Chapter 12
Catastrophe
Liu Shi dug at the snow with all her might. The other members of the Wang Family were also a little afraid when they saw such a thick layer of snow. The child was so small. Could she be saved if she was buried in?
The child’s footprints had stopped here and completely disappeared. Other than being buried, there was no other guess.
While the other villagers were still hesitating, Wang Chuanman had already turned around and left.
Wang Chuanfu pulled him back. “Where are you going?”
Wang Chuanman’s voice was devoid of emotion. He only said gloomily, “I’m going back to bring the hoe. My daughter is still inside!”
Village Chief Hu stood aside and watched for a while before turning around as well, planning to go back and get his things.
The village chief’s wife was covered in thick clothes and holding a sickle, a hoe, and a dustpan. She seemed to be in a hurry.
“Husband, this is for you!” The village chief’s wife threw a hoe at the village chief and threw a sickle at her eldest son beside her. “You go too. The weather is freezing. The torch won’t last for long. Don’t dawdle!”
After discovering that someone might have been buried inside, the village chief’s wife heard the commotion on the way and directly went back to take some tools.
She could not take too much. Her second son, eldest daughter-in-law, father-in-law, and mother-in-law were still behind.
They knew that at this time, it was dependent on the number of people. The more people there were, the faster they could dig. Only then could the people be saved.
However, the village chief would not ask others to help. They might not be willing to save a child on such a cold snowy day.
Instead, a woman who had run over at some point said, “We’re weak, so we built a few stacks of fires at the side to help everyone get rid of the cold.
The others also seemed to have woken up from a dream and spoke one after another.
“Yes, yes. Snow is not as cold as melted snow. It’ll be warmer with a fire here.”
“Those people who are still awake, call them out. There’s fire and torches here. It’s much warmer.”
“I’m worried about leaving the children at home. It’s impossible for them to go missing here. Let’s just call everyone over!”
Someone sighed. “Ai… The snake meat last night was really delicious. I’ve never eaten such delicious snake meat before.”
At this moment, the others who were still hesitating no longer hesitated.
They could not be ingrates.
All of them owed that child a favor.
Although the child had run out in the middle of the night, she only deserved a fierce scolding at most. This was not a reason to give up on the child’s life now.
The villagers were not born saints, but most people liked to make the same choice as the others.
As long as someone took the lead in something, the people behind would follow suit and not consider their own gains and losses.
Soon, the entire village arrived. A few large fires were built on the ground in the middle.
Some ignorant children thought it was some interesting activity.
After this night, it will be New Year’s Eve.
According to the rules, a bonfire had to be lit for the entire night. They were just doing it one night in advance.
The younger children ran around excitedly, unaware of what was happening.
The older children followed the adults and helped as much as they could.
Meatball could see everything outside clearly.
Even if it was just a white ball, it was still a little shocked.
These people would actually do so much for a relatively unfamiliar child.
This unbelievable matter had really happened!
[No wonder I saw you.]
Meatball muttered.
Ah Yu shouted for a long time, but Liu Shi did not hear her. She put down her hand and sat on the ground in disappointment.
[Look at you. Didn’t you cause trouble for everyone?]
Meatball wanted to scold Ah Yu, but it saw the child lowering her head, looking very sad.
Then, it saw tears flowing down her cheeks.
Because in the thermal cover, her tears did not freeze.
[Hey, don’t cry!]
However, her tears only flowed for a moment before she wiped them away and stood up again, her hands clenched into fists.
She patted her head with her other hand and said to herself, “Ah Yu, be good. Ah Yu, don’t cry.”
She turned and saw the lamb. Her lips parted, revealing white teeth. Her smile was forced.
“Ah Yu protected you… I’m very capable… I’m not trash…”
“Ah Yu can still find Mother…”
She muttered and went to dig at the snow again.
The lamb was still digging in the same spot. After an unknown period of time, it removed the snow and saw the ground.
The little lamb saw that Ah Yu was still digging and let out a “baa” sound. Then, its four hooves stomped around.
However, the ground that had been frozen by the snow was too hard. The little lamb was also stubborn. It relied on the strength given by the Myriad Spirit Water to dig through the soil bit by bit.
As it dug, its two hoofs missed and it fell into a pit that suddenly appeared.
There was a hole in the pit. It turned to the left and stretched to an unknown place.
“Baa ~ ~ ~”
“Little lamb, don’t be lazy. Dig.” Ah Yu said as she carried it on her back.
The lamb bleated a few more times and saw that Little Ah Yu was sticking out her butt and ignoring it.
It took a few steps back and lowered its head.
The lamb charged—
It nudged Little Ah Yu’s little butt.
Ah Yu did not notice and plunged into the snow.
When she pulled her head out, she saw the hole.
“Little lamb!” Little Ah Yu was furious, but when she saw the hole, she was shocked. “What is this?”
She had never seen it before.
From the looks of it, the hole was hidden in the cracks of the stone and was usually covered up.
Because the position of the gap was relatively strange, and Ah Yu and the little sheep were very small, the two of them could fit in.
If she had the physique of a three-year-old child, she would not be able to enter at all.
The other children in the village could not even enter when they were one or two years old.
The man in black was even stranger. When he fell, the avalanche was mixed with ice for some reason. When it smashed down, it moved the huge rocks away and sent him in.
The hole looked even more obvious.
Usually, if everyone turned their heads to look, they would only think that there was a small rat hole in this gap.
The rock was too big, and the gap was relatively deep. It would produce an effect of camouflage.
Who would care about a big rock in the village?
Ah Yu looked inside curiously.
Then, she retreated in fear.
Ah, it was so dark inside!
Because of the sudden appearance of the hole, Ah Yu completely forgot that she was still thinking about her mother and was directly attracted by the hole.
She wanted to take a look.
[Stop moving, child. If you move again, I really won’t be able to save you if something happens!]
Now, his energy was almost exhausted.
Meatball’s senses were not completely all-rounded. It could only sense that the hole was a little deep and there were no signs of danger.
[You’d better not go down. Wait for Mother.]
At this, Ah Yu finally heard Meatball speak. She blinked. “Mother?”
At this moment, the people outside had already been digging for four hours. No one dared to use much strength, afraid that the child would be cut into two.
In four hours, hundreds of farmers dug and transported the snow away. Half of the mountain’s snow had been piled at the bottom, and a large area had been cleared out.
Liu Shi had never stopped shouting Ah Yu’s name. Now, her voice was even hoarse.
“Ah Yu!”
“Ah Yu!”
When Little Ah Yu heard this, her eyes lit up.
This time, she heard her mother’s voice.
“Mother! Mother!” Ah Yu was not cold, so her voice was obvious in the night.
Everyone vaguely heard the child’s voice and were in disbelief.
She was really here! The child was still alive!
Wang Chuanman, who was originally in despair from digging, was already in a numb state. When he heard Little Ah Yu’s answer, he immediately perked up.
“Ah Yu, don’t be afraid. Father is here. Father is here to bring you home!” Wang Chuanman shouted. “Father is here!”
Little Ah Yu’s voice paused for a moment before she opened her little hand and curled it into a loudspeaker. “Father—”
Everyone hurriedly put down the tools in their hands and began to dig with their bare hands.
The child’s voice was so close. She must be very near. They definitely could not use any tools. What if they injured her?
They had been busy this entire time. There was even a skillful wife who made a huge pot of ginger snake soup. Everyone did not feel cold after drinking it and was immediately filled with energy.
Just as everyone dug up the huge rock and pried open the snow in the gap, they suddenly heard a huge rumbling sound.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom!
The sound was fast and anxious, even more terrifying than thunder.
For more than 15 minutes, no one dared to move. They were all scared silly.
An experienced old man’s face turned pale. “This is a snow avalanche!”
Moreover, from the sound of it, it was very extraordinary!
Everyone had heard the sound of the avalanche. Half of the mountain’s snow had fallen.
Now that it was so loud, could it be—
No one dared to think too much.
“Continue digging!” Village Chief Hu gritted his teeth.
There were also young people who moved fast and ran a few steps away. They wanted to take a look at the situation and returned after a few steps.
A shaky voice said, “Snow—snow—”
Village Chief Hu scolded sternly, “Speak properly!”
“The snow has collapsed and our entire village has been buried!”
After a day and a night of heavy snow, coupled with more than a month accumulated snow, the shoulders of the surrounding mountains could not withstand the pressure and finally collapsed.
The houses of the various families in Hu Family Village were all buried.
Madam Ma’s face turned pale. She instantly turned around and ran in the direction of the Wang Family. “Husband!”