Lele's barking was so unusual—was it a snake, a wild animal, or... was someone with ill intentions approaching?

Lin Jie, suddenly wide awake, lit up the camping lamp and sprang up, grabbing the hiking stick nearby.

This hiking stick was made of carbon fiber, strong and lightweight, and could be used for self-defense against wild animals and bad people.

Lin Jie certainly hadn't forgotten his greatest backup, An Kexin, who was quite skilled.

Now wasn't the time to show off, he shoved An Kexin several times, "Kexin, wake up quickly, there might be something happening."

An Kexin, awakened by the shaking, was also startled by Lele's frenzied barking, and immediately became extremely alert, grabbing the hiking stick, and stepped out of the tent with Lin Jie, who was holding the camping lamp.

As soon as they stepped out of the tent, Lele rushed over and circled them anxiously, whining and barking.

Lin Jie stroked Lele's head, feeling its restless unease, and whispered, "Lele, what's wrong? Did you notice something unusual?"

Unfortunately, Lele only replied with sounds he couldn't understand, "woof" or "bark".

Lin Jie glanced around.

Under the dim moonlight, there was nothing but the vast darkness.

The nearby clumps of trees, and the low cliff to the north, at this moment seemed to have transformed into giant beasts, ready to leap at any time, lurking in the deep night, staring intently at this spot.

Lin Jie involuntarily shivered, moving a bit closer to An Kexin.

An Kexin held his hand, whispering, "A-Jie, don't worry, let's carefully check around first!"

Braving his nerves, Lin Jie used the bright light of the camping lamp and, alongside An Kexin, carefully checked around Lin Miao and An Kemeng's tent, Zhang Xiaoxiao's tent, and their own tent.

They didn't find any snakes, nor any other wild animals.

Listening quietly, they heard the sound of rushing water, the wind, insects chirping, and occasionally the night cries of startled birds from afar...

Everything seemed quite normal!

An Kexin bent down to hug Lele's neck and joked, "A-Jie, maybe Lele has never spent a night in the wild, perhaps it's scared, huh?"

"Maybe..."

Lin Jie agreed, somewhat uneasy.

Just then, he suddenly felt as though the shadow in the distance seemed to jump...

It should be said... the entire night scenery... seemed to jump.

Just as Lin Jie thought he was hallucinating, he suddenly felt an irresistible force transmitted from the ground beneath his feet...

Then, Lin Jie felt a sensation of the world spinning...

When he regained awareness of his body again, he blurted out, "An earthquake, it's an earthquake..."

At the same time, Lin Jie also realized that he had been knocked to the ground by the shake.

He sat up bent over, shouting hoarsely, "Kexin, Miao Miao, Kemeng, Xiaoxiao sis..."

"A-Jie, I'm here, I'm fine!"

That was An Kexin's voice, she was just to Lin Jie's left, also thrown to the ground by the previous tremor.

"Brother!"

"Brother Jie, sister!"

"A-Jie, Miao Miao!"

Three slightly confused voices sounded one after another.

Hearing all the familiar voices, Lin Jie felt much relieved and shouted, "It's an earthquake, an earthquake, everyone quickly put on clothes..."

A few minutes later, those who had hurriedly put on clothes and shoes gathered around two camping lamps, holding hands and forming a circle, while Lele stopped barking and stood by Lin Miao's calf.

An Kexin, somewhat dazed, said, "People say animals can sense earthquakes coming early. Just now, Lele's intense barking was warning us that an earthquake was coming."

She praised, "Lele, you're such a good dog. When we get back, I'll buy you many pork chops to eat."

Lin Miao stroked Lele's back, still a bit shaken, "I vaguely heard Lele barking, but I was too sleepy to wake myself up."

"Luckily, we were sleeping in tents, not having to fear anything falling on us!"

From all around came the sound of rolling stones and unknown rumbling sounds, echoing in the night sky.

Lin Jie also expressed his relief, "It's really fortunate that we camped on an open space by the stream, not having to worry about falling rocks or anything like that."

An Kemeng poked at her phone for a while, dejectedly saying, "There's no signal at all, can't make a call to report we're safe."

Hearing this, Lin Jie and An Kexin immediately realized that the news of an earthquake here would soon be known over in Binhai.

If they couldn't contact anyone, people over there would definitely worry.

Lin Jie perceived that An Kexin had suddenly clenched his hand tightly, so he squeezed her hand back to comfort her, "We'll head back as soon as day breaks and we can see the path under our feet..."

"It's the middle of the night now, Uncle An may already be sound asleep."

"By the time he wakes up early in the morning, we should have returned to the National Village, or at least to a place with mobile signal."

The rumbling sound continued incessantly, and seemed to be getting louder...

Lin Jie turned his head to look around, puzzled, "This sound is very strange. Even if stones keep rolling, they should have stopped by now..."

He suddenly saw a white line...

Upstream of the creek, there appeared a faint white line...

What is that?

Lin Jie squinted his eyes, what could possibly make such a strange white line?

The rumbling sound grew louder and louder, rolling in like muffled thunder!

Damn... shit... Lin Jie's heart was filled with horror!

This... this... isn't a white line; it's the turbulent waves reflecting the moonlight...

This is the flood cascading down from upstream...

Suddenly, as Lin Jie realized this, it felt like his heart was tightly gripped. The fear of death engulfed him completely, and he shouted in terror, "Flood, a massive flood, run... run quickly..."

Lin Jie wasn't even aware that his voice had broken from fear...

An Kexin, Zhang Xiaoxiao, Lin Miao, and An Kemeng, following Lin Jie's gaze, immediately realized the impending danger of death and started running downstream along the creek bank.

Zhang Xiaoxiao was relatively clearer-headed. As she ran, she didn't forget to carry a lantern.

After just two steps, Lin Jie realized something was wrong and shouted, "Run north, run north, if we run downstream, we can't outrun the flood."

Out of absolute trust in Lin Jie, An Kexin, Zhang Xiaoxiao, and the others followed Lin in changing direction, running north...

In such a moment, none of them cared that there was no path underfoot; it was all rocks and vegetation. They struggled forward, barely making use of the camp lamp's light, stumbling as they went...

Suddenly, there was another tremor from the ground.

An Kexin and Lin Miao stumbled and fell to the ground; Lin Jie quickly grabbed onto a small tree, while Zhang Xiaoxiao and An Kemeng instinctively held onto each other to avoid falling.

Once the tremor passed, Lin Miao got up on her own, whereas An Kexin got up but quickly fell with a yelp.

Lin Jie hurried to her side, asking with concern, "Kexin, what happened? Did you sprain your ankle?"

"A-Jie, my foot is stuck!" An Kexin shouted anxiously.

Zhang Xiaoxiao came over with the camp lamp, and Lin Jie and the others discovered that An Kexin's right foot was wedged in a crevice, with only her calf visible.

She moved her right foot now and then, but couldn't pull it out...

Lin Jie used all his strength to pry the rock apart, sweating profusely from the effort...

Zhang Xiaoxiao even broke a branch to try and pry the rock, but the branch snapped without the rock moving...

Lin Miao and An Kemeng combined their efforts to pull An Kexin, whose face was full of sweat like beads, both in pain and urgency, but her right foot refused to be freed...

The rumbling sound seemed to be right at their ears...

"Stop, everyone stop!"

An Kexin suddenly shouted, "A-Jie, sister Xiaoxiao, take Kemeng and Miaomiao and run, quick, don't worry about me!"

"No, I can't leave you!" Lin Jie continued to desperately try to move the rock.

"No, sister, I'm not leaving you!" An Kemeng cried out.

"A-Jie, A-Jie, listen to me!"

An Kexin grabbed Lin Jie's hand, saying, "Take them and run, quickly, or we'll all die."

"Do you remember what I once said? In a life-or-death moment, I allow you to run first!"

"This is it..."

An Kexin suddenly yelled, "Take Kemeng and run, run quickly..."

Lin Jie turned his head and looked behind; the white line was truly getting closer and closer...

The three small tents, under the glow of a camping lamp, looked like three little flowers trembling, about to be swallowed by the huge waves...

Lin Jie suddenly turned his head, staring at Zhang Xiaoxiao, Lin Miao, and An Kemeng, shouting, "You three run quickly, leave Kexin to me."

"I have a way, you must trust me!"

Saying this, he turned and ran, but it was towards... the campsite!

"Brother..."

In a panic, Lin Miao couldn't grab Lin Jie and thought of following him, but Zhang Xiaoxiao pulled her back.

Zhang Xiaoxiao also grabbed An Kemeng, saying, "Miaomiao, Kemeng, come with me!"

"We'll leave Kexin to Lin Jie; we must trust him!"

An Kexin looked at Lin Jie's fading figure, momentarily dazed, but was awakened by Zhang Xiaoxiao's voice, urgently saying, "Miaomiao, Kemeng, listen to A-Jie, run, run quickly!"

"You must trust A-Jie!"

Lin Miao hesitated for a moment, saying, "I trust brother; brother is capable of anything!"

"I also trust Brother Jie; he always creates miracles!"

With Zhang Xiaoxiao's urging, the tearful Lin Miao and An Kemeng continued running north...

An Kexin's eyes turned to Lin Jie...

She saw him fall, get up again, and continue stumbling forward!

She saw him finally arrive at the campsite...

She saw him grab a camping lamp and run into one tent, quickly coming out, then darting into another tent...

The small campsite seemed to have been flooded, with another tent floating up...

An Kexin's heart was in her throat, praying constantly, "A-Jie, come out quickly!"

Lin Jie finally came out!

An Kexin saw him holding a camping lamp in one hand and some things in the other, running towards them...

Run fast, run fast...

An Kexin clenched her fists, cheering for him continuously!

The white line was getting closer and closer, and An Kexin could already smell the strong scent of water mixed with earth...

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