Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Saving People
Yan Dongjun was frantic. Song Jifei and another friend had fallen into the cave, their situation was unknown, and they weren’t responding at all. He was worried sick, wondering what had become of them at the bottom.
"Someone else fell into this hole?" Su Qing asked, startled by the news.
"Yes." Yan Dongjun anxiously tried to get up, but he had no strength and collapsed back to the ground after several attempts. He quickly said to Su Qing, "Su Qing, can you go down the mountain and get help? I called out to them just now but got no response. I’m worried about them."
"I’ll go down and take a look," Su Qing said, grabbing a climbing rope as she prepared to enter the cave.
"Su Qing, no! It’s too dangerous!" Seeing that Su Qing intended to go down into the cave without any equipment, Yan Dongjun was on the verge of panic. ’She’s a girl, with no safety gear at all! How can I let her go down like that? What if something happens? I’d never be able to explain it to Cheng Beize, let alone forgive myself.’
"Don’t worry. I spend a lot of time in the mountains. Free-climbing and that sort of thing are no problem for me," Su Qing told Yan Dongjun before descending into the cave.
Yan Dongjun was still frantic, crawling to the edge of the opening and shouting down to Su Qing, "Su Qing, please be careful!"
"Okay."
Su Qing replied as she climbed down the cavern walls, which were covered in wild grasses and vine roots. Given that she was now at the Fourth Rank of her Wood Ability, this was simple. Even if she were only at Level 1, she could have easily controlled these plants to reach the bottom safely.
The pit was deeper than it looked; Su Qing had to climb down more than ten meters before she reached the bottom.
Once at the bottom, Su Qing pulled a flashlight from her spatial inventory. She swept the beam across the ground and, just as expected, found two men lying motionless, their heads bleeding.
Su Qing rushed over to check their breathing. Thankfully, while faint, they were still alive. ’As long as they’re alive, they can be saved.’
Su Qing immediately channeled some of her green mist into each of them. Bolstered by the mist, their breathing, which had been growing steadily weaker, gradually became stronger.
Su Qing tied the climbing rope around Song Jifei, preparing to take him out of the cave first. Suddenly, the Vine Seed in her Bagua Pool stirred. Su Qing froze for a moment. Ever since the seed had entered the Bagua Pool, she’d sensed it needed something, but the little thing had never reacted so intensely. ’Could it be that there’s something in this cave it needs?’
’But now isn’t the time to investigate. Saving him is more important.’
With that, Su Qing hoisted Song Jifei onto her back and began climbing toward the opening above.
As Song Jifei had fallen, the constant scraping and collisions made him certain he was going to die. His last thought before losing consciousness upon impact was, ’This is it. I’m done for.’
However, a soothing energy had flowed into his body from an unknown source. He felt much lighter, and even his pain seemed to have subsided. Then, he felt someone tying a rope around him.
Song Jifei’s heart leaped with joy. ’Is someone here to rescue us?’
’Thank god. It looks like I’m not fated to die after all.’
Next, Song Jifei felt himself being lifted onto someone’s back.
’Huh? This back isn’t very broad... It doesn’t feel like a man’s.’
’Could our rescuer be a woman?’
In a daze, Song Jifei slowly opened his eyes. He felt a steady, jolting rhythm; clearly, he was being carried on someone’s back as they climbed. He groggily looked at the person carrying him. His head was lolling on their shoulder, and he caught a glimpse of their face in profile.
Song Jifei’s eyes shot wide open.
"Su... Su Qing?"
"You’re awake?" Su Qing’s voice was calm. "You’ve lost a lot of blood. Don’t talk. Save your strength."
"Mm." Song Jifei felt dizzy and a little panicked, classic signs of major blood loss. He took Su Qing’s advice and obediently fell silent. His heart swelled with immense gratitude, and the feelings that had just begun to sprout for her grew even stronger.
’The girl he liked was the one who saved his life.’
Soon, Su Qing emerged from the cave with Song Jifei. Yan Dongjun was stunned to see she had actually rescued him. He’d had no idea Su Qing was so capable.
"Su Qing, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid we would have all been in trouble," Yan Dongjun said gratefully.
"We can talk about that later. There’s still one more down there. I’ll bring him up, and then you guys need to get to a hospital." Su Qing nodded at Yan Dongjun. ’Although my powers could heal them completely, that would be too unbelievable. I have no desire to be the nail that sticks up. Getting captured and dissected would be a real hassle. I just want to live a peaceful and prosperous life right now, not look for trouble.’
So, Su Qing had merely stabilized their conditions, just enough to ensure their lives were no longer in danger.
A short while later, Su Qing rescued the other man as well. He, too, was a friend of Yan Dongjun’s. He had also woken up and weakly expressed his thanks to Su Qing.
All three had been brought up, but it was obvious they couldn’t walk down the mountain by themselves. So, Su Qing quickly went down to find some staff and explain the situation.
As soon as the staff heard someone was injured, they immediately organized a party with a stretcher and headed up the mountain.
Knowing Su Qing planned to stay on the mountain, Yan Dongjun and the others urged her to be careful, then followed the rescuers down.
After seeing them all disappear into the distance, Su Qing finally took some food out of her spatial inventory. She ate her fill before descending into the cave again.
The cave was pitch-black. The moment she reached the bottom, the Vine Seed in her Bagua Pool stirred again.
Su Qing’s heart leaped. ’So it wasn’t my imagination. There really is something in this cave that the Vine Seed needs. I just don’t know what it is.’
Su Qing took out her flashlight and swept the beam around, surveying the bottom of the pit.
The bottom of the shaft wasn’t large. A few big rocks sat in a corner, with some sparse, weak weeds struggling to grow from the cracks between them. Next to the rocks was the mouth of another cave, leading who-knows-where.
’Clearly, whatever the Vine Seed needs isn’t out here. It looks like I’ll have to go into that opening and see what’s in there.’
And so, Su Qing aimed her flashlight into the opening and walked inside.
Once inside, Su Qing found herself in a narrow, downward-sloping passage, only wide enough for a single person to pass through. She moved forward cautiously, flashlight beam leading the way. ’Something that the Vine Seed wants can’t be ordinary. Since ancient times, treasures have always been guarded by fierce beasts. Who knows if there’s some powerful creature guarding this thing?’
’Either way, it’s best to be careful.’
