Ch. 467 / 80758%

Chapter 466 - 375 I Can’t Bear to Disturb You (5K)_3

~7 min read 1,219 words

One kilometer wasn’t far, not even two kilometers - just a six or seven-minute march. After such a long time marching, everyone’s legs were well-prepared, and the distance did not concern anyone.

But one hour, the timeframe was too tight.

This time, with people trapped, every team quickly rushed to their designated rescue locations.

Team One, at the third point.

"Hurry! My friend and I were climbing together when there was a sudden landslide, and they accidentally fell down!"

The Logistics personnel at the Rescue Point tried their best to look flustered and hurried, which was truly impressive. If it were really like the situation in "Hidden Corner," taking one’s in-laws for a climb and pushing them down - by the time the police arrived, this acting could certainly last a good number of episodes.

When we reached the edge and looked down, our faces spoke volumes without words.

"The one you dropped... is it the Red friend, the Yellow friend, or the Blue friend?"

"All three of them!" Logistics replied anxiously.

The acting was indeed compelling.

After everyone assessed the situation, they were a bit shocked.

This cliff was incredibly high, with a protruding platform halfway down and a stream below. A red, a yellow, and a blue dummy were highly visible - one lay halfway down and two on the sand.

Everyone began tossing around ideas at once.

"This cliff looks to be about seventy or eighty meters high, and the dummies are likely positioned around thirty or forty meters. Let’s just lower ropes directly; another rope should be used for dragging. Since we don’t have stretchers, let’s find two thick sticks and some webbing to make a simple stretcher, secure it, and then slowly haul it up."

"I think the cliff on the other side isn’t too far away, only about thirty or forty meters. Could they want us to perform a T-shaped rescue? Or use a descender?"

"How could that be possible? It’s unnecessary; we’re not unable to descend, and we have so many people to assist. Don’t overcomplicate things. The task clearly stated to emulate a real-life rescue - no fancy stuff. Just use the simplest method: descend along the cliff."

Fang Huai stood at the back with his hands behind his back, silent.

The discussion continued, and when Number 1 didn’t make a sound, they turned to look at him.

"Number 1, as the Captain, what do you say about how to descend?"

Fang Huai smiled and lifted his head, "You guys decide."

Not one to be outdone, upon hearing "you guys decide," they actually agreed upon a plan together.

Two people pulled firefighting axes from their personal protective equipment in their backpacks and headed into the nearby woods, chopping and snapping to produce two roughly identical thick sticks. They then used three webbing straps to connect them, crafting a respectable-looking makeshift stretcher.

Then, Number 3 volunteered enthusiastically. Protected by a long safety rope of 80 meters, we carefully inspected the safety gear connected to his body. Sitting in his harness, he rappelled down the cliff wall.

The rope was slowly lowered, with careful attention given to create a protective edge against abrasion. There was even a Safety Officer acting the part quite convincingly, watching to prevent any wear between the rope and the rock edge.

Soon, a shout came from Number 3 below:

"The dummy has writing on it!"

"What does it say?"

"Seriously injured, needs rescue!"

"What’s this now, more complications? Do you know first aid methods?"

"I do, but it doesn’t state what injuries he has!"

"...Pull him up, let’s talk about it once we’ve got him up!"

"Okay! The stretcher is secured, pull!"

"One, two!"

"One, two!"

Everyone pulled vigorously on the ropes, lifting the dummies and Number 3. Fang Huai did not help but walked over to a secluded spot by the Highway, finding a rock to lean against as he leisurely drank water.

Huffing and puffing.

Shouting in unison, from such a height and in over twenty minutes, they managed to haul up the three dummies and Number 3 one by one.

Everyone worked with dedication, focused on the situation below, while Fang Huai rested out of sight the entire time, unnoticed by anyone.

When the dummies were finally laid out on the ground, Logistics remained silent, leading everyone to guess the task wasn’t yet complete. Seeing the writing on the dummies, they started looking around, remembering to ask the Captain.

"Number 1... Where’s Number 1?"

"Here, here, here!" Fang Huai closed his water bottle and, with a cheeky grin, raised his hand and ran over.

Seeing him, everyone couldn’t help but feel irritated:

"Damn it, you didn’t work, where’d you run off to?"

"What’s the plan now?"

Fang Huai raised his eyebrows, pointing to the dummies lying on the ground with "Seriously injured, needs rescue" written on them with a marker:

"Isn’t it written right there? Take them to the hospital."

Everyone looked at each other, bewildered: "Where’s the hospital?"

Finally, Logistics spoke up: "By car on the Highway, it’s about fifty kilometers from here."

The atmosphere, briefly silent.

Everyone looked at the two cumbersome dummies on the ground.

"...Fifty kilometers?"

"How are we supposed to get there?!"

Fang Huai chuckled lightly, "Well, the stretchers are ready, aren’t they? Just make another one and carry them there."

"How can we carry them? Three dummies! Fifty kilometers! And we have all this weight to bear!"

Only then did Fang Huai reply with a chuckle, "If we can’t carry them, why not call for Helicopter reinforcement?"

"There’s Helicopter backup?!"

Fang Huai’s face took on a serious expression.

"Just now, Number 9 mentioned we should reference actual Rescue guidelines. If you’re not bringing it up, I’d have thought you’d all forgotten, huh?

What does it mean to reference actual Rescue guidelines?

Look at this height. Falling from here would be deadly. Now add it up – if on average there are three people per team, five teams, how many people?

That’s fifteen people along the route who are likely at great risk of death. What level of incident is this? For such a big disaster, not to mention a Helicopter, when crucial, even calling for an Airbus would be acceptable!

Plus, around seventy to eighty percent of Shennongjia is uninhabited. Do you really think you could carry them out with manpower alone?

Even if you called 120, how long would it take for a car to reach here? Did you ask that before descending to rescue?

Fifty kilometers there and back – a hundred kilometers – could they still be alive by the time they reach the hospital?

Have you treated this as a real rescue at all?!"

Once again, no one spoke.

Yet, Number 3 still couldn’t help but retort somewhat begrudgingly:

"Tsk, you should have told us earlier. Climbing up and down such a high cliff, besides the danger, it’s exhausting!"

Fang Huai laughed, "Hey, such a wide open cliff is especially chosen for the ease of Helicopter operations, and you’ve all turned a blind eye to it.

Seeing you all so enthusiastic, I truly didn’t have the heart to interrupt you."

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(Some of the text was cut due to time constraints; posting a long Chapter now and will add a shorter one in the morning.)

End of Chapter

Ch. 467 / 80758%
Ch. 467 / 80758%