Finally, the villagers bypassed the dam and began to climb the mountain, but the danger was not over yet; the floodwaters on the mountain continued to flow downstream and grew larger and larger.

At this point, the mountain began to loosen, with huge rocks constantly rolling down and trees collapsing. Anyone who wasn't careful could be knocked down.

Just then, a deafening roar came from the direction of the reservoir, and the entire dam collapsed, unleashing a torrent of floodwater that swept out of the reservoir.

The village vanished instantly; if the villagers had chosen to evacuate downwards, they would be dead by now.

The villagers all stopped and turned to look, stunned by the devastating scene they had just witnessed.

"Fellow villagers, hurry up! The geology here is unstable and landslides are very likely. We must leave as soon as possible."

Zhao Xian's words snapped the villagers out of their shock, and they sped up their climb up the mountain.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the floodwaters coming down from the mountain were gradually increasing. We had to hurry and leave this place.

"Fellow villagers, hurry up! The higher you go, the smaller the floodwaters become, and the safer you'll be," someone shouted.

Everyone was soaked through, and the rain blurred their vision, but they didn't care and kept pushing forward.

Gradually, the floodwaters receded beneath people's feet, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. If they walked a little further, they would enter a safe area.

Just then, a little girl tripped and fell, which caused a lot of trouble. Because the mountain path was too slippery, the girl fell straight off the path. Her mother couldn't catch her and let out a scream.

Below was a cliff, and in the ravine came a rushing torrent; if a child fell in, there would be no chance of survival.

Fortunately, there was a huge rock below, and the little girl fell onto it instead of falling into the ravine. However, the rock was very slippery, and she could fall in at any moment.

Li Xue happened to walk by and, seeing this, jumped down without saying a word, landing on the big rock and catching the little girl.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but the danger was not over yet. Only by bringing the girl up would they be safe.

Li Xue was quite skilled; with a little effort from her legs, she could jump from the large rock onto the mountain path and be fine.

But the big rocks are too slippery, so you have to be very careful, otherwise you might slip off the big rocks.

Li Xue held the little girl tightly with one hand and took two steps forward. At this moment, Zhao Xian also came to the roadside and reached out his hand to Li Xue, trying to pull Li Xue and the little girl up.

Li Xue smiled and stretched out one hand, which Zhao Xian grabbed. With a little effort, Zhao Xian could pull the two of them up from the big rock.

However, at that moment, an unbelievable scene occurred. The large rock under Li Xue's feet suddenly loosened and fell downwards, leaving Li Xue's feet dangling in the air.

Just as Zhao Xian was about to pull the two up, the large rock suddenly fell, and the weight of Li Xue and the little girl instantly landed on one of Zhao Xian's hands.

"Brother Zhao, let go."

It was Li Xue who made the sound. Zhao Xian was not paying attention and was pulled out of the mountain path by Li Xue.

In the blink of an eye, Zhao Xian, Li Xue, and the little girl, along with the boulder, disappeared and fell off the cliff. Immediately afterwards, a loud crash came from the ravine—the sound of the boulder hitting the water.

Everyone was stunned by what had just happened. Several guards around Li Xue and several attendants brought by Zhao Xian immediately rushed over.

It can be said that they reacted the instant the three fell, using the trees and rocks on the cliff to quickly reach the bottom of the valley.

All of them were skilled at scaling walls and leaping across cliffs. Some searched through the torrent, while others ran wildly along the precipice. If anyone fell at this moment, they would be caught in the torrent.

The group chased the flash flood frantically through the valley, hoping to find the three people who had fallen into the water, but they couldn't find any trace of them no matter how far they went.

Ahead was the reservoir. Due to the collapse of the dam, the floodwaters in the reservoir rushed out and the huge reservoir was no longer there. What appeared before everyone was a vast expanse of water.

The floodwaters from the mountains flowed through the mountain streams, gathered in this area, and then flowed in all directions.

Several guards and attendants were soaked to the bone and had abrasions all over their bodies, but they paid no attention to it.

"When the princess and the Marquis of Zhengyang fell down, we immediately followed. We didn't waste any time. Although the torrent in the mountain stream was fast, it wasn't as fast as we were running. They must still be upstream. We quickly turned back to look for them."

That's exactly right. The three of them fell into the torrent, and in such a short time, it's impossible for them to have been swept to this place.

The group immediately divided the tasks: two people stayed behind to keep watch for anyone being swept away, while the others went upstream.

The yamen runners who came with them were terrified. If anything happened to Marquis Zhengyang and the princess, they would be willing to lose their heads to bear the responsibility.

The two constables remained relatively calm. They immediately took charge, selecting more than ten strong and healthy villagers who were familiar with swimming to go down into the valley and help search for Marquis Zhengyang and the princess.

The remaining villagers continued up the mountain. The locals knew there was a cave on the mountain that was very large and could be used to take shelter from the wind and rain.

The rain gradually stopped, but the search in the valley did not stop. By this time, the number of searchers had reached more than twenty. People were anxious and kept calling out for Marquis Zhengyang and the princess.

The large rock that had just fallen from above was still lying across the middle of the ravine. It was because of the rolling of this large rock that the three of them fell into the ravine.

By this time, the floodwaters in the mountain stream had receded somewhat, and the search team was already exhausted. Many of them collapsed on the ground, unable to move.

At this moment, two constables came over and gathered everyone together to discuss what to do next.

The group was puzzled. They clearly saw the three people fall from above and were certain they hadn't been swept away by the flood. So where were they now?

As the saying goes, you should see them alive or dead, so why can't we find them?

At this moment, a yamen runner spoke up: "It will be dark soon. We must immediately send someone to the county yamen to report the disappearance of Marquis Zhengyang and the princess."

Then everyone realized that they had been so focused on finding someone that they had forgotten about sending a message.

After discussion, they arranged for two people to go to the county government office: one was a yamen runner, and the other was a follower brought by Zhao Xian. They were not only physically strong, but also good swimmers.

After the two left, the others rested for a while before continuing their search.

The rain stopped, the dark clouds gradually dispersed, and to everyone's delight, the sun peeked out, indicating that the sky was about to clear.

The mountain area is too large, and there is too much floodwater accumulated in the valleys. It is continuously gushing out from the depths of the mountains, and it will take at least two more days for the floodwaters to completely subside.