Chapter 156: Extra Chapter 2: Seven Years Ago (3)
The rain that was falling could no longer be described as just drops. The pitch-black sky was like a colossal beast looking down on the world, its mouth wide open, revealing a deep abyss from which water cascaded down like a waterfall that swallowed everything.
A sudden clap of thunder echoed throughout the valley, startling Lin Jin so much that her face turned pale.
She instinctively shrank her neck, burying her dark face in Cheng Sangluo's back to escape the fear that the lightning had branded deep in her heart, but the ensuing thunderstorm gave her no chance to catch her breath.
A crimson flash of lightning illuminated half the sky, followed by a rumble of thunder. Water gushing from the mountaintop continuously washed over the loose soil, and at some unknown moment, the last straw was placed on top of it.
The weathered rocks, which had been teetering on the brink of collapse, finally cascaded down. The dense forest, a natural protective barrier, could not withstand the destructive force of the impact.
The first boulders smashed through the tree trunks blocking the way, rolling wildly downhill with a thunderous crash. Countless fist-sized rocks, covered in thick red mud, left a trail of devastation in their wake.
Seeing the road in front of her cut off by the mudslide, and looking up at the suddenly collapsing mountain, Cheng Sangluo could only shout to remind Lin Jin, "Hold on tight!"
She only had a second to think; the road ahead was blocked, and the road behind was gradually collapsing. The only way out was down the hillside.
Unable to put the person on her back, she had no choice but to run steadily down the slippery hillside. This running style was very difficult, and if she was not careful, she would fall flat on her face.
Cheng Sangluo dared not slow down, because the mud and rocks surging behind her were swallowing everything up like a tidal wave, and stopping would only lead to certain death.
Lin Jin's tension was almost imperceptible, as she dared not make the slightest sound, for fear of disturbing Cheng Sangluo's concentration.
Listening to Cheng Sangluo's heavy and disordered breathing, her heart twisted into a tangled mess, and she could only silently grip his broad shoulders.
When natural disasters are rampant, even Cheng Sangluo, who is as powerful as a divine warrior descending from the heavens, will find himself powerless.
A tree suddenly collapsed in front of her, blocking her path. The momentum from running downhill made it impossible for her to stop. Just as she was about to crash into it, she had a sudden inspiration.
She raised one foot and kicked the tree trunk to slow down the impact, but this decision brought endless troubles.
Cheng Sangluo lost her balance and, in the critical moment of falling backward, chose to sway her body to the side to avoid crushing the person on her back.
"Ouch—" Cheng Sangluo groaned in pain, falling flat on her face, leaving deep bloodstains on her face and her clothes in front of her body covered in blood and gore.
Ignoring the pain, she rolled over and staggered to her feet, only to collapse again in front of Lin Jin due to the excruciating pain. Even so, she was still worried about him: "Are you alright? Where did you fall? Get up quickly, run!"
"I'm fine!" Lin Jin had only fallen lightly, without even a scratch. Seeing that half of Cheng Sangluo's cheek was bleeding, she wanted to reach out and check her. "But your face and body are covered in blood. Does it hurt?"
"It's not a big problem." Cheng Sangluo turned her head slightly, then grabbed Lin Jin's arm, not daring to linger any longer. "Run, run now!"
......
The two stumbled and fell as they escaped the mudslide, finally finding an abandoned cave entrance halfway up the mountain.
Cheng Sangluo, clutching her throbbing ribs, looked around at the terrain. There was no village in front and no shop behind; no roads and no people to be found.
Thinking that the cave entrance might not be safe, but it could provide temporary shelter from the wind and rain, she said, "Let's rest here for a while."
The flashlight in Lin Jin's hand broke, and it flickered every now and then.
She used the dim light to examine the cave and was surprised to find that it was quite spacious. The damp ground was covered with dusty straw mats, suggesting that someone had lived there before.
"Okay." Lin Jin responded and turned around, noticing that Cheng Sangluo was breathing heavily and her hand was still on her waist. She quickly went over to check: "Did you hurt your ribs?"
"Maybe..." Cheng Sangluo squinted her injured eyes, trying to catch her breath against the cave entrance. "Are you hungry...? There's food in my bag... and water too..."
"I'm not hungry. Let me help you sit down first." Lin Jin was worried and even felt a strange pang of heartache. She thought that Cheng Sangluo was also a girl and had gone through a lot of trouble on the way, yet she had put all her care into taking care of her.
She couldn't help but reach out and stroke Cheng Sangluo's injured face. "Do you have any first aid supplies in your bag? I'll help you treat your wound."
Cheng Sangluo, having no strength left to rummage through the things, grimaced as she handed the backpack to Lin Jin. "I was hoping to find some firewood to start a fire, but it looks difficult, as everything is soaked by the rain. There's a life blanket in the bag; take off your wet clothes and wrap them around yourself to keep warm, as this cave is very cold."
"Don't worry about me anymore!" Lin Jin raised her voice, busily rummaging through her bag for first-aid supplies. "Listen to me, sit down first. I'll treat your wound. What if it gets infected? Who knows how long we'll have to stay here?"
“No, someone has to stay at the cave entrance so that we can escape in time if a mudslide comes.” Cheng Sangluo was stubborn. She straightened her back despite the pain all over her body and forced a smile: “I’m fine, don’t worry. Go and rest for a bit. I’ll call you if anything happens.”
"Why are you so stubborn, like a mule!" Lin Jin was getting impatient, but she couldn't resist the stubbornness of the person in front of her, so she had no choice but to pick up her backpack and walk deeper into the cave.
She took off her wet clothes, wrung them out, and put on a raincoat, wrapping herself up tightly so that she could make room for Cheng Sangluo to use the life blanket.
Cheng Sangluo leaned against the cave entrance, forgetting the injury on her face. She roughly wiped away the rainwater, squinting in pain, but not wanting to make any noise of pain so as not to worry the people not far away.
She rummaged in her pocket a few times and pulled out her soaking wet handkerchief. "Wipe your face. Your clothes can be dirty, but your face must be clean. It's the least you can do to respect yourself."
Even at this point, she didn't ask Lin Jin why he had smeared his face so dirty.
Lin Jin paused, shaking her wet clothes, and looked up at the ordinary handkerchief. But before she could meet Cheng Sangluo's bright eyes, the flashlight she had been struggling with finally broke down completely.
In an instant, the damp and cold cave was filled only with the eerie sound of wind.
Lin Jin moved everything to the cave entrance so that she could stay with Cheng Sangluo and guard the gate together.
She accepted the symbolic handkerchief, but instead of immediately wiping her face clean, she forcefully grabbed Cheng Sangluo's tattered camouflage uniform. "We'll make a deal. If you want to see my face clearly, obediently take off your clothes, and I'll clean your wounds and then wipe your face clean. How about that?"
The pitch-black environment made it impossible for the two to see each other clearly.
Cheng Sangluo blinked and said with a smile, "But even if you wipe your face clean, I still can't see clearly."
"Stop talking nonsense and take it off!" Lin Jin stopped pretending to be a little lamb and shouted impatiently, pulling at her clothes with both hands and feet. "I'm not the one who's hurting the wound."
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! I'll listen to you, can't you let me do it myself?" Cheng Sangluo couldn't persuade Lin Jin, so she reluctantly took off her clothes. Just as she felt the wind blowing on her skin and getting goosebumps, the life blanket had already wrapped her up in a ball.
"That's more like it." Lin Jin examined her handiwork in the dark, then took out a bottle of mineral water from her bag. "You've had a long and tiring journey, so here's your first drink."
"I'm not thirsty, you... um..." Cheng Sangluo stubbornly insisted, but Lin Jin quickly forced a large gulp down her throat from the bottle.
Lin Jin touched the alcohol and was about to continue cleaning the wound when a hand reached out and pressed her down.
"Stop working so hard, get some rest. If you're tired, take a nap. Maybe someone will come to rescue us when we wake up, or the rain will stop and we can continue our journey." Cheng Sangluo advised gently, then tilted her head wearily and muttered to herself, "If I hadn't taken you from that village house, would we have avoided all this trouble?"
As she spoke, she unfolded the life blanket, gesturing, "It's big enough, we can squeeze in closer together, it'll keep us warm."
Lin Jin did not refuse this kind offer, since wearing only a raincoat was not enough to keep warm.
She wiggled her bottom and snuggled into Cheng Sangluo's arms, letting his strong arms encircle her, inwardly marveling at how well the thin layer of soft aluminum foil kept her warm.
No, the warmth came from Cheng Sangluo's body, even though she was only wearing a cropped sports vest, it still stirred a burning heat in Lin Jin's heart.
wrong.
Lin Jin was only immersed in romance for a second before realizing that something was wrong with Cheng Sangluo.
The man seemed to have a fever, as his whole body was shaking violently, but he was also incredibly stubborn, refusing to utter a single word about his discomfort.
Lin Jin reached out and touched her forehead, then checked his own temperature, and said in a deep voice, "You have a fever?"
"No wonder I feel so cold." Cheng Sangluo said casually, and hugged Lin Jin even tighter. "It's okay, you won't die anytime soon."
She feigned nonchalance and even abruptly changed the subject: "Do you know what I want to eat right now?"
Lin Jin twisted the cap off the mineral water bottle and forcefully fed her a sip, then asked unhurriedly, "What do you want to eat?"
Exhausted, Cheng Sangluo tilted her head to one side and smacked her lips greedily: "I suddenly really want to eat chilled watermelon, so I squatted down and took big bites. Watermelon is the best fruit in the world, sweet and juicy, big and cheap."
Lin Jin chuckled. This person is so easily satisfied. Just describing a watermelon makes you feel that simple happiness. She couldn't help but promise, "Okay, when we get out, I'll treat you to the sweetest watermelon."
Cheng Sangluo beckoned with her finger, "Where's my handkerchief?"
"Here you go." Lin Jin returned the handkerchief that had been covering her knees to its rightful owner.
Cheng Sangluo took the handkerchief and gently wiped Lin Jin's face, inch by inch, saying, "Make sure it's clean and pretty."
She wiped the face with earnest curiosity, wanting to find out what the face closest to her looked like.
But the flashlight was broken, the mountains and forests were shrouded in darkness by the rain, the deep caves offered no light, and a sudden low-grade fever blurred her vision.
She smiled, her eyes crinkling, and neatly folded the soiled handkerchief, saying helplessly, "Do you look good?"
Lin Jin tilted her head playfully and leaned closer, "Can you see clearly?"
"It's too dark, I can't see anything." Cheng Sangluo muttered and shook her head, but quickly comforted herself: "It's okay, I'll be able to see your face clearly when it's light. Let's keep the mystery for this night."
In Cheng Sangluo's vision, Lin Jin's features overlapped, but her distinctive and three-dimensional contours were still beautiful even in the dark.
Lin Jin turned slightly to the side, knowing that her next move would seem ambiguous, but she still reached out and stroked Cheng Sangluo's chin, and then pressed her cool hand against Cheng Sangluo's burning forehead, hoping to make the other person more comfortable. "You just said you regretted taking me away?"
"Yes, maybe you'd be safer there. I was too hasty." Cheng Sangluo slumped her shoulders, regretting her poor decision.
"No way, that place might have already been swallowed up by a mudslide. If it weren't for you, I might not be able to get out."
Cheng Sangluo's eyes flickered. "Really?"
"I boiled it," Lin Jin teased, trying to ease her frustration. "Does your wound hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt." Cheng Sangluo waved her hand and said easily, "I've done a lot of missions that are close to death, today's trip is relatively easy. I'm very capable."
Lin Jin became curious, "What branch of the military are you? You don't look like someone who does medical logistics."
"Marine reconnaissance special forces," Cheng Sangluo answered truthfully, then explained, "The rain keeps falling, and the seawater could flood in at any time. We're always short-handed during emergency rescues, so they brought us here to help."
Lin Jin smiled and gently pressed Cheng Sangluo's head against his shoulder, coaxing her with a shushing tone: "Thank you for your hard work, Miss Special Forces. Get some sleep. I'll keep watch over you tonight."
Listening to the sound of rain, Cheng Sangluo blinked twice. Perhaps greedy for the warmth of Lin Jin's body, she couldn't help but pull her arm back slightly.
"Am I a hand warmer?" Lin Jin joked, then, hearing heavy breathing beside her ear, she smiled and lowered her eyes, sighing, "You're amazing, you've saved my life twice. How can I ever repay you?"
——End of Memories——
A small lamp by the bedside cast a dim, warm light, which surprisingly dispelled the chill of the heavy dew outside the window.
Cheng Sangluo, sitting cross-legged, told the story vividly.
Her voice stopped abruptly, and she tilted her head to look at her lover with gentle eyes, as if she were asking for praise for how well she had spoken.
Lin Jin propped her head up with one hand, her eyes half-closed in a tired daze, as if reliving that thrilling rainy night through her memories.
The bedroom was quiet, but the pattering rain and rumbling thunder did not fade away; time could not erase the memory of this first encounter that bound their destinies together.
Lin Jin raised an eyebrow, shook her smooth shoulders, and questioned in a delicate voice, "Then tell me, why is it that when I woke up, there was a whole cave of rescuers, but I couldn't find you?"
Cheng Sangluo braced her hands on her calves, trying hard to recall, then slapped her forehead. "I just remember being carried onto a stretcher while I was delirious with fever, and when I woke up I was already in an ambulance. In the ambulance I kept asking my teammates, 'Where's A-Jing? Where's A-Jing?' My teammates asked me what well, and that's when I realized I didn't even know their names, I only remembered the saying 'Don't forget the well-digger when you drink water.'"
She pouted, looking like she was about to cry, and said pitifully, "What a pity, it's been so many years since we last met. I'm so sorry... I'm so late..."
Lin Jin sat up, took Cheng Sangluo's hand, and slowly intertwined their fingers, just like she had done that night to comfort the person with a fever, and whispered soothingly, "Silly girl, I don't blame you. It's better to be late than not to come at all, and you're here now~"
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