Chapter 35 Clearing the Remaining Poison, The Young Man’s Thin Lips Are Soft and Warm, Tasting Even More…

“Jiu Jiu!”

As she watched that frost-colored silhouette continuously falling into the pitch-black hole along with the collapsing soil, Li Ruantang’s heart almost stopped beating in her chest.

She leaped forward without hesitation, jumping down after him. Despite Wei Dan and others’ desperate attempts to stop her, they only managed to tear off a piece of her sleeve.

Wei Dan had seen many such scenes with Li Ruantang. She collected herself a little and instructed in a low voice, “Quick! Some of you follow me down, the rest find some vines to make rope for support.”

No one could be sure what the situation was like at the bottom of this hole. Especially since the soil in this area of the mountain was extremely soft, and it was two young men who had fallen down.

Wei Dan took a deep breath, feeling anxious for Li Ruantang who had gone down first.

Everything happened so quickly. By the time Hu Sanniang and Zhou Fulang arrived out of breath, the group of dark figures that had just been gathered together had already scattered in an orderly manner.

Hu Sanniang had been here with Li Ruantang just a few days ago. Although it had been raining continuously at that time, the surroundings were bare, with few saplings to be seen.

Now that Li Ruantang had gone down to rescue, with so many people following, she shouldn’t intentionally leave Ning’er behind.

Hu Sanniang crouched down, carefully examining the soil around the hole.

She knew the conditions of Long Gully better than anyone present. This part of the mountain was the main site of the mountain blasting back then. The mountain had collapsed, with countless visible and hidden holes. Plus, the mudslide from two days ago had covered up quite a few.

Therefore, some places felt soft when stepped on, but one couldn’t stay there for long. When leading the way today, she had already avoided many such spots based on her memory, but unexpectedly…

Hu Sanniang silently sighed, her peripheral vision sweeping over her anxious husband, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

She inconspicuously grabbed a handful of soil with her hand. Zhou Fulang’s face immediately turned pale, and he hurriedly covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, putting on a sorrowful and worried expression.

His heart was pounding, afraid that Hu Sanniang might notice something. Before she could speak, Zhou Fulang’s tears rolled down, and he suddenly burst into pitiful sobs.

“What’s the use of crying at a time like this!” Hu Sanniang was so annoyed that she wanted to ask what exactly this father and son were trying to do, but she couldn’t say much.

Fortunately, there was no one around at the moment. Hu Sanniang carefully used her foot to push the soil of different colors quietly into the pitch-black hole.

She bent down and craned her neck to look down a few times, but felt relieved in her heart. Since it was man-made, there shouldn’t be any major issues, at most they might have sore bottoms from the fall.

She had just comforted herself with this thought when a series of sounds came from inside the hole.

Boom—

In the pitch-black hole, the sudden fall of rocks startled several people who were squatting, causing them to fall on their bottoms. The young man who had not yet steadied himself broke out in a cold sweat. He instinctively grasped A’Ning’s hand beside him, firmly shielding him behind himself.

Along with the heavy sound, dust also flew up.

Meng Jun covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, coughing several times. When there was no more movement in the hole, he carefully helped the still weak-legged Hu Youning sit down nearby.

After being in the darkness for a while, their vision became clearer.

The young man first felt A’Ning’s forehead, and seeing that he was no longer feverish, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The two of them had fallen suddenly just now, and then slid down a bit further.

Hu Youning’s clothes, which had not been properly fastened before, were now in an even more miserable state. Not only was his undergarment covered in dirt, but it also had tears.

He was still weak, taking one long breath, one short. Those smiling eyes quietly looked at the young man who was frowning in thought, and he spoke softly, “Jiu Jiu.”

Hu Youning’s voice was still a bit hoarse, that bit of guilt hidden by the slightly deep tone, leaving only curiosity, “You…”

He seemed to find it difficult to ask, hesitating for a long while before saying, “Why didn’t you run just now?”

After all, at that moment, he had pushed the man in front of him away first thing.

Yes, Hu Youning admitted that he had indeed planned for Lady Li to come to the rescue, but he had never intended to involve Jiu Jiu as well.

Moreover, if something were to happen to Jiu Jiu because of this, even if his scheme succeeded, Lady Li would never show him a kind face again.

He didn’t want to replace him, he just wanted to use this opportunity to gain a bit of her tenderness.

But now, the young man had fallen down too in order to save him.

Everything had gone awry.

Hu Youning’s thoughts were in turmoil, but he was also curious as to why Jiu Jiu would still save him.

After all, not long ago, the young man had clearly and righteously told him that even if he secretly liked Li Ruantang, he would mind.

If their positions were reversed, Hu Youning silently bit his lip, he would probably have stood by and done nothing.

“A’Ning, what are you saying?” The young man sitting nearby rubbed his arm that was sore from the fall, and reached out to undo his outer robe and drape it over Hu Youning’s shoulders. “You’re my friend. If a friend is in trouble and I ran away, wouldn’t that be disloyal!”

He spoke naturally, and Hu Youning was stunned, unconsciously pulling the frost-colored robe tighter around himself.

Meng Jun tied the robe for him and then admonished, “Here, wear this robe for now. It’s damp in the hole, don’t catch a cold again.”

“I think I saw wife-master jump down too just now.”

The young man tentatively moved his feet towards the rocks blocking their way in front. Once his footing was steady, he turned back to comfort the obviously distracted Hu Youning, “Don’t worry, wife-master will surely find a way to rescue us.”

“Wife…” Hu Youning lowered his head, the corner of his mouth twitching somewhat self-mockingly, “With these big rocks blocking the way, what method could Lady Li possibly have?”

“There will definitely be a way.” The young man was very optimistic. He seriously measured the rocks, then tilted his head to peek through the gaps between the cave wall and the rocks, “Wife-master is very clever. When she was young, she became Su Daren’s closed-door disciple, and in all these years, she has never lost a battle.”

“You mean, Lady Li is General Li?” Hu Youning was startled and blurted out.

“Mm.” The young man turned back to look at him in surprise, the man in front of him with an uncertain expression.