eurekapd Chapter 49 Danger! The mountain collapses again!
Chapter 49 Danger! The mountain collapses again!
The group ran towards the source of the sound as fast as they could.
He Fansheng was light and had a good foothold on the road, so he didn't fall behind the whole way.
The sounds continued to come from ahead, the clattering of stones rolling down the river, before finally splashing into the water.
Upon reaching the vicinity of the sound source, a steep slope with an incline of almost 90 degrees appeared before them.
The steep slope seemed about to collapse, with mud and gravel constantly rolling down it.
"There's been a landslide. I'll go check it out first."
"Temporary team leader Wang Xiaohu said to everyone."
The remaining people looked at each other and nodded.
Wang Xiaohu took the rescue rope off his waist and secured one end to his waist.
The team members took the other end of the rescue rope, tied it securely to a relatively thick and stable tree, and gripped the rope tightly with serious expressions.
He Fan deftly opened the cloth bag he was carrying in his left hand.
He took out a military shovel and handed it to Wang Xiaohu.
"Here you go! This one's easy to dig."
He Fan held up the shovel and said with a serious expression.
Wang Xiaohu: "......"
The three team members holding onto the rope: "..."
This He Fan really does... have a lot of bad student stationery?
But it proved to be very effective.
If He Fan knew what they were thinking, he would definitely argue for himself.
If your own abilities are insufficient, you must make up for it with tools.
"To do a good job, one must first have the right tools."
Hmph, this is the wisdom passed down from our ancestors.
Wang Xiaohu gripped the shovel tightly in one hand and inserted it into the soil to create a foothold.
With the other hand, he worked with his teammate to slowly adjust the height of the rope.
Upon reaching the most prominent rock in the middle of the steep slope, a small section of the rescue rope was visible through the sand above the rock!
Wang Xiaohu gestured to his teammates above to stop lowering the rope.
He Fan didn't hold onto the rope; instead, he used several flashlights to shine their light onto the slope.
Seeing Wang Xiaohu's gesture, He Fan quickly directed the three people pulling the rope not far behind him: "Stop!"
The three of them trusted He Fan completely and stopped what they were doing without the slightest hesitation.
Recalling the terrain previously surveyed by the drone, this should be the support point that forms this slope.
Wang Xiaohu picked up his shovel and began digging on the slanted side of the rock.
Only He Fan could see Wang Xiaohu's current condition.
Hearing the clanging sound of the shovels, the team members tensed up.
As Wang Xiaohu was digging, he became increasingly aware of the unusual nature of the slope.
Even without digging yourself, you can feel the sand and gravel on the slope vibrating.
Wanting to confirm his hypothesis, Wang Xiaohu dug even harder.
......
"Xiao Bin, be careful, or it might collapse and bury us alive."
"I know you can dig your own holes, don't interfere with my performance."
Wang Xiaohu heard indistinct conversations coming from the slope.
My heart suddenly tightened and then began to pound violently.
You've found the right one!!!
"Team Leader Zhang! Xiao Bin! Are you inside?"
Wang Xiaohu used a military shovel to forcefully strike the stone, trying to send a message to the people inside.
The group of people who were carefully digging sand and gravel inside were overjoyed!
Although the cave was pitch black, without a single ray of light.
But everyone still tentatively asked the people around them if they had heard any sound.
"Yes! We're inside! In the cave beneath the rocks."
"Commander Ding, we're in the cave under the rocks!!"
Hearing a muffled sound coming from the slope, Wang Xiaohu quickly shook the rope, stretched out a hand above his head, clenched it into a fist, and then spread his fingers.
He Fan was secretly pleased to see Wang Xiaohu's actions.
His eyes gleamed as he said to the three behind him, "Found it! Fire the signal flare!"
"Whoosh~ Bang!" The signal flare exploded in the air.
Commander Ding's search yielded no results, so he was planning to slowly move towards the center.
Seeing a signal flare suddenly flash in the sky, they hurriedly rushed towards Wang Xiaohu's team.
The deputy commander's team was no exception; there were only two possibilities for the flashing signal flares.
Whether we find Captain Zhang or our team members are in danger, we must get there as soon as possible.
Without a second thought, the two teams of eight rushed to provide support.
Meanwhile, Wang Xiaohu was still diligently digging in the soil with a military shovel.
He couldn't dig directly into the cave under the rocks, otherwise a secondary landslide would block the entrance again, or even bury it deeper.
He frantically dug at the side of the rock with a military shovel.
Finally, the sand piled up on top showed signs of loosening.
"Boom!" He Fan heard the sound of sand and gravel rolling.
He hurriedly shouted, "Pull!"
The three teammates behind him reacted quickly, pulling Wang Xiaohu up about one meter to prevent him from being injured by the flying sand and gravel.
As sand and gravel slid down and accumulated at the foot of the mountain, the slope became much gentler.
When Wang Xiaohu was lowered back to the rock, he was able to find a relatively stable foothold.
This time, we were able to exert our full effort, making the excavation work much easier.
They dug back and forth several times, and the people inside the cave were also trying to save themselves.
Before Commander Ding and the others arrived, Wang Xiaohu had already seen the situation inside the cave through the small hole he had dug.
The section of rescue rope buried in the sand above the rock gradually became visible.
Wang Xiaohu pulled the rope out with force, only to find that the other end of the rescue rope was still tied to a tree trunk not far to the side.
"Hurry up and send one out first," Wang Xiaohu said.
Inside the cave, everyone was excited to breathe in the fresh air.
Xiao Bin was the youngest, so everyone let him crawl out first.
Wang Xiaohu untied the rescue rope from his waist and handed it to Xiaobin, asking his teammates to pull him up first.
He tied himself to the pole he had just pulled from the ground to prevent himself from falling down if there was another landslide.
After Xiao Bin was pulled up, Commander Ding quickly asked.
Are all your people in the caves down there?
"Where is your team leader, Zhang?"
Xiao Bin shook his head, his expression not looking good.
"No, Captain Zhang and Lao Li went to the other side together. The current was calm at the time, and Captain Zhang and Lao Li paddled their kayak to the other side first to prepare to transfer the people trapped in the hotel."
"I never expected that there would be a landslide just as their kayaks reached the vicinity of the hotel."
"We didn't have time to think, so we hid in the small cave under that rock and blocked the entrance with the rock, which is how we avoided being affected."
Commander Ding's heart, which had just been at ease, was once again gripped with anxiety.
They reassured themselves that the kayaks were already near the hotel, and the landslide shouldn't affect their plans.
......
The last team member was pulled up, and the rescue rope was lowered back down.
Wang Xiaohu hasn't come up yet.
The terrain here has changed due to the landslide.
Commander Ding and his deputy commander looked at the situation with concern and discussed countermeasures.
The deputy commander sighed, "The original rescue route is no longer feasible; we don't have any kayaks."
Commander Ding looked at the treacherous waters at the foot of the mountain.
“The sand and rocks that collapsed upstream blocked the ‘river channel,’ raising the riverbed and causing the accumulated water to flow downstream. Now the current at the foot of this mountain is too strong, and even with a kayak, it is difficult to get across.”
Deputy Commander: "If we can secure the rescue ropes on both banks of the slide, we can give it a try."
He Fan listened from the side and nodded frequently. He looked at the rescue rope around his waist and noticed that it seemed to be different from the ones everyone else was carrying.
He held it up to Commander Ding: "Is this the rescue rope for the slide?"
Commander Ding then realized that He Fan was still with them, but he didn't have time to lecture her.
He even glanced at the rescue rope in her hand and gave her a perfunctory confirmation.
He turned back to his deputy commander to discuss countermeasures: "The current is too strong; unless I'm tied to a rescue rope upstream and lowered downstream..."
After listening for a while, He Fan went to find someone to examine the rope around his waist.
The rescue rope was finally lowered back to the vicinity of the cave entrance.
Wang Xiaohu had just reached out and grabbed the rope.
There was a loud "boom".
As the sand and gravel rolled, the slope began to slowly collapse downwards again.
Everyone's hearts were in their throats, Wang Xiaohu was still down there!!!
He Fan stared wide-eyed at Wang Xiaohu's actions.
That's too late.
Wang Xiaohu didn't have time to change the rescue rope back.
The foothold beneath his feet collapsed, and the sudden feeling of weightlessness made Wang Xiaohu cry out in surprise.
The rescue rope he had just grabbed, the one that could pull him up, slipped from his grasp.
"Ah! Little Tiger!"
"Little Tiger!!!"