"There's a snake!"
Less than ten meters into the cave, Gu Xiaozhuang and Xiao Zhao, who were leading the way, immediately saw a venomous silver-ringed snake crawling out of the cracks in the rocks. They quickly told everyone to stop.
"Don't scream!"
Wan Yunting immediately pointed at Huang Jingshan behind him, telling him not to make a fuss.
Although Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao were also afraid of snakes, after hearing Wan Yunting's words, Qi Miaomiao directly covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from screaming.
"Is it gone?"
Nie Xiaoyu held the flashlight, and Xiao Zhao shone it on the silver-ringed snake. After the snake crawled into a crevice and didn't come out, he waved for everyone to walk past it.
"Ah..."
The next second, Qi Miaomiao screamed. Wan Yunting, who was beside her, reacted quickly and grabbed her arm to steady her. "Are you okay?"
Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang, who were in front, turned back. Qi Miaomiao said with embarrassment, "I'm fine, I just tripped on a rock."
"Watch your step, the path is uneven."
Seeing this, Nie Xiaoyu reminded them and told Gu Xiaozhuang and Xiao Zhao to continue leading the way.
The next stretch of the path was smooth. Although they encountered various creatures living in the dark caves, Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, and even Huang Jingshan overcame the difficulties.
"Let's take a break."
After walking for more than an hour, and with the cave being damp and stuffy, everyone was sweating profusely. Nie Xiaoyu asked Wan Yunting to let them rest for a while.
Gu Xiaozhuang then came over with a tablet. This was a 3D topographic map created by a tunnel excavation engineer who had previously surveyed the entire Ling Mountain. It also had positioning and marked the location of Nie Xiaoyu and the others.
"How far is it?"
Wan Yunting also came over. Nie Xiaoyu glanced at him, zoomed in on the topographic map on the tablet, and pointed to a location. "This is where the tunnel is, and this blue line is the underground river. We are currently here, and there should be some distance to reach the underground river."
Wan Yunting understood and nodded. "We've rested enough. Let's hurry and find the underground river."
Nie Xiaoyu nodded, and everyone else got up. She handed the tablet to Gu Xiaozhuang. "Let's go."
They didn't know the location of the tunnel engineers and workers, but when they were able to contact the outside world last night, they had informed everyone that they had entered the underground river and were heading towards the cave exit on the back of the mountain.
Therefore, the two groups might meet somewhere.
"Careful..."
Suddenly, Gu Xiaozhuang, who was leading the way, grabbed Xiao Zhao's backpack. A broken abyss suddenly appeared under his feet. Xiao Zhao's face turned pale, and he got goosebumps all over, feeling a chill down his spine.
"Everyone stop!"
Nie Xiaoyu raised her fist, signaling Wan Yunting and the others behind her to stop. Everyone looked confused. "What's wrong?"
"There's a crack, the path is broken," Gu Xiaozhuang shouted.
Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and the others hurried forward. Their headlamps illuminated the front. A deep rift, about eight to nine meters wide, appeared before them. It was dark below, and they didn't know how deep it was.
"How can we get across?"
Looking at the wide crack that completely blocked their path, Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, and Wei Renxin became worried.
"Xiao Zhao, do you have the grappling hook?" Nie Xiaoyu asked.
"Yes, I'll try."
Xiao Zhao opened his backpack, took out a military-grade grappling hook launcher, and had Gu Xiaozhuang shine a spotlight on the opposite stone wall. Xiao Zhao aimed the launcher and pulled the trigger. The hook shot out, carrying a rope with it...
Bang!
The hook embedded itself into the stone wall. Seeing this, everyone rejoiced.
However, when Xiao Zhao pulled the rope hard, the hook came loose from the stone wall, and he stumbled and fell to the ground. Gu Xiaozhuang and the others immediately helped him up. Nie Xiaoyu also frowned. "The stone wall is too loose, the hook can't anchor!"
"I'll try another rock face."
Gu Xiaozhuang said, taking out his grappling hook launcher and aiming it at another stone wall. Bang! The hook hit the rock face. Gu Xiaozhuang pulled hard with the launcher, and indeed, the hook came loose. Nie Xiaoyu's expression turned serious.
Another soldier took out a grappling hook launcher and tried again, but it still didn't work. This made Gu Xiaozhuang and the others troubled. He turned to Nie Xiaoyu and said, "Why don't we go down and see how deep it is?"
Nie Xiaoyu didn't speak. She picked up a stone, walked to the edge, and threw it into the abyss. She counted the seconds aloud. It wasn't until the fifth second that a faint sound came from below. She said, "It's about eighty to ninety meters deep. Our ropes can't reach, and they can't climb across either."
Upon hearing this, Huang Jingshan and Qi Miaomiao exchanged glances. Wei Renxin asked, "What should we do now? Is there any other way to get across?"
Nie Xiaoyu and Gu Xiaozhuang looked at the eight to nine meter wide crack, not expecting to be stumped here.
"I'll jump across!"
Wan Yunting then said.
"Jump across?"
Huang Jingshan was dumbfounded by this remark. Nie Xiaoyu, Gu Xiaozhuang, and the other soldiers all turned to look at him. Xiao Zhao said, "How is that possible? This width is eight to nine meters. How can you jump across?"
The other soldiers also didn't believe it, as it was too far. Even with their superior physical condition as soldiers, it was impossible to jump over a distance of eight to nine meters.
Unless they found professional world-class long jumpers, it might be possible to jump across.
"How will we know if we don't try?"
Wan Yunting smiled. He wasn't being blindly confident, but he had the confidence to jump across, which is why he said that.
This made Nie Xiaoyu raise her eyebrows. Although she had investigated Wan Yunting and knew he had extraordinary abilities, this was not ordinary long jumping. For an eight to nine meter distance, even a world-class long jumper wouldn't dare to say they were confident of jumping across, so everyone didn't believe Wan Yunting could do it.
"If we go back now to get tools, it will delay a lot of time. Why not let me try?"
Wan Yunting could see Nie Xiaoyu's and the others' concerns and disbelief. He said, "How about this, tie the rope to me. If I really can't jump across, I won't fall in."
"No, Brother Yunting, this is too dangerous," Gu Luotang, who had just reacted, shook her head.
"Yes, Brother Yunting, such a long distance, how can you possibly jump across? This is too dangerous," Qi Miaomiao also said.
Huang Jingshan also said, "Let's think of another way. Don't joke with your life."
Wei Renxin also nodded. Doing this was too risky.
"I'm not showing off!"
However, Wan Yunting turned around and said very seriously to Gu Luotang and the others, "I am confident I can jump across. Otherwise, if we go back and forth like this, we will waste a lot of time and delay the rescue. Time is life now, so let me try."
"But..."
"Trust me!" kanδん
Wan Yunting interrupted Gu Luotang and said with a smile, "I can jump across."
Seeing that the man had said this, Gu Luotang didn't know how to persuade him, her eyes and heart filled with worry.
"Give me the rope and tie it to my waist."
Wan Yunting stopped talking and said to the soldier carrying the rope.
The soldier looked at Nie Xiaoyu. Her eyes fixed on Wan Yunting, and she asked seriously, "Are you sure you can jump across?"
"Yes."
Wan Yunting nodded and said, "I have no reason to risk my life."
"Officer Nie, why not let him try?" Gu Xiaozhuang said.
After all, a strong man who could lift rocks weighing six to seven hundred pounds might actually be able to jump across this eight to nine meter wide abyss.
"Tie the rope to his waist..."
Nie Xiaoyu immediately told the soldier to tie one end of the rope around Wan Yunting's waist and the other end to a large rock nearby. The rope was fifty meters long, so there was no concern about restricting Wan Yunting.