The sudden static from the walkie-talkie continued crackling in my hand.
I tried speaking a few more times, but there was still no response at all.
Tossing the device aside, I looked at the car ahead, which was gradually slowing down and coming to a stop.
I turned to Shen Feng and said, "Stop the car. I'll go ask what's going on."
"It's pouring out there," Uncle Gazi reminded worriedly from the back seat.
"It's fine—it's just a short distance."
As I spoke, Shen Feng had already brought the car to a steady stop.
Without waiting for anyone else to object, I opened the door and jumped out into the rain.
From inside the car, the sound of the rain hammering the roof had seemed loud enough—but standing out in it, I realized just how heavy it really was.
The moment I stepped out, I was soaked to the skin.
The only other time I could remember such rain was back in 2008, when our area flooded—though even then, it had only poured like this for ten minutes or so, not hours on end like now.
The road was already covered in a layer of water that splashed up with every step I took.
The pounding of raindrops filled the entire world, and faint echoes seemed to roll from the mountains in the distance—deafening and overwhelming.
Beyond the dim glow of the car headlights was nothing but darkness, an oppressive void that pressed down on me, stirring a deep unease.
I braced my hands over my forehead just to keep my eyes open and forced myself not to think too much as I ran toward the car in front.
Knocking on the window, I glanced ahead—and to my shock, the road was completely black.
The cars that should have been further ahead were gone, not a single light visible.
The car door opened quickly.
In the front seats sat two black-clad men, while the backseat was crowded with Zhang Hongsheng, Zhou Wen, and Taozi.
When Taozi saw me, he immediately slid onto Zhou Wen's lap to make space for me.
Once I got in and shut the door, I wiped the rain off my face and asked the two men in front, "What happened? What's going on?"
The driver frowned and pointed into the darkness ahead.
"We were just about to reach a small tunnel when the boss's car suddenly sped up and rushed in. We didn't know what was happening, so we followed. But halfway through, just as they cleared the tunnel, a nearby mountainside began to collapse. The landslide hit fast, the ground around it started giving way, and we had no choice but to back off."
"A landslide?" I repeated in surprise.
That word was something I'd only ever heard in news reports.
"Probably because of the recent rain," the passenger in front turned around to add.
"The soil must've loosened from tonight's downpour."
When I looked up, I realized it was Han Lu—the one who'd told stories earlier that night.
I nodded at him in greeting and frowned. "So what do we do now? Can we still get through?"
Han Lu shook his head. "I don't think so. The slide was pretty severe—otherwise, we wouldn't have had to pull back this far."
"The landslide stretched for several kilometers?" I exclaimed.
"No," Han Lu explained.
"Not continuously. But chunks of earth kept breaking off here and there. We couldn't tell if more would follow, so we kept retreating to be safe. That whole area looked unstable. Better to stay clear."
I nodded slowly, then suddenly remembered Suo Tian.
"What about the cars ahead? Could something have happened to them?"
Zhou Wen, still holding Taozi in his arms, answered, "They should be fine. The slide happened on this side of the tunnel. I took a quick look earlier—the other side didn't seem affected."
"Good." I finally let out a breath of relief.
Even though I couldn't see anything ahead, I could picture the scene clearly in my mind.
With that kind of noise, the destruction must've been enormous.
If we'd been just a bit slower, we might've been buried alive—or swept off the road and down the cliff by the falling earth.
The thought made a chill run through me.
It took a while before I could steady my voice enough to ask, "So what do we do now?"
The driver glanced back at me and said, "We'll wait until daylight. Right now, it's too dark to know exactly what's going on."
"Damn it," I couldn't help but curse under my breath.
"What the hell is going on today? How can we be this unlucky—running into every possible accident?"
At that, Taozi chimed in from the side. "Hey, Chen Yang, do you think that old building we stayed in before might've really been some kind of temple like Han Xue said? Maybe we moved in without permission, offended whatever deity lived there, and now we're being punished."
"Taozi! Don't talk nonsense." Zhou Wen immediately snapped at him in a low, stern voice.
After that, the car fell silent.
No one said another word for quite a while.
I glanced back, and in the dim light from the headlights, I could see everyone in the car behind us craning their necks, staring anxiously toward my vehicle.
I sighed and said to the people in our car, "I'll head back now. They're waiting to hear what's going on. If anything happens, just flash your headlights a few times. Don't do it suddenly though—if Shen Feng hadn't reacted fast just now, our two cars would've crashed right into each other."
"Got it," Han Lu replied with a nod.
I nodded back, then opened the door again and ran toward the car behind us.
Those few steps through the rain were enough to soak me all over again, as if I'd just taken another dip in a river.
When I climbed back inside, Xu Shu handed me a towel.
I wiped my face, twisted the water out of my hair, and began relaying everything I'd just learned.
As I spoke, everyone's expression shifted to one of disbelief—each face showing the same mix of shock and weariness.
It was hard to believe that we'd run into two freak accidents in a single day.
Luck this bad was almost impossible.
"So what do we do now?" Xu Shu asked, echoing the same question I'd just asked earlier.
I looked at her, towel still in hand, and said helplessly, "We can only wait until morning. Hopefully, the rain will ease up by then."
The next few hours—waiting for daylight—were among the longest of my life.
My whole body was soaked, the car seat damp beneath me, the air heavy and suffocating.
The windows had to stay shut because of the downpour, and when my clothes finally stopped dripping, they clung to my skin in a sticky, clammy mess that was almost unbearable.
There was no chance of sleeping.
Shen Feng and I made small talk on and off for hours until the sky finally began to lighten, and the rain at last started to ease.
The walkie-talkie crackled back to life—the signal still weak, but at least we could now communicate with the two cars ahead.
We still couldn't reach Suo Tian's group, no matter how many times we tried.
Still, it was something.
At least we could talk to the others without having to run through the rain again.
"Looks like it's going to stop soon," came Han Lu's voice over the radio.
"Let's wait a bit longer. No need to rush and get everyone drenched again."
"Alright," I replied. "Keep an eye on the road ahead. If you can see what it looks like, let us know."
After a short pause, the reply came back: "Same as before. The landslide's pretty bad. The whole road ahead is buried under mud and rocks. Doesn't look like our cars can get through. We'll have to take a closer look once the rain's completely stopped."
"Got it. Let's rest a little longer—when it stops, we'll figure out what to do next."
Setting down the walkie-talkie, I turned to Shen Feng and said, "Get some rest. You haven't slept all night, and once the rain stops, there'll be plenty more work to do."
He glanced out the window, then nodded slightly before reclining his seat back, finally allowing himself a moment to rest.
Watching Shen Feng close his eyes and rest, I also began to feel waves of exhaustion wash over me.
Leaning back against the seat cushion, I slowly drifted into a doze.
I didn't know how long I'd been asleep before Yangyang shook me awake.
When I came to, I saw that the rain outside had stopped at some point, though the sky was still overcast—it looked like another heavy downpour could start again soon.
Everyone except Shen Feng, who was still fast asleep from sheer exhaustion, had gotten out of the car, including Tingyun and Xiao Hu.
Rubbing my face to wake myself up a little, I got out of the car as quietly as possible.
I signaled Uncle Gazi, Chen Pu, and Han Xue to stay by the car and keep an eye on Tingyun and Xiao Hu, telling them not to wake Shen Feng.
Then, together with Xu Shu, Yangyang, and Jun Di, I walked toward the group that had already gone ahead.
When we approached, Han Lu said, "Let's go see what the situation looks like up front."
"Yeah," I nodded.
Zhang Hongsheng and Taozi didn't want to go, so we told them to stay back with Uncle Gazi and the others.
The rest of us headed toward the front.
Last night, we had backed the vehicles up several kilometers.
Although the landslide didn't look too far away now, walking that distance was still exhausting.
Fortunately, the spot where we had parked was right at the start of a viaduct—not pressed up against the mountainside.
The road ahead connected into the mountain, but this section was relatively flat. If it had been like the other areas with constant slopes, we wouldn't have managed to walk this far at all with our untrained stamina.
As we got closer, the situation ahead became clearer.
Just like the black-clad driver had said, the landslide was severe.
When we were still dozens of meters away from the blockage, we stopped in our tracks.
I looked around and saw that the entire road was completely buried.
From our side, there was no way to tell how long the blocked section stretched.
I frowned unconsciously.
"This thing's really sealed off tight," Zhou Wen muttered.
"Not even a crack for us to squeeze through."
I turned to Han Lu and the others and asked, "Any way we can get across?"
The black-clad driver thought for a moment, then pointed to the slope above the landslide and said, "We could try going over from up there."
----------------
Exclusive access on patreon to Ch 190
Join now : p@treon*com/DeCakraWnloverz