Rain mixed with mud flowed into Xu Qingqing's open mouth. She spat it out and called to Lu Fenglin, whose movements were getting slower and slower.
"Lu Fenglin, climb up quickly!"
They didn't know when the mountain they were climbing would also experience a mudslide. They had to reach the mountaintop as soon as possible!
"Okay." Lu Fenglin shouted feebly and dragged himself up the mountain.
The rain blurred Lu Fenglin's vision, making it hard for him to see the path ahead.
The higher he climbed, the dizzier he felt.
Oh no, he was probably going to catch a fever after being in the rain all night.
Seeing that Lu Fenglin could barely keep his eyes open, Xu Qingqing stopped calling him and simply reached out to drag him up the mountain.
While running as fast as she could, Xu Qingqing took out her phone and tried to call the person in charge of Weishan Island.
In the office of the person in charge of Weishan Island, Gu Yuan was counting the members of their archaeological team.
Because of the heavy rain and the mudslide warning, they had evacuated from the mountain early.
"Great! Everyone's down. That's wonderful!" Gu Yuan confirmed the number of people and looked out at the heavy rain, sighing.
"Anyone who goes up the mountain in this weather is definitely going to get caught in a mudslide."
The phone on the desk rang.
Gu Yuan casually picked it up. The noisy sound of rain on the other end of the phone mixed with Xu Qingqing's shouts. Although it was deafening, Gu Yuan couldn't make out what she was saying.
"What did you say?" Gu Yuan asked.
"Gu Yuan! It's me! We're trapped on the mountain by a mudslide..." Xu Qingqing shouted into the phone.
Gu Yuan heard something strange on the phone and was shocked. He hurriedly called out Xu Qingqing's name anxiously.
"Xu Qingqing, is that you?"
Xu Qingqing shouted into the phone, trying to make her voice heard over the rain: "Yes, it's me! Send someone to rescue me quickly!"
While pulling Lu Fenglin, Xu Qingqing ran desperately up the mountain. She didn't have time to answer the phone because rocks had started to roll down from the mountaintop.
The rain wet the screen, and the phone suddenly showed a no - signal message. The call was automatically disconnected.
"Sorry, the user you dialed is out of the service area. Please try again later..."
Hearing the mechanical voice on the phone, Gu Yuan shouted into it anxiously: "Xu Qingqing!"
The next moment, Gu Yuan called again, but this time there was no signal at all.
As Xu Qingqing had predicted, a mudslide occurred on the slope they were climbing.
Mud and rocks were crashing down on them. Xu Qingqing protected Lu Fenglin while desperately dodging, and finally managed to reach the mountaintop.
Before Xu Qingqing could catch her breath, the ground beneath her feet caved in. She fell, dragging Lu Fenglin with her. They rolled down the slope together.
Gu Yuan knew that something had gone wrong.
Chen Jiashu, wearing a raincoat, walked in and asked Gu Yuan, "What are you yelling about? Is there still someone who hasn't come down from the mountain?"
"No!" Gu Yuan shouted. "All our people have come down from the mountain, but Xu Qingqing is still on the mountain."
"What?" Chen Jiashu was stunned. "Qingqing didn't come today."
"I don't know either, but Xu Qingqing just called me and said she was trapped on the mountain!"
"The call was suddenly disconnected due to a lack of signal, and I can't get through anymore." Gu Yuan said anxiously.
"Damn it! Call the police quickly!"
After hearing this, Chen Jiashu immediately urged Gu Yuan. His face was more solemn than ever.
"I just came down from the mountain. The mountain road leading to the ancient tomb has been buried by the mudslide!"
"Xu Qingqing is probably on that road!"
Gu Yuan quickly called 119 and reported the situation to the 119 command center.
The 119 operator told Gu Yuan that they would carry out the rescue operation immediately.
"What should we do?" Gu Yuan and Chen Jiashu watched the heavy rain outside anxiously while waiting for the rescue team to arrive.
The rain got even heavier, and the sound was deafening.
An hour had passed. Gu Yuan had tried calling Xu Qingqing countless times, but no one answered.
It was feared that Xu Qingqing was in great danger.
After waiting for another ten - plus minutes, the rescue vehicle finally arrived.
The rescue team leader got out of the vehicle and explained to Gu Yuan, "Sorry, we were blocked by a huge rock on the way here. It took us some time to clear the obstacle."
"Don't worry. I'll lead the team to rescue them as soon as the rain eases up."
"Okay."
At the Lu family's villa.
Lu Chuanbai was at home when he suddenly felt an inexplicable uneasiness. His heart started pounding.
What's going on?
This feeling of uneasiness, like an animal's instinct, was something Lu Fenglin had experienced once before. The last time was when his mother passed away.
"What's going on this time?"
Lu Chuanbai was so nervous that he couldn't sit still. His first thought was whether something had happened to Xu Qingqing, who was out.
The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier. He wondered how Xu Qingqing was doing.
Lu Chuanbai was worried and tried to call Xu Qingqing. To his surprise, the mechanical voice on the phone told him that Xu Qingqing was out of the service area.
Lu Chuanbai was stunned for a moment. His heart was in his throat, and his uneasiness intensified.
No! He had to go find Xu Qingqing!
Lu Chuanbai took Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an to the Xu family's house. As soon as Mrs. Xu opened the door, Lu Chuanbai saw the Band - Aids on both of her eyelids.
"Auntie, what happened to your eyes?" Lu Chuanbai asked with concern.
"Don't even mention it," Mrs. Xu said distressfully. "I don't know why, but my eyelids have been twitching non - stop since this morning. It's driving me crazy!"
"Does a twitching eyelid indicate something?" Lu Chuanbai asked carefully.
Mrs. Xu nodded. "It must be a sign of something bad. I've been on edge all day."
"I put the Band - Aids on to calm myself down."
"Okay, Auntie. Please take care of Yiyi and An'an. I have something to attend to." Lu Chuanbai pushed the two children into the Xu family's house.
"Sure." Mrs. Xu hugged the two children and asked about her daughter. "Where's Qingqing? Isn't she at home?"
"Qingqing went to her teacher's place to write a speech. She's not at home." Lu Chuanbai didn't want to tell Mrs. Xu about this for fear of worrying her.
"Okay, then go quickly. It's raining so heavily. Drive carefully." Mrs. Xu reminded him.
Bean - sized raindrops were hitting the car window with a loud noise. Even though the windshield wipers were working back and forth, they couldn't keep up with the speed of the falling rain.
Lu Chuanbai remained expressionless and kept telling himself to calm down.
When he drove to Weishan Island and saw the fire trucks parked at the entrance, Lu Chuanbai finally couldn't hold back.
Lu Fenglin grabbed an umbrella and stumbled into the Weishan Island management office without even opening it. "What's going on? What happened? Why are there rescue teams here?"
The series of questions left Gu Yuan stunned.