Kick Tang San into a Ditch Instead?

Ye Lin bent down, picked Ning Rongrong up, and settled her into his basket.

There was just enough room for her to curl up inside. But once her weight was added,

Ye Lin's knees buckled. He gritted his teeth before he managed to steady his stride again.

The basket had already held over a hundred pounds of stone. With another person added,

more than two hundred pounds pressed against his back, and his breathing grew heavy at once.

Oscar caught up from behind. Without a word, he took ten kilograms of stone from Ye Lin's basket and added it to his own load.

Zhu Zhuqing came over too. She took back the twenty pounds of stone Ye Lin had taken from her earlier and returned them to her basket.

Xiao Wu followed, moving ten pounds of stone from Ye Lin's basket to her own.

The load on Ye Lin's back grew much lighter. He caught his breath, and his steps steadied a little—but only a little.

He gritted his teeth, adjusted the basket, and kept walking at the same pace.

Tang San walked at the very back, his steps already starting to stagger.

He kept his head down, eyes fixed on the mountain path stretching ahead beneath his feet. At last, he could no longer hold back the thought in his heart.

Doesn't anyone feel sorry for me? I'm a support-type Soul Master too. We're a team.

I've carried twenty pounds of stone this whole time! Even if I were made of iron, I couldn't keep this up!

Several people nearby heard his thoughts, and the same reaction passed through their minds.

A team? Who said we were on a team with you?

You're full of nasty little schemes.

We're not on your team.

You'd stab us in the back!

They walked another twenty kilometers.

Ning Rongrong woke in Ye Lin's basket. Realizing she was still curled up inside it, she hurriedly struggled to get out.

Ye Lin bent down to let her onto the ground. Once she had her footing, she moved her arms and legs. She was still a little weak, but she could walk on her own.

She quickly caught up with the group. Without her weight in his basket, Ye Lin felt much lighter, and some spring returned to his steps.

But it did not last long. Five kilometers later, Oscar began to weave.

His eyelids grew heavier, and his vision blurred.

Then, on an uphill stretch, his knees gave way and he pitched forward.

Ye Lin reached for him but was too late. Oscar lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

Zhu Zhuqing began to stagger too.

She gritted her teeth and managed a few more steps before she tipped sideways. Ye Lin caught her.

At the back, Tang San's feet stumbled over the loose stones. His vision swam, and his knees buckled twice.

He pitched forward and landed face-first on the gravel road.

His awareness faded for a moment. He struggled to push himself up, but his arms had no strength left.

Ye Lin stood in the middle of the group.

Oscar lay unconscious on his back, he held the barely upright Zhu Zhuqing with his left hand, and Tang San lay on the ground to his right.

His gaze swept over the others.

He drew a deep breath and spoke, his voice so hoarse it was barely audible. "We need to redistribute the load. Give the stones Oscar, Zhu Zhuqing, and Tang San were carrying to Boss Dai, Xiao Wu, and Fatty. Ning Rongrong only needs to take five kilograms."

Dai Mubai, Xiao Wu, and Ma Hongjun said nothing. Each moved stones from Oscar's, Zhu Zhuqing's, and Tang San's baskets into their own.

Ning Rongrong came over as well. She took five kilograms from Tang San's basket and added it to her own, which had grown much lighter.

Ye Lin bent down and settled Oscar securely on his back, then looked at Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San, who lay on the ground unable to rise.

Gritting his teeth, he picked Zhu Zhuqing up and held her against his chest, supporting her with one arm.

Then he looked at Tang San and fell silent for a moment.

Dai Mubai stood nearby, watching Tang San lie helpless on the ground. "Just leave Tang San here. We're all at our limit. If you drag another person along, you won't make it either."

Ye Lin shook his head. "No. We're a team."

He paused, drew Zhu Zhuqing closer against him, and used his free hand to untie a rope from his waist.

He fastened one end beneath Tang San's armpits, wrapped it around twice, and tied it tight. He secured the other end around his own waist.

He pulled Tang San up from where he had fallen and turned him onto his side, then adjusted the tension in the rope.

Zhu Zhuqing stirred faintly in his arms and opened her eyes in a daze. Finding herself in Ye Lin's arms again, she felt her ears flush. But she soon closed her eyes, too exhausted to struggle.

Ye Lin took a deep breath. The rope tightened around his waist. He had one person to drag behind him, another in his arms, and a third on his back, not to mention the stones in his basket.

Altogether, his load was nearly four hundred pounds.

His knees bent, then he forced them straight.

When he took his first step, gravel crunched beneath his feet. He pitched forward before regaining his balance.

He did not stop. He fixed his gaze on the darkening road ahead and kept walking, one step at a time.

His vision began to blur. The shadows of trees and the rocks beside the road ran together until he could no longer tell the path from the slope. He could only judge his direction by what he felt beneath his feet.

But he kept going.

Forward.

I have to keep moving forward.

That was the only thought left in his head. He thought of nothing else.

With two kilometers left to go, Oscar woke first.

He opened his eyes on Ye Lin's back and immediately struggled to get down. "Ye Lin, put me down. I can walk."

Ye Lin said nothing more and bent to let him onto the ground.

Oscar's legs nearly gave out when his feet touched solid ground. He braced himself against a nearby rock for a couple of seconds, then hurried to catch up, working the numbness out of his arms as he walked.

Zhu Zhuqing woke soon after.

The first thing she noticed was that Ye Lin was carrying her in his arms. Her face was almost against his chest, and she could smell sweat on his clothes.

Her ears burned red. She pushed against his shoulder, slipped out of his arms, and landed on her feet. She stumbled once, then caught her balance.

Keeping her head down, she hurried over to the group and shouldered her basket, which had grown much lighter.

Tang San woke too.

More precisely, the pain woke him.

Lying facedown had put his weight on his hips and knees. His backside had scraped against the rough gravel road for nearly twenty kilometers.

His once-sturdy trousers had long since been ground into strips, and most of his underwear had torn too. Both cheeks were exposed to the gravel. After being dragged over the stones again and again, they were scraped raw and bloody.