Chapter 16
Xu Lan was startled. She was so focused on checking the equipment that she hadn't noticed where the lead actor had gone.
She instinctively took out her phone, but seeing the empty signal bar, she reluctantly put it away and immediately said, "Chengyi, you get in the car first, I'll take some people to find Miaomiao."
Another person ran out of the van not far away, not even having time to grab an umbrella; it was Aunt He.
"Mr. Xu, I know what Xiao Yu has been up to."
It turned out that San Tiao was out despite the heavy rain. The order to come down the mountain was too last minute. Aunt He searched the mountain twice but did not find the cat, so she hurriedly packed her things, thinking that she would come back to look for San Tiao after the rain stopped.
Aunt He sighed in frustration, "I shouldn't have told Xiao Yu. She must have gone up the mountain to look for the cat."
Xu Lan's expression grew increasingly solemn. She pointed out a few people to go find someone, but they were unwilling.
"Mr. Xu, we dare not go. The rain is so heavy, the mountain road has turned into a stream, and there's a rumbling sound. Who knows when a mudslide might occur!"
The director also advised, "Mr. Xu, we can't let the whole convoy wait around just for Miaomiao's sake."
He added, "Such a big villa is quite safe. Besides, I don't think a mudslide is even likely to happen..."
Xu Lan glared at him, and the director immediately fell silent.
But what he said did make some sense, and many people rolled down their windows and asked with dissatisfaction why they hadn't left yet.
"I stayed."
Just when they were in a dilemma, Jiang Cheng spoke up.
Xu Lan hesitated, "This is too dangerous."
Jiang Cheng shook his head, his voice still cold and clear in the torrential rain: "The earliest start time for the mudslide in the warning is five hours later. It will take two hours to get down the mountain. I have three hours, which is enough time to find her."
"Give me a car, and I'll catch up with you later."
Xu Lan was persuaded, and there really wasn't a better way.
Aunt He also wanted to stay, but Jiang Cheng persuaded her to stay and asked her about the three general routes they used to take.
An SUV quickly became available, and Xu Lan handed the car keys to Jiang Chengyi, saying, "Safety first."
Jiang Chengyi nodded slightly and took the key.
Xu Lan watched him walk against the surging, muddy current up the mountain, his figure quickly disappearing into the gray rainstorm, and sighed silently.
I hope everything goes well.
-
Yu Miaomiao found three in a muddy puddle.
The pit was two meters deep and filled with more than half a meter of water. The three animals struggled to keep their heads above water by kicking their three legs.
The torrential rain trapped the three animals in this shallow pit.
She found a tree branch, stretched it down, and let the three cats grab onto it, quickly rescuing the cat.
"Meow, meow~"
"Little cat, we need to get down the mountain quickly, it's dangerous."
The three of them were calling urgently.
Animals often have a more acute sense of perception than humans.
The woman and the cat walked down the mountain. After walking a few meters, Yu Miaomiao heard another breathing sound fading into the distance. She turned around and saw the three cats struggling in ankle-deep mud, already soaked to the bone.
She scooped up three fish and, ignoring their resistance, stuffed them into her raincoat.
The sky and earth were shrouded in mist, with mountains, trees, and rain blending together to create shades of gray.
Yu Miaomiao stumbled down the mountain, her vision failing her, relying solely on her sense of perception and hearing to maintain her balance.
I don't know how long I walked in the rain, but suddenly a figure appeared on the road.
The figure drew closer, its outline becoming clearer in the rain, revealing its tall, upright form, enveloped in a black windbreaker.
As she got closer, Yu Miaomiao finally saw the person's face.
She tilted her head back, her expression slightly startled, and murmured, "Jiang Chengyi, what brings you here?"
Jiang Cheng pulled down the hood of his windbreaker, which was soaked through by the torrential rain and rendered useless.
Rainwater flowed relentlessly over his brow bone, nose, and chin, soaking into his collar, making his face appear even more sharp.
In the blink of an eye, fine droplets of water rolled down his eyelashes, obscuring his eyes and making his emotions unclear.
He said, "I've come to find you."
-
The two returned to the villa, and before they could even change their clothes, San Tiao kept urging them to hurry down the mountain.
They brought nothing with them, got into their SUV, and drove down the only road leading down the mountain.
Less than two kilometers away, a thunderous booming sound could be heard from a great distance, continuous and getting closer and closer.
The three became extremely agitated, darting around the carriage.
Yu Miaomiao realized something and hurriedly said, "We can't drive down the mountain, it's dangerous!"
Jiang Cheng slammed on the brakes, turned the car around, and sped up the mountain. After only a few hundred meters, a deafening roar echoed behind the car.
Yu Miaomiao looked back and saw the muddy yellow torrent carrying boulders and uprooted saplings rushing into the mountain path and rolling downhill, turning into a dead end in the blink of an eye.
She broke out in a cold sweat; if they hadn't turned around, they would have been right in the path of the mudslide.
Jiang Cheng didn't stop; he sped forward through the torrential rain until he reached the villa.
The two rushed to the top floor in perfect unison. Yu Miaomiao looked around for a signal and sent Xu Lan a text message explaining the situation.
Jiang Cheng went up to the terrace to observe, and came down after a moment. "We need to go up the mountain."
Because he was trapped on the mountain while looking for Yu Miaomiao and surrounded by water, he was not too anxious and explained the situation in an orderly manner.
"The rain will continue for at least another five hours. The water level in the valley is rising. The villa is located in a low-lying area and there is a high probability that it will be flooded. It is not safe."
Yu Miaomiao nodded, her wet hair sticking to her cheeks, indicating that there was no problem—in this heavy rain, even a fool could see that they should go to higher ground.
The two changed into dry clothes and raincoats. Jiang Cheng carried a backpack containing food and medicine, while Yu Miaomiao carried San Tiao, who was also wearing a raincoat. They then headed up the mountain.
The path up the mountain was even more difficult than the path down. Yu Miaomiao's human form was already weak, and she only managed to keep going by occasionally eating a grain of moon dew hidden in her pocket.
Several hours later, the two had climbed several hundred meters. As darkness fell and the rain gradually subsided, they could vaguely see that the villa had been submerged by water and other debris.
Jiang Cheng stopped and looked around, but his eyes swept over Yu Miaomiao's pale, almost transparent face. "The water shouldn't reach here. Let's find a place to rest and spend the night."
Yu Miaomiao took out her phone and frowned, "There's still no signal here."
Jiang Chengyi remained calm, saying, "With the mark you left, the rescue team will be able to find us."
Before dawn, the two found a cave.
The cave wasn't large, but it was clean enough for two people and a cat to take shelter from the rain.
The thin raincoats were no match for the torrential rain, and the two of them were almost completely soaked. Only three of them, which were kept in Yu Miaomiao's arms, had their hair only half wet.
There were no facilities to start a fire or change clothes, so Yu Miaomiao could only try her best to wring the water off her body.
Fortunately, the backpack was waterproof, so the clothes inside didn't get wet, and Jiang Cheng lent Yu Miaomiao a jacket.
The already oversized coat reached almost to her knees on her, and she rolled up the sleeves and zipped it up to her chin, looking like a child wearing an adult's clothes.
She swallowed the last two drops of Moon Dew, and the flow of demonic energy caused her body temperature to rise. Her coat protected her from the cold outside, and her complexion finally improved.
The two of them worked together to spread the waterproof cloth on the ground, ate some food, and by seven o'clock it was completely dark.
Jiang Chengyi pulled out a lantern from his backpack and lit it. It was a prop left over from the film crew, windproof and waterproof, which made things convenient for the two of them.
Outside the cave, a fierce wind and rain raged, but inside, there was a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere.
The orange glow of the lantern dispelled the darkness in the cave. Yu Miaomiao sat by the lantern, holding Santiao in her arms, feeling quite uncomfortable with the strangely quiet atmosphere.
She glanced at Jiang Chengyi, who was staring at the leaping flames. His sharp features were illuminated by the lamplight, revealing a gentler expression. She wondered what he was thinking.
Why did you stay and look for me?
This problem lingered between my teeth, difficult to swallow.
Yu Miaomiao is a monster, perhaps with intelligence unlike that of ordinary monsters, but also with the straightforwardness of a monster.
She rarely encountered a situation where she didn't know how to start a conversation and hesitated.
[Perhaps it's because Jiang Chengyi is a good person? The kind of good person you hate, but have to admit is.]
Yu Miaomiao silently answered herself in her heart.
But she quickly found a flaw in this argument.
Jiang Chengyi is certainly a good person, but he is never a pushover.
He never readily agrees to other people's requests, let alone offers help.
Even Cheng Nuo, the good brother who saved Jiang Cheng's life in Yu Miaomiao's heart, he never directly agreed to her requests.
She felt she had never done anything as great a favor as saving Jiang Chengyi's life.
The doubts in her heart grew larger and larger, like an unsolvable problem, making her anxious and uneasy.
But soon, Yu Miaomiao lost interest in thinking about this issue.
A strong southerly wind blew outside the cave, carrying rain into the shallow, narrow cave.
Although the rain was gradually subsiding, it was still only the size of soybeans compared to the torrential rain during the day, and it still made me feel cold all over.
Yu Miaomiao sneezed and wrapped her clothes tighter, but the warmth she had managed to build up was slowly dissipating. She stepped back, trying to avoid the wind and rain that were hitting her face.
Sanjo sensed something and pressed himself tightly against her trembling body, his small body radiating a faint warmth.
Jiang Cheng rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the last dry blanket, handing it to the other person.
"Cover it up; it's very easy to catch a cold in this kind of weather."
Yu Miaomiao did not refuse; she knew her physical condition.
Amidst the howling wind and rain, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
-
"Boom—"
A clap of thunder ripped through the night sky and startled Jiang Chengyi awake.
He was already having a restless sleep, his dreams filled with memories of his childhood. When he woke up, he was breathing heavily and only remembered where he was when he heard the pattering of rain.
He subconsciously looked to his side and saw Yu Miaomiao sitting on the very edge of the tarpaulin, hugging her knees and resting her chin on them.
Jiang Cheng leaned his upper body forward and looked down at her face.
Her eyelids were tightly closed, and her long, straight eyelashes cast soft shadows on her cheeks.
Bathed in the orange glow of the lantern, the pale face regained some color, though the brow remained slightly furrowed in sleep.
It was as if she was annoyed that he had taken the initiative to close the distance between them.
Jiang Chengyi had noticed long ago that Yu Miaomiao didn't like close contact with others, especially him.
If she had to be in the same room with him, she would always sit far away, showing an impatient expression.
Then... with those glass-like eyes, she thought she was secretly observing him.
That arrogant, disdainful yet eager and curious gaze.
It's amazing that these two contradictory descriptions can be used to describe the same person at the same time.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh.
His smile was always very faint, with the corners of his lips slightly upturned, almost imperceptible, the kind of smile that Yu Miaomiao always wondered if she was seeing things.
The watch showed that it was 2:30 a.m. Jiang Cheng walked to the edge of the cave to observe. The wind had stopped, but the rain was still pouring down, and water was splashing into the cave from time to time.
He wasn't sleepy, and stood for a while until he felt a chill all over his body before sitting down again.
Jiang Cheng felt a sudden weight on his right shoulder. He turned his head and saw Yu Miaomiao leaning against him, her cheek pressed tightly against his shoulder, rubbing against him as if she were enjoying the coolness of his body. Her breathing was rapid and hot, intermittent.
He touched Yu Miaomiao's forehead to check its temperature; it was shockingly hot.
I have a fever.
Jiang Chengyi then realized that the color on the other person's face was not due to the lighting, but rather that his face was genuinely flushed.
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