Chapter 360 Ginger Soup
Jiang Luli was like an arrow shot from a bowstring, raising his foot to pounce on the falling mud and rocks.
But Lu Yao held her wrist tightly.
Lu Yao's knuckles dug into his flesh. "Master! Danger!"
Jiang Luli watched helplessly as Gu Jiayue's figure was swallowed up by the yellow-gray mud waves. The corner of her green cloth gown flashed in the mud flow and then disappeared completely.
He growled like a trapped animal and violently shook off Lu Yao's hand, his knuckles turning white from the force. "Get out of here!"
The usually gentle voice was now icy, "Everyone, dig it out! If you can't dig out Gu Jiayue, you won't survive!"
The corners of Jiang Luli's eyes were red, his jaw was tense, and even his hair had a violent arc.
The pressure from the superior was like a dark cloud pressing down on their heads. The secret guards had never seen Jiang Luli like this before.
They didn't dare to delay and immediately rushed to the place where Gu Jiayue was buried. Sparks flew as the hoes hit the stones, and their ten fingers dug into the soil, and the cracks between their nails were instantly filled with mud.
Fortunately, although the mudslide was strong, it did not completely wash away the location.
Jiang Luli squatted at the front, his fingertips almost blistered, and every time he dug up a piece of gravel, it seemed as if all his strength was exhausted.
When his fingertips touched a piece of soft cloth, he shuddered all over and even forgot to breathe.
"Hurry! Here!" His voice was hoarse, his hands flew like afterimages, and mud fell through his fingers.
Finally, a strand of black hair emerged from the mud. He quickly brushed away the gravel on it with his palm, moving so gently as if he was afraid of breaking the glass.
"Ahem—" Gu Jiayue raised her head abruptly, her hair sticking to her sweaty face, but she smiled brightly at everyone, "We're all fine."
She turned sideways to reveal the little girl she was holding tightly in her arms. There were traces of tears on the child's face, but she was protecting her very well.
Lu Yao's clothes on his back were already soaked with cold sweat. He looked at Gu Jiayue who was safe and sound and breathed a sigh of relief.
He was the one who held Jiang Luli tightly just now. If something really happened to Gu Jiayue, he would have been torn apart by his master by now.
"Master Gu is truly blessed. With so much debris falling on him, he didn't even get a scratch on his skin."
Gu Jiayue touched the child in her arms and smiled guiltily.
What good luck is this?
It was obvious that the system popped up a translucent protective shield at the last moment. The mud and rocks hit it with a "bang bang" sound, but did not hurt them at all.
She stood up, holding the child. "Let's get out of here quickly. The risk of a second landslide hasn't passed yet."
"Have all the people been rescued?" she turned around and asked Jiang Luli.
Jiang Luli nodded, his voice still filled with the fear of losing her. But he remained calm and said, "We've searched all ten locations you mentioned, and we've found the person."
Only then did Gu Jiayue follow everyone towards the temporary shack.
The shack was made of bamboo poles and thatch. It made a rustling sound when the wind blew, but it could barely keep out the rain.
A dozen people were lying on a wooden board covered with hay. Zhang Laoba's broken leg was still bleeding, and Lin Yi was squatting beside him changing the cloth strips.
There were two pieces of white cloth covering the pile of grass in the corner.
Those were the two villagers who were hit on the head by stones.
The deceased's wife and children were lying on the white cloth crying, their cries sounded like cotton thread soaked in rain water, heavy and astringent.
Gu Jiayue stood at the door, her throat tight.
She had been in Taohua Village for a year. Aunt Zhang had given her freshly steamed buns, and she had listened to Uncle Li talk about interesting things in the fields. How could these kind faces suddenly turn into cold white cloth?
"We've tried our best." Jiang Luli's palm gently fell on her shoulder, and the warmth came through her thin clothes, bringing soothing power.
Gu Jiayue sniffed and forced back her tears: "Let's go to school."
She turned and looked at the village chief who had hurried over, her eyes extremely firm. "Village chief, everyone must be evacuated to the school today. No one can be left behind."
The village chief was stunned for a moment: "The village and the village entrance are flat, so it shouldn't be a problem if it's far from the hillside, right?"
The village chief was a little confused. "So urgent? The village center and the entrance are actually quite flat, and they're quite far from the hillside. There shouldn't be any problems, right?"
Gu Jiayue shook her head. "No, everyone must evacuate before tonight!"
Because the system had just told her that the river that flowed through the village had already overflowed. By tonight at the latest, the riverbank would be unable to bear the weight.
After the dam broke, Taohua Village was the first to be flooded!
The village chief had never seen Gu Jiayue so serious before. Then he thought about how she had never missed a thing she said.
So the village chief stopped arguing. "Okay, I'll arrange it right away!"
By the time everyone trudged through the mud to get to the school, the yard was already packed with people.
The crying of children, the scolding of women, and the coughing of the elderly mixed together like a pot of boiling porridge.
Just as Gu Jiayue was about to arrange for manpower, Jiang Luli gently grabbed her wrist.
His palms were warm and slightly sweaty.
"Jiangshanchang?" Gu Jiayue looked down at their clasped hands, her heart skipped a beat for unknown reason, and her ears felt hot.
Jiang Luli's fingertips trembled slightly, and he was even more nervous than when he led 10,000 soldiers to fight against 100,000 enemy troops.
He pretended to be calm and pulled her towards the kitchen. "Just leave these things to Lu Yao and the others. You've been tired all day, it's time to rest."
He paused and added, "Drink a bowl of ginger soup to warm yourself up first, otherwise you will get sick."
Gu Jiayue didn't struggle.
She was indeed tired, her legs felt like they were filled with lead, and her fingertips still ached slightly.
Freshly chopped firewood was piled next to the kitchen stove, and ginger soup was bubbling in the pot. The aroma mixed with the smell of smoke dispelled some of the chill.
Jiang Luli first scooped a basin of warm water and placed it on the stone table: "Wash your hands first."
Gu Jiayue responded, but was hesitant to reach out.
I used too much force when digging the mud with my bare hands just now, and my fingernails were flipped up by the gravel. My fingertips are still bleeding.
Jiang Luli noticed her hesitation, followed her gaze to her hand, and his face instantly darkened.
Three of his fingernails were turned outward, the nail beds a glaring red, and dirt embedded in his flesh was painful to look at. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
His voice tightened, "You stay here, I'll go find Lin Yi."
"Don't go!" Gu Jiayue quickly pulled him back. "Doctor Lin has to take care of the seriously injured. My injury is nothing."
"It's nothing." Jiang Luli turned around and glared at her, but there was heartache in his eyes. "Did you know that 'armor removal' is one of the ten cruel punishments of the Ministry of Justice?"
"My fingers are connected to my heart, how can it not hurt if my nails are turned up like this?"
He complained, but his hand had already taken out a clean handkerchief, dipped it in warm water and handed it over, "Sit still, I'll help you."
"I can do it myself."
"I have experience." Jiang Luli interrupted her, gently pinching her fingers with his fingertips, moving very slowly. "In the military camp before, I bandaged myself and also helped my brothers with their wounds."
Gu Jiayue immediately became interested. "Have you been to the military camp?" Jiang Luli was tall, but he was not a burly man.
Moreover, his behavior and style are full of literary air, and you can't tell at all that he has ever served in the military.
Jiang Luli wiped the dirt from between her fingers with a handkerchief dipped in water and chuckled softly, "When I was young, I always felt that I was invincible and wanted to try everything."
His fingertips were very gentle, as if he was afraid of breaking her fingers. "Once we were defeated in a battle. I was surrounded in a small town with a thousand men, and there were 30,000 enemy troops outside. We held on for seven days and seven nights, and finally we ran out of arrows, so we just brought rocks to throw down..."
His voice was low, and Gu Jiayue was so absorbed in listening that even the pain in her fingertips faded a lot.
When he dried her hands with a clean cloth and took out the ointment he had brought with him, she came to her senses: "So you have such a powerful past."
Jiang Luli raised his eyebrows, picked up a little ointment with a bamboo stick, and carefully applied it to her turned-out nails: "It's not too late to know now."
The ointment had a cool minty scent and relieved a lot of the burning pain.
He tore off some clean gauze and wrapped it around her fingertips in circles, his movements as careful as if he was protecting a rare treasure.
"Okay." He tied the last knot and when he looked up he met Gu Jiayue's gaze. They were both stunned.
The fire in the stove flickered, casting a warm blush on each other's cheeks.
Jiang Luli was the first to look away, then turned to the stove to scoop up some ginger soup: "Drink this to warm you up first."
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