Chapter 114

Inside the car shelter, Shu Fu, lying on a cot with a thermal blanket pulled over her head, placed the black notebook she had just finished reviewing back into her wristband.

Although she knew that, except for herself, no one could see anything related to the wristband, she still preferred to check things in a small, private space whenever possible. After all, in such a space, she didn’t need to control her facial expressions.

Yes, seeing the seven spin chances made her lips curve upward in a smile that she couldn’t control for the moment…

The tunnel had only a small area near the entrance that was empty; further inside was filled with construction waste left by the engineering team.

The space was originally quite large, but once the four vehicles from the team were parked, it immediately felt cramped.

Although Gao Shan and the other team members didn’t understand what had happened, or why the people who had originally left the county with them were now following Liu Shuang and Han Lan’s vehicles as they rushed out of the county…

To them, anyone who was in the same vehicle as their three team leaders, rushing out of Wei County with other injured survivors, was a hero!

So, not only did they clean up the car shelter for her, but they also set up two cots for her and Yao Ruoyun, saying that the ground, even though it had been cleaned, was still wet and dirty, and it would be better for them to sleep on cots. They added that the cots belonged to Liu and Wen Rou, and had never been slept on by them, so they could rest assured while they stood guard outside.

The two cots were very close to each other. Yao Ruoyun, wearing a thick hood, had pulled the thermal blanket up high, facing Shu Fu’s direction, and had already fallen asleep.

The surroundings were damp. The only light in the car shelter came from a camping lamp that Gao Shan had placed on one side, casting a dim yellow glow. The place felt cramped and oppressive, and the outside wasn’t quiet either. Some people were resting, others were crying out in pain as they cleaned and bandaged their wounds, while some survivors could be heard murmuring.

Shu Fu thought she would have trouble falling asleep, but just as the thought crossed her mind, her consciousness drifted off.

After a busy night, she was finally exhausted.

When Shu Fu woke again, the cot beside her was empty. Yao Ruoyun had probably already gotten up. She smelled the fragrance of food in the air—long-missed cured meat rice.

She took out her phone to check the time: 12:30 PM. She had slept for five hours, not long, but enough to regain some energy.

Shu Fu placed her phone back into her bag, which she had used as a pillow, and, realizing the area was crowded, decided to keep a low profile during their sheltering in the tunnel. She took out a simple watch from her space, discreetly putting it on her right wrist to check the time.

While putting on the watch, she noticed the light blue bracelet in her sleeve, reminding her of Chen Fa and Lu Zheng.

She then pulled out the satellite phone and saw a reply from Chen Fa. She had sent a message around 8 AM, mentioning that the temperature in Chamu County was still below -10°C. Although the snow was still falling daily, it had decreased significantly.

In addition, the rescue supplies and snow-clearing vehicles had arrived, and they were clearing the snow paths every morning and evening.

She also mentioned that, as she had warned, an avalanche notice had just been issued in Chamu County, with some residents near the mountain’s peak being evacuated. Their group was also on the evacuation list and was currently en route.

Finally, Chen Fa asked how she suddenly thought to send a disaster warning about the avalanche at night. Was something happening there…?

Shu Fu helplessly replied: “Yep, just as you guessed, I just had a race against time with the avalanche at dawn.”

A moment later, the satellite phone rang. It was a call from Lu Zheng.

Shu Fu answered.

“Are you okay?” The voice on the other end sounded anxious, clearly alarmed by her message.

“I’m fine, uh, the message I sent to Chen Fa…”

“I’m right here. You usually contact her when you have problems, so any news from you on her phone gets shared with us.”

“…Is that my fault?”

Soon, Lu Ce’s voice came over the line, calling out to her, asking where she was and if she was on land. He mentioned that she hadn’t sent them messages recently.

Shu Fu: “…Bad signal.”

“You’re really not injured?” Lu Zheng asked, mainly because he understood that avalanches were different from water disasters. A raft could float easily on water, but on ice and snow, it was practically impossible to move—of course, their raft might be stuck, but hers might be different.

But hearing that she had encountered an avalanche still made him worried.

“I’m really fine. Look, Chen Fa isn’t worried, so you should understand.”

Lu Zheng sighed slightly. “Okay, as long as you’re fine. Just be careful—”

His words were interrupted by the tall figure outside the car shelter.

Cheng Yu had likely heard her speaking and knew she was awake, so he came over.

Inside the tunnel, his outer cold-weather jacket had been replaced with a thermal tactical vest. His face and arms had been treated for injuries, but his weaponry was still intact, and he still carried a strong scent of gunpowder.

Their eyes met, and when he saw she was holding the satellite phone, he didn’t enter, but instead motioned toward a stainless steel cup he was holding. “Hot vegetable soup.”

It seemed he remembered the detail from last time when she had drunk vegetable soup and gone for more.

“Coming right up!” Shu Fu was really a bit hungry. She responded to Cheng Yu and then tried to end the call.

On the other end of the satellite phone, Lu Zheng’s voice sounded again, “I think I heard someone talking.” And that voice seemed somewhat familiar.

“Yes, it’s my friend, calling me to eat. It’s noon, you guys should go eat too!” Since they were still on a mission, Shu Fu used “friend” to replace Cheng Yu’s name.

“We’ve already eaten.” Lu Zheng seemed to chuckle on the other end, “As long as you’re fine, let us know when you’re done. We hope to meet you soon.”

“Mm, I understand.” Shu Fu hung up the phone, put it back into her bag, and then carried it outside.

---

The rest area for Cheng Yu’s team was right next to the car shelter. Now, they only had one armored vehicle left, which was parked against the wall next to the shelter. The front of the vehicle faced the tunnel wall, with the rear facing inward, forming a sixty-degree angle with the tunnel wall.

Outside the vehicle, other survivors were gathered around a fire in small groups, eating the food they had. The first group to evacuate had brought enough supplies, while the later group had mostly escaped empty-handed. Fortunately, these survivors had been willing to share their supplies, so with the help of the rescue team, everyone quickly got food, which they ate after a quick warm-up.

The members of Cheng Yu’s team were all staying in the corner formed by the armored vehicle and the tunnel wall. The situation outside wasn’t dire enough for them to need to share their food yet.

The vehicle blocked the cold air from outside, and they had made a fire in this open space. They set up a camping table and chairs, with a few team members’ gear on top, some freshly dried clothes, and some food.

A few team members were sitting around the fire on chairs, while others stood, all drinking hot vegetable soup.

While Shu Fu and Yao Ruoyun rested in the car shelter, the team members had been busy cleaning wounds, checking weapons and communication gear for damage, clearing the ice off the armored vehicle, inspecting the vehicle’s body and wheels, and drying their clothes that had gotten wet from the snow and freezing rain.

Apart from Wen Rou, who had been shot in the shoulder and had to rest with her arm in a sling, everyone else had not slept, including Cheng Yu, who had sustained a bullet graze on his arm. Though the wound had caused some bleeding because it had scraped a blood vessel, it was nothing serious for him. As long as it was disinfected and bandaged, he could still carry on.

The other team members had long been accustomed to working overnight during missions, so one sleepless night didn’t affect their condition. Now, they were all sitting around the fire, drinking hot soup and eating some warm food. Their strength and energy had been mostly restored, and they even mocked each other for their awkward moments during the midnight evacuation.

“They both had faces blackened from smoke, one gripping the seatbelt tightly, and then they both rolled out of the trunk—bam! Face down, limbs splayed out! Hahaha!”

Awen: …

Qi Kai: …

“Qi Kai, you’re useless, what kind of junk did you test? 10 to 20 days, we almost got buried!”

“Yeah, you were there with your precious machine, making all those noises, and in the end, what happened? It was worse than our team leader’s plan!”

“Luckily, the team leader came back to rescue you guys, or all three of you wouldn’t have made it out!”

Qi Kai: …

Qi Kai felt bitter inside, but couldn’t express it.

After all, the explosions yesterday had caused the early evacuation, which was a human error, so how could they blame him?

Yet, even he had to admit that if the team leader hadn’t decided to evacuate early, they likely wouldn’t have survived this time. Moreover, they had failed to follow the evacuation order, and it was the team leader who had come back to rescue them, risking his life in the process…

The team members, still injured and exhausted from another sleepless night, were laughing and joking together. Shu Fu noticed that when they talked about this incident again, they mostly mentioned Cheng Yu.

It was he who had decided to leave early in the morning, and he had helped everyone avoid this crisis.

And Liu Shuang, who knew the whole story, didn’t correct them. Although Han Lan hadn’t heard everything, she could probably guess that the early evacuation had been her idea. Yet both of them seemed to deliberately ignore this detail.

Even when they saw Shu Fu awake, they just smiled kindly at her, without asking why she had returned to the county.

Shu Fu unconsciously glanced back at Cheng Yu, who was outside the circle of chairs. He was leaning against the camping table, reheating his stainless steel cup on the portable stove.

The vegetable soup hadn’t completely cooled down, and it quickly heated up again. Cheng Yu took off his half-finger tactical gloves, one hand holding the cup while the other supported its base. He walked over and handed it to Shu Fu, saying, “Be careful, it’s hot.”

It was freezing rain outside, and even though they were sheltered in the tunnel, there was still a damp chill in the air. However, as soon as Shu Fu took the cup, she felt the warmth from his gloves seep into her palm.

She lowered her head, blew gently on the soup, and took a careful sip. The hot vegetable soup flowed down her throat, warming her entire body.

“Thank you.” After speaking, Shu Fu realized her words might have had a double meaning.

“I saved you some cured rice,” he said as he nodded slightly towards her. “The rice is from the military ration bag, but the cured meat was freshly steamed and placed on top of the rice for you.” He then turned and walked to another camping table, lifted a thick woolen blanket that was folded there, revealing a still-warm military ration bag underneath. He then grabbed a folding chair, unfolded it, placed it beside the table, and gestured for her to come and eat.

Shu Fu, seeing his series of actions, hurried over. “Don’t worry about it, be careful with your injury.”

“It’s fine,” he replied, taking out a set of unopened disposable utensils from the side and placing them next to the military ration bag.

Shu Fu had originally just wanted some vegetable soup, but since he had gone to so much trouble to prepare everything, she couldn’t exactly say that she wasn’t fond of military rations or didn’t want to eat the cured meat…

So she opened the bag and began eating the food quietly and with effort.

Meanwhile, Yao Ruoyun, who had just come down from the back of the armored vehicle holding her empty cup and utensils, happily came over to Shu Fu. “Senior, you’re awake! I just fed Wen Rou Sister, her right shoulder was injured, so she could only eat with her left hand. At first, she didn’t want me to feed her, resisting all the way…”

Sitting closest to their table, Han Lan turned his head in surprise. “She really let you feed her? And you fed her all the way? Impressive!”

“Mm,” Yao Ruoyun nodded proudly, feeling like she had accomplished something remarkable.

Han Lan chuckled twice, then looked up at Cheng Yu, who was sitting silently at the table, drinking water with his left hand. Both of them had injured their right arms, yet some were being fed by others while others pretended everything was fine, even though they had both lost so much blood earlier…

There were some things Han Lan couldn’t say, but it didn’t stop him from sighing meaningfully, and then clicking his tongue twice.

Cheng Yu’s long eyelashes flickered, and his gaze met Han Lan’s, locking eyes with him.

Han Lan’s back instinctively chilled.

He had been looking for trouble, but he hadn’t expected that before he said anything, Cheng Yu would take things so seriously. Was it really just to avoid making her worry? Han Lan shifted his gaze to Shu Fu, who was talking to Yao Ruoyun. She certainly didn’t look worried! Look how happily she was eating!

Yao Ruoyun put down her utensils and, glancing down, noticed a bit of a watch strap peeking out from Shu Fu’s right wrist. Curiously, she asked for the time.

Shu Fu pulled up her sleeve, looked at the watch, and told her the time. Yao Ruoyun, with sharp eyes, noticed a pale blue string hanging beside the watch strap. She leaned closer to take a look and realized it was a light blue hand knot.

“Is it a peace knot? Senior, you believe in this too? I want to make some too! Can you teach me later?”

“I can’t do it,” Shu Fu shook her head. “You can ask Lu Zheng later, he made it.”

“Oh~~” Yao Ruoyun dragged out the word in a tone of realization, and didn’t bring up learning how to make the knot again.

Nearby, Han Lan, who had been eavesdropping, also echoed, “Oh~~”

Yao Ruoyun turned back, looking at him with a face full of disdain. “What are you ‘oh’-ing about?”

“It’s nothing, can’t I ‘oh’ while you do?” he said, as he looked over at Cheng Yu’s expression. He knew that although Cheng Yu appeared expressionless, he was definitely listening to their conversation.

Cheng Yu’s brows twitched as he heard the conversation. He set his water cup down and walked over, pulling Han Lan up. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Change the dressing.”

“Huh? Again? Didn’t you just get it bandaged not long ago?”

…

Liu Shuang silently watched them and let out a long sigh. After a sleepless night, fleeing for their lives, and still full of energy—men truly stay young at heart until the end…

---

Yao Ruoyun tidied up her utensils and walked over to Shu Fu, asking in a low voice where they would go next.

Shu Fu wasn’t exactly sure. Normally, everyone would need to evacuate to Xizhou Province, but there were only four vehicles available: an ambulance, a jeep with intact windows but likely to break down at any moment, a jeep with most of its windows broken, and the armored vehicle.

No matter how they packed, these vehicles couldn’t fit all the survivors in the tunnel.

When they had moved from Hongshi Road Monument earlier, they had made sure to get the injured and the women and children onto the vehicles while the others walked. That was when she found out that Cheng Yu’s team’s original evacuation route was in the same direction, but they hadn’t planned to come to this tunnel. Instead, they had intended to go directly to another rescue point across the Yinsha River.

That rescue point wasn’t on the way to Gongmang County, but it was much closer to the southwestern plateau. It was a different road, but much closer to their current location.

It was the last station for evacuation from the southwestern plateau to Xizhou Province. Since there weren’t many people in the southwestern plateau, although this rescue point was still operational, there were fewer survivors there. It was located on high ground, with a slightly higher altitude than here, but the area around it was flat, and there was no risk of avalanches, making it a suitable temporary shelter for them.

After the cold front passed and all the mountain roads were cleared of snow and ice, they could plan their westward journey again. By then, the main rescue forces in Xizhou Province should be able to arrive, and Cheng Yu’s team might no longer need to escort anyone.

To reach that rescue point, they would need to cross the Yinsha River, and the closest bridge would be about thirty kilometers ahead along the mountain road next to the tunnel.

At thirty kilometers, given the current road conditions, they would have to clear the snow continuously, and if there were enough vehicles, it would take about 1 to 2 hours.

However, no one had expected the evacuation to be earlier than planned. Several vehicles that could have been used had not made it out, and walking slowed down the journey. By dawn, freezing rain had started falling again.

The survivors who weren’t afraid of the heavy snow couldn’t withstand the power of the freezing rain, which ultimately led to them being stranded in this tunnel near the Yinsha River.

Now, all they could do was wait and see when the freezing rain outside would stop.

After a while, a team member from the rescue squad came over to ask about their next plan.

Liu Shuang spoke for them, summarizing what had been said before: “It depends on the weather.”

The team member let out a long sigh. “Normally, rising temperatures would be a good thing. I thought the snow on the road would melt by itself, and the snow removal would be easier… Who could have predicted that the temperature would rise to around zero degrees, and then the freezing rain would start again!”

The other team members also sighed.

It seemed as though the sky had an endless amount of water to drop on the planet. When the temperature was high, it was rain; when it was low, it was snow; and in between, freezing rain fell seamlessly—it was just too much!

At this point, they didn’t expect what was supposed to be a temporary stay to last three full days.

During these three days, the freezing rain became increasingly severe, with hail the size of eggs mixed in. Occasionally, hailstones larger than fists, even the size of a baby’s head, would fall in a dense shower. The entire sky remained overcast and dark, as if a massive ice layer in the air had melted and shattered, sending large chunks of ice continuously falling.

The survivors near the tunnel entrance moved their resting areas further back, and the vehicles were also driven deeper into the tunnel to avoid being hit by the falling hail.

The ground was damp, and though the temperature in the tunnel wasn’t particularly low, it remained persistently chilly.

Once the survivors used up the limited charcoal they had, they began chopping up the leftover building debris to use as firewood for warmth. They could at least gather some garbage to keep the fire going. They also collected some freezing rain, filtered it, added disinfectant tablets, and boiled it to make it drinkable.

The equipment in the ambulance was running on a generator and fuel, but due to the lack of conditions for secondary surgeries, the two critically injured, unconscious team members were still hanging on to life by a thread.

In addition, there were other injured individuals, including those with burns, gunshot wounds, and fractures, but without enough medicine, their recovery was slow.

The biggest problem remained food. After three days, the food supply for both teams was nearly depleted, and the survivors, who had been camping in the tunnel for three days, were reaching their limits in terms of anxiety, fear, and panic.

---

Inside the vehicle shelter, Yao Ruoyun woke up from a nightmare.

Perhaps because she was so terrified, even in her dream, she clenched her teeth tightly, not letting out a single cry of fear.

Shu Fu, awakened by her sudden movement, immediately felt a sense of heat.

She reached over to pat Yao Ruoyun’s back and slowly sat up. “What happened? Another nightmare?” It wasn’t clear if it was because of the avalanche, but since they had taken refuge in this tunnel with the team, Yao Ruoyun’s fragmented memories had started to manifest as nightmares from time to time.

In the past, she had dreamed of large-scale disaster scenes that Chen Fa and Lu Zheng had previously encountered. One was a massive tsunami that submerged half of the Xiaogui’s land. Another was a typhoon landing on the coastal areas, bringing with it violent storms, tornadoes, severe flooding, and widespread destruction of buildings along the coast…

The most recent disaster that occurred, though she had seen it on the news, made Yao Ruoyun feel a little scared, because this disaster not only occurred in her own country, but the scenes from the disaster also seemed strangely familiar to her.

She was the second person, after Lu Zheng, who felt a sense of familiarity and fear when witnessing the disaster scenes on the news.

This indicated that Lu Zheng’s feelings were not mistaken.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that Yao Ruoyun and Lu Zheng’s shared sense of fear wasn’t just due to having seen similar scenes or the overwhelming impact of the disaster scenes on the news. Flash floods, tsunamis, typhoons… These disasters were so insignificant on a global scale.

But they all had one thing in common: water.

She felt as though she had almost grasped the edge of the puzzle, waiting for more fragmented memories to validate her guesses.

Yao Ruoyun clutched her blanket, feeling the hand gently patting her back. It took her a while to pull herself out of the nightmare. But when she regained her senses, her expression showed not only fear but also confusion.

She turned her head to look at Shu Fu and, as she had done every time before, lowered her voice so that only the two of them could hear. She began to slowly confide in her, but this time her voice was trembling: “I was back at school, in a high school classroom… My grades dropped a lot in the new monthly exam. The teacher asked me to call my parents, and I think I made the call, but after school, I stayed in the office, just waiting… and then I saw my mom. My mom! It really was my mom!”

She emphasized the words, but Shu Fu obviously didn’t understand. Realizing she hadn’t made herself clear, Yao Ruoyun took a long breath, steadied her emotions, and began again: “In the fragment of my memory from another world, I saw the mother from this world—Hua Qiong, the one you’ve seen!”

Shu Fu’s expression hardened. “Are you sure? Is it the same person?”

“I’m sure, it’s my mom! Even if, as you guessed, we’re all from that other world, the memories from this world are what’s complete for me now. How could I not recognize my mom? Except for her clothes, hairstyle, and makeup, I’m certain it’s the same person!”

Shu Fu lowered her head and thought for two seconds, quickly coming to an answer: “Your mom is probably also a supernatural ability user.”

Yao Ruoyun: !!