"Ah..."
The tremors of the earthquake grew more violent, and the rocks falling from the cave ceiling became larger. The path ahead instantly collapsed, with countless stones crashing down, cutting off the escape route for Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang, as if the sky and earth were tearing apart.
At this moment, both felt as if they were about to die here.
"Go this way..."
Seeing a place to take shelter ahead, Wan Yunting grabbed Gu Luotang and rushed towards it. Discovering a small space inside where they could hide, Wan Yunting pushed Gu Luotang into it quickly...
Boom...
The next second, countless rocks fell, sealing them in. Wan Yunting held Gu Luotang tightly in his arms, shielding her as they hid inside...
Outside, with the earthquake, the natural cave of the underground river began to collapse, kicking up swirling dust and debris. Wan Yunting held Gu Luotang, hiding within, the violent shaking making it feel as if the entire world was caving in.
Gu Luotang's delicate body trembled in his embrace, her hands clinging tightly to his strong waist...
Even Wan Yunting, in the face of such a natural disaster, felt helpless. He believed that he and Gu Luotang might perish here...
"Hurry up and go..."
Meanwhile, for Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang's group, the violent shaking from the strong earthquake made it difficult to even stand, let alone run.
Adding to the already difficult terrain within the cave, Huang Jingshan and Wei Renxin, along with Qi Miaomiao and the workers who were digging the tunnel, stumbled along, facing the immense danger of rocks constantly falling from the ceiling. In their struggle for survival, they desperately scrambled towards the cave exit...
Bang!
"Ah Tao..."
A worker cried out in alarm. A tunnel worker was instantly crushed by a stone weighing several hundred jin, only his head exposed, blood continuously gushing from his mouth, his wide, staring eyes filled with terror and despair...
The surrounding workers cried out in grief at the sight, but the earthquake allowed them no time to linger. Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang, seeing the worker crushed by the rock, knew there was no saving him and shouted, "Everyone, hurry!"
"Go..."
The workers understood they couldn't stop. Dragging others along, they hurried away, leaving behind the worker Ah Tao, who had been crushed. His trembling hand reached out towards them, blood pouring from his mouth, his pleading eyes seeming to beg them not to leave him alone.
Ultimately, his head slumped to the side, and he remained behind, instantly buried by the collapsing rocks...
Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang urged everyone onward, stumbling towards the cave exit...
"The exit is just ahead, everyone, hurry!"
Finally, Gu Xiaozhuang spotted the exit and shouted with exhilaration.
Huang Jingshan and Wei Renxin supported Qi Miaomiao, and along with the tunnel workers, they desperately ran towards the exit. They finally emerged, swaying, and collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath...
Rumble...
The cave entrance collapsed instantly, burying everything within.
They also saw the southeastern face of Ling Mountain. Due to the large fissures that had appeared from previous tremors, this current earthquake caused one-third of the mountainside to collapse, falling directly towards Lingshan County at the foot of the mountain...
"Everyone, run!"
Rescue personnel on the ground saw the mountainside collapsing and falling, and immediately scrambled towards safety with all their might...
In an instant, this third of the mountainside destroyed and buried most of the buildings and houses in Lingshan County, kicking up billowing dust that enveloped half the sky.
Even Jiang Yichun and Ding Huixiang, at the disaster relief point in Xinxiu Community, watched clearly. The immense sound rumbled like the sky falling, instilling fear in their hearts.
Facing such natural disasters, humanity was like ants, utterly powerless...
"I wonder how Xiao Wan and the others are doing!"
At this moment, Jiang Yichun's eyes were filled with worry. He had a vague sense of foreboding, making him feel uneasy and restless.
"Old Jiang, don't overthink it. Xiao Wan and the others will surely be fine," Li Chengde and Shen Yingrui tried to comfort him.
Because Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang were assisting the soldiers with the rescue, and there was still no news of them, Jiang Yichun and the others were extremely worried...
"Quick, they're up here..."
At this time, on the back mountain of Lingshan, Cai Guowu led a group of soldiers up the mountain. Upon seeing Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang, leading Huang Jingshan, Wei Renxin, Qi Miaomiao, and the tunnel workers down, he rushed towards them.
Cai Guowu and his men greeted them, asking, "Xiaoyu, are you alright?"
Nie Xiaoyu, Gu Xiaozhuang, and the other soldiers saluted Cai Guowu and shook their heads slightly, saying, "We are fine. However, during the descent, one of the tunnel workers was hit by falling rocks from the earthquake and sacrificed his life. The rest of us are out."
Cai Guowu looked at the tunnel workers. Given that the earthquake had happened earlier, their escape from the Lingshan cave was already a stroke of luck. "You all did very well."
"It's just that Doctor Wan and Doctor Gu, along with Wang Wei, couldn't make it out," Gu Xiaozhuang said with a sad sigh.
Mentioning Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, Huang Jingshan, and the other two became even more distressed.
Cai Guowu had already been informed of the situation. Now, with such a strong earthquake, even if Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and the soldier Wang Wei were trapped inside earlier, facing such a powerful tremor, it was unlikely they could have survived.
"Let everyone go down the mountain and return first."
Cai Guowu said this and immediately signaled the rescue soldiers behind him to quickly escort the tunnel workers down the mountain.
"Let's go."
Nie Xiaoyu also turned to Huang Jingshan and Wei Renxin. However, Qi Miaomiao tearfully said, "Aren't we going to save Brother Yunting and Senior Sister?"
Her words startled Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang. Huang Jingshan and Wei Renxin sighed and said, "Miaomiao, let's go back first."
"No, I'm not going back."
Qi Miaomiao shook off the two of them, squatted on the ground, and said tearfully, "Wuwu, they must still be alive. I want to wait here for Brother Yunting and Senior Sister to return..."
"This..."
Huang Jingshan and Wei Renxin exchanged glances, unsure what to do with Qi Miaomiao.
At this moment, another strong tremor shook the ground. Cai Guowu looked back and urged, "What are you all standing around for? Hurry and go."
Nie Xiaoyu nodded and then went to forcefully pull Qi Miaomiao up, saying, "Let's go back first. After the earthquake passes, we will come back to search for them."
"Yes, Miaomiao, the earthquake hasn't passed yet. Don't make things difficult for Officer Nie and the others," Wei Renxin said, pointing to Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang, trying to persuade her.
"But if I go back like this, I won't be able to explain to my master," Qi Miaomiao said, crying.
"What has happened has happened. We can't change anything, but I believe Old Wan and the others will be fine," Huang Jingshan said, pulling Qi Miaomiao down the mountain to comfort her. "Don't worry, didn't Officer Nie say that they would come back to search after the earthquake? You go back with us first, and I'll explain to Old Jiang and Old Gu..."
Thus, Qi Miaomiao was led down the mountain, being comforted and pulled along.
"Quick, get everyone into the vehicles and back..."
Cai Guowu instructed the soldiers to get the tunnel workers into the rescue vehicles to prepare to return to the disaster relief point. He then saw Nie Xiaoyu and the others coming down and immediately asked, "By the way, Xiaoyu, when you entered the cave earlier, did you encounter anyone else?"
"Anyone else? No," Gu Xiaozhuang replied.
Nie Xiaoyu also looked at Cai Guowu with confusion. Cai Guowu continued, "Not long after you entered the cave, two people stole one of our rescue vehicles. Then we arrived here and found the stolen rescue vehicle parked over there!"
Upon hearing this, Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang were puzzled. Cai Guowu said, "So I suspect those two people who stole our rescue vehicle also entered the Lingshan cave!"
Xiao Zhao said, "But we didn't find anyone else inside!"
"Yes," the other soldiers chimed in.
"Wait!"
At this moment, Gu Xiaozhuang remembered something and his eyes widened. "Earlier, in the cave, on the way back after receiving Officer Nie's call, Doctor Wan suddenly heard someone speaking, but we didn't hear anything. Only he heard it."
"We found it strange, so we went to investigate, but we didn't find anyone else. However, Doctor Wan was very certain that someone was there. According to this, perhaps there were indeed other people in the cave at that time!"
"Right..."
The soldiers who were with Gu Xiaozhuang's team also nodded in agreement.
Nie Xiaoyu and Xiao Zhao, along with the other soldiers, of course, were unaware of this. Nie Xiaoyu asked Cai Guowu, "Have you investigated the identities of those two people?"
"Still investigating," Cai Guowu replied. "However, according to our soldier witnesses, those two were wearing black trench coats and carrying bags. They were wearing masks when they forcibly took the car, so we couldn't see their faces clearly."
"That's difficult to investigate," Gu Xiaozhuang said. "There are so many people coming into the disaster area now, all sorts of people, and if you can't see their faces clearly, it's hard to track them down."
"If they really followed us in, are they in the cave now?" Xiao Zhao speculated.
"It's also possible they've already come out," Gu Xiaozhuang said.
"Chief, we should go back," a soldier called out.
Cai Guowu nodded, waved to Nie Xiaoyu, and said, "Alright, let's go back first. Whether those two are in the cave, have already come out, or never entered the cave, we haven't clarified anything yet. So, we can only arrange for people to keep an eye on the surroundings and see if we can catch them."
"Mm..."
Gu Xiaozhuang and the others nodded. In truth, everyone was still confused, not knowing who the two people who robbed the rescue vehicle that Cai Guowu mentioned were. If they truly followed Nie Xiaoyu into the cave, what was their objective?