madnovel Chapter 794 508: Missing in Action (2)
Chapter 794 508: Missing in Action (2)
The surrounding environment is almost the same, still a rocky beach.Most of the group's attention was focused on the stone walls on both sides. According to Yao Yuzhong and Hua Weiguo's speculation, if there were indeed ancient relics of the Shu here, they were most likely in the form of caves.
The team still followed the previous method, driving pitons into the mountain at intervals or finding reliable climbing points to deal with the potential danger of a sudden flood.
As they ventured further in, the right fork seemed more winding than the main gorge, the sound of water echoed repeatedly in the narrow space, nearly drowning out all other sounds.
"Any discoveries over there?" Qi Yun shouted into the walkie-talkie, also testing the signal.
A few seconds later, Brother Quan's voice came through the walkie-talkie, mixed with some static, but still clear: "No! Everything is normal!"
"Continue searching, stay alert." Qi Yun replied, feeling a bit more at ease.
The signal getting through indicated that the distance between both sides was not too far, or the terrain obstacles were not as severe as imagined.
The team continued moving forward amidst the roaring sound of water, and aside from water erosion marks on the stone walls, there were still no signs of human activity.
Time quickly reached the afternoon, and both teams had yet to discover anything.
The agreed time with the guide was three days, and if no clues were found before dark, they would have to begin their return at dawn the next day.
At night, Qi Yun's group camped on a flat, shallow beach.
Just as Qi Yun was in a daze from sleep.
Suddenly, an urgent shout from Brother Quan came through the walkie-talkie, it seemed there was a flood!
Qi Yun sat up abruptly from the sleeping bag, hurriedly grabbed the walkie-talkie beside him, and shouted, "Hey! Brother Quan! What's going on!"
Harsh static burst through the walkie-talkie, mixed with Brother Quan's intermittent, almost yelling words: "...water from...run quickly! You all also quickly..." The voice abruptly cut off, leaving only piercing noise!
"Hello! Hello!"
Qi Yun's heart raced, sleepiness vanished, and he quickly crawled out of the tent.
Night watchman Old Eagle also hurried over, holding another walkie-talkie: "The instructor's side encountered danger! Just now the walkie-talkie said there was a flood over there!"
Confirming he didn't hear wrong, Qi Yun's heart sank, the worst case had happened! The guide's warning had become reality!
Everyone in the camp was awakened, crawling out of their tents, faces full of uncertainty.
"Something happened over on Brother Quan's side! Everyone, evacuate immediately! Quickly!" Qi Yun spoke rapidly, glancing towards the end of the gorge as if already hearing the rushing water.
In a life-and-death situation, no one dared hesitate.
Tents, sleeping bags... all equipment couldn't be cared for, they slung their backpacks on instinct and ran towards the stone wall at their fastest speed.
There were pre-driven pitons and ropes here, and following the rope could climb to a protruding rock on the stone wall, about three to four meters long, just enough to hold a few people for safety.
The emergency measures made before now became a lifeline.
All of them scrambled upwards in the beam of flashlight, using both hands and feet.
Just as they crawled onto the rock, about to catch their breath.
"Rumble Rumble Rumble——!!!"
A terrifying, deep roar came from upstream in the gorge, the whole canyon seemed to shake!
In the beam of flashlights, they saw a huge wave rushing down from upstream! Like an awakened giant dragon charging forward, the wave struck the stone walls, making a thunderous noise!
The site of the original camp, those tents were swallowed up in an instant.
Just as the guide said, in the blink of an eye, the water level had risen by more than a meter.
If they stayed at the bottom of the valley, they would definitely be swept away by the wave.
Everyone clung desperately to the rope, bodies pressed against the stone wall, cold water splashing on them constantly.
The torrential current raged beneath their feet, as if it would devour everything.
It lasted for more than twenty minutes before the water calmed down, but the valley floor was a vast ocean, the water level at least two meters higher than before.
Fortunately, the position of the rock Qi Yun and the others were on was high enough, it wasn't submerged by the flood.
In the beam of flashlights, the group looked downward with lingering fear, unable to descend for a while.
Old Eagle worried about Brother Quan's situation, pulled out the walkie-talkie to call again, but only got noisy static in response.
"Signal's cut off."
Qi Yun tried twice himself, reluctantly stored the walkie-talkie: "First ensure our own safety, as soon as the water recedes, we'll immediately go look for Brother Quan and the others."
He thought that with Brother Quan's calmness, nothing major should happen.
But being out of contact left him somewhat uneasy.
Time dragged on during the wait.
The water level in the valley was dropping slower than expected, the gurgling of the water echoed in the narrow gorge, hammering on everyone's nerves.
Ignacio shivered slightly, unsure whether from cold or fear.
Yao Yuzhong occasionally looked toward the pitch-black upstream, now silent with a solemn gaze.
Old Bai and Da Pao checked the remaining gear, aside from flashlights, weapons, and a small amount of food, most things had been left with the tents at the valley floor.
This sudden flood, with a massive volume, came fiercely but didn't last long, for the moment, no one could figure out where exactly the water came from.
Judging by the water level now, it would be lucky if it recedes before dawn.
The group squatted restfully on the rock, time ticked by, and the sky gradually turned gray-white.
The water level in the valley finally decreased enough, the turbid river water receded, revealing a rocky beach scoured beyond recognition.
Just as Qi Yun was about to call the group to set out, the long-silent walkie-talkie crackled.
Following was Brother Quan's intermittent speech: "Hello... hello... can... can you hear me?"
Qi Yun perked up!
He quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie, shouting eagerly: "We can hear you! How's the situation over there?"
The signal fluctuated violently before finally clearing up.
"We're fine here! How about you all?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Yun and the others all breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"We're all safe!"
Qi Yun replied, intending to tell them to evacuate, but then the voice continued on the walkie-talkie: "While avoiding the flood last night, we found a crack on the rock wall, inside is a cave, with lots of murals inside."
"Professor Hua said there's a sacrificial scene on it, it's likely the place we were looking for!"
Qi Yun was taken aback, pleasantly surprised by the unexpected news.
This was truly the scenario of 'a hidden gem appeared beyond the end of endless mountains and rivers'!
"Where is it located, is it safe inside?!"
"Safe! We've already checked, it's about fifteen kilometers past the fork in the road!"
"Alright! We'll come over to meet up immediately!" Qi Yun replied, somewhat excited.
After ending the call, they set off at once.
The group descended to the valley floor along the rope, the traces of the original camp were long gone, leaving nothing behind.
"Let's return to the fork, then go over there to find them!"
Traveling lightly this time, without driving more pitons, the group moved much faster, taking less than half a day to return to the Y-shaped fork.
After resting briefly, they had a bite to eat, and the team sent Old Bai to inform the guide to wait one more day, while the others headed into the left main river channel.
The flood here had also long receded, both sides of the cliffs were extremely steep, like chopped with a sword, blocking out the sky.
Along the way, they could see the pitons left by Brother Quan and the others.
The group trudged through the rocky beach, finally seeing the familiar figure ahead before dark.
Niu Da was outside to greet them.
Upon meeting, Niu Da hurriedly came forward with concern: "Boss, is everyone alright?"
Qi Yun shook his head in response, looking at both sides of the canyon, sure enough he spotted a vertical crack about four meters high on the right mountain, around one meter high, very narrow, likely requiring them to squeeze through sideways.
A crooked tree grew beside it, its treetop just covering most of the crack.
Had they not been close enough to see, it would truly be hard to find.
"The cave is inside that crack! I can't fit in..." Niu Da pointed at the crack, chuckling awkwardly.