Chapter 117 Wei County

"Is the Yinsha River flowing upstream?" Behind them, Liu Shuang and Cheng Yu spoke almost at the same time.

The next moment, Shu Fu and Yao Ruoyun followed Cheng Yu and the others and ran quickly towards the cliff.

"How is this possible!?" The others nearby got goosebumps. "How could such a big river suddenly flow backwards?"

The flow of river water is affected by many factors, including topography, water velocity and water level, and reverse flow may occur under certain conditions.

For example, heavy rains lead to – floods!

Not only was there heavy rainfall, but the blizzards that had lasted for more than half a month had accumulated a large amount of solid water - ice and snow - on the mountains and land.

Afterwards, the temperature rose too quickly, the ice and snow melted completely within a day, and the solid water returned to liquid water state. Coupled with the heavy rains that followed for several consecutive days, if the entire northern hemisphere was like this, the amount of water pouring into the flood zone and low-altitude areas at the same time would reach an astronomical figure, which would eventually trigger an unprecedented flood!

"Flood!" Several voices sounded at the same time.

"Is it, is it the flood from downstream?"

As they said this, everyone had the same panic and doubt in their hearts. What kind of flood could cause the water of the Yinsha River to flow backwards?!

Everyone looked towards the other side of the river. It was pitch black over there and they could not see anything. The only sounds around them were the noisy sounds of rain and water. It was impossible to tell with the naked eye whether the flood was coming towards them.

But even if the flood has not yet hit, based on the current rate of river water level rise, the narrow mountain road they are on will soon be submerged by the rising water level of the Yinsha River.

There was a cliff on the other side of the mountain road, which was impossible to climb. They were like trapped animals on a long isolated island. No matter whether they ran backwards or forward, they were always within the range of the flooded river and could not escape at all!

"what to do?"

"Don't be stunned, get in the car, and drive away from this mountain road!"

"Everyone knows that we should get on the bus and go, but the problem now is that there are not enough buses!"

"This is terrible! It's so dark above the river that I can't see anything!"

“Run!”

"How can I run! What's the point of running on such a long mountain road? It will be the same wherever I run!"

"Then—upward?"

"How are we going to climb this mountain? The mountain is so steep. Not only us, but even that elite team can't climb it!"

"Stop talking, the more you talk, the more confused I become..."

…

Amid the panicked voices of the crowd, a dazzling red arc of light appeared on the pitch-black water surface, heading in the direction they came from, passing through the air above the water surface.

That is - a grab flare!

Cheng Yu withdrew his hand, loaded another bullet into the gun, then raised his hand again and shot in a higher direction.

Two flares appeared in the heavy rain in the night sky. Affected by the bad weather, the light arc of the flares flickered, and was far less bright than on a clear night, but it was enough to illuminate the dark waters, allowing the survivors standing on the cliff road to see clearly the scene on the water over there.

The entire wide Yinsha River was still surging as they had seen when they set out in the morning, but its direction had completely changed, with waves coming in wave after wave from the other end of the river - downstream.

The reverse water flow was like waves, completely overwhelming the original river surface. The waves in the distance were stacked one after another. Wherever the waves passed, the water level rose rapidly. The waves merged into the river, abruptly changing the original direction of the river, and then the cycle repeated.

Further away, there are more waves coming one after another. It is a flood that can cause rivers and lakes to flood!

This situation shows that the water level in the entire downstream area is much higher than the area where they are located.

In the short few minutes from the time when he first realized something was wrong to this moment, the water level under the cliff seemed to have risen a little bit, and the speed of increase was completely visible to the naked eye.

Almost everyone standing on the edge of the cliff subconsciously took a few steps back. They had already reached this point and were only a little distance away from crossing the river to the other side.

But is this the only way they can go?

The light of the two flares gradually dimmed, and everyone stared at the dissipating light, as if they saw their own life gradually fading.

Just as the starlight was about to fade away, another ray of light swept across the dark night sky and fell onto the surging river surface.

Someone in the crowd fired another flare. The way the flare flashed was slightly different from the previous one. It was a hand-pulled flare used specifically for distress calls.

Some of the supply packages airdropped to the disaster area contained such flares. At this moment, many people in the team also had them in their backpacks. It was one of the essential supplies they carried with them for a long time, but many people had also made a wish that they would not have to use this flare before reaching the safe zone in Xizhou Province.

Firing this flare means that they are in a dangerous situation where they cannot save themselves and can only hope for the arrival of rescuers. But now, members of the rescue team, members of the army, and even members of another elite team are by their side.

In this situation, who can they ask for help?

They suddenly felt desperate. Was it really a drawing of lots that decided who would survive, who would get on the bus, and who would leave?

"Let's draw lots. The better off you are, the better off you are..." someone suddenly spoke up.

But more people are resisting and shaking their heads.

What's the point of surviving like this? Even if they survive this time, they will remember for the rest of their lives that their lives were bought at the cost of the lives of their companions...

**

While most of the survivors were desperate and confused under the impact of life and death, a small number of survivors and rescuers had already followed the elite team to take action. They came to the rock wall on the other side of the mountain road and thought about the possibility of climbing up from here.

As long as one person can climb up and fix the rope, then everyone else below can go up!

But the problem was that the cliff on this side was not only almost straight, but also bare and slippery, with rain water constantly flowing down. Wenrou, who had the best climbing ability and experience, tried to climb, but her shoulder injury had not healed, so she could not exert her full strength at all. She fell down after only two steps and was caught by several team members.

Wenrou shook her head: "If the climbing equipment is there, I can bolt it up..." But her climbing equipment was in the off-road vehicle, and she left everything behind when she was in a hurry to escape from Wei County. Thinking of this, Wenrou blamed herself so much that she hit herself twice.

"Try again and find something to replace the bolts!" Cheng Yu strode over. He had asked Awen to drive the armored vehicle to a rock wall in front.

He threw the backpack into the driver's seat, put on his tactical gloves again, and prepared to climb up along the edge of the armored vehicle's door. The armored vehicle was several meters high, which could reduce some of the distance he needed to climb.

Wenrou had already climbed into the armored vehicle, first took a roll of rope and hung it around her body, then began to look for anything that could replace bolts, rock spikes, and rock plugs. Liu Shuang also entered the vehicle, and asked Wenrou while searching.

Outside the car, Han Lan also began to prepare. He was also good at rock climbing, and if more people tried, they could buy more time: "Are your arms okay?" he asked Cheng Yu.

"Okay." Cheng Yu said briefly. He turned around inadvertently and saw Shu Fu standing not far away.

She stood in the rain, looking up, as if she was checking the mountain wall. The mountain wall was very high, at least 100 meters. If it wasn't raining, it would be possible to climb up, but now...

Cheng Yu saw her tightly furrowed brows. She seldom showed such an expression. She looked solemn and silent, as if there were many invisible weights pressing on her slender body.

"Wait a moment." He said to Han Lan, turned around and strode towards Shu Fu.

Shu Fu felt him approaching and looked back at him: "You want to climb up?"

“This is the only way.”

"No, there is a way." Shu Fu looked at the armored vehicle and said seriously, "You can drive away. It doesn't matter how you sit at this time. You can squeeze more people into the car, and some people can climb onto the roof... In any case, at least the members of your team can leave alive, and you can save some people. The rest... they are not your responsibility. Didn't Sister Liu Shuang say that everyone is a survivor, and rescuers don't have to make sacrifices. You have to save yourself first, then you can save others."

Cheng Yu didn't expect her to say so much at once. He looked at her, smiled, and put his hand on her hood: "Don't worry, it's okay. It's not the last moment yet. Everyone is still working hard. We have to give it a try."

On the other side, Wenrou and Liu Shuang climbed out of the carriage, holding some ropes and tools on their bodies and hands: "Captain!"

"Coming!" Cheng Yu responded, rubbed her head with his big hand as if to comfort her, and then strode towards his teammates.

"I can't guarantee that it will work if I only found these. Why don't you try?" He gestured gently.

"Okay, let's try." Cheng Yu took off his hood, stepped on the edge of the car door, and climbed onto the roof in a few steps.

Wenrou and Liu Shuang also climbed up and began to prepare rock climbing equipment for Cheng Yu and Han Lan.

On the other side, the survivors on the cliff slope took out hand-pulled flares from their backpacks and pulled them one by one towards the night sky above the river.

They knew no one would come to rescue them, but they still held on to a glimmer of hope and sent out a distress signal.

One, two... four, five...

The entire dark surface of the Yinsha River suddenly seemed to be lit up by several rays of firework, red, blue, yellow, white... In the flashing lights, they once again saw the waves coming from the other end of the Yinsha River. The water level near them was higher than before, and there was only a difference of less than two meters between the water level and the cliff road where they were.

The rain was noisy all around them, but they could still hear the roar of the rushing waves, which was the flood getting closer and closer to them.

Yao Ruoyun was standing beside the cliff, nervously clutching the backpack in front of her, waiting. Shu Fu quickly came over and shook her head at her nervous and expectant gaze.

The two of them met eyes and communicated silently.

——They won’t leave. They are fighters and soldiers. They will never desert a battlefield.

——But if they don't leave, even if they don't record me afterwards, there's no room for so many people on the raft deck! And the flood is too fast, the raft will be caught up soon, right?

Shu Fu looked at the river surface lit up by several flares, and spoke softly again: "There is another way, but I have never tried it before." In other words, it has never been deployed, so it is not certain what the size will be after it is deployed, nor is it certain which areas are accessible.

But now that I think about it, everything seems to be destined.

Above the river, the light of the last few flares gradually dimmed.

Some people had already lost heart and sat down on the mountain road, hanging their heads in frustration.

But at the same time, someone suddenly pointed at the river not far away and shouted: "Look! What is that!"

What?

The others were attracted by her shouting and looked up at the river again. Someone sent another flare at this time. A large ship appeared on the river surface illuminated by the flare again - uh, house? Uh, villa?

The people who were originally sitting on the ground suddenly stood up quickly, stretched their necks, and kept wiping the rain from their faces and eyes, wishing they could grow four eyes so that they could see clearly the fast-moving object.

Not a boat!

It’s not a house either!

It was a huge raft with front and rear armor plates and a three-story luxurious villa!

**

Half an hour later, when everyone boarded the raft and carefully and tentatively walked up the polished wooden stairs from both sides of the deck at the back of the villa to the large glass terrace with sliding doors above the third floor, they were still in a daze and suspected that they were dreaming.

No one knew when this strange raft appeared, where it drifted from, why it accurately docked next to the cliff where they were with the deck facing backwards, and why it could travel so smoothly and quickly on the rough waves. They didn't even feel that they were on the water...

What about the cockpit?

What about motivation?

Where is the owner of the raft?

Is this really the raft of the supernatural being as mentioned in the rumors?

Why is it completely different from what I have heard?

They had too many questions, but no one spoke up, because they knew that everyone around them was just confused like them. Everyone was doubting that everything in front of them was just their fantasy...

But on the rear deck below the stairs was their snow-beaten ambulance, and further back was the armored vehicle.

This spacious rear deck is as big as half a basketball court, and is surrounded by an automatically rising and falling fence.

The fence is made of wood with glass inlays, about one and a half meters high, with a rustic style that doesn't look like a modern electronic product.

But when the first person to try, Wen Yi, walked down the cliff slope and approached the raft, trying to directly climb over the fence of the rear deck, the wooden and glass fences on the raft deck side all lowered automatically and disappeared in an orderly manner on the thin deck, and no one knew where they shrunk to.

Afterwards, the second person, the third person... one after another tentatively stepped onto the raft. No matter how many people got on, the raft always stayed there steadily, neither shaking nor moving, as if quietly waiting for everyone and the cars to board.

What happened here quickly attracted the attention of other team members near the cliff. Wen Yi, who was the first to board the raft, originally thought that the elite team would hesitate when they suddenly saw such a raft that was beyond real logic, and would at least investigate it a little before deciding whether to board.

But their tall captain just stood on the cliff and stared at the raft for a few seconds, then turned around and gave orders, asking everyone to get on the raft as quickly as possible.

Afterwards, all the survivors and team members went down the cliff slope one after another. Then, the car slowly drove down the cliff slope and actually drove straight up.

Until all the people and cars were on the rear deck, the raft that was originally quietly anchored suddenly started up. It began to move in the direction away from the flood - the original upstream direction of the Yinsha River. The fence behind the deck rose up automatically and silently, and the entire rear deck became a safe space again.

The rear deck was more than 100 square meters, but after two cars and more than 50 people came on board, it still seemed a bit crowded, so someone took out a flashlight and began to search the raft.

It was not known whether it was because it was dark, or because the owner of the villa had locked all the doors and windows, or because these doors and windows were all installed with one-way glass, but in any case they could not see the inside of the villa through the glass walls and glass doors.

They found that they were unable to get close to the door or roof of the villa. There seemed to be an invisible and cold wall in the air blocking their way.

The decks on the left and right sides of the villa were so narrow that they could not pass through the sides to reach the front deck.

Finally, someone found the wooden stairs leading to the top of the villa on both sides of the rear deck, and this time they successfully walked up.

The entire glass terrace is about 70 to 80 square meters in size. The floor is made of natural wood. The lower half of the surrounding area is a wooden fence inlaid with glass. The upper and top parts are fully enclosed glass walls. Above the front fence is a glass sliding window. Someone went forward to try it and found that the window could be opened.

They lay in front of the glass sliding window and shone the flashlight toward the deck in front. They could see the balcony with wooden eaves and glass swimming pool on the second floor of the villa, the luxurious built-in sofa booths under the pure glass ceiling on the front deck, the infinity jacuzzi on the far left of the deck, the lounge chairs and rocking chairs... Although it was dark everywhere, the luxury and comfort of the entertainment area on the front deck could be seen with the light of the flashlight.

This doesn't look like a raft at all, it's actually a luxurious villa floating on the water!

Someone bravely tried to climb over the terrace and go down to the front deck through the balcony, but when he finally climbed out from the glass window, he found that he hit the air wall below. Just like what happened in front of the back door of the villa just now, there was an invisible wall of cold air that stopped his actions.

This strange and irrational scene made the man panic and climb back to the terrace. He failed to get down, but because the window was open, the heavy rain outside rushed in through the open window and wet a large area of ​​the floor.

Under the condemning gazes of others, the man hurriedly closed the window again, retreated to the corner of the terrace, stopped making a fuss, and began to lean against the glass to watch the roaring water outside.

The entire raft was luxurious and new, but also extremely strange. They didn't even know if there was anyone inside. However, they understood from the many restrictions that they were just a group of uninvited guests.

The other party asked them to board the raft and carry them upstream away from the flood, but it did not mean that they would open the entire villa to them and welcome them as guests.

It was simply saving their lives.

But for the survivors, this alone is more than enough.

The terrace was not empty. There were some wooden benches and long tables fixed in place. They were very stylish and beautiful, and looked like public facilities in the park. They seemed to be provided for guests to sit on.

Someone sat down carefully and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that nothing unexpected happened.

Although there were many people but few chairs, no one dared to sit at the table. In the end, everyone found a corner on the terrace, either standing or sitting on the floor. After their pounding heartbeats and breathing gradually calmed down, they began to communicate in low voices.

The waves on the river outside were very fast, and occasionally at the bends in the river, you could see whirlpools of waves from two different directions colliding with each other, but the raft always remained stable when passing by, and moved forward very quickly, and the flood did not catch up with them.

Some people called the raft Noah's Ark, but others objected, believing that since it was in Huaguo, it should not be named after a foreign myth. It would be more appropriate to call it Huaguo No. 1, or to use some names from myths and legends.

For example: Yutu-1!

Another example: Wukong No. 1!

Next: The Lotus Lantern No. 1!

Shu Fu, who was leaning quietly in the corner, said: …

Yao Ruoyun leaned close to Shu Fu's ear and whispered, "Senior, I think 'The Lotus Lantern No. 1' is not only nice to listen to, but also quite appropriate. Just think about it, getting bigger, getting smaller, and getting prettier..." She sang the last sentence subconsciously.

Shu Fu: ...

Thanks, but I declined.

The two of them stood at the back of the terrace and could see the situation on the rear deck through the glass. Several members of Cheng Yu's team were helping the rescue team check on the condition of three seriously injured people in the ambulance.

Because the ambulance was temporarily shut down, they restarted the small generator inside and used the equipment to maintain the lives of the two seriously injured and unconscious team members.

Liu Shuang went forward to inquire about the situation. Wen Yi got out of the ambulance with a serious expression: "The one who woke up took painkillers and is sleeping for the time being. If the other two don't undergo a second operation within 48 hours, they may be in danger... Can we still go to that rescue station?"

Han Lan on the side was using a night vision telescope to check the situation on the other side. The terrain there was slightly higher than this side of the mountain road, but the terrain there was flat. If a flood came, it would probably engulf not only the river bank, but also the land.

"No, it should have been flooded." Cheng Yu, who was leaning against the wooden stairs, suddenly spoke up and pointed in the direction, "The rescue station is in the direction of the flood."

"But it's quite far from the river bank."

Liu Shuang sighed: "Even so, we can't go back. It's too risky. What's more, we can't decide when and where to go ashore now-"

As she spoke, she looked towards the dark luxurious villa behind them.

Cheng Yu also turned around and looked at the back door of the villa.

On the terrace, Shu Fu looked at the people on the deck and suddenly realized that Cheng Yu was leaning in a position very similar to the position he was in when she saw him in the house last time.

Two different forms of drifting island houses, two completely different locations, but the current encounter accidentally overlaps with the previous encounter.

As if he had sensed her gaze, Cheng Yu, who was originally looking at the back door of the villa, slowly raised his head and met her eyes on the glass terrace.

Shu Fu praised him in her heart for being so sharp, but the corners of her lips immediately raised towards him, and she stretched out her hand and waved at him.

The other party smiled back at her.

**

Shu Fu sighed, found a corner and sat down on the ground again, facing the fence. He seemed to be looking at the river outside, but in fact, with the cover of Yao Ruoyun beside him, he was checking the map panel in his hand.

In Yao Ruoyun's eyes, she was like drawing on the air in her palm. She guessed that she was operating her own panel, and she immediately became more cautious and careful, using the action of holding her to completely cover her up.

On the map panel, the scope of the water area has expanded a lot compared to the last time it was checked, which means that the flood area has expanded, the water level has risen sharply, and a large section of the Yinsha River has disappeared. Currently, only the river channel at the junction of Xizhou Province and Xiangzhou Province is still clearly visible.

If the weather conditions had not become extremely bad and the drift bottle shield had not been automatically triggered, and the raft could have continued to carry these people upstream, she could actually have sent them directly to the border of Xizhou Province.

The altitude there is higher, and the flood will not reach there.

As long as they compare the map distributed by the rescue station before, find the rescue station closest to Yinsha River in Xizhou Province, and then dock nearby, they can directly reach the rescue station in Xizhou Province in one step.

Shu Fu's thoughts raced, and he soon found the rescue site - Dari County.