It was already six in the morning.
Inside the cave, Nie Xiaoyu, Gu Xiaozhuang, and the rescue soldiers like Xiao Zhao had not slept all night. They finally reached the end of the underground river, by the large pool. Looking at the dark surface of the water, apart from a few small fish surfacing and creating ripples, the water was calm and waveless.
"What do we do now?"
Gu Xiaozhuang yawned, shining his flashlight on the surface of the pool. He said, "It goes without saying that Doctor Wan and the others must have thought there was a passage underwater leading outside, so they must have dived down."
"Yes, there are footprints here, one man and one woman. It must be Doctor Wan and them."
Xiao Zhao looked at the footprints by the pool, left by Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang.
"What if there's no exit leading outside underwater?" a soldier said.
This made Gu Xiaozhuang and Xiao Zhao exchange glances, then turn to look at Nie Xiaoyu. She was a bit tired because she hadn't had a good night's sleep searching for Wan Yunting and them.
"I'll go take a look."
Gu Xiaozhuang handed his flashlight to Xiao Zhao and started to take off his clothes.
"But we don't have any diving equipment now," a soldier said.
"No need, I'll just go take a look."
As Gu Xiaozhuang spoke, Nie Xiaoyu, holding a tablet, looked at the geological map of the cave and said, "No need to go down. Below this pool is another mountain in the southwest direction of Ling Mountain, which is here!"
Gu Xiaozhuang, Xiao Zhao, and the others crowded over, looking at the spot Nie Xiaoyu pointed to on the tablet. Gu Xiaozhuang immediately said, "Then let's go down and dive straight through."
"Can you hold your breath underwater for six minutes?" Nie Xiaoyu asked.
"Six minutes? No,"
Gu Xiaozhuang shook his head and said, "My longest breath-holding record is four minutes."
Nie Xiaoyu pointed to the pool and said, "According to the figures surveyed by the engineers, it takes six to seven minutes to swim out from here!"
Xiao Zhao was shocked and said, "That means if Doctor Wan and them wanted to get out, they would have to hold their breath underwater for six to seven minutes to swim out. How is that possible!"
Because ordinary people can hold their breath underwater for a maximum of two to three minutes, exceptional ones for three to four minutes. Only those who have received professional training can hold their breath for six to seven minutes, or even longer.
"Doctor Wan is not an ordinary person. Maybe he can do it!" Gu Xiaozhuang said.
"But what about that female doctor?"
Xiao Zhao said, "Could she be like Doctor Wan?"
"If Doctor Wan brought her with him, maybe it's possible..."
Gu Xiaozhuang and Xiao Zhao began to argue...
Then, Nie Xiaoyu, standing by, took out her satellite phone and reported the situation to headquarters, while also requesting Cai Guowu to immediately send people to the southwest side of Ling Mountain to search for Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang.
As for whether they could successfully swim out from under the pool, Nie Xiaoyu had diving equipment sent over and they directly dived into the pool from the cave.
If Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang did not succeed, perhaps their bodies could still be recovered...
By this time, the sky outside was gradually brightening. The morning sun was rising, and the crisp sounds of birds in the forest woke up Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang, who were sleeping embraced by the pool. They took off their wet outer jackets, covered in dew, and saw that it was already half past six in the morning. They looked at each other and smiled, then helped each other up.
Wan Yunting stretched. Gu Luotang squatted by the pool and washed her face, becoming completely awake. She turned and called out, "Brother Yunting, come wash your face too."
"Okay."
Wan Yunting went over and squatted down, washing his face and feeling refreshed. Gu Luotang smiled gently, took a towel, and wiped his face. Wan Yunting smiled, pulled her up, and said, "Let's start descending the mountain."
"Okay..."
So, they tidied up and began to descend the mountain.
But on the back mountain, it was already the sixth day.
Fang Yanxi, Jiang Peipei, and Huang Yuqing, along with Secretary Lin Xiaoqi, had already returned because there were many company matters. Fang Yanxi had to let her return first to help handle them.
Second Brother Wan Dongming, Jin Xiuwen, Dai Qiuyue, Xu Lingwei, and junior brother Li Zihang were entrusted by Wan Yunting to protect Fang Yanxi.
Ling Wei, Kuang Long, Han Duoduo, Fierce Tiger, and a group of brothers were also there. They had been waiting here for a full three to four days. Today was the sixth day since Wan Yunting was trapped inside. Yesterday, Wang Weicai's body was found one after another, and everyone felt a sense of despair.
Although Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang had not yet been found, after so many days, everyone unanimously believed that they were also dead.
Now, everyone's faces were gaunt. Especially Fang Yanxi, Jiang Peipei, and Second Brother Wan Dongming. They had not had a good night's sleep during this time, and waiting for news was like slow torture. When the soldiers came, they were both expectant and fearful, dreading to hear bad news.
It was already past nine in the morning. Ling Wei finally stood up and sighed, "Let's go back."
Kuang Long and Fierce Tiger were startled and looked at each other. In fact, after waiting for so many days, they also believed that Wan Yunting was dead.
Li Zihang was eating instant noodles when he saw Ling Wei and her group start packing up to go down the mountain.
He turned to his senior sister Xu Lingwei, who was sitting next to him, also eating a bowl of instant noodles, and said, "Senior Sister, could Junior Brother Wan really be dead?"
Xu Lingwei buried her head in her instant noodles and did not speak, but Fang Yanxi, Jiang Peipei, and Huang Yuqing nearby heard it and felt inexplicably upset.
"No matter what, I will wait here for Third Brother. Even if I die, I will see his body..."
"No need to see his body!"
Just then, Nie Xiaoyu, Gu Xiaozhuang, Xiao Zhao, and their group came down. Nie Xiaoyu said to everyone here, "They are not dead, and they have successfully escaped the cave. They should be in the southwest direction of the mountain now. We have already sent people to look for them."
"Really?"
At this, Jin Xiuwen, Wan Dongming, Fang Yanxi, Jiang Peipei, and the others all stood up.
Even Ling Wei, who was preparing to descend the mountain, turned her head. Nie Xiaoyu nodded and said, "Yes, you can now go down to the resettlement camp. When we find them, we will bring them back directly. Perhaps, they might have already returned to the camp..."
At this time, Wan Yunting was pulling Gu Luotang and had walked out of the forest, appearing on a mountain road below.
Below was the county town of Lingyun County, but half of the county town's buildings near the mountain were buried within the collapsed Ling Mountain.
"Brother Yunting, should we go over there?" Gu Luotang asked.
"No need."
Wan Yunting looked at several military vehicles of the rescue team that appeared ahead and smiled happily, "Someone is here to pick us up."
"Captain, look quickly, aren't those two in front them?"
A soldier in the vehicle saw Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang standing by the road ahead, waving at them. The driver immediately slammed on the brakes, and they all got out and ran over, then stared at Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang with wide eyes. One soldier even took out his phone and flipped through two photos. It was them. After comparison, "It's them..."
"Are you here to find us?" Wan Yunting asked happily with a smile.
"Your name is Wan Yunting, and your name is Gu Luotang?" the squad leader soldier pointed at them to confirm.
"Yes."
Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang nodded and smiled.
"Great."
The squad leader was excited. He turned to the soldier beside him and said, "Quick, call headquarters immediately and tell them we've found them."
"Yes."
The soldier immediately took out his satellite phone and called headquarters. Cai Guowu was also overjoyed to learn that Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang had been found. He immediately instructed the soldiers to escort them back safely.
"Are you alright? Do you need any help?"
The squad leader looked at Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang, who were covered in dirt. They both shook their heads and smiled, "We are not injured. Can we have some food first? We didn't eat breakfast."
"Okay, get in the car first. I'll take you back now," the squad leader said with a smile.
"Mm..."
Wan Yunting nodded and, pulling Gu Luotang, got into the car. The squad leader then turned the car around. The soldier sitting in the passenger seat quickly took out some small bread and mineral water and handed them to Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang sitting in the back to eat...
At this time, at the disaster relief camp in Xinxiu Community.
"Elder Jiang, Elder Gu, good news..."
Huang Jingshan, with an excited face, rushed into a tent and saw Gu Yuanbai lying in bed, along with Jiang Yichun, Ding Huixiang, and Qi Miaomiao sitting beside him. Huang Jingshan shouted, "The army just sent news that they found Yunting and Luotang."
"What, is it true..."
At that moment, Gu Luotang, who was lying on the iron bed with a haggard look and pale old face, became excited.
"It's true. They are being sent back. They should arrive very soon," Huang Jingshan said.