Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Flash Flood Crisis
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"Liang Zhao, dog, dog! There is a dog in the water."
Gu Mengran lay on the fender and looked around. Although he could not see anything, he quickly determined the specific location through the sound and hurriedly took out the walkie-talkie to share with Liang Zhao.
The first few words were somewhat ambiguous. Liang Zhao on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do you want to save it? Do you want to keep it?"
Of course he wanted to. Gu Mengran liked small animals, but dogs wouldn't just appear in the river out of nowhere. Thinking of this, he quickly told Liang Zhao: "Let's check the radar first. There may be a ship in danger nearby."
Liang Zhao responded, and about two minutes later, a deep voice came from the intercom again: "No boat was found. Either the boat has already left, or it came from upstream. Have you made up your mind? Do you want to rescue it?"
As if Liang Zhao's words were heard, as soon as they fell, the whining sound of a dog could be heard from the river again.
Hearing the sound coming from the Feng Yi, it wouldn't take much effort. Gu Mengran hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth and said, "Save it! Pick it up and raise it. Maybe it can help us protect the house and the ship."
Liang Zhao smiled and said, "Okay, then you go back to the cab and let me take over. I'll get off—"
"Why should you do that? I can just go down and get it." Gu Mengran interrupted him, "Come on, I'll get a diesel boat out, and you use the crane to lower me down."
After Gu Mengran finished speaking, he groped his way to the crane and took out the diesel boat on the spot.
Liang Zhao was still persuading the person on the other end of the phone, saying that he had not slept all night and was in a trance, and it was not safe to go into the water in this state.
Gu Mengran was displeased when he heard this, and asked back with a smile: "Will it be 100% safe if you go down? I want to save it myself, and I can't let you take risks."
Liang Zhao was about to say something, but Gu Mengran spoke up in time and complained quietly: "Okay, okay, Liang Zhao, I don't know how long the dog has been in the water. If we continue talking, we will probably drown."
Liang Zhao was no match for him and had no choice but to compromise.
The diesel boat and the crane were firmly fixed. Gu Mengran got into the boat and gave an order. The crane started to operate and the tower head slowly rose with the diesel boat hanging on it.
The height of the small boat exceeded the fender of Fengyi. Gu Mengran reported it to Liang Zhao in time, and then the rack began to turn, moving the small boat from the flat deck to above the river.
The ship swayed slightly, and the entire ship was completely suspended in mid-air. Gu Mengransi was not panicked at all. With one hand holding a high-intensity flashlight, she searched the dark river surface, and with the other hand holding a walkie-talkie to communicate with Liang Zhao and adjust the direction in time.
The rescue operation was relatively smooth and took about three minutes. Gu Mengran successfully found the target by following the source of the sound.
"Bang——"
The boat entered the river, splashing water. The puppy that was constantly struggling in the water was frightened and kicked and kicked with all four legs to try to get away. But it was already exhausted. When Gu Mengran drove the boat close to it, it could only swim less than half a meter away and was soaked in the water pitifully.
At first, he vaguely saw a yellow shadow and Gu Mengran thought it was a golden retriever. When he got closer, he found that the dog had a yellow face, a white face, and a golden curly tail. The little guy was an out-and-out rural dog.
Huang Jiang opens a pet blind box. Gu Mengran doesn’t care about the breed, but those who have raised pastoral dogs know that this guy only recognizes his owner and is really fierce to strangers!
If you get bitten at this critical moment, you won’t be able to get the rabies vaccine.
So Gu Mengran gave up the idea of taking action directly, and instead took out a fishing net from the space, held his breath, and tentatively approached the dog little by little.
The whole process went very smoothly. Perhaps because he was exhausted, the kid didn't resist. Gu Mengran struck while the iron was hot and used the net to cover the dog's entire body, then lifted it up with force.
“Boo-boo-boo——”
The wet dog was successfully brought on board, and half a boatload of river water was given for free.
Water splashed everywhere, and Gu Mengran's shoes and pants were all wet, but he didn't have time to care and hurriedly turned the bow of the boat towards the crane.
The diesel boat was reconnected to the crane, and Gu Mengran lowered his eyes and glanced at the dog.
It doesn't matter if you don't look at it, but just this casual glance at its trembling body and meeting its weak, pitiful and helpless eyes, Gu Mengran's heart softened.
He wanted to put it in the scoop net and take it back, but the more he looked at it, the more he felt sorry for it. Seeing its weak appearance, he estimated that it didn't have the strength to bite anyone. After hesitating for a long time, Gu Mengran reached out and approached, "Xiao Huang, I don't want to be Lu Dongbin."
Xiao Huang did not disappoint. Gu Mengran freed it from the scoop net. It responded with a whimper and then curled up obediently in the cabin as if a kettle had boiled.
"Good dog." Gu Mengran became braver and took the opportunity to touch the dog's head.
I touched it, but why does it feel... weird?
The dog's head was slimy and slippery, not like a furry animal but more like a cold and slimy snake.
Gu Mengran felt disgusted by his own imagination. He leaned closer and took a closer look in the dim light. He saw that the dog's head and even its limbs were all covered with a thick layer of mud.
Not only that, Gu Mengran looked down and found that his shoes and pants were also covered with mud, and the "water" that he had just caught on the dog leash was swaying with the hull of the boat, like thick and smooth caramel pearl milk tea.
Gu Mengran's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition came to his mind.
The river experienced an earthquake not long ago, so it is normal for the water to be turbid, but now it is obviously no longer turbid, it is clearly a river of mud.
Back at the Fengyi, Gu Mengran wrapped Xiao Huang in a blanket and temporarily placed him in the cab. He then hurriedly called his grandfather to the cab and explained the situation on the river to his grandfather and Liang Zhao.
Some things still need to be judged by experienced old people. Gu Mengran smelled the danger keenly, but he was far from realizing the seriousness. When the old man heard this, he decisively slammed the table and stood up, "Get ashore, get ashore immediately!"
"Ah?" Gu Mengran was still a little confused. "How did it suddenly come ashore? If it was just a landslide upstream, couldn't we take some preventive measures in advance?"
The turbidity of the river water was mostly caused by earthquakes or landslides upstream. It had not rained yet, so Gu Mengran naturally thought that the mud entering the river had disturbed the water and the threat was not great.
The old man frowned and asked Gu Mengran, "Just? Who can guarantee that it was just a landslide? Boy, did you notice the speed of the water when you went into the water just now?"
Gu Mengran nodded. "The river was very calm, just like the lake, without any waves. Even though Xiao Huang couldn't swim anymore, he wasn't washed away by the current."
This is also the main reason why Gu Mengran thinks it is not a big problem.
The old man obviously doesn't think so.
He looked out the window at the dark river surface. His weathered face became more solemn, and his voice became a little hoarse: "Not far ahead is the Linhuai Gorge. There are steep peaks on both sides along the way. We are not afraid of landslides, but we are afraid of landslides!"
"No way, it should be a landslide and huge waves, right?" A chill crept up his spine. Gu Mengran was still trying to be stubborn, but he was silently planning how to get ashore in his heart.
The old man was slow to answer him. At this time, Liang Zhao, who had never spoken, slowly opened his lips and uttered a horrifying guess: "A barrier lake."
Gu Mengran stood up and said, "Let's go, let's go now."
The space gave them the confidence to leave at any time, but it was troublesome and time-consuming for the Wind Wing to dock, and if something went wrong, they had to use a diesel boat.
The crane needed people to operate it, so the three people could not leave at the same time. For this reason, the three of them each insisted on their own opinions and refused to give in. After arguing for a long time, they finally came to a conclusion.
Gu Mengran and Meng Gaoyang left first, while Liang Zhao stayed on the boat to operate the crane.
It only took a few minutes for Gu Mengran and Meng Gaoyang to get down to the river in a diesel boat. Liang Zhao returned the crane to its position, shut down all the facilities on the boat, and finally came to the deck and boarded the boat using the escape ladder prepared by Gu Mengran in advance.
You can forget anything but your home. After Liang Zhao successfully boarded the ship, Gu Mengran decisively raised his hand to cover the hull of the Wind Wing. His mind changed, and in just a short moment, the huge object like a tall building disappeared in front of him.
The river is vast and misty, and the waves are calm.
But the calmer it was, the more uneasy Gu Mengran felt.
Xiao Huang curled up in his arms without moving. Gu Mengran stroked its head gently. He was extremely glad that Xiao Huang appeared, and also glad that he chose to get off the boat to save it, thus discovering the abnormality.
Everything went very smoothly. The three people and the dog successfully reached the shore on a diesel boat and experienced the feeling of being down to earth again.
Gu Mengran put the muddy diesel boat back into the boat and was preparing to leave the river with his grandfather and Liang Zhao when suddenly, a loud noise like a landslide came.
"——Boom, boom!"
Like a thunder explosion, the huge sound covered the sky and the earth, coming from all directions. At the same time, the earth began to tremble, and the earthquake seemed to come back again. For a while, the two banks of the Huangjiang River were shaking.
Gu Mengran's head was buzzing and he almost lost his balance. The loud noise hurt his eardrums, and before he could figure out what was happening, someone suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"Hurry, run! Something is coming down from upstream." Liang Zhao grabbed him with one hand and the old man with the other, and drove the two of them to run with irresistible force.
Gu Mengran woke up as if from a dream. He came to his senses and decisively put the dog in his arms into the space. While running at full speed, he turned his gaze to Liang Zhaohe's grandfather.
For a moment, Gu Mengran wanted to take his grandfather and Liang Zhao into the space as well. But then he thought, if he didn't run away, wouldn't that deprive them of their right to escape and implicate them instead?
It was even more impractical for the three of them to hide together, because they could go in and out the same way. If both banks were flooded, they would only be in the turbulent river when they came out.
Visibility was extremely low, and it was impossible to see the upstream scene clearly. The thunderous sound constantly reminded Gu Mengran that the barrier lake had burst, and the silted river water had condensed into huge waves, rushing downstream in an instant with the force of thunder.
There is no other way, run!
Gu Mengran gritted his teeth and sped up, running as fast as he could, and his speed was comparable to Liang Zhao's. But Meng Gaoyang was old and not as strong as the young people, so he didn't run far before he was panting and staggering.
The sound of water is getting closer and closer. We can't go on like this.
Gu Mengran was just about to reach out to pull his grandfather, intending to let him hide in the space, but Liang Zhao was one step faster than him. He leaned over, hugged the old man's waist, lifted him up and continued running.
It's actually possible!
Gu Mengran's pupils shrank slightly, and he didn't have time to take the next step.
“——Boom boom boom!”
A huge wave of water surged in, and judging from the sound, it should be less than a hundred meters away. Gu Mengran felt an inexplicable chill on his back, and even felt a terrifying force dragging his body backwards.
His body swayed slightly and he almost lost his balance. Fortunately, Liang Zhao pulled him up in time.
Run, run for your life, not daring to stop for even a second.
The sound of his heavy, rapid breathing was instantly drowned out by the roar, and his attention was drawn to the roaring flood. Gu Mengran only looked behind him and not in front of him. As he was running, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his toes, and his body fell forward uncontrollably.
Instead of falling flat on his face as expected, his body merely tilted forward slightly, and Gu Mengran subconsciously stretched out his hands and hit a hard object.
Stone? No, it was tall and big, like a giant slab of stone.
When his fingertips touched the clear patterns, Gu Mengran suddenly understood what it was, "Liang Zhao, Liang Zhao, it's a flood control dam! We are saved!"
"Don't just stand there, go up and help first!"
"OK!"
Gu Mengran responded loudly and climbed up using his hands and feet.
Gu Mengran climbed up the embankment in one go. His palms were burning with pain. He didn't even have time to catch his breath. He quickly turned around, crawled on the ground, and stretched out his hands to Liang Zhao.
The flood control dam is tilted forward at 45 degrees and is nearly five or six meters high. There is no doubt that it is impossible to climb up with a person weighing 100 or 200 kilograms on his back.
Without any hesitation, Liang Zhao decisively put the old man down. Without waiting for Meng Gaoyang to react, Liang Zhao held his legs and lifted him up, then desperately sent him to Gu Mengran's hands.
Pushing and pulling, the old man climbed up the embankment breathlessly.
Just as Gu Mengran turned around and handed the hand to Liang Zhao, the flood came.
The long-brewed flood rolled in, bringing with it a strong sense of oppression, like a towering and majestic mountain collapsing in an instant, sweeping across the river with overwhelming force, and ruthlessly dragging both banks into the abyss.
The thick fog was dispersed by the water, and Gu Mengran could clearly see that Liang Zhao's position would be affected.
Ten meters, eight meters, three meters...
Gu Mengran gritted his teeth, half of his body had already slid down the embankment, and he stretched his arms as far as he could. However, the moment his fingertips touched Liang Zhao, the surging flood swallowed him up.
"Liang Zhao, Liang Zhao!"