Chapter 72: Chapter 70: Searching for Qin Shen

Jiang Si held up the flashlight, waiting for the White Tiger to return.

A short while later, an aftershock rumbled through. Everyone scrambled away from the abyss-like ravine, worrying desperately for Jiang Chengwu and Zhang Baoying below.

Debris trickled continuously downward, and the sound of it echoing through the bottomless darkness was horrifying.

Jiang Linhai started to call out for Jiang Chengwu and Zhang Baoying, but Jiang Si stopped him abruptly. "Don’t shout. After an earthquake, the sound waves can cause the loose rocks to shift and fall."

Jiang Linhai immediately clamped a hand over his mouth, his bloodshot eyes wide as he prayed for the White Tiger to bring them back safely.

The aftershocks continued for some time, making everyone dizzy. Suddenly, Jiang Si’s sharp eyes spotted a white shadow leaping upward.

’That has to be the White Tiger.’ 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

She excitedly grabbed Shen Baoying’s hand. "It’s coming up! The White Tiger is coming up!"

The white shadow drew closer until the flashlight beam clearly illuminated the injured Zhang Baoying and Jiang Chengwu on the White Tiger’s back.

Everyone was overcome with excitement. The White Tiger was their savior.

Seeing the White Tiger make it back to solid ground, Jiang Si’s eyes reddened as well. ’What would we have done without it?’

Jiang Linhai went forward to check on Jiang Chengwu. "Dad, where are you hurt?"

Jiang Linhai helped Jiang Chengwu off the White Tiger’s back. Only then did Jiang Si see clearly that both of her grandfather’s legs were broken.

Zhang Baoying’s injuries were lighter. Aside from scrapes all over her body, two fingers on her right hand had been crushed into a bloody mess.

Lu Zhifeng, anticipating that Jiang Chengwu and Zhang Baoying might be injured, had gathered some sticks nearby, which now came in handy.

Lu Zhifeng was a ranger. Besides guarding the forest and watching for poachers, his other duties included rescuing injured mountain folk and lost hikers.

He was practically a part-time orthopedist.

He pressed on Jiang Chengwu’s legs, treated the external wounds with medicine from Jiang Si’s backpack, and in just a few moves, had both legs splinted and immobilized.

Jiang Si also gave Zhang Baoying’s two fingers some emergency treatment.

Since both of Jiang Chengwu’s legs were injured, carrying him on someone’s back was out of the question.

Jiang Si looked at the White Tiger, then glanced at the sticks on the ground. She leaned close to it and said in a negotiating tone, "Could you help me out and carry my grandfather? From now on, whatever you want, I’ll give it to you."

A flicker passed through the White Tiger’s deep eyes, as if it had committed her words to memory.

’The White Tiger is a big white tiger, after all. All it wants are cuddles and good food,’ Jiang Si thought, feeling like she got the better end of the deal.

The White Tiger didn’t show any displeasure, which meant it agreed. Jiang Si rubbed its round cheek, her eyes crinkling in a happy smile. "Thank you, White Tiger."

Jiang Si had always been good with her hands, and ten years in the apocalypse had made her even more skilled.

In no time, she fashioned the sticks on the ground into a simple stretcher that could be tied to the White Tiger’s back.

Not only would it keep Jiang Chengwu comfortable, but it was also sturdy enough that he wouldn’t easily fall off.

To avoid further aftershocks, the group set off as quickly as possible toward flatter terrain.

Jiang Si knew that these few aftershocks were relatively small; there would be more sudden, powerful tremors to come.

’We’d better get out of here as soon as possible.’

The helicopter in her dimensional space was their only hope of leaving this place now.

Although she had gotten to know Lu Zhifeng and Niu Niu well, Jiang Si didn’t want to reveal her superpower too soon.

She thought for a moment, then said to the others, "The helicopter’s locator shows it’s not far from here. I’m going to go take a look and see if I can salvage anything. We have too few supplies right now."

With the earthquake disaster being so severe, finding food wouldn’t be easy. There were indeed plenty of supplies in their crashed helicopter. If they could bring some back, it would greatly relieve the pressure of survival for everyone.

Lu Zhifeng immediately said, "I’ll go with you!"

Jiang Si shook her head. "Niu Niu is frightened and might catch a cold and run a fever. She needs someone to look after her. My dad and I will go. We’ll be back soon, don’t worry."

Jiang Si was always so thoughtful. Lu Zhifeng’s heart warmed, and he promised, "I’ll definitely take good care of everyone."

"Okay."

After Jiang Si and Jiang Linhai had been walking for about fifteen minutes, Jiang Linhai finally asked, "Is the helicopter really nearby?"

Jiang Si shook her head. "No. I’m going to pull another one out of my dimensional space and say we found it near the crash site. We’ll say the people on it died and we got incredibly lucky."

Jiang Linhai thought the lie was a bit clumsy. "How could there be such a coincidence?"

Jiang Si looked at the pitch-black surroundings where she couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face. "It’s just that coincidental," she said. "If I don’t say anything, and you don’t say anything, who’s going to know?"

Jiang Linhai figured that was true. If they "found" enough things, Lu Zhifeng would probably just chalk it up to them having good luck.

"But," he asked again, "what about Qin Shen? Aren’t we going to look for him?"

Jiang Si frowned. "We’ll look. We’ll take the helicopter and do a search of the area. If we can’t find him, there’s nothing we can do. We don’t know where he’s buried, this area is huge, and the ravines are so deep. It’s impossible to search properly. If he responds, we’ll go down and rescue him."

"If he doesn’t respond, then today will be the anniversary of his death. We’ll pay our respects to him during the holidays."

Jiang Si really did want to save Qin Shen. From her interactions with him, she felt he was a genuinely good person.

Composed and calm, powerful, and he could even treat her sudden medical emergencies.

But right now, they couldn’t stay here looking for someone forever.

If Pandora spread rapidly and the oxygen in the air disappeared, they wouldn’t be able to leave even if they wanted to.

Jiang Linhai felt terrible. Everyone else had landed safely, yet Qin Shen was the only one who had an accident and disappeared.

He sighed deeply. "I hope he can respond to us."

Jiang Linhai returned to the White Tiger and the others and announced excitedly, "We found a helicopter near the crash site that’s still in good condition! Sisi is checking it now. If it works, we can take it and leave this place."

Just as expected, Lu Zhifeng and Niu Niu didn’t suspect a thing. They simply thought Jiang Si and Jiang Linhai had explosive good luck and had stumbled upon a free helicopter, and they grinned so wide their faces wrinkled.

The others who were in on the secret played along with a smile, pointing the White Tiger in Jiang Si’s direction.

After walking for about half an hour, everyone got a clear view of the helicopter. It was much smaller than the one Zhao Yuning had flown before.

However, it was more than enough to accommodate all of them.

When they climbed into the cabin, they were pleasantly surprised to find it stocked with common camping supplies, food, guns, military uniforms, and even body armor.

Lu Zhifeng speculated that it must be a military aircraft, and they had lucked into finding it.

If Lu Zhifeng knew even a little more about helicopters, he would have noticed that it was a brand-new aircraft and a standard civilian model.

Unfortunately, he didn’t.

Jiang Si finished her pretense of an inspection, confirmed the helicopter could take off, and told everyone to buckle their seatbelts. She was going to start the aircraft now and search for Qin Shen.