Finally, Lin Jie ran back to An Kexin's side!

He was holding a medical emergency kit in his hand, with four trekking poles strapped to his wrist.

Lin Jie stuck the four trekking poles into the cracks of the stone and shouted, "Kexin, listen to my command; let's push together!"

He understood that this might be his only chance.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Jie shouted, "One, two, three, lift..."

As the word "lift" echoed, the veins in Lin Jie's neck bulged, channeling all his strength through his arms onto the trekking poles!

The carbon fiber trekking poles bent almost instantly into a ninety-degree angle...

"Bang... Bang..."

Two of the trekking poles suddenly snapped from the middle...

"It's out, A-Jie, my foot is out!"

Hearing this joyous shout, Lin Jie felt a moment of relief, but the cool water droplets splashing onto his face made him realize that the life-and-death danger had not truly passed yet!

He grabbed the emergency kit and the camping lamp from the ground, turned around, pulled An Kexin's hand, and began to run wildly...

The two dared not look back, as the water droplets occasionally splashing onto their backs and the roaring sounds made them aware that the flood was right behind them. Perhaps if they slowed down, the flood would swallow them both...

At this moment, Lin Jie felt as if he had transformed into an ancient martial hero, mastering an unparalleled lightness skill, making the uneven, constantly rising slope feel as flat as a paved road...

Yet, Lin Jie still thought his speed was not fast enough, wishing he could grow two more legs...

"Brother, we're here..."

"Sister, hurry, hurry!"

"A-Jie, A-Jie..."

Hearing the urgent calls of Lin Miao, An Kemeng, and Zhang Xiaoxiao, Lin Jie and An Kexin slightly adjusted their direction and ran towards their location...

Getting closer, with the help of the camping light in hand, Lin Jie noticed that Lin Miao and the others were standing atop a large boulder, two to three meters high, seemingly the highest spot nearby.

A few meters' distance disappeared in an instant.

First, Lin Jie lifted and pulled An Kexin onto the boulder, and then Zhang Xiaoxiao, Lin Miao, and the others together pulled him up.

Before Lin Jie could catch his breath, a loud roar sounded, and the boulder beneath them shook several times, the surging waves drenching Lin Jie, Zhang Xiaoxiao, and the others completely...

Fortunately, everyone was lying on the boulder, instinctively clutching onto the stone cracks and each other, avoiding being washed away by the big waves.

Such waves hit two or three more times, but each impact was weaker than the last!

In their heart-pounding fear, they waited a few more minutes without further wave impacts. Lin Jie looked up and saw the water, reflecting faint moonlight, was receding rapidly.

Lin Jie guessed there was a small reservoir upstream, and due to the earthquake, the reservoir dam broke, sending this wave downstream.

"Miaomiao, Kexin, Kemeng, Xiaoxiao!" Lin Jie shouted.

"Brother, I'm here!"

"A-Jie, I'm fine!"

"Brother Jie!"

"I'm okay too!"

Hearing the replies, all accounted for, Lin Jie lay back on the boulder, panting heavily, noticing his whole body was sore.

The camping lamp that Lin Jie had thrown up earlier was retrieved from a stone pit by Zhang Xiaoxiao, its white light covering the entire boulder.

An Kemeng sat up, holding An Kexin's hand, observed her, and asked apprehensively, "Sister, sister, are you okay?"

An Kexin smiled, brushed some of An Kemeng's wet hair stuck to her face, and said, "I'm fine. I'm here right in front of you, aren't I?"

"Sister..."

An Kemeng called her once, and suddenly threw herself into her arms, crying, "Sister, I was so scared, so very scared..."

"It's okay, it's okay, it's all over now!"

An Kexin gently patted her back and softly comforted, "Sister is fine, we'll all be fine!"

Seeing this, Lin Miao's nose wrinkled, holding Lin Jie's hand, she also started to cry, "Brother, I was really scared just now!"

Lin Jie reached out to embrace Lin Miao, comforting her, "Actually, brother was also very scared!"

"Everything is over now. When it's dawn, even if no one comes to rescue us, we can go back by ourselves."

Zhang Xiaoxiao looked around, suddenly asked, "Where's Lele, hey, where's Lele?"

With this reminder, Lin Jie and Lin Miao realized Lele was missing.

"Lele, Lele..."

Lin Jie and Lin Miao shouted around a few times, waiting several minutes without any response.

"Brother, Lele is missing!" Lin Miao cried again.

Lin Jie comforted her, "Miaomiao, don't cry! Lele is a dog, he runs faster than us, and he can swim. His survival skills in the wild are much better than ours."

"Probably because of the flood earlier, Lele got separated somewhere. He'll come back when it's dawn."

Despite saying this, Lin Jie had a feeling that Lele might be in trouble.

But as long as people were safe, it was already a blessing from the heavens. As for Lele, Lin Jie could only pray for him!

"Brother Jie, my foot hurts!"

Hearing An Kemeng's tearful voice, Lin Jie turned to look and noticed that she was only wearing one gray sock on her left foot, with the shoe nowhere to be seen. It must have gotten lost during their earlier run.

He stood up and looked around, finding the medical emergency kit wedged in a crack between rocks.

Lin Jie retrieved the medical emergency kit and opened it.

The medical kit was something he specially prepared for this outdoor trip. Along with gauze, adhesive bandages, and antiseptic anti-inflammatory agents, it also contained a set of small surgical tools.

Lin Jie used scissors to cut open the blood-stained sock on An Kemeng's left foot, revealing multiple wounds on her sole, with debris like small stones and wood splinters embedded in them.

He carefully cleaned An Kemeng's wounds, performed sutures, and bandaged them.

Afterward, Lin Jie checked everyone, finding that each of them, including himself, had some abrasions.

Having treated everyone's wounds, Lin Jie began to examine An Kexin's right foot.

An Kexin's right ankle was swollen and red, having suffered a severe sprain and cartilage injury.

After some basic treatment, Lin Jie bandaged her ankle with gauze.

"Kexin, you'll need an X-ray once we get back, but from my examination, your ankle should be fine. However, you'll need a few days of rest afterward."

An Kexin nodded, glanced at the surgical tools nearby, and said, "Compared to losing a foot or even my life, a sprained ankle is the best outcome."

"A-jie, did you think about amputating my right foot at one point?"

At this point, Lin Jie saw no need to hide it and nodded, "Yes, if the trekking poles hadn't worked, I would've cut off your right foot."

An Kexin pursued further, "A-jie, did you realize that losing my right foot would make it impossible for me to run? Dragging me along would definitely get us caught by the flood."

Lin Jie tore a strip of medical tape, securing the bandage, "I didn't think that far in the moment; I just knew that if I left you there, you'd surely die..."

"A-jie, you..."

Feeling her eyes and nose turning sour, An Kexin had a thousand words stuck in her throat, unsure of what to say.

"Kexin, your foot is swollen, so you definitely can't wear a shoe."

Lin Jie handed her sneaker to An Kemeng and said, "Even though it's a right shoe, it's better than being barefoot. Just make do with it..."

After the autumn nights, still in the mountains, the temperatures were quite chilly.

To make matters worse, everyone's clothes were soaked through.

To prevent excessive heat loss, following Lin Jie's advice, they took off their wet clothes to dry them and huddled together in their underwear to keep warm...

Time passed slowly, each moment dragging on like a year. During this period, they felt three to four noticeable aftershocks and finally endured until dawn broke...

Everyone got up, put on their semi-dried clothes, stretched their bodies, and looked around.

The stream's water had returned to normal levels.

But the banks were a mess, with most trees and bamboo collapsed, only a few particularly sturdy trees still standing firm.

To Lin Jie's speechless surprise, about twenty to thirty meters in front of the rock where they stood was a higher ground than there.

Analyzing the barely distinguishable campsite location, heading to that higher ground would have been much more straightforward, and the path in between easier to traverse, but in their initial panic and darkness...

Thinking of this, Lin Jie couldn't help but shake his head; given the circumstances, the outcome was already a close call, and they couldn't wish for more.

At this moment, Zhang Xiaoxiao came over and softly asked, "A-jie, are we waiting here for rescue, or should we head back on our own?"

Lin Jie instinctively looked toward the An sisters.

An Kexin gently wiggled her right foot and smiled, "I can move with a crutch."

An Kemeng, equally determined, said, "I can bear the pain and keep going."

After a brief pause, Lin Jie decided, "The earthquake last night was significant; many people must've been affected. Since we can move, let's rescue ourselves first."

"Let's slowly make our way back!"

After packing up a bit, Lin Jie tore off a sleeve to wrap An Kexin's right foot, then helped her along.

Lin Miao supported An Kemeng, and together they slowly began walking towards the downstream of the creek.

Since there was no path at all, the group struggled through the rocky wooded terrain while being wary of occasional falling stones. After three to four hours, they had only managed to cover about three to four kilometers.

As they rested in a grove, Lin Miao suddenly stood up, delightedly asking, "Brother, did you hear something?"

"Hear what?" Lin Jie asked weakly.

"Lele's barking!"

Lin Miao, finishing her sentence, began shouting loudly, "Lele, Lele..."

A few minutes later, Lin Jie saw a Shiba Inu, with some white fur on its chest, orange fur, and covered in dirt, limping towards them.

It was really Lele!

Lin Miao rushed up and scooped Lele up, exclaiming, "Lele, you're okay, that's great!"

"Oh, you're hurt! Let's have Brother treat you!"

Upon examination, Lin Jie discovered that Lele's left front leg was fractured.

After setting the bone and making a simple splint with tree branches, bandaging it, Lin Jie placed Lele on the ground.

Now able to move freely, Lele bit Lin Jie's pants while pulling him outward, whining incessantly.

Seeing this, Lin Jie had a thought and asked, "Lele, did you find other victims?"

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