Chapter 089 Chapter 89
“Pah—”
A drop of rain fell on the glass in front of me.
It's raining? !
As the first drop of rain fell, the sound of raindrops became denser in an instant. The air, which was as dry as a desert due to the high temperature, gradually became moist. Ji Yang subconsciously touched the glass to feel it carefully, and the temperature did not rise.
It's not boiling water rain!
Ji Yang wiped the sweat off his face with a wet towel and leaned back in his chair, "Luckily it's not a boiling water rain, otherwise there would be nowhere to hide."
Xie Muchi tentatively opened the cabin door and stretched out his hand.
The cold raindrops fell on his palms, and the corners of his lips curled up: "It's just normal rain!"
The two smiled at each other, listening to the sound of rain outside. The rain blocked most of their vision, and the vibration disappeared temporarily. They both relaxed: "I'm so hungry..."
"What do you want to eat?"
Ji Yang quickly took out the lunch box he had made earlier: "Don't think about it, just eat this."
Xie Muzhi shut up silently and took the lunch box.
*
In major bases
Because earthquake-proof measures had been taken in advance, the sudden earthquake did not cause serious casualties to the survivors in the base in most cases. Only a few people did not obey orders and had no time to hide, and were crushed underneath the collapsed buildings.
Moreover, the materials used for the buildings in the base were designed with earthquake conditions in mind, so not many of them collapsed.
However, this sudden earthquake still broke down the defenses of many survivors.
Life was already difficult, and as the temperature gradually dropped, it was possible that it would return to normal. Before they could rejoice for two days, the earthquake struck again. Especially those whose family members were injured or died in it cried loudly, and some pointed at the sky and cursed: "Is it never over? If you really want to kill us, just do it directly and kill them all in one go!"
The sky was silent, and what responded to them was wave after wave of aftershocks.
Countless people stood there in panic, afraid that they would fall down due to the shock and would not have time to escape. No one even cried, and they all held their breath, waiting for death to pass by them again.
Until someone exclaimed, "It's raining!"
"Oh my god, it's raining water again, run!"
"It's over, it's over—"
"There's an earthquake and boiling water raining down, are they trying to pull us out and cook us?!"
Some people complained in despair, but most people still had a strong desire to survive and instinctively ran with the crowd, trying to find a safe shelter.
Soon, after a few drops of rain, the raindrops fell on my body.
The cold touch made them shudder all over.
Immediately someone shouted excitedly: "It's not boiling water rain! No!"
"Hahaha, it's really raining!"
"I'm so thirsty, I can finally drink some water..."
The sounds of crying and laughing filled the base. The soldiers responsible for guarding them were soon drenched by the heavy rain. They could not help but raise their heads and open their mouths. The rain fell into their mouths, moistening their dry and painful throats.
It’s just ordinary rain!
It turns out that ordinary rainwater is so sweet...
People were filled with joy and were not too scared when another wave of earthquakes came. After enduring the panic caused by the earthquake, they all escaped in time and did not take much with them. They just opened their mouths as wide as they could, or held water in their hands, to get as much water as possible to quench their thirst.
For a moment, all you could hear was the sound of violent swallowing.
After a long while, someone laughed: "Finally, we can drink as much water as we want!"
"I almost forgot what it felt like to drink water in big gulps..."
"Is the extreme heat really going to pass? It's actually raining normally?"
"The extreme heat is gone. After the earthquake, everything should return to normal, right?"
Everyone speculated and thought positively, and the atmosphere became more relaxed for a while, but as time passed, new problems emerged again -
This heavy rain lasted for more than an hour!
People were happy at first, but then became panicked.
The main reason was that the temperature had dropped at some point, and the rain had gone from normal temperature at the beginning to something icy cold, soaking everyone. The survivors who had been tortured by the natural disaster for so long were all skinny and bony, and their health was naturally not in good condition.
The bodies that had long been accustomed to the high temperature were suddenly chilled to the bone and shivered.
Want to go home.
But the earthquake did not spare them.
I don't dare go back, but it's so cold here that my nose is running.
Fortunately, it only took more than an hour.
The rain finally stopped.
——
The rain washed away everything, and the dryness and stuffiness left over from the extreme heat faded away, leaving only the moist air after the rain.
The earthquake continued, but the shaking became smaller and smaller. Until near dusk, there had been no earthquake for almost two hours. Officials suggested that survivors take their belongings and stay in the open space, which is safer.
But it is not mandatory.
Some brave survivors went back directly, but most of the survivors chose to listen to the authorities. In the past few years, thanks to the authorities, they have escaped death time and time again.
Li Yi supported his parents, Jiang Jing held her daughter, and the group walked with difficulty in the crowded crowd.
They will definitely follow the authorities, but they have to take their belongings with them.
We left in a hurry and almost everyone left empty-handed.
I finally got home. Since the two families lived together, I packed my things very quickly. I took everything that was valuable and took everything I could take away. I hid the rest, and then I left as soon as possible.
When going downstairs, I happened to meet Zhao Ming who was a step slower.
Since the two sides parted ways after hunting wild boars, they have not had much contact since then. However, something happened on Zhao Ming's side. At the beginning, they were worried that they would gang up on him, so Zhao Ming and his family of three went back directly with several hundred kilograms of wild boar meat.
I was seen by many people along the way.
Most of the wild boar meat was sold to the base, so they didn't have that much supplies on hand. But everyone was not stupid. They all knew that they had earned a lot of points, so they suffered from several scams.
After all, it was a base and security guards patrolled frequently, so there was no danger.
But the good times did not last long. Perhaps because he had too many points, Zhao Ming became a little arrogant and was coaxed into gambling.
This time, they lost all their points and were still very angry. In order to make back their money, they gritted their teeth and mortgaged their family assets. The Zhao family only found out about this when the debt collectors came to their house. Moreover, the interest generated during this period was also an expense.
Zhao Ming didn't want to give it, so he gritted his teeth and sold his wife and children to pay off the debt, leaving a little wealth for the family.
At that time, Li Yi could not bear to watch it anymore, and thinking that they knew each other, he still tried to stop him. However, the other party cried and cursed and refused to report it to the authorities. The matter was temporarily over that day, but within two days, they found that Zhao Ming was the only one left in the family.
Zhao Ming stopped gambling and found a job at the base that didn't earn him many points but was enough to keep him from starving.
Everything seemed to be going on well, but because of Li Yi's intervention, Zhao Ming seemed to have set his sights on them, and whenever he saw them he liked to make a sarcastic remark or two about them.
So, the two sides met in the corridor.
Seeing them carrying so many bags, Zhao Ming immediately sneered, "You guys are really afraid of death! Are you going out to hide now?"
Li Yi rolled his eyes in annoyance: "Yes, yes, if you are not afraid of death, just stay here. When an earthquake comes, be careful that you will be buried alive!"
"Bah!" Zhao Ming cursed immediately: "What the hell are you talking about!"
The next second Jiang Jing raised the knife in his hand.
Li's parents also clenched their weapons.
Zhao Ming immediately shut up in dismay.
The two parties passed each other and went straight downstairs. Zhao Ming went upstairs with a dark face, cursing: "A bunch of cowards!"
The official said that this house was built with earthquakes in mind and can withstand earthquakes over magnitude 9.
The epicenter was not on their side, so even if the earthquake had a wide range, it would not cause all the nice houses to collapse. Instead, it was these cowards who ran away. When the security guards didn't patrol, they would have nowhere to complain if their family assets were emptied!
Suddenly his eyes lit up.
yes.
He can go and get it.
He doesn't know about others, but he knows exactly how much wealth these people have!
Zhao Ming's eyes rolled around, and his footsteps going upstairs became more cheerful. He thought, wait a minute, when everyone was tired and asleep, he would quickly take the supplies away. If it weren't for this group of people, he would at least be able to keep some supplies. It was because of their interference that the debt collectors were afraid that the authorities would come, so they ran away.
I came back two days later and found that the interest had increased again!
Zhao Ming felt extremely angry whenever he thought about it, but unfortunately he was alone and powerless, so he could only endure it.
Fortunately, this great revenge will be taken soon.
*
Nightfall
Everyone is used to staying out at night and hiding during the day.
Even though the temperature was gradually dropping, everyone had no time to adjust their schedules. When the earthquake struck, most people were awakened from their sleep and stayed up from noon until night.
It's only now that I have a chance to take a break.
Night is naturally the time when we sleep the deepest.
Zhao Ming remembered that he had to be a thief at night, so he didn't dare to sleep and stayed up until late at night. He carefully went downstairs, came to the floor where Li's family lived, and started to pry the lock.
But...
Zhao Ming had never learned how to pick a lock. He only relied on some tutorials he saw on the Internet a few years ago, but he was unable to break through the mechanical lock that had been specially reinforced by the authorities. After struggling for a while, he was already exhausted and finally kicked the door in frustration and went upstairs in shame.
After all this tossing and turning, he fell asleep immediately.
When another major earthquake struck at around four in the morning, the base sounded the alarm immediately, but he was unable to react immediately and was still sleeping soundly.
It was not until the earth shook and he was thrown off the bed, his nose sore from the fall, that he finally woke up completely.
Oh shit!
Earthquake, earthquake is coming again!
In the midst of collapse, Zhao Ming was completely unable to think and ran out as fast as he could without even having time to put on his shoes. However, the epicenter of this earthquake seemed to be nearby. He had just gone down one floor when he felt his whole body being shaken again. He flew out and his head slammed against the wall. The pain made him dizzy and he fell down the stairs.
In a daze, he was still thinking, let it be.
As long as the house doesn't collapse, he can still survive.
The continuous shaking made him feel nervous. His body ached so much that he couldn't move. His head felt dizzy, but he was still conscious. He discovered something terrifying - why was the shaking getting stronger and stronger? !
Until the biggest one, which threw him directly off the corner of the stairs.
"Hmm——" groaned.
Other people's earth-shaking cries for help rang in my ears.
Then, there was a loud and huge sound: "Crack-bang-"
Something hit him.
It seemed that he could no longer feel the pain. His eyes went dark and his consciousness was taken away. Zhao Ming opened his mouth and wanted to speak, but he could no longer utter a word...
He regretted it.
If he had known...if he had known it would be such a big earthquake, he would not have come back!
——
When this wave of earthquakes came, Ji Yang and Xie Muchi were also sleeping.
But unlike others, they sleep on the plane.
The Lichuan Plain was empty. As their plane landed, helicopters from other companies also landed here one after another. In the distance, there was also a military-looking flying squadron staying there.
Naturally, the two of them could not enter the space.
They were also afraid that they would be in the space when an earthquake struck, so except for going to the toilet, they dared not enter the space at other times. Moreover, they went in and out in a hurry every time, enduring it as much as they could.
When sleeping, Ji Yang naturally pulled Xixi out to act as an alarm.
The temperature dropped a little, so Xixi threw herself on her and hugged her like a heater, while Xie Muchi covered herself with a quilt and sat behind her.
At four o'clock in the morning, the first wave of earthquakes hit. Xixi had already sensed it in advance and cried out loudly. The two of them woke up immediately and took Xixi back to the space. Ji Yang went to the driver's seat to start the plane. The huge roar also alarmed the surroundings, and the helicopters that were also resting here also turned on their lights.
Before they knew what the noisy plane was doing, they felt a shaking sensation.
Now all the planes were started in a hurry.
Ji Yang took the opportunity to fly into the air. Xie Muchi took out a telescope to observe the situation on the ground. The light was not bright at this time, and the sun was not out yet, so he could not see too far. However, Xie Muchi quickly analyzed the conclusion and said loudly in Ji Yang's ear: "The source of the earthquake seems to be over there again, but it seems to be a little bigger than before."
Just as he finished speaking, a terrifying black crack appeared on the ground from afar all the way to this side.
Countless buildings, plants, humans, and animals around the crack were all trapped in it.
Ji Yang could see it with his naked eyes without a telescope.
Her pupils suddenly shrank, and she subconsciously moved a little away from that direction, keeping an eye on the surrounding situation to avoid a collision with other helicopters. At the same time, her peripheral vision was focused on the bottom. The black crack was like a huge mouth in the abyss that could swallow anything. However, it only took about ten minutes for the crack to begin to close again.
It seemed as if a touch of red was squeezed out from the cracks, coloring the surrounding soil.
Ji Yang came back to his senses, looked around, turned around and moved away from that place.
Xie Muchi patted her shoulder and continued to observe the surrounding situation. As he watched, his expression became more and more solemn. The crack over there had just ended, and it started again on the other side. In addition, the surface movement became more and more violent. It should have been a high mountain, but at this moment, the land next to it seemed to be pushed up by something, almost reaching the waist of the mountain!
Even on the Lichuan Plain, the tremors were still very strong.
They don't have professional instruments and they're not on the ground, so they can't measure the magnitude of the earthquake here, but it's definitely not low!
As we were flying, we arrived at the edge of the Lichuan Plain and saw a helicopter lying on the ground with the rotor above its head broken. There were two people standing around it. No, to be more precise, they were sitting on the ground. Another two people were trying to climb out, but were thrown back in by a wave of earthquake.
It is probably because it failed to fly immediately during takeoff and was knocked down by the powerful earthquake.
At this moment, how lucky are they and the surrounding planes that also took off successfully?
The plane was circling in the air. The earthquake was so terrifying that they were afraid to get off. The two men discussed loudly and decided to go around to see the situation so that they could deal with any special situation more easily.
Xie Muzhi immediately checked the map, and the two of them headed towards the Changnan base.
I want to see what's going on over there.
But after driving for a while, there was a sudden dull noise from the left front, and then thick black smoke gushed out from there, slowly rising up and dyeing the originally blue sky with a layer of gray shadow.
A few minutes later, after the thick black smoke had stopped, the fiery red magma came out, like red jam sliding down a cake, eventually turning the area into a dark and terrifying place, and the wildfire spread.
Even from a distance, Ji Yang seemed to feel a burst of heat coming towards him.
She turned the direction, trying to avoid it, but when she tilted her head, she found that there was more than one volcanic eruption. A little further away, she seemed to see a dark shadow vaguely. She pointed over there and motioned Xie Muchi to take a look.
After a while, Xie Muzhi put down the telescope and said loudly: "There is also a volcanic eruption over there..."
Ji Yang pursed his lips and continued to drive forward, finally approaching the Changnan base. Xie Muchi also saw the situation of the base here. In fact, he had passed through several bases along the way, but none of them was good.
Changnan Base...
It can be said that it is relatively better.
At a glance, only a few houses collapsed and most of the survivors were hiding in open spaces.
——
After taking a look, the two went back.
As we drove on, the earthquake seemed to end.
The naked eye did not notice the shaking around, and a helicopter was already trying to descend. After confirming that there was no problem, Ji Yang also found a wide location away from the crowd to land.
After landing successfully, they refueled the helicopter as usual and checked the aircraft. After confirming that everything was normal, they returned to the helicopter and sighed deeply.
"Eat something." Xie Mu knew.
Food always soothes the heart a little.
Ji Yang nodded and looked around the cooked food area with his eyes closed: "What do you want to eat? Soy milk buns?"
"Noodle?"
"Dumplings, please." Xie Muzhi said.
Ji Yang asked about the taste again, took out a few buns and two cups of soy milk, saying it was breakfast, but in fact, neither of them had much appetite. They quickly ate two buns to fill their stomachs and finished the soy milk. Then Ji Yang let Xixi out.
The puppy could not feel the horror of the earthquake at all in space.
As soon as I came out, the earthquake was gone.
Therefore, Xixi was still cheerful. She threw herself on Ji Yang and enthusiastically licked her master while calling out, "Awoo, awoo, awoo—"
Ji Yang felt a little relieved when he held it. He looked around through the glass window. They had just seen two streams of black smoke, but at this moment, another one seemed to appear.
Distributed in different places, but the impact on the environment seems to be huge.
The sun had already come out, and its sunlight was shining on the earth. The blue sky, which should have been bright, now seemed to be covered with a layer of gray mist, which I thought would disappear after a while.
But it didn't.
It was not until noon that the two woke up from a nap and had lunch. The gray fog became thicker.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, there were three more waves of earthquakes. These tremors were not strong, just slight shaking. The plane circled in the air for more than ten minutes, and then everything calmed down.
Although it's not scary, it's tiring.
By the evening, everyone was exhausted.
Including Ji Yang and Xie Muchi, this is when they have their own space and their lives are relatively comfortable.
As time passed, more and more people gathered on this plain. At dinner time in the evening, the aroma of various foods filled the air. After a tiring day, people still had to eat something good to relieve their mental discomfort.
Ji Yang and Xie Muzhi also felt a little more energetic. They stopped satisfying their stomachs and chose cold pot skewers from a variety of foods.
The temperature has dropped completely, maintaining at around 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. For people whose bodies have become accustomed to temperatures over 60 degrees Celsius, this temperature may be even colder than the previous 10 degrees Celsius.
The two's initial options were hot pot and barbecue.
But I quickly rejected it, because if I was eating and there was a bump, I would be done. So I ruled out most of the hot dishes. If I wanted to eat something tasty, I would just eat cold pot skewers.
Two more steaks and two bowls of rice.
I didn’t eat much in the morning or at noon, so of course I have to eat a full meal at night.
Xixi's dinner was much simpler, meat rice and two small pieces of steak that she got from Ji Yang. She ate it with great satisfaction. Seeing her like this, Ji Yang's appetite increased a lot.
Thinking that it would be a bit lonely for Wangwang to eat alone in space, and there was quite a lot of space on the helicopter, Ji Yang simply let it out, and the two of them, the cat and the dog, had dinner together.
After resting for too long during the day, both of them lost sleep at night. They half-lay in the helicopter, looking around lazily.
With more people here, it looks like a camping site, with tents, lights, and fires everywhere. If you listen carefully, you can also hear the sound of people playing cards. The aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafts over, which makes Ji Yang feel a lot more relaxed.
She was playing with the dog's head. Xie Muchi hugged her, with his chin resting on her shoulder, his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.
Until Xixi's mood was not right again.
The two men opened their eyes quickly, and Ji Yang was the first to go to the driver's seat and fly the plane.
This time the noise startled the other people around again. Everyone quickly gathered their thoughts, packed up their things quickly, and started driving away. As one helicopter after another left the ground, the ground began to shake violently again.
——
Earthquakes can be big or small.
All in all, it went on for twelve days without really stopping.
It happened basically every few hours. Everyone was very panicked at first. In addition to the first time when a pilot got too flustered and had an accident and failed to take off the plane, there were two more times when someone failed to take off the plane.
Fortunately, both times the earthquakes were not too severe and the helicopter was not damaged.
After becoming proficient, whenever there was a slight movement, everyone would quickly fly the helicopter like trained soldiers, and most of them would watch Ji Yang's movements and would not dare to be careless at all.
Most of them are medium-sized earthquakes, about magnitude 7.
A small number of them are earthquakes of magnitude 8 or 9.
The biggest earthquake...
The Lichuan Plain was not spared either. The entire area of land was shaking like waves on the sea, and there were many cracks. A not-so-small hill not far away was completely flattened. The fallen helicopter was instantly swallowed up by the crack and disappeared in this area.
That time, Ji Yang had to fly the plane to other places to find a place to park.
We found it near Changnan Base.
It just so happened that the forests over there had been completely cut down, allowing them to temporarily stop and refuel. However, when they got close this time, they saw with their own eyes that the mountain under the base had split directly into two halves.
Originally, the base covered the entire mountain, but this time, the base was split into two halves, one half was still intact, and the other half was crumbling.
About 200 kilometers away from the Changnan Base, an underground volcano group came alive due to an earthquake, and continued to spew magma and black smoke toward the ground.
After avoiding this earthquake, they flew back to the Lichuan Plain by helicopter. Everything seemed to have returned to normal, but the topography was completely different from before. If they didn't remember the way and the direction, they might have thought they had come to the wrong place.
After that, the number of helicopters parked here decreased by one third.
I don't know if they changed the location or what.
After this big earthquake, there were many smaller earthquakes.
Until the fifteenth day.
Two days have passed peacefully.
The earthquake period may have passed.
After waking up, Ji Yang was not startled by any sudden movement. After getting enough sleep, he was in a good mood. When he opened his eyes, he found that Xie Muchi had woken up earlier and was looking at the sky with a telescope.
It was already past nine o'clock, but the sky was a little gloomy.
Ever since the series of volcanic eruptions, the sky has become visibly grayer day by day. It was originally a light gray-blue, but now it has become a deep gray with a hint of blue.
Seeing that he looked a little solemn, Ji Yang also took out a telescope and looked at the sky.
The thick grey air had blocked out the sun, making it impossible to tell where it should be.
The air quality is also extremely bad, and breathing is a bit uncomfortable.
Ji Yang put down the telescope, cleared his throat, and drank a sip of water. Then he saw Xie Muzhi put down his hand and said, "Let's go back to the base. Something doesn't feel right."
Ji Yang glanced at Xixi, who was still lying lazily at her feet.
Looks like it's in good condition.
But we can't just rely on Xixi as an alarm. Even animals can't sense everything. Since you feel uneasy, do things that can make you feel at ease.
She nodded: "Okay, let's go straight back to the base."
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