Chapter 622 - 637: Rescue

An Ning descended from Stone Mountain, untied the hovercraft, got on, and sped away.

Lin Cuihua raised a hand as if to wave but didn’t dare say anything, afraid of being a burden to An Ning. She could only pray to her ancestors for the safe return of the three.

After leaving, An Ning piloted the craft, relying on her spiritual power to navigate.

She wasn’t just watching the surface; she had to be even more careful of what was underneath.

Submerged trees, rocks, rooftops, and telephone poles could all potentially tear the hovercraft.

Her two older brothers used wooden poles to constantly probe the water ahead, just to make An Ning’s passage a little smoother.

"Little Sis, slow down."

"I know, Big Bro."

An Guoqing had come along. Besides An Ning, he was considered the best fighter in the village.

"Hey, doesn’t that look like our fridge?"

An Guoqing watched a silver-gray refrigerator float by on the water’s surface. At first, he just thought it looked similar, but when it drifted closer, he grabbed it with one hand and opened it. It wasn’t just similar—it was theirs.

"It really is ours! Aren’t these the leftover dumplings from yesterday morning?"

An Ning, controlling the craft, spoke up. "Big Bro, check if there’s anything that hasn’t been waterlogged. Take it out so we can bring it back for everyone."

"Alright!"

An Guoqing and An Guohui from Uncle An’s family clung to the refrigerator, taking out everything salvageable from inside.

But after they had taken everything, An Guoqing’s hand still hadn’t let go.

An Ning didn’t rush him. Anyone would feel a pang of heartache—it wasn’t a matter of money.

"Let’s go."

An Guoqing closed his eyes and let go, not daring to look back. His heart ached.

An Guohui patted An Guoqing’s back without a word. He felt the same pain.

Along the way, many things floated by on the murky water, but aside from some food, the three of them took nothing else.

Gradually, they left Shili Gou and reached the area that was all farmland.

But there were no crops to be seen. A whole year of hard work, and just when the autumn harvest was approaching, the crops were submerged.

An Guoqing pointed in one direction. "That’s our family’s cornfield. Over there are the peanuts, and over there is the greenhouse..."

An Guoqing’s voice trailed off. He urged An Ning, "Little Sis, let’s just go faster."

He couldn’t bear to look anymore.

He had worked every inch of this land. He knew it better than the back of his hand, and the pain in his heart was just as profound.

"Yeah."

An Ning responded with a low "Yeah" and pushed the throttle, continuing forward.

"Big Bro, a pig!"

A large, fat pig was floating down from upstream, and it was moving pretty fast.

"Da Hua!"

An Guoqing recognized it in a single glance. He knew every pig in the pigsty and had even painstakingly taught them to recognize numbers every day, all because he’d heard that if a pig was in a good mood, its meat would taste better.

As Da Hua floated past their boat, An Guoqing remained outwardly stoic.

"Go on, then. Whoever’s house you float to, you’re theirs. Just consider it as if we’d already butchered and eaten you."

The hovercraft pressed on. Following the route from memory, the three of them stumbled their way into town.

As soon as they reached the town, they could hear people calling for help, shouting to be saved.

An Ning steered the craft toward the voices and first saw four people trapped on a rooftop.

"Hey—save us!"

"Help!"

An Ning piloted the craft over and successfully rescued three adults and one child from the rooftop.

The family of four had been standing on the roof for hours. None of them could swim. As they watched the water level rise inch by inch, they had even said their final goodbyes to each other.

The arrival of An Ning and the others was nothing short of a miracle.

"Thank you, thank you."

"Thank you so much. This old woman will kowtow to you."

"Ma’am, please get up quickly. We can’t have people moving around on the boat, it’ll capsize."

The single word "capsize" was enough to make everyone sit still.

An Ning’s spiritual power enveloped the entire town. She found a high point and took the four people there.

"You should wait for rescue here. We still have to go save those in low-lying houses."

Before them was the town’s government building. It was four stories high, with the water reaching the second floor, leaving space above.

With the help of the staff inside, the family of four disembarked and waited inside the building.

An Ning gave the food they had collected to the people there, then prepared to set out and rescue more people.

"Be careful, young lady!"

"Take it slow!"

People kept calling out warnings. They knew An Ning was only out rescuing people because her family happened to have a boat.

"What a good person."

"A truly great person."

Amid the chorus of "be careful" and "good person," An Ning continued piloting the craft through the town, searching for people in low-lying, dangerous areas and moving them one by one to higher ground.

While transferring people, she also did her best to collect any usable supplies.

Clean food and water, disinfectant—anything useful was gathered.

Before long, others joined the rescue effort on homemade bamboo rafts.

Bamboo rafts, small boats, large pieces of foam—anything that could float was spontaneously put to use by the public for self-rescue.

There was no rioting, no display of humanity’s uglier side. Everyone shared a single thought: the People’s Liberation Army would come.

It was only a matter of time, but they would definitely come.

No one ever doubted this.

Gradually, people began to find moments of joy amidst the hardship.

Some people, as if on a treasure hunt, would cheer with delight upon finding a case of clean water. The joy was contagious. Although the situation was bitter, there were moments of sweetness.

The town’s leaders were all on the front lines, leading by example.

The town’s police, firefighters, and doctors had been busy since the very beginning.

An Ning’s boat was the largest, so she was assigned to go to the hospital.

At the hospital, when the rain first started and the water levels began to rise, doctors and patients had worked together to move some patients to the highest floor, along with crucial medicines.

Fortunately, the town hospital had four floors, so it was temporarily safe.

An Ning went to the hospital and brought back a batch of medical supplies like disinfectants and anti-inflammatory drugs. She transferred them to a temporary shelter for disinfection work and also brought several doctors and nurses along.

While An Ning was busy, a helicopter arrived over Shili Gou.

But when the people from the helicopter disembarked, the person they were looking for, An Ning, wasn’t there.

They learned that An Ning had gone to join the rescue effort and were filled with deep respect. However, their mission remained unchanged: they still had to find An Ning and ensure her safety.

The helicopter took off and made contact.

Soon, An Ning’s phone rang.

"Hello? What—I’m not leaving. This is my hometown. I’m not going."

"I have more right to stay here than anyone. My abilities are the very reason I should stay."

An Ning’s determination left the person on the other end helpless.

A final "Fine" on the other end was all she needed before hanging up.

She looked out at the vast expanse of water. ’They’ll be here soon.’

She knew, or at least could guess, that help would likely arrive here first.

But An Ning wasn’t done yet. She picked up her phone and made calls to An Guoming and Yu Zheng.

Supplies were on the way.