Chapter 465 – Going To Imperial City III
The rain kept falling non-stop.
The rain was too heavy and washed away the blood on the ground. People either tried to escape from the rain or helped rescue people trapped under the rubble.
Once the helicopter landed, the people on the plane sent a small amount of aid. Following along with them were the provincial leader and his subordinates. Each of them was holding umbrellas in their hands as they stood in the rubble to soothe the weeping people, saying that more relief supplies would arrive tomorrow.
Jiang Ruolan followed the crowd and busied herself by helping them. She then turned around and looked at the mountains not far away, then looked around the crowd and asked them in a hurry about Xian Zihao's whereabout.
Finally, she heard it from a man in his thirties with a broken arm, "President Xian? Ah, he came with the rescue team before dark yesterday. At that time, my arm was injured badly and I was buried under the rubble. President Xian and the rescue team had saved me personally."
"Then do you know where he went after that? Where did he go?"
"Apparently … Several previous family members were crushed to death at the foot of the mountain. After President Xian heard it, he went straight there. Then, I was busy helping relatives and neighbors to save people, so I didn't notice where he went!"
"Thank you!" Jiang Ruolan turned around and headed down the mountain, searching for that familiar figure in ruins.
"Excuse me, have you seen President Xian?"
"Hello, may I ask if you saw President Xian? He's the man who had rushed over to help yesterday afternoon! He is the person in charge of the building base in this region."
"Excuse me."
Jiang Ruolan turned her head around and noticed a small village at the foot of the mountain. She asked the people around her how the people in the village were doing, and when she heard that the people there were safe with only a few casualties, she rushed over.
Since there were casualties, Xian Zihao must have gone there!
However, the road to get there was not wide. If one followed the mountain path for a few more steps, they would be able to see the uneven side of the cliff. There was a shortcut behind the bush area, but she could not get through it because the path was blocked by a tall pile of bushes. It was quite dangerous to go straight through there, fearing there were many wild animals.
Jiang Ruolan could only follow the rescue team as they walked along the side of the road. Halfway there, she saw the rescue teams who had arrived here yesterday.
Only now did they (the newly arrived rescue team) know that they (the rescue team that arrived yesterday) had been searching for Xian Zihao.
"After President Xian rushed here yesterday, he went to rescue everyone without stopping. He was later injured as a result of some pieces of the wall hitting his shoulder. Instead of stopping and going for a check-up, he bandaged his wounds and followed us to the mountain again. Afterward, we didn't know where President Xian went, but we remembered that he said that he went to rescue people, and we split up later on. After all, there are not a lot of rescue teams coming here. When President Xian went down, we didn't see him again, and we didn't know if he fell or was injured! This mountain road was too slippery! It's still raining heavily and there are still aftershocks. It's not safe at all!"
"How about the helicopter? Have you used it to find him?"
"We have used helicopters to search for President Xian, but the results have not changed."
Knowing that Xian Zihao had been injured, Jiang Ruolan became increasingly anxious. She followed them to the village down the mountain. Since the road was too slippery and the conditions too unsuitable for her to help them, she turned around and walked down the road, standing on a low cliff hidden under the trees by the side of the mountain while shouting, "Zihao! Xian Zihao!"
The cliffs at the foot of the mountain were uneven. A moment ago, she heard from the Shangshui Village say that this place was at least a dozen meters tall.
Now that everyone was busy rescuing those who can be saved, there was no way they could come. Jiang Ruolan anxiously shouted, "Zihao!"
She slowly descended the slippery mountain path. She didn't know what time it was now because the thunder and rain were starting to subside. In the evening, when the sky was almost dark and the rescue team couldn't find anything, they had to go back and send more helicopters here to rescue him, but it was still not enough.
Just as Jiang Ruolan turned around and was about to walk up the mountain to look for the rescue team, she felt a violent aftershock, and her feet suddenly slipped. At the same time, a terrifying boom came from the mountain, and she fell down through the bushes.
Jiang Ruolan did not know how deep down she was. Just when she thought she might fall to her death, she suddenly opened her eyes and saw her body rolling down the cliff. She immediately tried to grab a tree trunk.
The tree trunk cracked with the speed of her body falling.
There was nothing else she could grab. She kept falling as she shouted in a low voice.
Her face was covered with wounds from trees and branches, and her body was covered with wounds from sharp stones. Jiang Ruolan fell into the wet and cold bushes, and after an unknown period of time, she finally managed to gather the strength to open her eyes. She slowly tried to get up with much effort and looked around. There was a similar deep hole at the base of the cliff, and although there was still a green patch at the base, the sky was already starting to darken, and it was hard for her to see the situation clearly. She had just fallen on the steepest part of the cliff.
Jiang Ruolan took out her cell phone, but there was no signal. She had no choice but to put down her cell phone, take out the previously borrowed flashlight. She felt a little bit intimidated by the empty area. Her surroundings were dark and she was just a woman living in a peaceful society. She had never learned the basic knowledge to survive in the forest and she had a vague fear of these tall trees. She was afraid of the wild animals, even more so the venomous snake.
Her feet were slippery. She limped as she held her flashlight, trying to find a way out. She had a strong feeling that Xian Zihao had also fallen during the shockwave.
As she kept walking, looking for a way out, her hopes slowly started to fade. Jiang Ruolan could only follow the path at the bottom of the mountain and looked at the situation through the crevices of the trees.
Another few steps forward, almost at the bottom of this sunken cliff, just as she walked over, she vaguely saw a person lying in front of her. She didn't know if the person was alive or dead, but her feet paused, and her eyes narrowed.
Jiang Ruolan resisted the fear in her heart and the intention to retreat to the other side. She squinted her eyes and shone the flashlight in that direction. When she saw the face, her body immediately froze. "Zihao!"
She squatted down and touched his body. His body was so cold that it didn't feel as warm as before, and if he really fell down last night, then he would have fallen over here. This place was over forty meters high. If he didn't have anything to cushion himself with, then he would be dead!
"Zihao! Xian Zihao, wake up!" Jiang Ruolan felt a sharp pain in her heart. She quickly placed the flashlight on the side and with both hands, she gently grabbed his head and placed it on her lap.
Xian Zihao's eyes were still closed. Jiang Ruolan's tears flowed down in an instant. She held him until she saw the bloodstain on his shoulder and then looked at his legs. His legs were badly smashed. She lifted her trembling hands and touched the back of his head, and sure enough, there's blood. A lot of blood.
"Zihao! Zihao!" Jiang Ruolan lowered her head and hugged him tightly. She hugged him tightly with one hand while the other wiped the blood from his face. Fear surrounded her. "Zihao, wake up! Please, wake up! You can't sleep here! Xian Zihao, wake up!"
In her panic, Jiang Ruolan checked the wounds all over his body, and when she caught a glimpse of the cell phone beside his hand, her eyes froze.