Chapter 7 Rescue

  The old shepherd returned to the outside of the cave with a sigh, and the person sent by Xu Mantang, the old branch secretary who was waiting outside the cave, had already brought back the deputy township head in charge of culture and education from the countryside.

  Deputy County Magistrate Jiang didn't take it seriously when he first received the report. The disappearance incident in Zhongyuan Cave wasn't something that happened just one or two years ago.

  But after learning about Chu Yu's true identity, he knew that this matter was not trivial and immediately called Yun Qing, the executive vice county magistrate in charge of culture and education, to report.

  Yun Qing was startled when she received the phone call and heard that the female student involved in the incident was named Chu Yu. After repeatedly confirming the identity of this Chu Yu with the other party, she quickly hung up the phone and called her brother-in-law, Chu Tian Shu, who was a member of the municipal Party committee and head of the propaganda department.

  "Sister-in-law! Xiaoyu... something's happened!" Yunqing hesitated for a moment, but Chuyue was the only child of Chutianshu, and now her life or death was unknown, so she couldn't hide it.

  "Yun Qing, what's wrong with Xiao Yu?" Chu Tian Shu was attending a training session at the Yanjing Central Party School when he received Yun Qing's call. Upon hearing that his only daughter had encountered an issue, he, who usually handled matters calmly, became somewhat flustered.

  "Xiao Yu, she...she went to Qiushan Gou for a social survey, but somehow ran off to Zhongyuan Cave and now is missing!" Chu Yu had not told her about going to Guhe County for the social survey, so she was unclear about the specific situation.

  On the other end of the phone, Chu Tian Shu didn't speak for half a day.

  "How is the rescue arranged in your county?" After a long consideration, Chu Tian Shu regained his usual calmness.

  "I just received a report..." Yun Qing replied somewhat embarrassedly, indeed being a bit worried and confused.

  "Then you'd better go and greet Secretary Xun Kuang first! I'll hurry back as soon as possible!" Chu Tian Shu didn't mean to blame Yun Qing, on the contrary, as his younger sister-in-law, he was clear about her feelings towards his daughter.

  Not long after that, Jiang Zhengyuan, the Secretary of Hunjiang Municipal Party Committee, called Xun Kuang, the Secretary of Gucheng County Party Committee.

  "Xiao Xun! Chu Yu, a student leader from Yanying University, went to your county for social investigation and disappeared in Qiushan Valley's Zhongyuan Cave! Xiao Yu is the only daughter of Director Tian Shu, if anything happens to her, I won't let you off!"

  "Old leader, Minister Yun Qing has already told me about this matter. Chu Yu fellow student probably didn't know about the missing events that happened in Zhong Yuan Cave before, and may not be aware of the danger of entering the cave, so..."

  "...Now I have dispatched comrades from the county bureau to rush to the scene to organize rescue efforts. Comrade Xu Kui, please bring your team with you. If he is there, it will be more convenient for him to organize militia assistance. Besides, he is a local and has come down from the troops, so he has experience in doing this kind of work..."

  "......Alright! Please rest assured, leader. We will do our best." Xun Kuang, who was originally Secretary of Jiang Zhengyuan, arrived at his office after Yun Qing hung up the phone with Chu Tian Shu.

  He reported the situation to Jiang Zhengyuan a bit ahead of time, but it's not considered deceiving his leader. However, the subsequent arrangements will naturally have to be the same as what he reported to Jiang Zhengyuan.

  This matter has become a big deal. Although he said on the phone that he believed in the comrades of Gogoro County, Jiang Zhengyuan put down the phone and thought for a moment before calling Commander Zhou Cunhou of the Military Division again.

  Chu Tian Shu was Jiang Zhengyuan's right-hand man, and he didn't want to have any complaints about him in this matter. Half an hour later, the military sub-district dispatched a reinforced company led by Qiu Shengtao, the heroic scout platoon leader of Lao Shan, to rush to Qiushan Gorge immediately.

  Chu Yu and Xiao Yao have been missing for two days. The police from the county public security bureau, who arrived earliest, are still using the old shepherd's method to explore the cave on foot, which is also the simplest and most direct way. However, the effect... is not very good.

  The complex structure of the cave made it impossible for the police to find a suitable path even with over 2,000 meters of rescue rope, and they ended up circling around inside and almost couldn't get out.

  Qiu Shengtao arrived with the reconnaissance company's soldiers, and three batches of police and militiamen who had entered the cave to search for a path had already gone in, but except for going around in circles, two were almost unable to come out.

  "Commander, there's a strong magnetic field here. The compass is completely useless." A soldier who had gone ahead to scout out the cave came back shaking his head.

  "What's to be done?" County Armed Forces Department Director Xu Zhijian asked worriedly.

  "It can only be done by sending people to explore one by one! Make sure to mark and map it out." Qiu Shengtao was also frustrated, this complex terrain is simply a maze, and the only way to navigate a maze is with brute force, but time is of the essence.

  People outside the cave were anxious to rescue him, but they could only use clumsy methods. However, for Xiao Yao, who needed to consume a huge amount of energy that was almost bursting his body, it was much simpler.

  This "Lingmu Guantian" method is actually based on the cultivator's own yuanqi, driving the spiritual consciousness to penetrate the body.

  This spiritual consciousness expands outward from the "soul crystal" at the center of the Heavenly Yuan, allowing it to penetrate any obstruction by objects. At this time, the spellcaster is equivalent to having opened the "Heavenly Eye".

  However, the yuanqi required for the implementation of this Dharma is extremely large, especially when it comes to substances like hard mountain rocks that need to be penetrated by the lingzhi (spiritual consciousness), the consumption of yuanqi is several times more than what is normally required for distant vision.

  Fortunately, Xiao Yao is now in good spirits and has a lot of energy, so much that he might even burst from it.

  Xiao Yao saw Qiu Shengtao leading the soldiers of the military region's reconnaissance company to search and explore the complex and winding fork roads in the cave, and also saw the anxious county and township leaders and some village cadres waiting at the entrance of the cave.

  Xu Mantang guarded the entrance of the cave, accompanied by Xu Kun and Lao Yangyang.

  Qiu Shengtao's reconnaissance troops, with the cooperation of police and militia, have explored a large area of tunnels, but it is only a small part compared to the entire Zhongyuan Cave.

  Xiao Yao's spiritual awareness continued to expand its scope, one curved passage after another, fork in the road... Finally, he saw a person curled up in a very narrow corner.

  Chu Yu!

  Xiao Yao's heart was filled with excitement.

  However, he soon discovered that Chu Yu's current situation was not good. The location she was in was a deep pit inclined downwards, about 20 meters long, and it should have been where she lost her footing and slid down halfway through her journey.

  She was now at the bottom of the deep cave, and seeing her motionless, Xiao Yao's heart felt somewhat anxious.

  He didn't care about the remaining Xianyuan in his body and what impact it would have on him, forcibly stopped the "Lingmu Guantian" technique and rushed to the location where Chuyou had an accident.

  The entrance of the cave was somewhat hidden and very narrow. Xiao Yao followed the entrance, using both hands to support himself against the smooth walls of the cave like a gecko crawling down.

  This fork in the road had just been searched by someone, but these few people did not discover this deep pit and instead walked past it from the side. If it weren't for Xiao Yao's discovery, Chu Yu would have really been in a precarious situation.

  Xiao Yao's foot landed softly on the ground with her right foot feeling soft and fluffy.

  "Hmm!" Chu Yu's groan made Xiao Yao's suspended heart settle, but also startled him. He quickly withdrew his foot, but Chu Yu was probably unconscious, so even though she groaned, she didn't realize that someone had stepped on her foot.

  The cave was very dark, if it wasn't for Xiao Yao's cultivation of the Five Elements True Essence Technique reaching the "Ming Shi Jing" boundary, he wouldn't have been able to see Yu's figure clearly.

  He gave her a preliminary examination, Chu Yu was sliding down, so there were no major injuries to the body, just some minor abrasions. The main reason she is now in a coma should be that she is starving.

  But now Xiao Yao couldn't even call for help, his own body had gotten into big trouble.