Chapter 345 Landslide
"Hurry, let's go up and take a look!" Hu Zi's face was full of anxiety, his brows were twisted into knots, and he was the first to tear off the rope tied around his waist.
He exerted force on his feet and rushed to the front like an arrow, leaving the people behind him far behind.
The road ahead had long been completely blocked by pouring mud and gravel of various sizes. The thick layer of mud was slippery and the gravel was stacked in an interlaced manner.
Not to mention people, even the cracks were filled with mud, and there was no trace of passage at all.
"Is there anyone there?" Hu Zi stood at the edge of the blockage, cupped his hands to his mouth in a trumpet shape, and roared towards the other end of the road.
His voice exploded in the rain, with urgent penetrating power, but was quickly swallowed up by the dense sound of rain.
The only sounds were the patter of the torrential rain, the howling wind whipping the raindrops past, and the occasional rustling of frightened animals running in panic. Apart from that, there was complete silence.
No response is a good thing, proving there are no trapped children here.
Just when everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Hu Zi suddenly held his breath and his eyes suddenly widened, as if he had caught some subtle signal.
He listened carefully, and after a moment, he shouted with uncontrollable excitement in his voice: "Someone!"
The others looked around, straining their ears to listen, but they could hear nothing but the sound of wind and rain. "Hu Zi, did you hear it wrong? It's so windy and rainy, how can there be any sound?" someone couldn't help but ask, his tone full of doubt.
Hu Zi waved his hand firmly, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then shouted again towards the other side: "Is there anyone in there? Are you being suppressed and unable to speak? If you can hear me, knock three times!"
After saying this, he pursed his lips tightly, not daring to breathe, concentrating on catching any slight sound.
A few seconds later, three extremely light but extremely clear knocking sounds, "Ding Ding Ding...", came from the other side of the road through the rain.
"There really is someone!" Hu Zi's voice trembled with excitement. He clenched his fists suddenly, and light suddenly flashed in his eyes.
The others were finally relieved of their doubts. After all, Hu Zi's kung fu was well-known in the village, and his hearing was far superior to that of ordinary people. It made sense that he could hear sounds that they couldn't.
"But the road is so blocked now, we can't get through!" Someone looked at the pile of mud and rocks in front of him and stamped his feet anxiously.
Hu Zi's eyes swept over the hoes in everyone's hands, and his eyes lit up: "Let's dig a way out!"
"This..." Someone immediately looked troubled and pointed at the hillside above their heads. "Look, it's raining so hard now, the soil has long been softened. If we dig carelessly, the rocks and soil above will definitely roll down, and then someone will be crushed..."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.
Indeed, the soil at this moment is as loose as tofu, and the slightest touch may cause a secondary landslide, with unimaginable consequences.
Hu Zi's brow furrowed, lost in thought, his eyes darting around like searchlights, rapidly scanning his surroundings. He was oblivious to the rain running down his cheeks.
Suddenly, his eyes fixed on a large rock half exposed from the mud not far away.
With his lightness skills, if he could jump onto the stone first, he would be able to use the force to jump to the other side of the road!
Time waits for no one! The children may have been buried under the soil. Every second of delay increases the danger.
Hu Zi's heart seemed to be tightened by an invisible hand. He took a deep breath and made a decision.
"You guys wait here first, I'll go over and take a look." At times like this, only his kung fu could come in handy.
"Okay, be careful!" Although everyone was worried, they also knew that this was the only way at the moment, so they could only remind him repeatedly.
Hu Zi nodded vigorously, and with a sudden push of his feet, he leaped upward like a nimble cheetah, landing steadily on the half-exposed rock. Then, with another push, he swung his body, like a light leaf, landing silently on the other side of the road.
Seeing him land safely, everyone on the other side breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts finally at ease.
"Kid, where are you? If you still have the strength, knock again!" Hu Zi shouted immediately after he stood firm, his voice full of urgency.
As soon as he finished speaking, a faint knocking sound was heard.
Following the direction of the sound, Hu Zi took a few quick steps, and the scene before him made his heart sink.
The two children were buried in thick mud. Fortunately, two thick branches were inserted diagonally from above, supporting a small, narrow space above their heads so that they could breathe.
The space was pitifully small. The two children huddled together, their faces flushed red. They were surrounded by muddy dirt and sewage, their mouths clogged with mud, making it impossible for them to make a sound. Fortunately, one of the children had grabbed a stick when he left the house. Otherwise, even if they had heard his cries, they would have been anxiously racing in their hearts, unable to send out any distress signals.
"Don't be afraid, the teacher is here to save you!" Hu Zi quickly knelt on his knees, stretched out his hands carefully, and dug up the mud around the children bit by bit.
His movements were so gentle that he didn't even dare to use any tools.
Because there is a steep slope next to the child, the soil on it has shown obvious signs of loosening. If one is not careful, the entire slope may collapse.
Fortunately, Hu Zi's rescue was relatively smooth, and each time he accurately avoided places that might cause danger.
But on the other hand, the situation with Gu Jiayue was not optimistic.
Xinghua Village is just across the river from Taohua Village. It takes about ten minutes to walk across the river, so everyone initially thought that the children from Xinghua Village who did not come to school must have been left at home by their parents to avoid the rain.
But when Gu Jiayue and his group arrived at Xinghua Village, the news they heard from the villagers made them feel disheartened.
The children went out early because they were afraid that the rain would delay their classes!
"But they haven't even arrived at the school!" Gu Jiayue's voice was filled with incredible urgency, and her brows were twisted into a knot.
"What?" A woman suddenly stood up from her stool, the color draining from her face. "That's impossible! The three of them left together so early!"
"I checked carefully, and Shitou and the other three definitely didn't come to school." Gu Jiayue said in a deep voice.
Xinghua Village is closest to Taohua Village. There are already many children coming to school there, and the sudden loss of three of them is by no means a trivial matter.
The woman suddenly slapped her thigh hard, her face full of regret. "I remember now! When the children were leaving, I seemed to hear them saying they wanted to take another path that didn't involve crossing the river!"
Gu Jiayue's heart skipped a beat.
At first, he was most confident in Xinghua Village. After all, the road was close and easy to walk on, and he never expected that anything would go wrong.
When he counted the number of people, he found that three children were missing. He was still hoping for a lucky break, thinking that their parents did not allow them to come. However, he did not expect that the three children had taken a detour on their own initiative.
"Hurry, take us to that path!" Gu Jiayue's voice was filled with unquestionable urgency, which suddenly woke up the woman who was still regretting.
"Okay, okay, come with me!" The woman quickly wiped her face, turned around and rushed into the rain.
A group of people immediately followed and were instantly caught in the pouring rain.
Because the rain was so heavy, the river water rose a lot. The rushing water was full of turbid waves. The children were frightened and did not dare to walk on the bridge, so they decided to take the abandoned path instead.
Ever since a bridge was built between the two villages, few people have walked on that road. Now it is overgrown with weeds and vines, making it extremely difficult to walk on.
"Wow...Brother Shitou, will we be washed away by the flood?" A little girl named Kuikui hugged the boy beside her tightly. Her little face was red from the rain, and it was hard to tell whether it was tears or rain on her face. Her voice was full of fear.
The boy named Shitou used a large leaf to shield Kuikui from the rain. Even though his clothes were soaked and his lips were purple from the cold, he still pretended to be calm. "Don't be afraid, Kuikui. I will protect you!"
In fact, Shitou's legs were shaking uncontrollably, but he was the oldest child here. He couldn't be afraid or cry. He had to hold on and protect his younger brothers and sisters.
At this time, the three of them were lying under a fallen tree trunk. The road behind them had been completely washed away by the flood rushing down from the mountain, with muddy waves rolling; the road in front of them was blocked tightly by several large rocks rolling down from the mountain. They were really in a dilemma.
What’s even more worrying is that we have to be on guard against rocks that may roll down from the mountain above our heads at all times. Every second feels like walking on the edge of a knife.
"Guangzong, you take care of Kuikui. I'll go down and see if there is any other way." Shitou gritted his teeth and made a decision.
Guangzong immediately became anxious and pulled at his clothes: "Brother Shitou, don't go, it's too dangerous!"
"It's okay, I can run fast, just take care of my sister!" Shitou patted Guangzong's hand, then jumped down from the tree trunk. His small figure fell into the accumulated water, and the splashing water hit his face.
He wiped it roughly with his sleeve and walked towards Xinghua Village with one step deep and one step shallow.
Looking at the water in front of him, which was several times more turbulent than in the morning, his body shook even more violently.
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