Chapter 64 The Night of Black Rain
The rainwater wasn't completely black, just dark and murky.
The clouded leopard was restless before the rain started, and after hesitating several times, it finally darted away and disappeared into the darkness once the rain started to fall.
"It went to take shelter from the rain. It has a designated spot for sheltering from the rain in its territory," Wu Han explained, having appeared at the innermost tent at some point and seemingly noticing Qi An's observation.
Qi An was slightly taken aback, then replied, "I see."
But after saying that, she looked away, focusing on Zhao Bohan's situation.
After the rain had created a small puddle on the ground, Zhao Bohan used a radiation meter to measure it, his expression turning serious.
"The rainwater contained radioactive material, and the radiation concentration was very high. The radiation hazard in this forest should increase after the rainfall stops."
Everyone turned serious upon hearing this!
The environment worsened further, and then the protective suit was torn again, causing the danger to increase dramatically!
"Everyone, go back to your tents. From now on, if anyone experiences symptoms such as excessive fatigue, dizziness, or dry mouth, be sure to report it immediately!" Su Qingran said, peeking out from behind Qi An.
"Back to the tent," both captains ordered.
After giving the order, Wu Han did not get up immediately, but seemed to be looking at Qi An.
Qi An noticed and glanced at him.
But after looking for two seconds and not seeing Wu Han speak, he simply retreated back into the tent.
Su Qingran, on the other hand, knew the rain was dangerous, but she couldn't move her body back for a long time until Wu Han got up and left.
Prolonged exposure to radioactive elements can indeed cause fatigue. Two hours after the rain stopped, the camp remained extremely quiet, and most of the people had fallen asleep.
Qi An then fell asleep.
She checked her phone for a while before bed. Although the phone was offline during the mission and there were no new messages, it was just a habit she had formed.
Qi An fell asleep while looking at the phone, leaving it still in his hand, and the screen automatically turned off.
An hour later, Su Qingran turned off the portable solar-powered light, leaving only Yu Shuang's tablet screen as the only light in the tent.
The surroundings were dark and silent, but in the darkness and silence, Qi An's phone suddenly buzzed and vibrated!
It was the vibration at its maximum setting that abruptly woke Qi An from his deep sleep!
She had been sleeping so soundly that she was not fully awake for even a second after waking up, and stared blankly at the phone in her hand.
But the next second she noticed a sound in her left ear.
To be precise, something was drilling into her left ear! The sound and the touch sent a shiver down her spine.
She didn't wear headphones at night. She usually only uses 10% noise cancellation on her headphones and doesn't use the anti-pollution function at all. To stay alert at night, she simply put the headphones in the charging case to charge.
The sensation of something drilling into his ear was so distinct that Qi An shook his head and reached down to clean his ear.
It felt hard to the touch, then soft, and she immediately tried to pry out the soft spot with her fingernail.
But the thing was already quite far inside; Qi An could probably only reach its tail. It struggled forward and escaped.
A sharp pain shot through the depths of Qi An's ear canal!
The noise woke Su Qingran up as well. Yu Shuang, who was dozing off on night watch, woke up even earlier and had already turned on her flashlight.
A beam of bright white light filled the tent, making everything dark impossible to hide from.
The small hole in Qi An's left ear was also discovered, and Yu Shuang exclaimed, "Little Qi, your protective suit is torn!"
The two panicked a bit. Yu Shuang called out to Su Qingran repeatedly, and Su Qingran quickly checked on her.
Qi An's ears were too small, and his ear canals were even narrower, so Su Qingran had to use a magnifying glass to see him clearly.
The tents outside were also alerted. The rain had long since stopped, and Zhao Bohan's voice was the first to ring out from outside: "What's wrong?"
"It's probably an insect that crawled into Xiao Qi's ear!" Yu Shuang unzipped her jacket, her voice cold and anxious.
But the first-aid kit was right next to Su Qingran, and she quickly found the magnifying glass with a built-in light and the tweezers:
"It's okay, it's okay. Behind the eardrum is the middle ear, and behind the middle ear are the inner ear structures. It can't get into the brain."
Su Qingran comforted Qi An, cut open the protective suit, quickly sucked out the blood with a miniature suction device, and then looked into the ear canal with a small mirror.
But her heart skipped a beat.
The insect's location was completely obscured; it had at least squeezed into the complex and crowded middle ear. Judging from Qi An's reaction, it might even be in the inner ear!
No endoscope!
The hurried footsteps, Su Qingran's urgent question, "Did you bring an ENT endoscope?", and the replies and counter-questions, "No! What's going on?" squeezed into Qi An's right ear, becoming the background noise of the continuous booming in her left ear.
Amidst the chaotic roar of the tide, she felt waves of nausea and dizziness, her head swayed for a moment, and she fell forward.
Just as she was being replaced, a hand reached out with lightning speed and gently caught her head.
Qi An opened his eyes and saw Wu Han.
Wu Han squatted down next to Qi An.
This person seemed to avoid getting close to strangers, and even more so, avoid being touched, Qi An remembered.
Wu Hanren was still a bit distant from Qi An, and there was indeed a moment of hesitation and inner conflict when he tried to take a step closer, but he had already reached out his hand.
His hand had already reached out before he hesitated, gently lifting Qi An's small head as if it were nothing.
"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Su Qingran urged.
Wu Han took a step to Qi An's side, squatted down beside her, took off his breathing mask, and leaned close to Qi An's ear.
He blew a whistle in Qi An's ear.
The whistle was extremely low, short, and urgent, like an urging, or even a command!
As Qi An felt a cool breeze in his ear, he also felt as if the great earthquake deep inside his ear had stopped for a moment.
She gripped the grass blades on the ground tightly!
But after a while, the foreign object started to stir again, seemingly out of fear, but it did not give up!
Qi An was even more dizzy!
Wu Han frowned slightly, but did not move the hand that had pulled out Qi An. The whistle did not stop, and the tone changed again, becoming lower and more melodious.
Despite the excruciating pain and dizziness, Qi An felt an urge to get close to Wu Han. The foreign object in her ear seemed to share her feeling, and after another pause, it was pulled out!
The whistle kept going, and the insect retreated little by little, becoming slower and more hesitant as it went further out, but it still reached the edge of the external auditory canal!
It was just a tiny insect, about the size of a grain of wheat, golden all over, with a hard shell on its back, a soft abdomen and tail, but a very hard mouthpart on its head!
The little insect hesitated for a moment before it came out of the ear canal, but Wu Han caught it with lightning speed and crushed it in his hand!
Su Qingran, who had been keeping a close eye on the tent entrance, and Yu Shuang and the others outside, finally relaxed after holding their breath.
Qi An's safety is practically the safety of the entire team! Both practically and emotionally!
Su Qingran immediately squeezed into the tent and began to treat Qi An's wounds.
In a radiation environment, having direct wound exposure is extremely dangerous!
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