In Love, Never Say Never

In love, never say never chapter 741

Now that no one was around to talk to me, the pin-drop silence in the pit intensified the crippling terror within me.

The boggy soil reminded me of the night I had the miscarriage. My body couldn’t help trembling like a leaf.

I couldn’t afford to let fear overtake me, or else I would probably kick the bucket here. There were so many things left undone. I had yet to raise Summer up and achieve my dreams.

“Scarlett, can you hear me? I found some branches. Be careful, I’m dropping them now.” Laurel’s voice came from the opening of the pit.

“Okay, do it,” I replied.

In the next second, some branches fell from above, and she asked, “Scarlett, why did you ask for the branches?”

I felt for the branches on the ground. Holding it in my hand, I knocked against the ground and found that soil around me was pretty solid.

I took a few steps forward hesitantly. “I’m using them to check my surrounding, because I’m afraid that I might fall into another deeper pit.”

“I see, you’re really smart. Hold on, I’m going to find a vine now.”

Then, I could no longer hear her voice. I continued to scan my surrounding with the branch in my hand. After a few steps, I noticed that something was wrong. The soil beneath my feet was too marshy. To my dismay, I found myself sinking gradually.

My heart grew heavy, and I broke out in a cold sweat. At once, I knew that I had stepped into a swamp in the pit.

I raised my head and shouted, “Laurel, are you there?”

Fortunately, she was nearby and rushed over when she heard me. “I’m here.”

“I’m in trouble.” Deep down, I felt a little despondent. “I think I accidentally stepped into a swamp.”

“Ah!” she shrieked all of a sudden. “What should we do now?”

Feeling hopeless, my body sank gradually into the bottomless swamp.

“Don’t sweat it, Laurel. Quickly look for a vine or seek help. I can still hang on for a little longer. Don’t panic!” Trying my very best to keep calm, I racked my brain for a solution, recalling that before the ground I was standing at earlier was solid.

Grateful that I’m still holding the branch, I poked the ground around the swamp. Sure enough, the soil was much harder. Breathing a sigh of relief, I got on my hands and knees to reduce the weight on my feet.

As a result, I would sink at a slower speed.

Boom! Boom! A clap of deafening thunder roared, following by the sound of raindrops pitter-pattered on the ground.

I felt disheartened. Even if I got out of the swamp, I would never be able to climb out of here. Once the rain became heavier, water would accumulate in the pit, and I would get injured or even killed. To make the matter worse, a landslide might happen, and Laurel would be in trouble too.

“Scarlett, are you okay? It’s raining already. What should we do now? Why is Tessa taking so long?”

Outside the pit, Laurel paced up and down in distress. Yet, she had no idea what to do.

The rainwater fell and slowly flowed into the swamp, making it even soggier.

My heart sank. I could only take a gamble now. It would be just my luck if the ground in front of me was still swampy. If it wasn’t, I might pull through this.

Taking a deep breath, I clenched my fists. With all my might, I leaped out of the swamp.

Before I knew it, my feet landed on the area ahead of the swamp. Still, I felt like a cat on a hot tin roof. The moment I noticed I was no longer sinking, but standing on solid ground, my anxiety ceased.

The thunder was ear-splitting that I could barely hear Laurel’s voice. Listening to the sound of rainwater gushing in, I guess that the swamp formed over time due to the stagnant water in the pit.

The marshy ground was originally a flatland. The huge pit came about because the ground was hollow.

A City was in the southwest, where it was mainly covered by forests. After tens of thousands of years of plate motion, there were many coal mines in this area.

Over the past few years, there was no regulation, so the locals were free to do coal mining, leaving behind quite a number of underground mines. Even though the professionals came over for maintenance, the existence of these mines made the ground boggy and unstable.

The prevalence of landslides was caused by the cave-ins of the mines. Rainfall sped up the soil erosion. Hence, with this ten-meter-deep underground pit, the surrounding land could collapse anytime.

I would’ve seen it if I had come during the day, but that wasn’t the case at night when I was as blind as a bat. Once I fell inside, I could only ask for help to get out of it.

“Scarlett, can you hear me? Are you still alright? Don’t be afraid, someone’s coming down to get you.” Laurel’s voice sounded from above.

I lifted my head and answered, “Okay, be careful!”

I was worried about that the person who was coming down might fall into the swamp, so I warned, “Bring a torch when you come down. There’s a swamp down here. Be careful!”

In love, never say never chapter 742

“Got it!” came the voice from above.

Soon, the dark pit was lit up by a beam of light. I remained still, not daring to move a muscle. I squinted against the brightness to see a figure looking down from above, seemingly belonging to a man.

Assuming that it was Armond, I called out in warning, “Armond, be careful. There’s a swamp here and the ground is soft. I’m worried that this area might sink at any moment. Please be careful!”

He didn’t respond, but tied a rope around his waist instead. With the flashlight in one hand, he used the light to find his footing while the other hand groped the soft walls of the pit as he walked in my direction.

The flashlight’s beam was aimed directly at me, so I couldn’t make out Armond’s features. Casting my gaze around, I spotted two slightly deeper pits a short distance away, probably left by my feet earlier.

There was also some muddied undergrowth all around the area, all of which were tea trees, which proved that my guess was right—the ground here had given way not too long ago.

The rain was getting heavier and my clothes were completely soaked by then. I wasn’t sure if the ground beneath my feet could hold my weight, but I had to try making my way forward. When Armond closed in on me, I called out again, “Be careful. Some of the areas are sinkholes!”

“Mm,” he responded just when he reached my side and I was taken aback to hear the familiar voice.

My head whipped up in surprise. “Ashton? What are you doing here?” For some reason, my nerves instantly loosened the moment I saw him and I breathed out an inaudible sigh of relief.

With his lips pressed into a straight line, he raised his brows in provocation. “What? Are you disappointed that it’s me?”

I froze for a split second, but ignored his sarcastic remark and urged, “Let’s get out of here now. This place could sink at any time!”

Needing no further explanation, he grabbed my hand and looked up at the entrance of the pit. “I’ve found her. Tie the rope to a tree and make a dead knot.”

Laurel answered from above, “Okay, got it. Be careful, guys!”

Ashton tied the other end of the rope on his body around mine and instructed, “Follow me

out to hold my hand, but I instinctively drew

unreadable eyes, then withdrew his gaze and

him. The pit’s entrance was seven to eight meters above us and with

collapsing, the people above had to stand a distance away from

wanted to pull myself up the rope, but my arms weren’t strong enough. When I slipped down after a

his own, but it was much more difficult

drenched with rainwater and a layer of mud coated his skin. Even his usually neat and

said, “You go up first. If this goes on, neither of us is getting out of here. The rain’s too heavy. This place may collapse at any second. It’s just too

and pinned me a hard stare. “Would you give up so easily

his question. Realizing that he had misunderstood, I sighed softly. “It’s not what you think it is. Our priority right now is to minimize the loss. We’re both going to end up

fine by me!” he retorted. Disregarding my struggles, he pulled me up and continued climbing

was no easy feat and I fell down once

doing? Can you climb

ordered

by him, he had already broken all of the branches Laurel dropped down just now into

the broken branches into the pit’s wall. Soon, more branches were dropped into the

Rock climbing!

trying to do, so I began snapping the branches with him. He found a rock on the ground and used it to knock the short branches into the wall, making

Ashton did not once complain as he scaled the wall and

distance between us increased to the point where I could no longer pass more stakes to him. Hence, I could only hand him whole branches and let him break them off piece

branches down, they broke them off and put them in a bag before lowering

working together, a large section of the pit’s wall was impaled with stakes. Ashton looked down at me and called

naturally feeling more secure with the stakes to support my weight. Even though I had never learned rock climbing, my survival instincts had kicked in

love, never say never

like everyone else, peered at me with worry lining her

place is prone to sinkholes, especially on rainy days. C’mon,

by a deafening clap of thunder. Everyone couldn’t care less about anything else and immediately scurried toward

area just collapsed!” Tabitha’s boyfriend suddenly

sure enough, a large area of

approximately ten meters and no

gasped in terror. “I saw many tea trees on the mountain. Isn’t it dangerous for the tea farmers there? They

to? If we weren’t looking for

He cast a fleeting gaze at them, but remained otherwise calm. In a polite and sophisticated manner,

lips. “We’re not blaming you. It’s not exactly your fault,

but now that I escaped from that precarious situation, exhaustion hit me

their conversation, my knees suddenly gave out

me before I hit the ground,

at

an authoritative voice, “She’s not injured. She’s just tired after the stress her body was put through. All she needs is a good

feet, but Ashton hugged me close to his body and scooped me up. Both our clothes were wet, but thankfully,

feel his body temperature radiating and also the

my face flushed a crimson

that I would catch a cold, Nora gave me

she was worried I wouldn’t be able to

I cleared my throat awkwardly. “You really don’t need to watch me like that. I’m fine.

for help was loud enough to travel through the forest. Otherwise, only God knows what would’ve happened to you

actions and I looked at her in perplexity. “Didn’t you guys search for me because Tessa

when we didn’t find Ashton. He came back with Rachel later on. It turns out that she sprained her ankle and couldn’t walk back.

I blurted out, “Then, has

between her brows. “I would’ve forgotten all about her if

When it started to rain, we got worried, so we hiked toward the mountain. That’s when we heard Laurel calling for help and found out

pursed my lips and

silence. “Did you guys tell

I nodded solemnly. “Yeah.”

together as her brows drew together. “Damn! That woman is seriously vile. She talks about virtue and kindness every chance she gets, but she’s

mum and resumed changing my clothes. Suddenly, I felt all

rest

life-and-death situation, everyone was bone tired. Initially, Nora wanted to accompany me in my tent, but she was

of them, I lay

never say never

I jolted awake

I turned on my side, I realized with a

a scream, a hand shot out to grab mine

from my shock. “Ashton, what are

unexpected presence had brought scared the daylights out of me, but gradually, I regained my bearings and furrowed my brows. Shouldn’t he be with Rachel now? Why

my lips and uttered icily, “What are you

of thunder boomed overhead, and I flinched closer to him. However, he didn’t seem to notice the subtle movement as he stuffed a

quiet and for a while, I

he hugged me and

begin with, I gradually dozed off in his arms and slept through the

next day, and the morning air was slightly humid due to the heavy rain from the previous

slightly incredulous when

like the wind. I would’ve thought I hallucinated everything if not for

for a while, I remained in the same position. When Nora came into my tent and saw me lying down with my eyes open, she paused briefly and

hurts.” My throat was so dry I could barely

I may be down with a

scratchy voice. Upon touching my forehead with the back of her hand, she exclaimed, “You’re

should pack our things right now and go back to A

say something, but my

the tent and scanned my face with his ominous eyes. Then, a frown appeared between his brows when he

and suggested, “Mr. Fuller, you should take her to the base to see a doctor first. There’s a

was buzzing with a pounding headache. I knew that nothing I said would make a difference, so I simply went along with

to the base while the others

after getting into the car. My body felt light, as though I

temperature fluctuated as I drifted in and out of consciousness, and I was plagued by an

vaguely saw someone standing beside me. When Ashton’s face came into view, I reached out to grab him, but my

on the verge of breaking down after several failed attempts. As my emotions spiraled out of

the muffled sound of his voice reached my

few tries, I realized that I couldn’t open my mouth, let