This old man was completely unafraid of Yuan Jiang's threats.
Yuan Jiang's face darkened as well.
He stood close beside me, glaring coldly at the old man.
The old man ignored the way we were looking at him. "Hold steady!" With that, he tapped his bamboo pole, and the boat left the shore.
While we had been onshore, the boat had looked steady enough, but we had not sensed its speed. Yet once we stood at the bow, we realized it was frighteningly fast, like an arrow loosed from a bow!
Yuan Jiang turned to look at me. "So fast!"
"Not just fast. It's steady too. Look at the river's surface."
Only then did he look toward the river, and the color drained from his face.
In fact, Yuan Jiang and I had overlooked certain details because of the boat's sudden appearance. For instance, its incredible speed—and what we were seeing now: despite the boat's movement, it did not stir up a single ripple on the water.
Although the river was raging, even the swiftest current should have been altered by a boat moving through it. Yet nothing had changed. That could only mean one thing: this boat might not have been traveling on the water at all. It only appeared to be.
I shook my head at Yuan Jiang. Though I was full of questions as well, I knew this was not the time to say anything, much less provoke the old man before us.
Though I could swim, I could not guarantee that there was nothing else strange in this river. In such a raging current, it was even uncertain whether I could make it safely to the other side.
As for Yuan Jiang, he quietly told me that he could not swim.
I was completely speechless. If