Chapter 182: Checking

Chapter 182: Chapter 182: Checking

Zhang Wei Qiang kept shifting his position to look down, but he still couldn’t see a thing.

Gu Nuan Nuan reached out and steadied the bicycle her uncle had casually tossed aside, parking it securely on the roadside. She then walked over to the spot Cao Cao had indicated, peered down, and called out to her uncle, "That’s right, it’s down here! Uncle, come over here! I can see a vehicle hanging on the cliffside from this spot."

Zhang Wei Qiang hurried over. Sure enough, this time he could faintly make out the back of a vehicle.

"Nuannuan, I have to go down and see what’s going on. You stay up here and be good. If a car passes by, don’t forget to flag it down. Tell the driver there’s been an accident and ask them to go to the nearest village to find a phone and call for help." After carefully observing the vehicle’s position and surveying the area, Zhang Wei Qiang ran back to his bicycle without a moment’s hesitation. He swiftly unloaded the items from the rear rack, grabbed a rope, and returned to the edge of the cliff.

"Uncle, who knows how long it’ll be before a car passes by? It might be faster for you to ride your bike and find someone to call for help," Gu Nuan Nuan said, immediately realizing his intentions from his actions. She rushed to stop him. "Uncle, don’t go down! I’ll be scared up here all by myself."

"Be good, Nuannuan. It’s a good thing I have this rope. Uncle can guarantee his own safety; nothing will happen to me." Zhang Wei Qiang patted Gu Nuan Nuan’s head. "Don’t be afraid. I’m just going down to take a look and I’ll be right back up."

"But even if you get down there, you can’t save them all by yourself, can you? I still think it’s a better idea for us to go find people to rescue them," Gu Nuan Nuan insisted, holding tightly onto her uncle’s arm, trying to persuade him.

"No, I have to go down and check. They’re lucky that car is caught on a tree for now, but a vehicle that big, with so many people inside... the strength of a single tree won’t hold it for long. They might fall before a large rescue team can get here." Zhang Wei Qiang’s expression was incredibly resolute. "Since we’ve come across this, I have to go down, no matter what. Every life I can save counts."

Seeing Gu Nuan Nuan was so anxious she was on the verge of tears, he patted her shoulder. "Don’t worry, Uncle is trained for this. I’ve free-climbed places more dangerous than this before. Now that I have a rope for safety, there’s even less to fear. You have to trust me. For your grandparents’ sake, I won’t overestimate my abilities or do anything that puts my own life at risk. Be good, Nuannuan. You don’t want what happened in your nightmare to come true, do you?"

"Okay. Remember what you said. You have to, absolutely have to, come back safely." Gu Nuan Nuan saw the determination in her uncle’s eyes and finally let go. While he tied one end of the rope to the concrete guardrail at the cliff’s edge and the other around his waist, she quickly told him about the reckless mother and daughter in the car. She knew that pair was bound to be incredibly selfish and was afraid they would make some dangerous demand of her uncle, and that he might agree without knowing the full story.

"Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing." Zhang Wei Qiang understood Gu Nuan Nuan’s meaning after a moment’s thought. He nodded, looked at her seriously, and promised, "I have all of you to think about, so I’ll only do what’s within my abilities. I won’t rashly agree to anyone’s unreasonable demands."

"Okay," Gu Nuan Nuan whispered, watching through her tears as her uncle leaped over the edge.

As her uncle’s figure gradually disappeared from sight, she quickly spoke to Cao Cao in her mind. ’Move some more sturdy vines over to help my uncle. You must, absolutely must, guarantee his safety. I don’t care if you expose yourself and make him suspicious, do you understand?’

’I know, Master. I’ll keep an eye on him. Nothing will go wrong.’ Despite its words, Cao Cao’s voice carried a hint of nervousness, knowing how worried its master was.

’Good. Just focus on my uncle.’

Gu Nuan Nuan paced back and forth on the road above. Feeling that just waiting around would only make her more anxious, she finally couldn’t resist asking Cao Cao to bring her some suitable vines. She began twisting them into a rope, all while listening intently for any sound from below.

With the rope tied around his waist, Zhang Wei Qiang rappelled down the cliff. When he reached the end of the rope, he saw there was still a considerable distance to the crashed bus. He scanned his surroundings and quickly spotted vines hanging down the cliff face not far away. One of them was particularly thick. He reached over, grabbed it, and gave it a hard pull. Finding it was incredibly sturdy, he was overjoyed. He quickly untied the rope from his waist and, using the vine for support, successfully climbed the rest of the way to a window on the side of the bus.

Only then did he get a clear view. The bus was upside down, but it was being held steady by the branches of two large, nearby trees, which cradled it like a pair of giant arms. Because of this, the people inside were still relatively secure. Peeking in from the outside, he didn’t see anyone who was dead or severely injured. However, the atmosphere inside the bus felt oppressive; every face was etched with fear and panic.

Puzzled for a moment but with no time to dwell on it, he reached out and knocked on the cracked window in front of him.

"Grandpa, look! There’s a man outside!" a seven- or eight-year-old boy, the first to spot Zhang Wei Qiang, exclaimed, tugging on the sleeve of an old man beside him. His voice instantly drew everyone’s attention. All eyes snapped toward Zhang Wei Qiang, and the crowd erupted with excitement.

"We’re saved! We’re saved! Get us out of here!"

"How many of you are there?"

"We’re so lucky! Someone found us this fast?"

...

"Everyone calm down! Don’t move! If you keep moving, the trees holding you up won’t be able to take it!" Zhang Wei Qiang broke into a cold sweat on their behalf as he saw soil and debris crumbling from the roots of the two large trees with every agitated movement from the crowd.

As soon as he spoke, the people inside the bus instantly went still and silent, not daring to even make a sound. They all just stared at Zhang Wei Qiang with desperate, hopeful eyes.

Zhang Wei Qiang reached out and pushed on the window in front of him, but it seemed to be stuck and wouldn’t budge easily. Not daring to use too much force, he carefully tried the other windows one by one until he finally managed to slide one of them completely open.

PHEW—

Zhang Wei Qiang let out a soft sigh of relief. He then turned to the crowd and said gravely, "I was just passing by with my niece when we happened to see your bus hanging here, so I came down to check. It’s just me. My niece is still up on the road trying to flag down a passing car to call for help, so for now, there’s no one else coming to rescue you."

Seeing the crowd start to get agitated and restless again at his words, he barked, "If you want to live, don’t move!" The passengers immediately fell silent once more.