Chapter 25: Underground Karst Cave

  The earthquake only lasted for over ten seconds, but for the survivors it was like a century. Fortunately, except for individual students being injured by fallen trees, everyone else escaped unharmed. However, when Meng Tingguang told Director Xie of the school affairs office that Zhou Hao and Li Ruolan had fallen down the mountain, Director Xie broke out in a cold sweat.

  He and several male teachers rushed to the other side of the original small pavilion, only to see that the entire slope on the right had collapsed, and the rushing sand and stone flow buried everything in its path. In the now calm sand and stone below, there was no sign of Zhou Hao and Li Ruolan.

  Upon learning of Zhou Hao and Li Ruolan's disappearance, Gao Jingyi and Liu Shichao rushed over. Looking at everything buried under the sand and rocks below, Liu Shichao burst into tears. Gao Jingyi also cried out loud, shouting "Zhou Hao! Zhou Hao!"

  Director Xie hastily grabbed her, "Gao Jingyi, be careful, don't fall in!" Then turned to ask Meng Tingguang: "What just happened? How did Teacher Li and Zhou Hao fall down?"

  Meng Tingguang said, "I just came out to go to the toilet and saw Teacher Li and that Zhou Hao in the small pavilion, I don't know what they were talking about. Suddenly there was an earthquake and the whole pavilion fell down the mountain." He thought to himself, with this situation, Zhou Hao and Li Ruoshan are probably doomed, and now no one will know about his own shameful affair. Thinking of being beaten by Zhou Hao earlier, Meng Tingguang maliciously thought, "Serves you right, let this stinky brat not understand respect for teachers, now heaven is dealing with you."

  "Everyone quickly organize other students to go down the mountain, fortunately the mountain road on the other side is fine, otherwise it would be hard to leave." Director Xie made a quick decision, "After going down, immediately report to the police and let them carry out search and rescue work!"

  Gao Jingyi also wiped away the tears on her face, she knew that being anxious here was useless, now the most important thing was to hurry down the mountain and let her father use the government's power to rescue Zhou Hao and Li Ruoshan as soon as possible.

  Then, everyone rushed down the mountain in the dark under the organization of the teachers. After that, they called back to the city and Gao Jingyi also told Gao Houlü about the earthquake and asked him to send people for rescue as soon as possible. When Gao Houlü learned that his daughter had encountered an earthquake, he was frightened again, and then said that he would immediately send someone over.

  When the police and firefighters of Xiangcheng City arrived, it was already dawn. Autumn Ning Mountain is under the jurisdiction of Xiangcheng City. Now that an earthquake has occurred, Gao Houlu and the municipal party secretary have rushed over overnight. When they saw the missing corner of Autumn Ning Mountain and the place buried by sand and stones at the foot of the mountain, they couldn't help but take a cold breath, relieved that the landslide wasn't where the students were camping, otherwise the casualties would be severe.

  However, after seeing the scene of the accident and the thousands of tons of sand and rocks that had collapsed, the rescue personnel did not hold out much hope for Zhou Hao and Li Ruolan's survival, while also indicating that it would be extremely difficult to search for people buried under such conditions.

  The school immediately called Zhou Hao and Li Ruolan's homes, Zhao Yuqin had just arrived at Zhou Hao's house to visit Yan Tong, when she received the call about Zhou Hao's accident. Her face turned white on the spot, and she didn't dare tell Yan Tong, so she immediately drove over to Qiuning Mountain and asked her brother to send a company of soldiers to help with the search and rescue efforts.

  Arriving at Qiuning Mountain, Zhao Yuqin saw a desolate Qiuning Mountain, her heart kept sinking, and she couldn't help but burst into tears.

  Gao Houlü recognized Zhao Yuqin but didn't know her relationship with Zhou Hao, nor did he expect her to directly call in a company of soldiers for the search and rescue operation.

  "Miss Zhao, the volume of sand and rocks that have collapsed is very large. If we are to rescue two people, the difficulty of the work will be great." The company commander said to Zhao Yuqin: "I hope Miss Zhao prepares herself psychologically, the survival rate of those two people may not be high."

  Zhao Yuqin gazed at Autumn Ning Mountain and said with a heart-wrenching sorrow: "The living must be seen, the dead must have their corpses!"

  "Got it, we'll do our best." With that, Lian Zhang immediately went back to organize the search and rescue work.

  On the other side, Gao Jingyi also heard Lian Chang's words just now. She tightly grasped Gao Houlu's hand, tears constantly falling down, silently praying in her heart: "Zhou Hao, you mustn't have anything happen to you! You absolutely mustn't have anything happen to you!"

  Not to mention Zhao Yuqin and Gao Jingyi's concern for Zhou Hao's safety, after that intense impact, Zhou Hao completely lost consciousness.

  He had a long dream, dreaming of things from his past life, dreaming of himself working hard at Huangshi Group, dreaming of himself pursuing Zeng Ying and finally winning her over, also dreaming of the scene where he caught Zeng Ying and Huang Wankuo in their illicit affair that day and was brutally killed by Huang Wankuo.

  "Don't blame me, blame yourself for being ignorant. Also, before you die, let me advise you one more thing: love is not bread, it can't represent everything."

  "When you go down to hell, don't forget it was Huang Wankou who killed you."

  Zeng Ying's ruthless face and Huang Wankuo's ferocious mouth reappeared in front of him, and Huang Wankuo once again stabbed the sharp knife into Zhou Hao's chest.

  "I'll get revenge! I'll make you pay!" Zhou Hao shouted loudly at Zeng Ying and Huang Wankuo in his dream.

  "Zhou Hao! Zhou Hao!" In a daze, Zhou Hao seemed to hear an extremely gentle voice in his dream. He really wanted to open his eyes to see who it was, but his eyelids felt as if they were sewn shut and he couldn't open them at all.

  It wasn't until much later that Zhou Hao finally accumulated enough strength, and with great effort, he opened his eyes to find a dimly lit stone wall in front of him. At the same time, a very bitter taste spread through his tongue, as if there was something in his mouth.

  Zhou Hao wanted to sit up, but he felt weak all over and his muscles and bones ached with a dull pain.

  "Zhou Hao, you're finally awake!" Zhou Hao's eyes met a face that had appeared before him. Although it was stained with some dust and the hair was slightly disheveled, it still looked beautiful and elegant. It was unmistakably Li Ruolan.

  It turned out that the gentle voice in his dream was Li Ruolan. Zhou Hao was overjoyed to see Li Ruolan safe and sound, and he wanted to call out to her, but something stuck in his throat and he couldn't speak.

  "Oh, it's a herb, let me take it out for you." Li Ruolan pinched open Zhou Hao's mouth and took out a dark brown leaf from inside.

  Zhou Hao saw the leaf and finally understood that the bitter taste came from it.

  "Teacher Li, are you okay?" Zhou Hao's voice was very soft and a bit hoarse.

  Li Ruolan smiled and shook her head, "The teacher is fine, thanks to you using your body to protect the teacher, but your injury is severe, fortunately, there is Dr. Gong Sun to help you with the treatment, otherwise it would be dangerous."

  "Master Gongsun?" Zhou Hao muttered.

  Li Ruolan called out in that direction: "Gongsun Dafu, come quickly! Zhou Hao has woken up! Zhou Hao has woken up!"

  Zhou Hai was guessing who this Gong Sun Da Fu was, while paying attention to his surroundings. It seemed like he was in some sort of cave, the surrounding area was very dark, and the several oil lamps on the wall emitted a dim yellow light. The walls of the cave were very smooth, and the top of the cave was made up of inverted conical stones, it looked like this should be a limestone cave.

  The cave is very large, and Zhou Hao sees a thatched hut on the other side, with several pitch-black holes behind it, which lead to unknown places.

  Li Ruolan called out to Gong Sun several times, and then Zhou Hao saw someone come out of the thatched cottage. It's not entirely accurate to say he walked out, since his legs had been amputated below the knees. He grasped two crutches in his hands, using them to support himself on the ground as he moved around. However, he wielded his crutches with great agility, and his body was also very flexible. The speed at which he moved with his crutches was even faster than a normal person walking on their feet.

  All that can be seen is that the public son wears a gray linen garment on his body, with white hair that is long and disheveled, and a long white beard under his chin. At first glance, this public son is at least seventy years old.

  "Haha, kid, you're finally awake, what a big life." Gong Sun Da Fu walked up to Zhou Hao's side, his smile revealed a mouthful of incomplete teeth, looking very terrifying.

  "Thank you for saving me." Although this Mr. Gong was quite strange, Zhou Hao still sincerely thanked him.

  This Mr. Gong Sun used his cane to tap Zhou Hao's right arm, and Zhou Hao immediately felt a sharp pain, apparently his arm was injured. Then he heard Mr. Gong Sun laugh and say: "Originally I didn't want to save you, but this girl said she would stay here as my servant, so I saved your life."

  "What?" Zhou Hao was shocked in his heart, then looked at Li Ruolan.

  As soon as she saw Li Ruolan's face darken, "At that time, I begged him for a long time, but he refused to save you. Later, he said that as long as I agreed to stay here and be his servant girl, he would spare your life." She touched Zhou Hao's forehead, "You were injured so badly because of the teacher, and the teacher can't bear to see you die."

  Zhou Hao was both heartbroken and furious, staring at Gong Sun Da Fu and scolding him: "You old worm! Taking advantage of someone's misfortune is what kind of man? I don't need your help! You old worm, kill me then, let Teacher Li go!" In his eyes, this old geezer must be lusting after Li Ruo Lan's beauty and was using coercion to make her submit.

  Gongsun's right hand moved, and the crutch heavily slapped Zhou Hao's face. "Hmph! Don't curse so loudly, I'm at this age, even if I had that heart, I don't have that strength. Besides, living alone in this mountain with a young girl to cook and massage my back is also good. Moreover, the girl has already agreed, what are you yelling about?"

  "No, Teacher Li, you can't stay here." Zhou Hao anxiously said: "Teacher Li, don't suffer like this for me." Leaving a woman in her prime to stay in the mountains with that old man would be ruining her life.

  Seeing Zhou Hao so tense, Li Ruolan was deeply moved, but she just pursed her lips and shook her head.

  Zhou Hao gritted his teeth and thought that as long as he recovered his physical strength, he would definitely take Li Ruolan away from here.

  Gongsun's wife suddenly guessed Zhou Hao's thoughts, and coldly smiled, "You don't need to play any tricks, this is the underground karst cave of Autumn Peace Mountain, it's very complex with many paths, only I know the way out. If you recklessly go around bumping into things, even I won't be able to find you."