Sheng Chenjin finally quieted down. The rescuers were right, but what worried him was Shi Xinxin. She was a frail woman, unfamiliar with the mountain paths here. What if something happened to her?
Seeing that Sheng Chenjin was no longer bothering them, the rescuers continued their work. Most of the remaining villagers were the elderly and children, so even with vehicles, they still needed people to help with guidance.
There was indeed no extra manpower in the entire rescue team at the moment. Sheng Chenjin looked at the scene and turned to leave alone, walking to the side of the road.
He squatted down and asked an elder about the direction they came from and the approximate location where he separated from Shi Xinxin. The elder told him in detail and urged him to find that girl.
She said she had helped many people in their village on the way. Sheng Chenjin nodded, which was also his purpose. He knew that Shi Xinxin had taken over this thankless task because she was avoiding him.
Now that a disaster had occurred and Shi Xinxin had been left behind by the group, he felt responsible for bringing her back. Although it was his first time in the mountains, let alone whether Sheng Chenjin knew the way.
Just finding someone in this place, where landslides could happen at any moment, was difficult enough. It was already a mountainous area with winding roads.
Now, after a night of heavy rain and partial landslides, some sections of the road were just muddy, while others were completely impassable.
Sheng Chenjin scrambled upwards, using both hands and feet, shouting Shi Xinxin's name as he climbed. After about two hours, he still found nothing.
Sheng Chenjin's back was soaked with sweat. But he would not go back until he found Shi Xinxin. He had already come this far, and perhaps he would find her if he went a little further.
The elder had said that the place where Shi Xinxin separated from them was not far. As dawn approached, Shi Xinxin and some of the village youths were at the back, helping an elderly person with mobility issues.
Most of the villagers had passed, leaving only the three of them behind. The separation point was a cliff. There was originally a path, but due to a landslide, most of it had been washed away.
The remaining section was only wide enough for one person to pass at a time. Shi Xinxin told the villagers to go first and she would help the elder across. Once the elder was on the other side, she would follow.
That was the plan, but unexpectedly, the elder, due to his poor mobility, had a difficult time walking and had delayed their progress.
Just then, the loose soil on the mountaintop could no longer support the rocks. A large rock rolled down. Seeing this, Shi Xinxin quickly pushed the elder.
The villagers on the other side caught the elder, but the path was completely blocked by the fallen giant rocks. Everyone evacuated temporarily, and they had no ropes or other equipment.
There was no way to rescue Shi Xinxin for a while. She looked at everyone. The mountain was still dangerous, with the possibility of rocks falling at any moment.
She told them to quickly take the villagers away, and she would find another way to meet them. Although everyone knew she might get lost, it was the only option at the moment.
The path was washed away, and staying put was also dangerous. They could only let her find a new path. But to their surprise, after reaching their destination and waiting for the rescue team, Shi Xinxin never arrived.
Sheng Chenjin walked another half hour and finally reached the cliff mentioned by the elder. The cliff now had two large pits, which must have been caused by another rockfall.
He wondered if Shi Xinxin had gone to find a new route as they had suggested. If not, had she already...
Sheng Chenjin dared not imagine further. He looked around and decided to climb directly up the mountain path to a higher place to see if he could spot Shi Xinxin.
He took out his phone. Unfortunately, it had been without signal since entering the mountains.
If only he had signal, he could quickly contact his housekeeper to send a helicopter to search for her. Now, he could only rely on himself.
Sheng Chenjin took a deep breath and continued to climb. Reaching a higher point, Sheng Chenjin looked around but saw no trace of Shi Xinxin. Everywhere was soil washed by the rain.
His heart grew more anxious.
There were no conditions to help him now. He decided to climb to the other side of the cliff, to the side where the villagers and Shi Xinxin had separated, to search.
When he finally crossed the cliff, he realized that direct crossing was impossible. The middle path was blocked by a river with strong currents, making it completely impassable.
"What should I do? Where could she have gone?" Sheng Chenjin tried to walk upstream along the river. After a few steps, he spotted something reflective on the opposite bank.
Upon closer inspection, it didn't look like something washed down from the mountain by the current, as it wasn't covered in much mud. Sheng Chenjin peered closely and thought it looked like some metal object, with a small pink item next to it.
Sheng Chenjin took out his phone, opened the camera, and zoomed in on the object. He then realized it was a set of keys, and the pink item attached was a cat paw-shaped pendant.
He was surprised. He had seen this set of keys before; they belonged to Shi Xinxin. He had a particularly strong impression of the pink pendant. He had once asked Shi Xinxin what it was for.
Shi Xinxin had said it was a gift from her friend, and if you pressed the middle of the paw pad, the little pendant would make a cat's meow, which was very cute.
Shi Xinxin cherished this little trinket. How could these keys be here, and so close to the river? Did Shi Xinxin fall in accidentally?
No, impossible. How could she do something so foolish? The river was so turbulent, she wouldn't try to cross it.
Just then, Sheng Chenjin remembered that according to the information he had, she couldn't swim. That made it even more impossible. "No," he said.
Sheng Chenjin kept reassuring himself and quickened his pace upstream. Water flowed down from the upper reaches, and it became more dangerous as it flowed downstream.
The current was so strong upstream that it could sweep away nearby rocks. Therefore, Shi Xinxin must have gone upstream; she must have.
Sheng Chenjin comforted himself, ignoring the sweat on his body. He just wanted to find Shi Xinxin quickly. He only needed to see Shi Xinxin now; he needed nothing else.
"Shi Xinxin, Shi Xinxin~" every few steps he climbed, Sheng Chenjin would call her name, hoping for a response.