Ling Chengyan glanced quickly at the yellow dog and soothed it with a word, "Be good."

As soon as she spoke, she tore the little boy clinging tightly to a tree branch off, shook open the strap of a luggage bag and securely tied the boy to her back.

After finishing, she stepped down the tree using a makeshift bamboo ladder, re-entered the water, shook the bamboo pole grasped in her hand, and called back, "Let’s go!"

The yellow dog whimpered twice, looked down at the floodwaters under the tree, then looked back at its hind legs, and whimpered again softly.

Seeing this, Ling Chengyan took notice and finally saw that one of its hind legs was injured. Since it was submerged, there was no bleeding, but a closer look revealed the yellow fur was rolled back, and the wound inside was pale from water exposure.

Ling Chengyan frowned; she wasn’t a veterinarian and had never treated cats or dogs, but she had seen many people injured. Surface wounds are worrying due to potential tendon or bone injuries, continuous bleeding, and thirdly, the risk of infection. Being submerged in floodwaters mixed with various debris and silt significantly increases the probability of infection.

This dog was so severely injured it couldn’t swim away on its own anymore, and she couldn’t carry both a person and a dog...

Quickly turning her thoughts, the big yellow head craned its neck, seemingly glancing at the little boy behind Ling Chengyan, then it whimpered softly again, turned its head, and lay down on the branch, ignoring them.

The expression and action seemed to say: Go ahead and take him, don’t worry about me.

Ling Chengyan felt a sudden pang of sorrow in her heart, sighed, and as she turned her head, she happened to see a large tree branch drifting on the other side of the big tree, complete with branches and leaves.

She reached out and pulled it over, tying it quickly onto the end of the bamboo ladder, then called out loudly to Big Yellow, "Let’s go, come along!"

Big Yellow appeared disbelief as it looked down, saw Ling Chengyan pointing to the makeshift raft made of branches, hesitated slightly, then actually jumped off the tree: Splash!

Water splashed everywhere, and Ling Chengyan stepped forward two strides, reached out to grip the yellow dog, and with its effort, it scrambled onto the slightly crooked raft made of branches.

With the yellow dog being so perceptive, Ling Chengyan didn’t fear it biting, so she patted it to settle down, then turned around to head back the way she came.

Although it seemed like a long story, Ling Chengyan had only been gone for half an hour. When she returned to the village entrance, the rescue team entering the village had not yet returned.

Only the team staying behind to set up a temporary rescue tent was busy. The tent had already been erected, and the members were searching for templates, bamboo, and other materials to construct a temporary platform inside, providing the rescued residents and team members a short rest and shelter.

The site for setting up the tent was on a green stone platform at the village entrance, elevated, making it the shallowest water area amid the flood, just above the foot.

Ling Chengyan first carried the little boy into the tent, then went back and dragged the yellow dog up, placing it inside the tent next to the little boy, nestled on a newly assembled bamboo cot.

"Captain, saved a dog too, huh!" Feng Jianshe, leading the tent setup, smiled and said.

Ling Chengyan nodded, checking the little boy’s condition while saying, "It was with the child, seems like it saved the kid."

Feng Jianshe’s smile faded slightly, and the other team members hearing this couldn’t help feeling emotional: Dogs are the most loyal, sometimes stronger than humans.

Ling Chengyan ignored the team members’ sentiments, checked the little boy’s condition, ensuring he did not have major wounds, with only minor cuts and scrapes. The priority now was to remove the child’s wet clothes and dry him to keep warm.

With experience in child care, Ling Chengyan swiftly removed the boy’s wet clothes and fetched a garment from the soldiers’ backpack to cover the child.

Once she finished attending to the child, she finally had time to assess the yellow dog’s injury.

The dog’s injuries were quite serious, with a large gash on a hind leg, though a bone fracture wasn’t yet certain.

Despite how human-like the dog seemed, Ling Chengyan didn’t dare to touch it recklessly, worried it might bite if in pain.

She merely applied some wound medication to the yellow dog and placed a piece of compressed biscuit near its mouth.

The dog glanced at her, lay down, and didn’t eat.

Not eating, Ling Chengyan had no solution nor much time to manage it—the village search and rescue team was returning in succession.

Soon, the two makeshift tents were packed full with rescued men, women, old and young alike.

Those in charge of the reception lagged behind and hadn’t returned yet, so Ling Chengyan appointed a newcomer responsible for registering names, ages, and other details...

This busy period spanned two to three hours. Once the last team returned, confirming no more stranded villagers were left, Ling Chengyan met up with Comrade Li in charge of the reception and decided to evacuate immediately while still daylight.

Of course, before moving, everyone was given a piece of compressed biscuit.

Compressed biscuits can stave off hunger, but there was no drinking water—not a drop in sight despite being surrounded by a flooded landscape, as the waters were polluted and undrinkable.

Soon, the rescued villagers were divided into two groups; those whose health permitted walked with the team, while the remaining dozen or so elderly, children, and injured were transported on hastily constructed bamboo and wooden rafts, escorted by team members.

The yellow dog was placed by Ling Chengyan on one of the bamboo rafts, still kept together with the little boy.

On the way coming, they had crossed mountains for about three hours. Returning with a group of disaster victims, their pace was slower. Especially after leaving the water, the rafts were dismantled and used as stretchers, carrying the weak and injured slowed them even more.

As they approached the latter half of their journey, rounding a mountain, they could see the vehicles, but suddenly the scouts ahead ran back, "Captain, the mountain slope ahead is unstable, rocks are falling."

Hiss, sounds like a landslide happening!

Ling Chengyan turned to look, ordered the team to advance slowly, then sped up her own pace, surpassing the stretching convoy to examine the situation ahead.

Continuous heavy rain had loosened the soil on the slopes, easily leading to landslides or mudslides.

Ling Chengyan hurriedly arrived at the front, not waiting for the scouts to point out the location. She heard a rustling sound, looked up, and saw several stones suddenly rolling down from the top of the slope.

She raised her hand, signaling the two trailing team members to halt, watching the cascading stones rolling all the way down to the muddy water on the slope.

After waiting one or two minutes without further stone fall, Ling Chengyan signaled to two members to stop, then cautiously climbed up along the slope to assess the situation.

After days of rain soaking and scouring, the slope’s soil and gravel had become extremely loose, Ling Chengyan treaded lightly, yet her steps still caused sand and stones to rustle down.

After checking the situation, she raised her head to look at the emerald green bamboo forest hidden in the rain atop the slope, pondered briefly, and made her decision: "Have the team speed up and pass through quickly."

Those among them strong enough could endure a bit longer, but the elderly and wounded couldn’t endure much longer without food, drink, medicine, or medical care while being drenched by relentless rain. They needed to pass swiftly and relocate these individuals to safety immediately.