In fact, sometimes Mother Nature is not so understanding. People hadn’t been happy for long before the rain started pouring again just as Ling Chengyan and her team arrived at the riverbank.

The rain was heavy, relentless, as if the heavens had a hole punched through, spilling river waters from the sky.

Ling Chengyan led the special training team members out of the car, the pouring rain hitting them hard, making it difficult to keep their eyes open.

At Ling Chengyan’s command, the team members moved in small groups, each member’s waist securely connected with safety ropes to prevent them from slipping and falling into the river.

Where they got out of the car, the riverbank was relatively stable, with no signs of flooding.

In the darkness and rain, there were specks of lights - the night lamps of the people defending the dike and performing rescue operations.

The long, winding lights indicated that there were quite a lot of people on the riverbank.

The person assigned to receive them also followed, and as soon as he got out of the car, he ran towards the lights to report and consult, to arrange tasks for Ling Chengyan’s special training team.

The small teams tied ropes, organized their formations, while Ling Chengyan followed the liaison officer towards the lights.

They didn’t walk too far before the lights became clearer, along with the sounds of chattering people and the rumble of diesel generators. As Ling Chengyan walked, she assessed that there were at least 500 people on the dike.

Ling Chengyan turned on the special spotlight torch in her hand, the light falling inside the riverbank, revealing the river water which, though muddy, appeared calm and not at all dangerous.

However, these seemingly calm and harmless waters had flooded over the dike a day before, submerging 21 villages and a town, affecting more than 60,000 people.

Ling Chengyan and her team received their task, assigned to the rear to transport sandbags up to the dike.

The work was tiring, but as it was further back from the emergency point, provided they didn’t slip into the river, it wasn’t too dangerous.

The rain made it hard to open their eyes, but Ling Chengyan continued leading the team back and forth, moving sandbags. Once on the dike, someone took over and orderly lined the bags to reinforce and heighten it.

Sandbag stacking began in opposing directions; initially, the water flowing over the dike wasn’t too strong, making the sandbag stacking relatively easy and smooth. However, as they reached the closing spots, the overflow was forced through narrower channels, the water becoming more impatient and violent, sweeping away the sandbags as soon as they were placed.

Ling Chengyan and her team were transporting sandbags when they suddenly heard a commotion up ahead. Many people ran towards the closing point of the dike. She caught a critical phrase: someone fell into the water!

Before Ling Chengyan could react, a few special training team members closer to the scene dropped their sandbags and rushed over. The tallest among them was Zhang Wanxiang, someone she was most familiar with, since she brought him from the village.

Ling Chengyan instinctively quickened her pace, dropping her sandbags, and hurried towards the breach, only to see Zhang Wanxiang and several special training team members jumping into the water. She halted at the edge and had just enough time to shout, "Be careful."

With that shout, the five who had just jumped into the water were swept far away by the swift current, no one able to respond.

A wave of dizziness hit Ling Chengyan, but in an instant, she untied the rescue rope coiled on her waist, knotted and threw it in one fluid motion, accurately looping around the last team member in the water.

"Grab the safety rope!" She shouted forcefully. The team member had good swimming skills and was quick to act, even without responding, using the current to lunge forward and help his comrades grasp the safety rope.

Other team members rushed over, but due to limited space on the dike, only a few managed to squeeze in.

Li Ming and Xiang Yuhong arrived quickest. Li Ming, quick-witted, turned back, instructing comrades to untie their safety ropes, connecting them into two extra-long ones, fastening one to him and the other to Xiang Yuhong’s waist.

"Captain, let us go down too."

Ling Chengyan, while consulting with local personnel, concluded that the water was too strong for sandbags alone to be effective. First, wooden stakes should be driven to provide a fixed barrier, with sandbags then stacked in front to quickly secure the dike and block the floodwaters.

The locals deliberated; stakes were available but in limited supply.

Just then, Ling Chengyan heard Li Ming and Xiang Yuhong’s request. She looked at the extended safety ropes on their waists and nodded.

With safety ropes secured, Li Ming and Xiang Yuhong jumped into the water but were still tossed around by the current. Luckily, both had good swimming skills and flowed along with the current, reaching their comrades who had jumped in earlier.

Zhang Wanxiang, strong and a good swimmer, was the first in the water, covering the farthest distance, catching hold of two people, while the other team members were holding onto three.

Among these five, one was the initial accidental fall, with four others jumping in for the rescue. They wore life jackets, but the swift current and overwhelming force rendered the jackets nearly useless. By the time they were pulled back to the dike by safety ropes, two were severely waterlogged and unconscious.

They were quickly loaded onto vehicles and rushed to the hospital. Ling Chengyan checked Zhang Wanxiang and the others, finding two had swallowed water, coughing and having difficulty breathing. Zhang Wanxiang was instructed to take the two for medical examination.

Amidst the chaos here, local personnel had organized a downstream search for the two yet unaccounted individuals. One slipped away downstream; according to witnesses, they wore a life jacket, increasing their chances of survival.

Ling Chengyan also dispatched two teams to aid in the search and rescue.

While saving lives, wooden stakes and bamboo poles were being urgently transported to the dike, everyone working together to secure these into the water.

However, the stakes and poles couldn’t penetrate the riverbed as the current was too fast and strong, making it impossible to secure them in place.

Gazing at the turbulent, muddy waters, Ling Chengyan suddenly turned and called out, "First team, bring the sandbags!"

Then, to the shock of the local personnel, a team of special training members swiftly and systematically fastened the sandbags meant for the dike to their legs and waists. Each person tied two sandbags to their thighs and calves and at least four to their waists, carrying at least eight sandbags each!

With each sandbag weighing ten kilograms, each person carried at least eighty kilograms!

Even the strongest-built Zhang Wanxiang from the training team weighed only seventy-six kilograms, and these men were each carrying a load equivalent to carrying a Zhang Wanxiang on their backs!