Free Web NovelChapter 647: Chapter 615 Something Behind_1
Following Mr. Zhao’s voice, the sound of Peng Shinian came from not too far away.
"Oh no, it was right there, be careful! Zou Jialong missed his step and I went to pull him up, then Pang Tianhang bumped into me, and we all just rolled down. It seems we also smashed something. By the time I came to, I tried to get up but was pinned down. Pang Tianhang and I didn’t have serious injuries, but Zou Jialong was trapped on top of us and couldn’t move; he was still unconscious."
Mr. Zhao was so angry it made his teeth itch. He held up an LED light, searching for the three men.
"You wait till I find you, why didn’t you say earlier that Zou Jialong was unconscious? And injured too. You mentioned it so casually, didn’t you?"
Perhaps it was because Mr. Zhao’s voice was loud that a moan could now be heard.
Zhou Ning squatted down and looked at the trench beneath his feet. Not to mention the trench was over two meters deep, its edges were lined with many wooden pillars, and there were remnants of wooden planks at the top of the sides, but most were already rotted and broken.
It looked like they had fallen through the gaps in the rotting planks. An unplanned fall like this was indeed dangerous. Besides, the trench connected to an underground river, and there were wooden boards leveling out the edge. They hadn’t noticed the ground changed from stone to wood under their feet.
How did such a natural trench’s edge acquire an extra branch, and why was it blocked with wooden boards?
"Blame is useless, go down and take a look. Guan Jian, you stay up here. If the injuries are severe, you’ll need to fetch the first-aid supplies from the main cave."
As he spoke, Zhou Ning kicked aside the broken planks and jumped down.
With the advantage of his height, he didn’t feel much upon landing, but when he looked down, he saw two broken headlamps and a flashlight that had been reduced to parts. Turning towards the south side, not far away was a slope, and a steep one at that.
The three men, along with some broken planks, were piled up like a stack of fallen dominoes, stuck there.
Lucky for them, this was their line of work, and Peng Shinian had already informed them of their condition. Otherwise, the sight of the three in that state might have made one think of a monster with three heads and six arms stuck in a drain.
Maybe it was the light dazzling him, but Zou Jialong was starting to react somewhat, shielding his eyes with his hand. Turning his head, Zhou Ning saw the blood on his face, quickly stepped closer, lifted his hair to take a look, checked his spine and limbs, and adjusted the position of his arm that was stuck at the edge.
"Zou Jialong, can you hear me?"
"Mhm, boss, I was wrong!"
Mr. Zhao raised his hand and made a gesture in the air.
"Damn it, thinking of the problem before making a mistake would’ve been fine. It’s too late for anything now. The three of you showing off. Tell me, where does it hurt?"
"At first, it hurt everywhere. My brain wouldn’t respond, but now it’s just my left arm that I can’t move."
Zhou Ning made a noise of acknowledgement, grabbed Zou Jialong’s arm, and pinned it against himself to help him flip over from the top. Guan Jian wanted to help pull them out, but Zhou Ning stopped him.
"Don’t move yet, sit down and let me push this back in, it’s just dislocated. Mr. Zhao, check on Pang Tianhang. Don’t forcefully pull, because these three, without light, rolled down from above, pushing and struggling against each other, probably trying to find their headlamps. They were completely entangled, nearly causing a stampede. You guys are quite something."
Peng Shinian laughed. freewebnøvel.com
"Hehe, boss, you have the foresight. We didn’t know what happened, we just stepped on something that broke, and then spiraled down. When Pang Tianhang and I woke up with some breathing difficulties, we tried to find our headlamps and got a bit disoriented.
In the end, we ended up tangled together, all of us out of strength. Pang Tianhang and Zou Jialong wouldn’t talk to me. That’s when we heard Mr. Zhao’s shouting, lucky that you noticed we were missing."
As Peng Shinian recounted the events, Zou Jialong gradually came around.
While he wasn’t paying attention, Zhou Ning set his arm back in place. The crisp sound made several people cringe. After setting the bone, he unbuttoned his coat and wrapped it around the arm, buttoning it up the other way to make a simple splint.
Peng Shinian became spirited again, watching with keen interest.
"Boss, you’re really amazing. It’s my first time seeing such a way of splinting."
"Stop flattering me."
Mr. Zhao gave him a look and gestured for Guan Jian to call people over since climbing up to the nearly two-meter-high position by themselves seemed somewhat unlikely.
After ensuring Peng Shinian and Pang Tianhang had no serious problems other than some scrapes, Zhou Ning sighed in relief. Just as he was helping the two of them up,
the moment Zhou Ning turned around, he seemed to see something. He paused, and Mr. Zhao looked at Zhou Ning with curiosity.
"What’s wrong? Did you hurt your back? I’m telling you, young man, you’ve got to take it easy. You can’t be so affectionate every day just because you’re newly married. See, now your back is giving out, isn’t it? Take some ’Kidney Treasure’ when you get back!"
Zhou Ning glared at him sideways, and Mr. Zhao closed his mouth, still smiling, propping up Zou Jialong’s back, as it was a bit hard for him to stand on his own.
"Less talk. The place where they are stuck seems to have something. When people arrive, get them up first, and then we all shine light here. I want to see what it is."
Seeing Zhou Ning so serious, Mr. Zhao also became interested and looked behind Zhou Ning a couple of times, but it was indeed too dark to see clearly.At that moment, Guan Jian’s voice rang out.
"Director Zhou, Mr. Zhao, we’re back. Do you need a stretcher? I brought this soft, orange-colored thing. Your colleague said it could be used for transport."
Upon seeing the object, Zou Jialong’s head wobbled like a bobblehead, and he quickly stood up straight.
"I just can’t use my left arm conveniently. Just give me a hand, and I can go up by myself. We don’t need this. Is it something Mr. Wang prepared? Why did you bring this body bag used for carrying corpses?"
Mr. Zhao snorted with laughter, delighted.
"Looks like it’s Mr. Wang’s handy work. But it’s good to try it out. Our clients can’t speak to say if they’re satisfied or not, so you help test it."
"Ah, Mr. Zhao, please, I was almost scared to death."
The group laughed, and after a brief introduction by Guan Jian, they learned that the device was actually designed for the convenient transport of bodies in the mountains. Originally, it was used by the rescue team, but a driver from the technical department modified it, and it even applied for a patent.
Zhou Ning coughed, and everyone fell silent, turning to look at Zhou Ning.
"No more talking. Guan Jian, arrange for two people to take Zou Jialong and Pang Tianhang out of the dark river’s ditch, find the cave we entered through, hand them over to Yang Xuetong, and then directly descend the mountain for medical attention. Afterward, the rest of you bring lighting equipment down here."
Upon hearing this, Guan Jian hurriedly called two well-built guys to jump down, each supporting one, and quickly left along the direction of the dark river, followed by others joining Guan Jian in the descent.
Raising the high-beam flashlight in their hands, they directed it toward the wall behind the porridge.
"What did Director Zhou find?"
Zhou Ning turned around and crouched down, lifting the LED light, just behind the position of the three metal-like figures. It all seemed like large rocks blocking the ravine, and the surroundings matched the wall, but upon closer inspection, there appeared to be something different.
