Chapter 6: Mountain Flood

  In June, the torrential rain came suddenly, when the four people had just climbed to the ridge of the canyon, the rain poured down wildly, thunder and lightning also vented their shocking energy in the low-hanging dark clouds, and the strong wind blowing from the deep mountains, wrapped with large raindrops hitting the body like being shot by a machine gun, the four brothers were extremely embarrassed.

  "Quickly, leave the mountain ridge!" Cao Sen shouted loudly.

  The mountain ridge was bare rock, and the four people standing on it were like four eye-catching lightning rods. If they were struck by lightning, there would be no chance of survival. Cao Sen and the others knew the danger, and they ran desperately towards a nearby cave.

  The sky lit up suddenly, followed by a burst of thunder. A violent lightning bolt struck a solitary pine tree, and the powerful electric current instantly turned the lush green tree into charcoal, which then caught fire, only to be extinguished by rainwater, emitting wisps of smoke.

  Cao Sen saw the power of lightning, and his heart felt extremely pleased. This was the true nature of heaven and earth, this was the life that a good man should face! The mighty passion in the sky and the rain and wind ignited, the surging in his heart could not be suppressed, passion and strength filled his whole body, he ran while opening his throat, howling like a wolf, singing a vast and majestic hymn.

  Teng Fei and Guo Jing also opened their throats to sing along, the violent thunderstorm sound couldn't drown out the three people's wild singing voices, which echoed through the canyon very far away.

  Ding Haitao cursed the three people in his heart, thinking they were out of their minds. The ones who couldn't bear to be left out also let out a loud wail - Li Er Sao remarried.

  The four brothers marched forward in high spirits and soon ran to the front of the cave, mixed with raindrops, they rushed in.

  Zheng Jingjing? Wu Fang? What are they doing here? Cao Sen looked at the people taking shelter from the rain in the cave with surprise.

  Jing Jing and Wu Fang also looked at Cao Sen in surprise, their astonished expressions changing bit by bit until they finally broke into a smile.

  "Were the four of you singing just now?" Wu Fang asked Cao Sen with a smile.

  "That's right." Cao Sen cursed inwardly, how did he end up running into these two spoiled girls?

  "Haha...... it's really...... amazing! You guys sang so well!" Jingjing laughed until she was doubled over.

  There were also several male students from Dongda University with the two girls, all of whom had been dragged along to make up the numbers. Most of them knew that the Cao Sen brothers were not to be trifled with and were afraid that the girls' teasing would provoke the few big brothers, so they hastily greeted "Sen Ge, Jing Ge".

  Cao Sen nodded slightly in response and stood alone at the entrance of the cave, gazing out at the rainy scene.

  Ding Haitao curiously asked: "How did you end up here?"

  A boy hastily replied, "Brother Jing, we came with Zhu Jianjun and two girls. We were wandering around here looking for the three of them, but got caught in the heavy rain and took shelter in this cave."

  Zhu Jianjun? Cao Sen thought, this kid is hiding out with a woman, and he's even more unlikely to know where to take shelter from the rain, so you naturally can't find him.

  Wu Fang and Jingjing were originally frightened by the intimidating thunderstorm, but as soon as Cao Sen led them into the cave, they immediately felt a sense of security. Especially with Cao Sen standing at the entrance, it was as if he had blocked out all the wind and rain outside. The boys who followed them looked like immature little kids compared to Cao Sen, whose masculine aura was something they couldn't match. The girls felt they had found a reliable pillar to lean on, and the thunderstorm that had frightened them earlier now became a unique symphony, making the cave feel even safer and cozier.

  A few boys who smoked were busy lighting cigarettes for the four tough guys, while two girls hid in the innermost part of the cave, huddled together eating their own snacks, and grabbed a few more bags to throw at Cao Sen and the others.

  A loud rumble was heard, and a massive boulder was washed down by the surging mountain flood, rolling all the way and stirring up murky muddy water, with an intimidating momentum.

  The boys all gathered at the entrance of the cave to watch, but heard a mobile phone ringing behind them.

  Jing Jing looked at her phone screen, it was Zhu Jianjun's. "Hello? Where are you guys? Are you safe? What... what happened to Lan?" Jing Jing stood up anxiously, "Hello? Speak louder, what happened to Lan?"

  Everyone was staring at Jingjing, and a boy whispered that Lan'er was another girl who had come together.

  "What? Fell off a cliff!" Jingjing's face suddenly turned pale.

  Everyone in the cave was stunned by this sudden bad news.

  Cao Sen rushed over a few steps and grabbed the phone. "Don't panic, Zhu Jianjun, I'm Cao Sen. Where are you? Describe the obvious features around you."

  "There are a few pine trees, okay, in a mountain valley, next to the pine trees." Cao Sen loudly repeated Zhu Jianjun's dialogue, and Guo Jing and the other two rushed out of the cave in the rain, dividing into three directions to search for the target with binoculars according to Cao Sen's repetition.

  "What other characteristics?" Cao Sen raised his voice and asked, his eyes fixed on the movements of the three brothers.

  "Okay, next to the pine tree is a rock about two people high."

  Teng Fei suddenly stretched out his right arm with five fingers and pointed in the direction, "I saw it, 1 o'clock direction, 80 meters!"

  "We've spotted you, come over immediately, don't move!" Cao Sen returned the phone to Jingjing and instructed several boys, "Keep an eye on them, absolutely cannot let them leave this cave!"

  Several boys nodded hastily.

  Jing Jing seemed to have just come back to her senses from the bad news, "Wu wu... Lan Er... don't... Wu wu... I'll go save you!"

  Cao Sen grabbed the girl who was crying and shouting as she rushed out, and threw her to those boys. He then charged into the stormy sky with Guo Jing and three others.

  Zhu Jianjun and the two girls took shelter in a concave mountain body after the heavy rain, but the three people without outdoor survival experience did not understand the safety common sense when the mountain rain came. The place where they were located had soft soil and was close to the flood discharge channel. Under the impact of the flood, the mountain body was constantly washed away and fell off, and their location was very dangerous. As for Lan Er, she actually didn't fall off the cliff, but for some reason, she was hanging under a huge rock not far from Zhu Jianjun, holding onto a tree root with both hands, swaying in the wind and rain, her feet just above the raging mountain flood, and the consequences of losing her grip were unthinkable. Zhu Jianjun and the other girl didn't know how to rescue her, they huddled together and shouted loudly at their mobile phones.

  Cao Sen and the other three arrived at the scene, braving wind and rain, only to see Lan Er's life hanging by a thread on a tree root, in imminent danger, while they were separated from her by a raging mountain torrent.

  "Zhu Jianjun, damn you! You son of a bitch, bring Lan'er up here!" Guo Jing's anger reached its peak as he shouted at the top of his lungs towards the opposite bank.

  However, the shouting was covered by the wind and rain, Zhu Jianjun only vaguely heard the sound, seemingly not hearing what was being shouted, but frantically waving his hand towards this side.

  Cao Sen and Teng Fei didn't have time to care about what Zhu Jianjun was doing, they took out the climbing rope from their backpacks, picked out a single-colored static rope, and prepared to build a rope bridge to cross the mountain flood.

  "Tao Tao, find a fixed point!" Cao Sen shouted loudly while arranging the ropes.

  "Nonsense, I'm looking... found it, the pine tree across from us, no problem." Ding Haitao carefully observed a large pine tree on the opposite bank with his binoculars. The roots of the pine tree were deeply embedded and looked very solid.

  The special warfare training they had received came into play at this moment, and the super-special forces fans' various survival skills were very skilled. Even in the midst of strong winds and heavy rains, the static rope was quickly stretched across the mountain torrent, one end fixed to a pine tree on the opposite bank with a flying tiger claw, and the other wrapped around a protruding rock. Guo Jing and Teng Fei grasped the rope tightly, using their body weight to pull the rope bridge taut.

  "Go!" Cao Sen pushed Ding Haitao, "You command!" He used an 8-character knot to suspend himself on the rope bridge, his legs kicked off the ground, and he slid towards the other side along the rope bridge.

  The three brothers watched Cao Sen anxiously as he was blown by the wind and rain, his heart almost stopped beating, don't let anything go wrong!

  Perhaps with the blessing of the gods of Wufeng Mountain, Cao Sen safely reached the other shore. He quickly climbed onto that huge boulder and pulled Lan'er up.

  Kuo Ching and the three others let out a long sigh of relief, the danger had been averted.

  However, something even more terrifying happened. The mountain on the other side could not withstand the violent wind and rain, and a large amount of rocks mixed with mud slowly slid down, with increasing speed and volume. It seemed that the entire mountain was about to trigger a massive landslide. If they didn't leave quickly, Cao Sen, Lan Er, Zhu Jianjun, and the girl would all be swept away by the mudslide into the floodwaters. The rope bridge became their only hope for survival.

  "Put all the equipment in one bag and slide it over!" Cao Sen shouted loudly to his brothers.

  "Cao Sen, you come back first! Let them save themselves!" Ding Haitao was worried about Cao Sen's safety and shouted loudly.

  Teng Fei was furious, "You damn well better hurry up, do as Cao Sen says, you know his temper!"

  Cao Sen has always been someone who wouldn't abandon his own brothers, and it's been that way since they played special forces games together.

  Ding Haitao hastily gathered all the life-saving equipment into a bundle of reeds, stuffed a stone in to increase its weight, hung it on the suspension bridge and pushed it hard towards the other bank. Since this side was higher than the other side, the bundle slid towards the opposite bank.

  Cao Sen received a package from the jungle and extended his right fist with his thumb up.

  Teng Fei and Guo Jing hastily untied the ropes, changed to a new fixing point that was a bit lower, and then used their body weight to pull the rope bridge taut. This way, the rope bridge's height difference changed, allowing Cao Sen and others to slide over using their body weight.

  Cao Sen didn't have time to comfort the nearly collapsed Lan Er, he tied a lifeline around her and hung it on the rope bridge with an 8-character knot. With a push, Lan Er slid along the rope bridge towards the opposite bank.

  Ding Haitao tightly hugged Lan'er who was sliding over, "Cao Sen, hurry up!" He saw that the speed of the mudslide below was getting faster and faster.

  Zhu Jianjun had already discovered the danger, and without Cao Sen calling out to him, he walked over to the rope bridge. "Cao Sen, good brother, thank you for coming to save me..."

  "Cut the crap," Cao Sen pushed Zhu Jianjun away with one hand and pointed at the girl, "You go first!"

  The girl was obviously afraid of the raging mountain flood and hesitated, not daring to go up the rope bridge.

  Cao Sen didn't try to persuade her, instead he untied the 8-character knot on his own body, walked over and dragged the girl to the rope bridge like a dead dog. In no time, he helped her tie the safety rope, hung it on the rope bridge, exerted force and pushed hard. The girl slid past along the rope bridge, and when Ding Haitao caught her, she had already fainted from fear.

  Zhu Jianjun had also played commando before and knew how to rescue himself. When the girl was still on the rope bridge, he couldn't wait to hang himself on the rope bridge.

  At this time, the mudslide had already submerged two people's ankles, and the pine trees that fixed the rope bridge were also shaking constantly under the impact of the mudslide. The situation was extremely dangerous, and perhaps in the next second, the rope bridge would be washed away by the mountain flood.

  Cao Sen feared that the rope bridge could not bear the weight of two people, so he let Zhu Jianjun go first. He grasped a branch with one hand to steady himself and used his other hand to push Zhu Jianjun to help him along.

  Zhu Jianjun faced Cao Sen, with his back to the rope bridge, his eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you, Brother Sen! Let's go together!"

  As he spoke, he suddenly grabbed Cao Sen and pulled him with great force, immediately followed by a fierce kick on the ground.

  Cao Sen was not hanging on the rope bridge, and he never thought that Zhu Jianjun would suddenly pull him. This sudden pull made Cao Sen lose his balance, and with the impact of the mudslide, Cao Sen plunged headfirst into the raging mountain flood!

  But Zhu Jianjun slid rapidly along the rope bridge towards the opposite bank.

  "Brother Cao--!!" Ding Haitao yelled frantically, rushing to the edge of the floodwaters and searching wildly for Cao Sen's figure on the surface.

  Guo Jinghe and Teng Fei were also anxious, not caring whether Zhu Jianjun was safe or not, they threw down the rope in their hands and ran to the edge of the floodwater to search for Cao Sen who had fallen into the water.

  Lost the pulling force of two people, the rope bridge fell **towards the mountain flood**, Zhu Jianjun was lucky and barely passed through the flooded area, falling onto a rock, hurting him so much that he gritted his teeth. As soon as the rope bridge fell into the water, it was immediately swept away by the current, disappearing in the raging mountain flood.

  The roaring mountain torrent rolled with several meters high turbid waves, mixed with rocks and broken branches and trunks, rumbling down to the lower reaches, not to mention finding Cao Sen who had fallen into the water, even if there were a dozen or so people falling into the water, they would be swallowed up in an instant.

  Three brothers shouted Cao Sen's name like crazy, facing the overwhelming floodwaters, they had a strong body but couldn't save Cao Sen.

  Suddenly, a rope flew up in the mountain flood and soared high like a swimming dragon, aiming directly at Guo Jing and his two companions by the water's edge.

  It's Cao Sen! He wasn't washed away by the flood. At a critical moment, Cao Sen grabbed a rock and found the fallen rope bridge in the floodwaters, throwing it with force towards Guo Jing and others.

  Kuo Ching's three people were overjoyed and simultaneously stretched out their arms to the sky, wanting to steadily catch the rope that was tied to Ts'ao Sen's life.

  But another unexpected event occurred, a thick and large lightning struck the rope. The high-flying rope was like a striking lightning rod, guiding the incredibly powerful lightning to the ground. The lightning was like a huge and strange long sword, twisting with frightening light, hitting the floodwater at high speed, and in nearly a hundred meters of floodwater, countless powerful electric currents swirled like water snakes, carrying high temperatures that caused violent explosions of air, rainwater, floodwater, and mudslides, producing deafening thunder!

  Cao Sen in the flood, Guo Jing and three others including Zhu Jianjun on the edge of the flood were all struck by high voltage electricity and also affected by the explosive force at the same time. The difference is that Guo Jing and others were thrown to the riverbank by a strong airflow, while Cao Sen was pressed into the flood.