It all happened without much suspense. The moment that rubber boat—after some troublesome little girl kicked its turbo into gear—bolted across the beach like a wild horse and plunged more than ten meters into the mangroves, the terrifying force of the impact tore apart the sturdy craft, despite its supposedly cut-, puncture-, and impact-resistant design.
And then!
Amid the passengers' terrified screams, the broken branches whipped them until they were covered in cuts. The tremendous impact sent them sprawling in every direction, and nearly all of them ended up on the ground.
In the chaos and screaming that followed, some of the passengers who'd been perfectly fine moments earlier toppled onto the slowly deflating wreckage, while others rolled into the mud among the mangroves. A few even wound up hanging from branches in bizarre positions.
No one seemed to have been killed, but most of their clothes had been snagged and torn by branches. Their skin had been scratched here and there, too, and the pain and fright left every one of them looking miserable.
After a long while, the shaken group finally tried to get back on their feet. But the muddy ground, standing water, and swamp-like terrain made it difficult to move, leaving them in a sorry state.
"Ow..."
"My poor back... Ah..."
"Ugh—"
"It hurts! It hurts!"
"Rong'er, take it easy. Give me a hand..."
"Tsk!"
"Brother Zhuge, Zhang Chulan was right when he said you had kidney deficiency. One little fall and your back's already given out?"
"Get lost!"
"Your back's the one that's no good!"
"Nothing about you works!"
"So annoying!"
"Annie!"
"Could you not do something so reckless next time?"
"Look at us—we're all covered in mud now."
"Exactly!"
"Look!"
"My clothes are ripped to shreds. This is awful!"
"That was way too reckless!"