep an eye on the captain in case something went wrong.
Their parachutes opened normally, and Lei Ming seemed to be in control. Qin Feng breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that they would be at their destination within two minutes. Down below, Green Dragon had already begun to relax, and he lit up a cigarette to celebrate.
Just then, a group of flamingos flew out from the edge of the cliff. Their screams rang through the canyon as they dove at Lei Ming, their sharp beaks open in anger.
Lei Ming was so frightened that he jerked his body around, trying to steer his parachute away from the birds. He was so focused on avoiding the birds that he didn"t realize where he was headed. The more he moved, the deeper he glided into the canyon, where the winds were much stronger. Suddenly, a gust of wind caught his parachute and blew him quickly to the east. At such a speed, he was bound to collide with the canyon wall. Furthermore, if he wasn"t injured, he"d have a very difficult time returning to their base.
Qin Feng, hurriedly shouted, "Don"t be nervous. Keep your balance. Don"t pull the parachute rope!"
Lei Ming was pulled further and further away, and he began to panic. He hardly heard what Qin Feng said; he was still busy trying to swat the flamingos away from his head.
Green Dragon saw this scene and anxiously called upward, "Captain Qin, don"t go. There is a pressure vortex over there!"
Green Dragon had observed the canyon layout well and knew the dangers Lei Ming was facing now that he"d gone off-course. Strong winds came through the canyon opening to the south. If the canyon had been open on the north side, the winds would be able to pa.s.s through like a river. However, the north side was blocked off, which forced the strong winds to double back on themselves. As a result, they turned into a strong vortex in the center of the canyon, right where Lei Ming was headed.
As Lei Ming"s parachute pulled him in that direction, he felt the wind accelerate. Green Dragon and Qin Feng watched with gritted teeth; they both knew that the current would likely push him into the eastern rock wall. The impact force would be beyond what the human body could handle.
Qin Feng could not let himself hang back and do nothing. He sank his shoulders and forced himself eastward. Soon, his parachute was caught by the vortex, and he was thrown toward the rock wall.
As he got closer, Qin Feng positioned himself toward Lei Ming. A hundred meters from the wall, he threw one end of the climbing rope wrapped around his waist toward Lei Ming. The rope became tangled in Lei Ming"s parachute and pulled it flat. In an instant, Lei Ming was jerked sideways.
Qin Feng struggled to pull Lei Ming toward him, but under the force of the winds, he could not control his balance or reduce the man"s speed.
In a minute, both of them would hit the rock wall.
What should I do?
Qin Feng looked around quickly and saw a tree sticking out of a gap on the north side. The tree stood more than ten meters tall, its branches crisscrossing in every direction. It was extremely dense, with large leaves covering most of its surface.
Well, it"s better than hitting a rock wall, Qin Feng thought dryly.
Qin Feng took out a second climbing rope and wrapped one end around his waist. A sharp triangular hook was tied to the other end. When he was about to hit the rock wall, Qin Feng used all his strength to hurl the hook into the thickest part of the tree.
In front of him, Lei Ming was focused only on the rock wall, and he"d started screaming hysterically.
"Hold on!" Qin Feng shouted, but he barely got the words out before their center of gravity shifted, and they were falling to the north. The southern wind picked them back up, then shoved them straight into the center of the big tree.
Ouch.
Aching all over, Qin Feng slowly stood up. His body had been shredded in more than a dozen places by the sharp branches, and his knees were torn up, but he didn"t think he"d broken any bones.
Lei Ming, on the other hand, seemed to be unconscious. He was held beneath two medium sized branches. Qin Feng leaned over to touch him when he felt something shift.
"Lei Ming!" he cried as the branch that held the man gave out. Lei Ming"s eyes opened, and he wildly reached out over his head. Luckily, he was able to grab a branch and steady himself within the tree.
Qin Feng did not dare to move closer to Lei Ming. The branches of this tree were huge, but the rock wall the tree grew on offered few nutrients. As a result, many branches had withered. Although the tree seemed strong and healthy from the outside, the inside was nearly all dead.
Qin Feng picked up the rope with the hook on the end and tossed it to Lei Ming, shouting, "Grab it!"
Lei Ming quickly grabbed the rope, then slowly leaned back to pull it tight. Qin Feng moved slowly toward the heart of the tree, carefully avoiding any branch that appeared too weak to support his weight. Suddenly, there was an explosion of pink feathers as one of the angry flamingos flew into the tree and dove at Lei Ming. He shouted and began to fall through the air.
Qin Feng braced himself and shouted out, "Hold on to the rope! Be sure to hold on!"
Lei Ming was pushed to the north by the winds blowing beneath the tree, and Qin Feng struggled to hold him. He steadied his legs the best he could, then began to pull the rope towards him. His veins swelled, and blood appeared on his palms.
Down below, Lei Ming fought to keep his hold on the rope. The flamingo had been joined by the rest of his flock, and they were tearing into Lei Ming"s flesh. He couldn"t swat at them, lest he lost his hold on the rope.
Finally, when Qin Feng was near exhaustion, he was able to pull Lei Ming back into the tree. Lei Ming grabbed a lower branch and worked to pull himself up.
With a calm fury, Qin Feng pulled out his dagger and pierced a flamingo that was still flapping around the tree in its chest.
The two men collapsed against the tree trunk.
"Well, what now?" asked Lei Ming with a blank expression.
"We wait," said Qin Feng calmly.
"Wait for what? A plane rescue?" Lei Ming and Qin Feng both knew that that wasn"t happening.
"No, we have to wait for the wind," Qin Feng replied. "Once the wind from the south stops, the air trapped in the vortex will be able to flow back toward the south, and the wind speed and strength will be much less than it is now. We still have our parachutes. We can use them to drift on the wind."
"Are you sure we can get there?" Lei Ming did not entirely understand. After all, Qin Feng couldn"t control the wind. Still, he had no choice but to listen to the main.
"That slope is several hundred meters tall. As long as we can throw a rope down and over, Green Dragon and the others can help pull us in that direction with the time that distance affords us," Qin Feng explained.
Lei Ming listened, then seemed to fall into a trance. "I almost lost my life," he said. "Thank you for saving me.
His words were sincere. After facing death, Lei Ming was better able to understand Qin Feng"s courage. In the past, he hadn"t thought Qin Feng was all that remarkable. However, in the face of a crisis, he clearly knew what to do. He had the brave heart and spirit needed to really be a valuable member of the Chinese army. Lei Ming compared his earlier struggle for fame and fortune to Qin Feng"s bravery and felt deeply ashamed.