It was Gu Zheng!
How did Gu Zheng come down too!
Could it be that he was brought down by the rope around her waist?
Song Ning's heart tightened, and she quickly reached out to grab the protruding rock, steadying both their bodies.
The log paused for only a moment before being swept away by the rapidly flowing water, its mission successfully completed.
At this moment, Gu Zheng also reached out and grabbed the trees on the bank, put an arm around Song Ning's waist with one hand, and pulled her out of the torrent.
When they climbed ashore, both panting, they were utterly exhausted.
After catching their breath, Song Ning reached out and pushed Gu Zheng beside her...
"Commander Gu! Gu Zheng! How are you?"
The current was so strong just now, he rushed down so quickly, and he bore the weight of two people when he hit the rocks...
Gu Zheng took a moment to open his eyes and said to Song Ning, looking a bit exhausted:
"Not bad! Little Doctor Song! You dared to jump into a mudslide! You really give me 'surprises' again and again!"
Song Ning said, "It happened suddenly, I had no choice but to jump! But how did you get down here? I remember the rope broke!"
Gu Zheng closed his eyes again to recover for a moment, then curved his lips into a smile and said, "I said, no matter what the situation, I would hold onto you! Young Master... I keep my word!"
Song Ning felt that Gu Zheng's state was not quite right, and said to him, "No! Let me check your back, are you injured?"
Gu Zheng, however, pushed himself up from the ground and pulled Song Ning, saying, "It's raining too hard! Let's find a place to shelter from the rain first!"
The rain was indeed too heavy, striking their eyes so hard they could barely open them.
Song Ning and Gu Zheng supported each other and walked for over a mile, finding a place where the cliff face jutted out diagonally, with a cave underneath. They crawled inside.
As they walked this path, Song Ning increasingly felt that Gu Zheng's body was not quite right.
She didn't ask further, but quickly gathered dry grass and firewood from the cave to start a fire first, to prevent them from getting hypothermia.
Gu Zheng leaned against the mountain wall, watching Song Ning busy herself, and called out with a smile:
"Doctor Comrade! Let me report to you first! I do have a box of matches on me, but it's already soaked!"
Song Ning was stunned. That's right! Not to mention she didn't have any matches on her at all, even if she did, she wouldn't have been able to keep them dry!
She looked at the first aid kit on her body. When she saved Tie Dan just now, she had only taken out the two heavy bottles of glucose; the bag was still on her back.
The commonly used medicines inside were wrapped tightly in two or three layers of plastic bags for fear of rain, so they hadn't gotten wet.
Song Ning checked the medicines and her brow relaxed.
Then she clapped her hands together and said to Gu Zheng, "Alright! Comrade Regiment Commander, who looks a bit dispirited, please perk up a little. Let this doctor perform a magic trick for you!"
As she spoke, she poured some black-red powder from a kraft paper medicine bag onto a stone in front of her.
Gu Zheng recognized it as potassium permanganate, used for disinfection and sterilization, which they soldiers also carried.
Then he saw her take out another round, sealed plastic bottle with a long nozzle.
Gu Zheng felt that this thing looked familiar, but he couldn't recall what it was used for at the moment.
Song Ning used small scissors to cut open the plastic nozzle and said to Gu Zheng, "Comrade, please don't blink! The moment to witness a miracle has arrived!"
After speaking, she squeezed the liquid from the plastic bottle onto the potassium permanganate powder—
With a "sizzle—" sound, a cluster of golden-purple sparks immediately shot up from the powder, and then it actually began to burn, shining with a brilliant hue in the dimly lit cave.
Song Ning picked up the dry grass she had prepared and lit it without haste.
Then she turned and ignited the piled firewood. The flames grew larger and larger, and the bonfire was successfully lit.
Gu Zheng was truly stunned!
He hadn't blinked!
He stared blankly at Song Ning by the bonfire, the firelight casting a yellow halo that illuminated her profile on the mountain wall, her features soft and beautiful.
The firelight flickered, blurring the girl in front of him.
"How was it! Comrade... See... the fire is lit! Isn't it... magical..."
Gu Zheng blinked hard. He saw the girl seemed to be smiling at him, and her smile was very warm...
It was just that her voice... sounded... more and more distant...
Finally, his vision went black, and he fainted.
After Song Ning started the fire, she had wanted to show off a bit, but found Gu Zheng's head tilt, and he had actually fainted.
She hastily dropped the firewood, moved Gu Zheng closer to the fire, and carefully examined him—
Only then did she discover that the back of his head had been injured, and not lightly. The back of his clothes was stained with blood.
It was raining heavily then, and even though she was supporting him, she hadn't felt it at all.
Song Ning's heart sank. An injury to the back of the head could have unpredictable consequences...
She quickly took off Gu Zheng's outer garment, moved him as close to the fire as possible, and then carefully took his pulse.
Judging by his pulse, his body showed no other immediate signs besides fatigue and exhaustion.
The blood from the wound had already clotted, but to be safe, Song Ning still carefully disinfected and cleaned it, and bandaged it with gauze.
Then, still worried, she inserted needles into several acupoints on his head that cleared the senses, hoping there wouldn't be any blood clots or similar issues.
After Gu Zheng's breathing had completely stabilized, Song Ning unbuttoned his collar and checked his back—
Indeed, there was a large area of bruising.
It was from hitting the rocks.
The mountain rocks had broken the rope that was pulling her, and Gu Zheng had jumped down, grabbed the broken end of the rope, and tied it to his waist. However, the water flow was too fast, and he had been looking for an opportunity...
Until they were near the cliff, he tightened the rope around her waist and sped up to shield her, acting as a buffer before she hit the rocks.
The speed at which he rushed down, combined with the speed of the water and the weight of two people, subjected him to an impact force several times greater than his body could withstand.
Therefore, she was genuinely worried. The injury on his back could heal, but what if his head was injured...
What if he became foolish?
He was a Regiment Commander!
How would she compensate?
Gu Zheng remained unconscious. Song Ning, feeling uneasy, checked his pulse several times. His temperature was normal, and his pulse was also normal.
She figured he probably hadn't had a good rest since the disaster began.
Let's think optimistically!
Maybe he would recover after a good night's sleep!
Given the situation today... if she hadn't jumped, Tie Dan would definitely have been lost!
She saved Tie Dan, and Gu Zheng saved her—
The army and the people are one family!
It was worth it for both of them to jump!
So, let's not engage in internal strife!
Song Ning then added more firewood to the bonfire and also drifted off to sleep, feeling groggy.
When she woke up again, the bonfire was almost extinguished.
Their outerwear, which had been placed by the fire, was already dry.
Outside the cave, the sound of rain had not stopped, and the sky was still overcast, as if it would never brighten.
Song Ning added firewood to the bonfire and glanced at Gu Zheng, who was still sleeping soundly. She felt his forehead; fortunately, he didn't have a fever.
She then lifted his sleeve to check his watch. Indeed, it was already two in the afternoon.
However, before she could pull her hand back, Gu Zheng's hand grasped it.
Song Ning looked up. Gu Zheng had indeed woken up—
He was staring straight at her!
"Gu Zheng, you're awake! Do you... do you still recognize me?"
She had originally wanted to ask if his head felt uncomfortable, but perhaps because she had been worried he'd been concussed, she got nervous and asked the wrong question.
Just as she was thinking Gu Zheng might laugh at her, she heard the person opposite her earnestly ask her back:
"G-girl! Who are you? How did I get here?"
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