"Damn it, how far did they go..."
At this moment, Liu Zi, Liang Dazhuang, and Fifth Brother Mēnhúlu were holding flashlights and searching downstream along the underground river. It was already nine o'clock, and they still hadn't caught up with Wan Yunting and the others. "Fifth Brother, could they have gone out through another exit?"
"What are you rushing for?"
Mēnhúlu remained calm and composed, saying, "As long as they're going in the right direction, we'll meet..."
"Quick, turn off the flashlight!"
Suddenly, Mēnhúlu saw a flashlight beam ahead. He immediately turned off his own flashlight and grabbed Liu Zi. The latter didn't react and said, "What's wrong, Fifth Brother?"
"Tsk, hurry and turn it off..."
Mēnhúlu, anxious, snatched his flashlight and turned it off directly...
"Stop, I think I heard someone talking up ahead!"
Wan Yunting, who was returning along the same path, suddenly heard something and raised his hand to stop Gu Xiaozhuang and the others ahead.
"Talking? Where...?"
Qi Miaomiao and Gu Luotang beside him looked at Wan Yunting doubtfully. He pointed in the direction ahead, "Just up ahead!"
"No way."
Gu Xiaozhuang and the others hadn't heard anything. He said, "There's still some distance to the intersection of the underground river! Could it be that some tunnel workers made a mistake and took this path?"
"Impossible. If anyone had taken this path, we would have encountered them on our way here," said a soldier.
"Oh, let's go take a look and find out," Qi Miaomiao urged.
Wan Yunting and Gu Xiaozhuang nodded. Everyone immediately quickened their pace. When they reached the spot where they heard the voices, Wan Yunting and the others stopped, shining their flashlights around, but they saw nothing. "No one's here, Brother Yunting, did you mishear?"
"Impossible, someone was talking just now!"
Wan Yunting shook his head, absolutely certain he hadn't misheard.
However, on their left, Liu Zi, Liang Dazhuang, and Fifth Brother Mēnhúlu were crouching behind a rock. It was pitch black around them, and Wan Yunting hadn't noticed them at all.
Just as Wan Yunting was also wondering if he had misheard, the ground suddenly trembled a few times, and stones began to fall from overhead, hitting a soldier's safety helmet. Everyone was immediately shocked. "What's going on, is it an earthquake?"
Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao both clutched their heads and hid beside Wan Yunting, while he and Gu Xiaozhuang used their flashlights to search for holes in the ceiling. With the slight vibrations, stones kept falling from above, though not many, it was still very dangerous. "Quick, let's go over there..."
Saying that, Wan Yunting grabbed Gu Luotang's hand and pulled Qi Miaomiao's arm, running forward with Gu Xiaozhuang and the others. They found that no more stones were falling from overhead, and the ground vibrations suddenly disappeared.
At this moment, the satellite phone in Gu Xiaozhuang's pocket rang. He quickly took it out and answered it. Nie Xiaoyu's anxious voice came through immediately: "Xiao Gu, Headquarters just reported that the earth's crust in Ling Mountain is changing, and an earthquake might happen earlier. You should return quickly to rendezvous with us and evacuate."
"Okay, we're heading back now."
Gu Xiaozhuang said, hung up the phone, and turned to Wan Yunting behind him anxiously. "Doctor Wan, Commander Nie just said that the earth's crust here is changing, and the earthquake might happen earlier. We need to speed up our pace."
"What, the earthquake is coming early..."
Upon hearing the news, Qi Miaomiao shrieked. The next moment, the ground suddenly trembled again, and the tremors were even stronger than before. Stones fell from overhead again.
"Ugh..."
One of the soldiers was hit directly in the head by a fist-sized stone, knocking him to the ground. Gu Xiaozhuang and the others cried out in alarm, "Weicai, Weicai, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine..."
The hit soldier quickly got up and waved his hand, indicating he was fine. However, the moment the stone hit him, his entire head was spinning. Fortunately, everyone was wearing safety helmets.
"Oh no, I was hit too..."
Qi Miaomiao cried out, also being hit on her safety helmet by a small stone. Wan Yunting pulled her and Gu Luotang and said to Gu Xiaozhuang, "Let's get out of here quickly."
"Okay, everyone speed up, there's no time."
Gu Xiaozhuang's face was solemn and anxious. The strong tremors were happening intermittently, and no one expected the earthquake to come early, catching Wan Yunting and the others off guard. Now, they could only desperately run for their lives.
"Hiss..."
However, behind them, Liu Zi, Liang Dazhuang, was also hit by a stone. He said to Fifth Brother Mēnhúlu, "Fifth Brother, did you hear that? They said it was an earthquake. Why don't we go out first and then think of a way to get rid of that kid? I don't want to die here!"
Fifth Brother Mēnhúlu also didn't expect an earthquake to happen so suddenly. The ground beneath their feet trembled intermittently, and stones kept falling from overhead. They were not wearing safety helmets at all. If a fist-sized stone fell and hit them, they would be directly dead.
"Let's go, follow them."
Fifth Brother Mēnhúlu no longer hesitated. They didn't want to die here either, so they quickly followed behind Wan Yunting and the others, but maintained a distance of thirty meters.
At this moment, Wan Yunting was pulling Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao, running quickly with Gu Xiaozhuang and the others, completely unaware that two people were following behind them!
"Ah..."
Suddenly, the violent tremors made Qi Miaomiao and Gu Luotang scream. Wan Yunting and Gu Xiaozhuang were also nervous, looking around as they ran...
Bang!
With a loud noise, a large stone fell beside them and directly smashed into the underground river, scaring Qi Miaomiao into a panicked cry. Gu Xiaozhuang and the others were also flustered. If the earthquake caused the place to collapse, they would all be finished.
However, the tremors intensified, and countless large stones began to fall around them. Wan Yunting and his group were in grave danger, and now all they wanted was to escape this place as quickly as possible...
At this time, they arrived at a cave passage. Gu Xiaozhuang pushed two of his comrades up, then turned around and extended his large hand. Wan Yunting immediately pushed Qi Miaomiao, who was in front of him, up. But this girl was flustered and anxious, and failed to climb the large stone in front of her several times. Wan Yunting pushed her buttocks with both hands; at this point, he couldn't care about anything else.
"Give me your hand..."
Gu Xiaozhuang turned back, grabbed Qi Miaomiao's hand, and pulled her up. She turned back and shouted, "Brother Yunting, Senior Sister, hurry up..."
"Luotang, come..."
Wan Yunting pulled Gu Luotang, putting his large hand around her waist to lift her up...
"Doctor Wan, be careful..."
However, the next moment, a soldier standing behind him grabbed Wan Yunting's backpack and yanked them violently back along with Gu Luotang...
Bang...!
With a loud noise, a huge rock directly fell onto the spot where Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang had been...
"Not good, hurry..."
Suddenly, with a violent tremor, Gu Xiaozhuang, who was standing on the cave above, his expression changed drastically. He grabbed Qi Miaomiao and another comrade and quickly retreated...
Rumble...
The next moment, this cave passage instantly collapsed, completely burying the entrance and kicking up a huge cloud of dust...
"Cough cough..."
Gu Luotang, who was protected by Wan Yunting, coughed from the dust. The soldier beside him fanned the dust in front of him with his flashlight. The flashlight shone on the entrance of the cave above, which was completely blocked by collapsed stones. His expression froze, and he immediately despaired, "It's over, it's blocked..."
Wan Yunting's eyes widened as he looked at the blocked exit, his heart also shaken. He immediately climbed up to try and find any gaps to pass through, but to his despair, the exit had collapsed, and the fallen stones blocked it so tightly that there wasn't even a crack...
"Brother Yunting, Senior Sister..."
Outside, Qi Miaomiao let out a desperate cry towards the collapsed and blocked exit.
Gu Xiaozhuang and the other five comrades also felt their hearts go cold. They pulled Qi Miaomiao back, preventing her from going forward. Knowing that the exit was blocked, Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and another comrade inside were likely doomed.