What's going on?

Not only did Lu Qiqi notice the unusual thing at the end of the rope, but Lu Da did too.

Li Changlong said, "The rope isn't broken. They can't possibly go down the cliff by grabbing the rope with their bare hands, can they?"

His words sparked much speculation among the villagers, who began to whisper among themselves.

"This cliff is so high, if someone fell, they'd be turned into a meat pie! But the rope hasn't broken, so where did the person go?"

One young man speculated, "Could it be that the rope was long enough, and the person had already reached the bottom of the mountain?"

"Are you stupid? We went through so much trouble to get up the mountain. Look down at the bottom of the mountain. Do you think this little rope can even get us down?"

There's only one bundle of rope; no matter how you estimate it, it won't reach the bottom of the mountain.

The young man scratched his head and asked, "Then why do you think it is?"

Then his older brother, who was a few years older than him, tapped him on the head, saying, "If I had known, we would have gone down to rescue them long ago. We wouldn't have had time to listen to your wild guesses."

The young man touched his reddened forehead and chuckled twice, "That's true."

Seeing that Lu Qiqi did not answer, Li Changlong guessed that she might not be able to guess either, so he started walking towards the edge of the cliff.

"Don't go over there!"

Suddenly stopped by Lu Qiqi, Li Changlong turned his head to look at Lu Qiqi, his eyes full of confusion.

All eyes turned to her, and she said, "It's dark and the road is steep, so everyone should stay away from the cliff to avoid being pushed off."

Lu Qiqi's words sent chills down the spines of everyone present.

Li Changlong also felt his back go numb, his legs were hard to move, and his heart was pounding like a drum.

Yes, even when washing clothes by the river, someone might accidentally knock you into the water, let alone on this cliff edge.

The slightest touch could be fatal. Realizing this, and recalling his earlier attempt to reach the cliff edge, he felt a wave of fear.

Lu Da noticed Li Changlong's unusual behavior and turned to Zhao Xiaodong, saying, "Go and pull him back."

"Hey," Zhao Xiaodong said, and then helped Li Changlong back.

Seeing that so many people couldn't save Dr. Luo and Zhou Yi, Dr. Huang felt a deep sadness and sat down on the ground, as if he had been drained of his life force and was just an empty shell.

He kept muttering, "It's over, it's over, it's over."

Then, he began to cry out, "Dr. Luo, young man Zhou Yi, I'm so sorry!"

His voice was sorrowful, which made everyone feel uneasy.

Lu Qiqi was speechless; it was the first time she had ever seen a man sitting on the ground crying like a child.

She said, "Don't cry, it's too early to cry now."

Dr. Huang blinked her teary eyes and looked at Lu Qiqi.

Lu Qiqi really didn't want to see his tear-streaked face, and said, "I want to see them alive or dead. As long as I haven't seen their bodies, they might still be alive."

Hearing Lu Qiqi's powerful words, everyone felt that she made a lot of sense.

"Yes, we need to see the person alive or dead."

The villagers began to respond, and soon the cliffside was filled with voices.

Looking at the empty cliff ahead, Zhao Xiaodong said, "What do we do now? It's so dark, how are we going to get down and check?"

The cliff was pitch black, and it seemed as if the bottom could not be seen.

Lu Qiqi took in the scene before her and said in a deep voice, "Tonight, we will remain still. Tomorrow, we will split into two teams: one team will go down the cliff to search for people, and the other team will go down the cliff at dawn to rescue them."

That's all that can be done now.

Lu Qiqi took a bottle of medicine out of her pocket, handed it to Doctor Huang, and then walked back.

Dr. Huang had no choice but to swallow his words of gratitude.

The villagers walked back several dozen meters and found a slightly flatter spot.

They then gathered firewood from the surrounding area and built a bonfire to burn.

Unlike indoors, where there's a bed and blankets, life in the mountains is different.

High in the mountains, not only is the humidity high, but the temperature is also bone-chillingly cold.

As the fire blazed, Lu Qiqi unconsciously moved closer, only relaxing her shoulders when she felt her whole body enveloped in warmth.

The villagers also began to find places to sleep. What surprised Lu Qiqi the most was that Lu Da had already organized the villagers to keep watch at night before she could even speak, in case of a wild animal attack.

Although wild animals generally don't approach places with fires, the mountains are dangerous, and no one can say for sure that such a thing might not happen.

Prevention is the best way to ensure your safety.

Watching Lu Da's retreating figure as he gathered firewood, Lu Qiqi sensed that what he was planning was no ordinary matter, otherwise he wouldn't have surprised her repeatedly.

Since Lu Da was unwilling to talk about it, she would just pretend she didn't know anything, since she wouldn't stay in Tianxin Village forever anyway.

There are still family members in the veterans' village waiting for her to return. Once the four villages are completed, she can stay at home and wait for the villagers to pay their taxes.

Just thinking about this makes me feel wonderful.

With that thought in mind, Lu Qiqi quickly drifted off to sleep.

With Li Changlong by her side, she didn't need to be on edge.

Even so, she would still fall asleep with a slight sense of vigilance.

Fortunately, nothing happened overnight.

The next day, early morning.

The birds singing loudly in the mountains woke Lu Qiqi up.

She was startled by a bright light as soon as she opened her eyes, and she squinted slightly as a conditioned reflex. It took her a moment to adjust to the light.

At this time, many villagers woke up and headed deeper into the mountains and forests.

Lu Qiqi also got up and walked in the opposite direction towards the forest.

Once she could no longer see anyone, she slipped into the space.

After washing up, I left the space.

Fearing that she would run into the villagers releasing water, Lu Qiqi deliberately took a detour back to the edge of the cliff.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!