Chapter 324 The Ending (Part 1)
At the forefront of the mountains, one person after another is being carried out on stretchers.
Tu Chaoxi wanted to step forward, but Nan Ke grabbed her arm and said, "...Brother, calm down."
Tu Chaoxi suddenly came to her senses and nodded repeatedly: "...Yes, yes, I was too anxious. I shouldn't have interfered with their rescue."
He quickly backed away.
Outside the cordon, a row of people stood watching in perfect unison.
All eyes were fixed on each person being carried out.
With each newcomer, Tu Chaoxi's expression grew more serious.
With each newcomer, Tu Chaoxi's heart sank a little lower.
One after another, all of them were unfamiliar faces.
Until all twenty-eight people were rescued.
Everyone's face was frighteningly pale.
... There were twenty-eight people, but neither Xu Chi nor Tu Yao were among them.
The rescuers looked distressed and gently reminded them, "These are all staff members from the herbal medicine base. They were found in front of the ditch."
"They've just escaped danger and haven't recovered psychologically yet, so it's best not to upset them."
Nan Ke's gaze swept over each stretcher, and every face was unusually somber and numb.
He suddenly spoke up: "They don't seem to be seriously injured."
Rescuers couldn't help but exclaim, "Yes, it's a stroke of luck that they ran away from the landslide site, and there was a whole row of trees near the mountain that held up the sand and gravel."
"We found the people at several collapse points, and fortunately they only suffered minor injuries."
As soon as he finished speaking, a middle-aged man who was closest to him seemed to have heard something and suddenly looked up: "...A tree?"
The next second, a crack seemed to appear in her numb expression, and tears welled up in her eyes instantly.
"Yes! Trees, thanks to Xiao Mao's suggestion to plant trees, they saved our lives!"
As soon as he spoke, the middle-aged men around him came to their senses, were stunned for a few seconds, and their eyes reddened.
As people came to their senses, they seemed to realize something and quickly looked around.
"...Where's Xiao Mao?"
Have you found Xiao Mao yet?
Outside the police line, a group of people's eyes instantly turned red.
Tu Chaoxi couldn't hold back any longer. She pulled open the cordon and strode over!
Nan Ke, followed closely by Lin Yue.
As soon as I got closer, I saw that almost everyone was clutching herbs tightly in their hands.
Doctors and nurses are treating their wounds and reminding them to put down the herbs.
This was immediately met with fierce rebuttal.
"We can't let it go! These herbs are very important! Xiao Mao entrusted them to us!"
"Don't touch it either, in case you break it."
Tu Chaoxi clenched her fists tightly, opened her mouth, but choked up and couldn't utter a single word. She quickly tugged at Nan Ke.
He was gestured to ask the question.
They had already learned from the bodyguards and several injured staff members who had been brought out earlier that Xu Chi and Tu Yao were most likely together, but they knew nothing about what had happened.
Nan Ke slowly walked forward and half-squatted down in front of the middle-aged man who had reacted the most strongly.
His voice was calm: "...You're saying that Tu Xiaomao saved you?"
Uncle Liang frowned: "Who are you?"
Nan Ke smiled and said, "We are Tu Xiaomao's older brothers."
Uncle Liang was taken aback: "Xiao Mao's brother?"
Nan Ke took out his phone and opened the chat group. Although there was still no signal, the pictures in the group had been downloaded and were clearly visible one by one.
“My sister showed us these herbs yesterday.”
The pictures show a well-preserved herb garden, dozens of photos in total, capturing each herb in great detail.
They planted, watered, nurtured, and watched the herbs grow by their own hands.
Now only ruins remain.
As Uncle Liang watched, tears welled up in his eyes.
He suddenly changed his guard and grabbed Nan Ke's hand, "...I'm so sorry."
“It’s not just these trees. If Xiao Mao hadn’t run to the back, we wouldn’t have been able to get out of this ditch, and we might have died in there.”
He only realized later that Xiao Mao had deliberately run to the back to make them speed up.
It was just two seconds short. If they had walked two seconds faster and hadn't dawdled for those two seconds, Xiao Mao wouldn't have fallen behind.
Uncle Liang recounted everything that had happened a few hours earlier, word by word.
From Tu Yao braving the rain to find them, to guarding them as they walked out of the most dangerous area, to the later earth cracking and leaving her alone isolated in the ditch.
Silence reigned all around, and behind them, a group of people tightly covered their sobs.
Only Nan Ke's face remained remarkably calm.
He took a few soft breaths, lowered his eyes to look at the herbs in her arms, reached for them, paused, and then withdrew his fingers.
She continued softly, "...Where is Xu Chi? Is Xu Chi with her?"
Another aunt, with red eyes, spoke up.
“The ground cracked severely at the time, and Xiao Mao couldn’t jump over, so Director Xu jumped over.”
"Then the rocks rolled down, and we were busy dodging them, so we didn't know what happened to them."
...
Behind him, Xu Cang's stern gaze became moist as he wiped his eyes.
The answer wasn't unexpected.
Xu Bai whispered, "Uncle won't separate from Eldest Sister."
"...So my uncle and my eldest sister must be together now."
Just then, news came from the rescue team.
"The signal station is repaired!"
Xu Bai immediately took out his phone: "I'll call my uncle. Sang Sang, you call my older sister and see if you can get through!"
Tu Chaoxi, Nan Ke, and Lin Yue immediately surrounded the two of them.
As soon as the call connected, both phones simultaneously emitted busy signals.
Lin Yue also took out his phone, glanced at it, and said in a deep voice, "The signal is only half a bar, sometimes there and sometimes no signal, so I can't make calls."
...
After a series of rollercoaster-like news updates, Tu Chaoxi suddenly felt exhausted and sat down on the spot.
Nan Ke patted his back and whispered, "Brother, it's good news that there's a signal."
Tu Chaoxi rubbed her face. "...It's good news."
It's certainly good news, but for someone as uncertain as him, this little bit of good news doesn't make him happy at all.
Nan Ke paused for a moment, then continued, "Tu Xiaomao and Xu Chi are very likely still safe at the moment."
Everyone immediately looked over.
Nan Ke: "I just looked at those trees. Their root systems are very developed. These trees were planted along the mountain range by Tu Xiaomao, and the fissure in the ground is also located along this mountain range."
“Those trees blocked the sand and gravel for the planters. Judging from the direction, as long as the two of them don’t stray off course, they will also shield Tu Xiaomao and Xu Chi from some of the attacks.”
The remaining crisis lies in the alteration of the landform; this alteration is a crisis, but it could also be an opportunity.
So what if, just what if, Tu Xiaomao has incredibly good luck?
As soon as he finished speaking, Tu Chaoxi suddenly stood up.
"you're right."
His sister's journey has been exceptionally difficult, yet she has been incredibly lucky every time she has come.
If Heaven can favor her once, it can favor her a second time!
Tu Chaoxi put her coat back on, "Keep looking!"
He then started walking forward.
The remaining people also received the information, regrouped, and followed.
A large crowd had gathered around the signal station in the distance, and they were still making adjustments.
Tu Chaoxi glanced at it out of the corner of her eye, continued walking forward, and after taking two steps, suddenly stopped again.
"Teacher Tu, why aren't you leaving?"
Xu Bai almost hit his head and quickly asked.
"……elder brother?"
Tu Chaoxi seemed to freeze suddenly, and slowly turned her head back.
Looking at Nan Ke: "...What did you just say? It's a good thing there's a signal."
Nan Ke frowned slightly: "Yes, what's wrong, brother?"
Tu remained silent throughout the day.
"We have a signal..."
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he took out his phone and frantically turned it on.
The moment he opened it, he felt as if he had been splashed with ice water and instantly sobered up.
On the screen, in the most prominent position.
It turned out to be a location tracking software.
...
More than two months ago, before leaving the welfare home, he gave Tu Yao the cell phone he had used four years ago.
These days, he has watched the software locate his position countless times, from Xianhe Village to Yanjing, and then from Yanjing to Gangcheng.
Tu Yao even used that phone to send them countless herbs...
In the ensuing silence, Cheng Sangsang exclaimed first, "It's a location tracking device!"
"Teacher Tu, you know how to position Tu Xiaomao!"
Tu Chaoxi burst out laughing in an instant, and almost at the same time, tears rolled down her cheeks one by one.
"...Yes! It's location tracking!"
He quickly opened the app, but the next second, his phone screen suddenly went black.
The power is out.
Tu Chaoxi's heart sank, and she said urgently, "Charger! Who brought a charger!"
"I! I brought it!"
Qin Lang quickly reached into his bag and handed it over!
Tu Chaoxi took the phone with trembling hands, and with the help of the rescue team's battery, the phone quickly turned back on.
Second by second, the location software was reopened.
The moment it was opened, tears welled up in everyone's eyes.
On the screen, a red dot was flashing, faintly indicating a signal on the map.
They were only two hundred meters away from their straight-line position.
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