Chapter 77: Casting spells to summon clouds, calling wind and rain

Because of the recent hot and dry weather, a mountain fire broke out near Longyuan Village in Linchuan City, Chengkou County. The fire is now serious; our city is paying close attention, has dispatched relevant organizations, and our station will continue to follow up on the situation.

The fire has been burning for several hours, but it hasn't been extinguished, and it has already attracted widespread attention.

Even though reinforcements and supplies keep pouring in nonstop, they still cannot stop the mountain fire.

In the face of natural disaster, human strength appears utterly insignificant.

The fire has already caused some casualties; most of the firefighters brought down from the front lines were due to a sudden shift in the fire's wind direction.

When the fire engulfed them, their teammates couldn't react in time, and the burns covered up to 70% of their bodies; these situations are still considered relatively good.

Others were completely consumed by the fire, leaving only a charred corpse, with no time for rescue.

These are their comrades who have shared life and death; in the blink of an eye they turned to charcoal, and seeing this scene, all the firefighters feel terrible inside.

Before the tears could even fall, the hot air evaporated them instantly, leaving only a tear track.

Everyone's eyes were filled with grief and heaviness.

But they had no time to grieve, because there were still important things waiting for them to do.

Exhaustion, high temperature, toxic smoke, and the fire—these deadly threats constantly loomed over them, yet the respectable firefighters showed no retreat, not even furrowing their brows.

The backfire tactic failed; it couldn't intercept the mountain fire. The firefighters have exhausted all methods, yet they still cannot stop the fire from spreading this way.

Once the fire gets going, it becomes unstoppable.

According to the meteorological staff's data, the wind is currently blowing with the fire; if it remains uncontrolled, it will reach the mountain foot—it's only a matter of time.

They have little time left; never underestimate the speed at which a mountain fire spreads, nor its danger.

Qian Qixue felt heavy-hearted: "We are organizing some personnel to evacuate the villagers below, while the remaining firefighters continue to fight, buying more time for the villagers' relocation."

Even if we know it's useless, we cannot give up until the very last moment—who knows, maybe a miracle will appear?

If even they retreat, wouldn't that mean completely abandoning this mountain range?

Soon the news was transmitted back to the mountain foot, and everyone was shocked.

"What, we have to relocate? It's actually that serious?"

"Is the fire really going to burn down? Isn't there any other way?"

The village head couldn't believe it; Longyuan Village lives off the mountain, and he has spent most of his life here, so suddenly having to leave leaves him somewhat unaccustomed.

Not only him, but the other villagers feel the same way.

But the natural disaster is merciless; they have no choice, time is pressing, and they can only hurriedly pack their belongings.

"Everyone, quickly gather some important personal items; don't take too much, lest it hinder movement, and follow the firefighters out."

The village's loudspeaker kept broadcasting, and the village head also sent people to notify each household, making sure the notice reached everyone.

The villagers who heard the news were like a bolt from the blue.

"We really have to leave."

"We have no choice but to go; the firefighters said the fire could reach the mountain foot at any moment—if we don't leave, we'll turn to charcoal too."

"Back when we dealt with mudslides, landslides, and other geological disasters, we managed to get through them; I never thought we'd have to leave because of this mountain fire."

"Those can't compare to the mountain fire; they say 'move the tree and it dies, move the person and they live'—so let's just leave; this is also unavoidable."

The villagers discussed while hurrying back to pack their belongings.

Hu Xiaocao and her mother's home was bare, with nothing much to pack; the woman solemnly placed the spirit tablet of the Mountain God into her bundle.

Hu Xiaocao patted her head and reminded aloud: "Mom, there's also the statue inside the Mountain God temple."

The Mountain God temple is located at the mountain foot, which is somewhat dangerous; the village head and firefighters do not allow anyone to approach, so the woman hesitated a bit.

But if the fire really burns down the mountain, the Mountain God temple would be the first to suffer—wouldn't it be burned to ashes?

"Alright, let's quickly take the statue out."

They couldn't take the temple with them, but the statue could still be taken.

When lives were at stake, others dared not delay; they quickly gathered their valuables, packing them into big and small bundles, and assembled at the village entrance.

Some even brought out their pots, pans, bowls, and even their chickens and ducks.

The village head was both amused and exasperated: "Sun family sister, we're fleeing for our lives—what are you bringing all this for?"

The person he named was a somewhat short and stout older lady; seeing everyone stare at her, she felt a bit embarrassed and said sheepishly, "I just can't bear to part with them."

Everyone knows that if the fire really burns down, people can be relocated, but many livestock cannot be moved; for the villagers, that would be a huge loss.

It means the fruits of their hard work over most of their lives are gone.

Who wouldn't feel heartbroken?

Thinking of those farmlands, which have been their ancestors' source of food for generations, but under the fire they'll probably turn into a pile of ash.

The village head shook his head: "No, if everyone were like you, taking a bit here and a bit there, we wouldn't be able to leave, and the vehicle couldn't hold it all."

Sun Dam showed a pained expression all over her face, but she still listened to the village head and put the chickens and ducks down.

Soon a group of people had almost finished packing; looking around, they always felt as if something was missing.

"Come over for a headcount; the vehicle is coming right away—don't leave anyone behind."

After roll call, they realized the Hu family mother and daughter were missing.

"Strange, why aren't the Hu family sister and Xiaocao here?"

"I passed by their door earlier, called out a few times, but there was no one inside, so I thought they had already left."

"How could they lose the chain at a critical moment? The vehicle is almost here—what are they doing?"

Now that they can't find anyone, everyone is already holding their belongings and it's inconvenient; they're almost unable to look after themselves.

Just as everyone grew anxious, Hu Xiaocao and her mother finally arrived, late but in good grace.

The village head was overjoyed: "What were you doing? Everyone thought you'd encountered some danger; we were nearly frantic."

Hu Xiaocao seemed to be holding something in her hand, covered with a cloth, her expression cautious.

The woman felt a bit embarrassed and apologized: "Sorry for the trouble, we went to get the statue from the Mountain God temple."

The temple was destroyed, but we could rebuild it elsewhere; however, the statue was hand‑kneaded by Hu Xiaocao and has endured all this time.

Looking at the statue in Hu Xiaocao's hands, the villagers fell silent for a moment.

No wonder the Mountain God blesses that mother‑daughter pair; in terms of devotion, all of them together cannot compare.

In the face of great disaster, they still thought of the statue—this feeling and attitude are truly precious.

The village chief said nothing more, let out a faint sigh, and said, "I hope the Mountain God truly has spirit and can send a heavy rain to quell this calamity."

Everyone felt reluctant to leave, gazing at the village before them; just thinking that it would soon become a pile of ashes made everyone's heart heavy.

Some villagers had reddened eyes, taking three steps back for every step forward.

"Let us take a few more looks; who knows, after we leave we might never see it again."

"My father and grandmother grew up in this village; I never thought I would have to leave it myself."

"And the big tree at the village center is nearly a hundred years old; it has witnessed generation after generation of our villagers grow up—I don't know if we'll ever see it again when we return."

"What are you thinking? With a fire this big, it'll burn everything to ash."

"Alas, heaven is heartless, forcing us farmers to leave the land we depend on—what will we do from now on?"

"Think positively; the government won't just stand by and do nothing."

Seeing the villagers' low spirits, the village chief cheered up and said, "They only said the mountain fire might come down, not that it definitely will—maybe a miracle will happen."

The crowd hung their heads in dejection, "What miracle could there be?"

"Village chief, I know you're just trying to comfort us."

"Forget it; with a fire this big, saving our lives is enough. As long as we're still here, we can unite and rebuild our homes!"

Although that's what was said, everyone's looks were glum, with only a few scattered voices responding to the village chief.

Leaving the land we rely on for survival is hard for anyone, but there's nothing we can do.

Besides Longyuan Village, several neighboring villages also need to be relocated.

The relocation of the people at the mountain foot is proceeding in an orderly manner; at least these civilians have suffered no casualties.

But the situation on the mountain is far from optimistic—deaths have already reached tens of dozens, and another several dozen are missing.

Upon learning this, Qian Qixue immediately led personnel to launch a search‑and‑rescue operation—those are dozens of living lives; we can't just say we'll give up and give up.

"Captain, we can't—the fire ahead is too fierce; if we rush in, we might not make it back."

Qian Qixue's eyes were blood‑red; sweat inside his protective gear poured like rain, only to evaporate instantly. "Those are my brothers—do I have to watch them die helplessly?"

"They're surely still alive; if we give up, they really won't be able to come back!"

"I'm the one who brought them up the mountain—now how am I supposed to bring them back?"

"We've saved so many people, but if we don't even rescue our own teammates, how can we face the uniform we wear?"

Human nature may have many weaknesses—cowardice, greed, lust—but it also has many shining points, as seen in these firefighters.

One can see their fearless courage, pressing forward despite danger; they never fear death's threat, sweating as they fight on the front lines.

Seeing that the people around him still wanted to say something, Qian Qixue had already made up his mind: "You don't need to persuade me any further."

"Captain, what I mean is we can take this route—the fire is smaller here, the danger lower, and the last signal they sent came from this spot."

Seeing the determined looks of his companions, Qian Qixue's eyes glistened with tears: "All right!"

He led a small team out along a narrow path; here there are few dry branches and leaves, little combustible material, so the situation is relatively better.

As they went deeper, the fire showed signs of growing; amid the rolling thick smoke they finally spotted a bright orange‑yellow glow.

Although dimmed by smoke and flame, at least their lives were unharmed.

"Captain, how did you get here?"

Seeing Qian Qixue and the others arrive, everyone felt a mix of surprise and joy.

"Come, I'll bring you all home!"

Those words felt weighty, as if they carried thousands of pounds, striking their hearts heavily.

Hearing that, everyone almost teared up from emotion—turns out their equipment had malfunctioned, and the walkie‑talkie they used for contact had been accidentally lost in the fire.

One could say their progress was laborious, which led to the current situation.

Fortunately, Qian Qixue anticipated their predicament, brought new equipment, and after they switched to fresh gas masks, their condition improved considerably.

"We can't delay any longer—let's get out of here quickly."

Everyone nodded.

However, at that very moment, sudden changes arose.

"Crack—"

Accompanied by the sound of dry branches snapping.

A tree over half a person's height suddenly slammed down onto where Qian Qixue was standing.

Others seeing this nearly had their eyes pop out: "Captain, watch out!"

Fortunately, a teammate reacted in time, lunging at Qian Qixue, and the two barely escaped disaster.

The tree grazed their shoulders; if it had landed on them, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Everyone was shaken, quickly helping the two to their feet: "Are you all right?"

Qian Qixue shook his head—he was fine, just a slight scrape; the teammate who had lunged at him wasn't so lucky—when the tree fell, many sparks from the dry branches and leaves landed on him.

Although he suffered some burns, fortunately they weren't serious.

Qian Qixue asked anxiously, "Can you still walk?"

The firefighter nodded, "Captain, you're underestimating me—this little injury is nothing."

He grimaced in pain, yet still didn't want his teammates to worry.

The crackling sounds rang nonstop; to everyone, it undoubtedly sounded like the footsteps of death.

At that moment the wind shifted suddenly, the fire surged forward, flames sweeping upward with the force to devour the dry and rotted, consuming everything.

Qian Qixue looked at this scene and had a bad premonition in his heart.

Along the way, many large trees swayed, ready to fall at any moment, bringing great difficulty to their escape route.

But the fire grew larger; looking at the big tree in front of the horizontal bar, this was the escape route, yet now the tree blocked it, making crossing impossible.

Not far away, the small path seemed submerged in the sea of fire, flames shooting to the sky, submerging the escape route.

Everyone couldn't help but look dazed, "Obviously when we first arrived, this place hadn't been swallowed by the fire."

"This damned mountain fire spreads at an unbelievable speed."

Forcing a way through was impossible; Qian Qixue made a quick decision.

"Come on, maybe there's another route; I remember on the map there's another road here that can lead out."

However, heaven seemed to enjoy playing a cruel joke on them.

The other road was also blocked; the raging fire mercilessly mocked them.

By now they had no way forward or back; Qian Qixue and the others could only find a high place to make plans.

Although the fire hadn't yet spread here, the escape route had been consumed by the fire; they were already trapped.

Now the mountain wind howled, and it was a tailwind; it was only a matter of time before the fire reached them.

Qian Qixue and the others inevitably fell into deep despair.

They could no longer leave; their only hope of survival was to wait for rescue.

But the walkie-talkie emitted a constant buzzing, making contact with the outside impossible.

Qian Qixue helplessly put down the walkie-talkie, unwilling to tell everyone the cruel fact: "There's no signal on the mountain; we've completely lost contact."

Now they were trapped here, having long deviated from the original route; plus there was no signal, so people at the mountain base couldn't reach them.

Even if they wanted to launch a rescue, in this vast sea of fire it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and with the situation still so perilous, it would only add difficulty to the rescue.

The worst fear was that the people at the mountain base, unable to contact them, would think they had died heroically.

Based on Qian Qixue's years of firefighting experience, even if the people at the mountain base wanted to rescue them, they couldn't.

Others obviously understood this as well.

"My wife just gave birth to a child, and I haven't even seen her; just thinking that the baby has no father as soon as it's born leaves them as widows and orphans—what will become of them?"

"My mother is also seriously ill in bed; before leaving, all she hoped for was to see me one more time, but now I must leave before her, which is truly unfilial."

"My parents are still at home preparing food, waiting for my return; I originally planned to take a vacation after this mission and then take them on a nice trip."

A stalwart seven-foot man, yet at this moment his voice choked and his eyes reddened.

Who among those present doesn't have a wife and mother?

Even the youngest, just over twenty, lets his parents, with white hair, send off their black-haired child.

When speaking of their sorrow, everyone was already tearful.

"I want to write down my last words, and there's still so much I want to say to my family."

A companion beside him reached out to stop him, showing a self-mocking smile: "Don't waste your effort; under the fire nothing remains, and even if you wrote your will, it would probably turn to ash."

That person showed a dejected expression, voice low and despondent, both crying and laughing: "Yeah, they won't be able to see it; maybe we'll all be burned to charcoal, and we won't even be able to tell who is who."

They had seen before that in the fire scene, many victims were reduced to bones, tangled together, needing testing to distinguish.

Everyone fell into despair.

Waiting for death to arrive is an especially long and agonizing thing, especially being consumed by fire, which makes this way of dying especially painful.

Looking at the raging fire not far away, devouring everything around it wildly, it was about to be their turn.

And this place was their final burial ground.

However, just as Qian Qixue and the others closed their eyes awaiting death.

The sky, burned red by the fire, suddenly darkened.

"How did the sky suddenly darken?"

Qian Qixue slowly opened his eyes, looked up at the sky, feeling somewhat dazed.

"Yeah, how did the sky suddenly turn dark?"

Others also raised their heads; not knowing when it started, the originally thin clouds suddenly became thick, all gathering toward one place.

"Strange! Why are there suddenly so many clouds?"

Clearly, when they had seen it before, there was only a thin patch.

Qian Qixue's mind rose with an implausible guess, but it was soon denied.

"Impossible, the meteorological staff clearly said it wouldn't rain these past few days."

"But the weather forecast isn't necessarily accurate."

In the originally pitch-black, despairing pupils, a few faint flames appeared again.

"Boom—rumble!"

Just then, a muffled sound came from the sky not far away, from far to near, drawing everyone's attention.

"Is that thunder?"

Someone asked uncertainly.

Looking at the ever-thickening clouds overhead, they had lost their white, harmless appearance, turning into a deeper color, heavily pressing down on the sky.

The clouds were heavy, the sky low-hanging, ink-colored, completely covering the flames.

The sky that had been burning red now only had a dark gloom, as if even the fire's original arrogance had been suppressed, as if wary of something.

Within the heavy clouds, something more terrifying was brewing.

"Boom!"

A thunderclap exploded, the clouds in all directions surged, the ink-black clouds began to roll continuously, purple lightning split the dark sky, carrying an unstoppable force.

With the speed of thunder that leaves no time to cover one's ears, in this heavenly furnace, a huge gap was torn open, all the heat poured down and dispersed.

The thunder was deafening, announcing its presence, as if also signifying that the era of the mountain fire was about to end.

Within the dark clouds, thunder snakes writhed and surged, baring fangs and claws, while the blazing firelight was reduced to looking like mere fireflies, incomparable.

The fiery red hue between heaven and earth was replaced by purple!

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, like two armies clashing; amidst the blade light and sword shadows, it was extremely fierce.

Because Qian Qixue and the others were situated on higher ground with a broader view, this grand and spectacular scene struck them right in the face, even their hearts.

Such lightning is truly rare!

It seemed as if the whole world had been submerged in an ocean of lightning.

As the lightning kept falling, it seemed to have a target, also descending toward the same spot; actually, there was no need to worry, for it would strike toward them.

Meanwhile, the air, which had been hot for days due to the high temperature plus the mountain fire's heat, finally began to ease.

I don't know if it was an illusion of Qian Qixue and the others, but they actually felt a damp, humid sensation.

Qian Qixue quickly removed his mask, and a drop of rain fell on his face.

It was definitely not an illusion; this coolness was truly real, like long-awaited rain after a drought!

The thunder never ceased, until finally a huge gap broke open in the sky, and a torrential downpour poured down at once.

The heavy rain fell upon the flames, producing a continual sizzling sound.

"It's raining!"

"Finally, it's raining!"

Qian Qixue let out a hoarse shout, tears mixing with rain as they fell; this time they were not evaporated by the heat, their protective gear soaked through, and they were completely drenched.

But everyone was overjoyed, dancing with hands and feet in the rain.

"Great, we're saved!"

In the pouring rain, the group was as happy as children.

Although it couldn't be certain whether this downpour could extinguish the mountain fire, at least their lives were spared.

The mountain fire that had been spreading was now checked by the rain and was gradually receding.

Qian Qixue wiped his tears and said, "Come on, let's leave quickly; there are more important things waiting for us to do!"

The group nodded; this heavy rain brought hope to everyone.

At this moment, the villagers at the mountain base were preparing to leave by vehicle.

Hu Xiaocao, however, stopped in her tracks.

Finally, she reluctantly glanced at the mountaintop.

The village chief urged, "Xiaocao, don't look; let's hurry, we can't waste time."

Hu Xiaocao was about to withdraw her gaze when her eyes suddenly lit up, "Grandfather Mountain God has shown his spirit!"

Everyone else followed her gaze and saw that the previously clear sky had suddenly become overcast with dark clouds.

Without any warning, the sky darkened, followed by continuous rumbling thunder that made the ground feel as if it were shaking.

Immediately after, a torrential downpour followed in succession.

(End of chapter)