Chapter 53 Mountain Fire
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The sound of the knocking was rapid and short.
She Ning could vaguely see the shadow of someone outside through the glass window, so she quickly got out of bed, put on her shoes, and opened the window.
On the windowsill, the little chestnut-brown creature stood on its two feet, one paw raised, still in a knocking motion.
I asked Little Squirrel to keep an eye on Ludong Mountain before, and to notify her if there was any situation. But she came so late today, and her attitude was so hurried.
The night before last, she used the identity of Ya Ya to visit the cave and Taoist temple guarded by the big black bear. Most of the animals that were injured some time ago have recovered and left the cave and Taoist temple one after another.
Even the most seriously injured little black bear was able to walk. Early this morning, the big black bear carried it back to the mountain next to the neighboring mountain by climbing mountains and wading through rivers. Standing on the tree, She Ning and the big black bear on the ground watched it stumble and run towards its mother.
With the treasure confiscated and the poachers arrested, She Ning couldn't imagine what else might happen at Deer Cave Mountain.
"What happened?" She Ning asked rapidly as she pulled her hair back.
"There's a fire on Ludong Mountain!" the chestnut-brown squirrel exclaimed breathlessly as it rushed over. Its silver-gray fur was all matted with exhaustion, and its round, black pearl eyes were filled with anxiety.
"That group of people dressed in leaf-colored clothes are injured and haven't come out of the mountains yet." Remembering She Ning's instructions to keep an eye on the situation in the mountains, the little squirrel patrolled the mountains several times a day. After the poachers were arrested, only that group remained in the mountains.
The little squirrels would stroll around their area at a fixed time every day.
As usual, it went by today and saw the fire from afar. Upon closer inspection, it saw that the group was fighting with a group of people dressed in black. Although it had the upper hand and suppressed the black-clad people, the wildfire spread very quickly and they were soon surrounded by the fire.
"When I came over, they were still using branches to put out the fire." The little squirrel finally caught its breath. Thinking of the animals it had encountered on its way here, fleeing the burning forest in a panic, it hugged She Ning's fingers tightly, tilted its little head up to look at her, and its round eyes were full of pleading and hope.
Please help them.
They were both the leaf-colored people and the animals of the forest.
In the squirrel's eyes, She Ning could take out spirit rice and exquisite fruit at will, conjure things out of thin air, and could also become invisible and turn into a black bird. She was the omnipotent immortal that the people who used to live in the Taoist temple had described.
Unaware that the squirrel's evaluation of her had risen to the level of a celestial being, She Ning, after hearing its words, began frantically calling the system.
But the system seemed to be dead at this moment, and no matter how she called out, it wouldn't respond.
"Little Squirrel, go wait for me under the peach tree in the yard, I'll be right there." Unable to rely on the system, she could only find a way herself. She told the little squirrel to wait outside, closed the window, and lay back down on the bed.
Outside the room, She Ni and She Hongmei were soaking their feet, and noises could be heard from time to time. They might come back to the room at any moment. She quickly arranged the scene for her body to fall asleep. She took out the puppet from the system, attached her thoughts to it, and jumped out of the window.
The peach trees, laden with small green fruits, began to sprout green leaves one after another. She Ning came to the peach tree. The moonlight was hazy, and the shadow of the peach tree enveloped her figure. It was pitch black and she couldn't see anyone.
She Ning took out the magic cloak from the system, set it to invisibility mode, and gradually disappeared from the courtyard.
After placing the squirrel in her pocket, She Ning went to the riverbank. The storage compartment she had bought with 5 points could store things from the outside world, and she had taken everything out and hidden it before leaving. Now the storage compartment was empty.
She tentatively touched the river surface with her hand and silently chanted "recover." The 10m*10m*10m storage compartment instantly filled with water. Looking at the full compartment, She Ning breathed a slight sigh of relief. Fortunately, the idea worked; otherwise, it would have been really difficult.
She called the fire department in town, changed her voice to tell them the address of the fire, the type of burning material, and the size of the fire, and then used the cloak to its maximum speed, rushing towards the fire at breakneck speed.
They didn't rest along the way. The little squirrel carefully reported to She Ning about the situation of those people, as well as the black-clad man who suddenly appeared today.
The speed was too fast, the wind was whistling in her ears, She Ning pulled her cloak tighter on both sides, she lowered her eyes and thought.
She remembered that the team had quietly entered the mountains on the very first day the poachers began their operation. When the little squirrel told her about it, she thought they were there to investigate the poaching case, given how coincidental their timing and motives were. After the poaching case was solved, she was busy with the aftermath and dealing with school matters, and for a while, she didn't pay attention to their movements.
Now that the squirrel has said this, it's clear that the team's target is the group of men in black.
But who are those men in black?
Treasure, smuggling, poaching, and now a group of men in black. Deer Cave Mountain is indeed a mountain full of rumors and mysteries, She Ning sighed.
The magic cloak, traveling at maximum speed, was about to reach its destination. In the pitch-black night, the crimson firelight in the mountains was truly dazzling, and She Ning could see it from afar.
The wildfire was brought under control. The firefighters in camouflage uniforms were very professional in their firefighting operations. A firebreak was dug at the edge of the wildfire. Everyone had a clear division of labor. For the wildfire burning on the ground, some of them dug soil to extinguish the fire, while others used tree branches to beat it down.
As for the men in black that the little squirrel mentioned, they were knocked unconscious and tied up with thick ropes in the cleared open space.
"Watch out, back off!" The observer responsible for monitoring wind direction and force shouted a warning as soon as she noticed something was wrong.
However, it was too late. The sudden increase in wind force and change in wind direction caused the wildfire, which had been almost extinguished, to reignite.
Caught off guard, the camouflage uniforms that hadn't had time to dodge were engulfed in flames. Under the billowing smoke, the camouflage uniform wearers showed symptoms of weakness, dizziness, and difficulty breathing.
Seeing the fire, which had been dim, suddenly brighten in the distance, She Ning knew something was wrong. She rushed over without stopping. Seeing the fierce fire, she didn't have time to think. She hovered high above the mountain fire and instantly released the water from her storage compartment.
A large amount of water fell from the sky, and the wildfire was extinguished instantly. The few remaining small flames were also put out by She Ning to prevent future troubles.
On the ground, facing the raging wildfire, Zhu Feng immediately retreated upon hearing the warning, but it was too late. Her right arm was burned before she could dodge, and she was forced to inhale thick smoke. She was awakened by the cold rain after fainting. Lying on her side on the ground, she was weak and confused.
With strong willpower and a belief in protecting national property, she forced herself to open her eyes, and then she met She Ning's gaze.
With a mask on, her doe-like eyes were round, dark, and bright; that was Zhu Feng's first impression of her.
Is there such a person on the mountain?
Her eyes glazed over for a moment, and when she looked again, all she could see were the ashes of burned trees. Apart from her teammates, there were only men in black. Where was anyone else?
With great effort, he searched the surrounding area and helped his teammates to a safe location. The sirens of the police car grew louder as they approached, finally stopping at the foot of the mountain. The rustling sound of breaking branches grew louder as they approached. Only when he saw the familiar olive green uniforms did Zhu Feng finally feel relieved enough to faint.
When Zhu Feng woke up in the hospital, she asked her teammates, and they all said they hadn't seen anyone else. They concluded that the doe-like eyes were a hallucination caused by the smoke.
At the scene of the wildfire, some firefighters evacuated people down the mountain, while others stayed behind to handle the aftermath. Although timely rain extinguished the fire, they were still worried about any remaining embers, so they carefully searched the area until they were sure there was no potential danger of reignition before descending the mountain.
"They're all gone now."
Disguised as a tree, She Ning watched as all the fire trucks drove away down the mountain. She breathed a sigh of relief, and moved her upright body slightly, twisting left and right, and finally stretching her arms and legs.
If someone were here right now, she would see a tree twisting and turning like a person, with its branches swinging back and forth. Unfortunately, there was no one else there, only a little squirrel. The squirrel's filter for She Ning was already incredibly thick, so whatever she did made sense.
On the branch next door, the little squirrel also started wriggling.
...
After stretching her stiff body, She Ning took off her ever-changing gloves and reverted to her puppet form. Good heavens, heaven knows how terrified she was when she saw her own reflection in the eyes of the woman in camouflage.
Luckily, she was quick-witted and reacted in 0.001 seconds by using her versatile gloves to transform into a tree. Otherwise, I don't know how to explain her being there so late at night.
She Ning removed the magic cloak from her body and stored it back in the system interface, where its information was updated.
Magic Cloak
Note: Originating from a magical world, it possesses invisibility and levitation capabilities, and can provide a certain degree of physical protection (it is invincible under the influence of this planet).
Remaining time: 0/24 hours
Reluctantly closing its detailed page, She Ning rummaged through her inventory of items. Oh no, she had no items left for traveling.
It takes more than 20 minutes to cycle from Ludong Mountain to Xiahe Village, and if she has to walk back by herself, it will take her at least an hour.
There were no good items to exchange in the system's convenience store, so She Ning treated it as exercise—no, exercise for the puppet's physical fitness—and ran back home, controlling the puppet. Her body wasn't tired, but she was mentally exhausted.
"Next time I open a blind box, I'm determined to get one that can be used for transportation," She Ning said, touching the lucky necklace.
The puppet cannot be released beyond a 5-meter radius centered on the host. Hiding under the windowsill, She Ning's consciousness returned to her body, and at the same time, she recalled the puppet into the system.
After a night of running around, she was exhausted. As soon as her consciousness returned to her body, before she could even experience the aftereffects of her consciousness leaving her body, she drifted off to sleep.
The next day, the sunlight shining through the side window of the room woke her up. When she came out of the room, no one was there.
Even my grandmother, who is usually at home, isn't here.
The village was bustling with activity. After washing up and tying her hair up, She Ning hadn't even taken two steps out of the yard when she knew why the village was so lively today.
First, there was the wildfire at Ludong Mountain last night.
Secondly, a relative of the village party secretary came to visit in a car.
She Ning overheard the news about the wildfire at Ludong Mountain. The official announcement only stated the cause of the fire and the situation of its extinguishing, and reminded everyone to pay attention to fire safety and not to use open flames when going up the mountain. The camouflage uniforms and the men in black were not mentioned.
It was rare to see a car in the village, so everyone went to check it out. She Ning wasn't interested, and after hearing the information she wanted to hear, she prepared to leave.
"Little girl Aning!" She Ning had just turned around and taken two steps when a surprised voice called out to her.
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