Qin Sang felt as if her throat was about to smoke; she was drenched in sweat inside her fireproof suit.
Fortunately, these dry trees had no leaves, which somewhat limited the spread of the fire.
She had soaked all the surrounding trees, temporarily containing the sea of fire to an area the size of a basketball court.
She didn't dare relax and continued adding water and powder to the Drones.
As long as no mountain wind blew, if things continued like this, the fire would be extinguished once these trees finished burning in about an hour or two.
"Mother? Mother, where are you?"
Qin Sang vaguely heard San Gui's voice, and Da Huang heard it too, immediately barking twice in the direction of the sound.
Oh no, her son had come looking for her.
She couldn't let him see these Drones.
Even more so, she couldn't let him discover her strange outfit.
Qin Sang hurriedly took off the gas mask and fireproof suit she was wearing and ran away from the fire.
"San Gui, Mother is here," Qin Sang shouted into the darkness.
Da Huang followed Qin Sang's lead and barked loudly:
"Woof, woof, woof..."
Before long, Tian Sangui ran over in a disheveled state. Seeing that Qin Sang was fine, Tian Sangui finally felt relieved:
"Mother, how could you risk your life for Da Huang? Do you know how worried your son was about you?"
Qin Sang glanced at the fire, then her gaze fell on her son. She couldn't blame him for his reproach; to others, it appeared she had refused to leave just to find Da Huang.
"I found Da Huang and was just about to head back to regroup with you all. Has everyone gone back to report? What about those refugees?"
Tian Sangui wiped the sweat from his face. With a smear of his already filthy hand, his face became an unrecognizable mess.
"They've all left. I told them to cut down trees to make firebreaks, find Caves, or even leave the mountains. There shouldn't be any major problems."
Qin Sang nodded:
"Then let's leave quickly too."
But Tian Sangui pulled her back:
"Mother, it's raining."
Qin Sang's heart skipped a beat:
"Where?"
Tian Sangui held out his palm and waited for a moment:
"Mother, try it. It's really raining."
Qin Sang had a bad premonition. Could it be that a Drone had gone out of control and sprayed water over here?
Qin Sang looked up, and the night sky was suddenly torn open by a bolt of lightning. Then came the sound of thunder, followed immediately by bean-sized raindrops crashing down.
By the faint light of the fire, Qin Sang saw the dirty marks on her son's face being washed away by the rain. His hair was also quickly soaked and plastered to his scalp, making him look quite unsightly.
But Qin Sang burst out laughing:
"San Gui, it's raining! It's really raining! Hahaha..."
Tian Sangui laughed along with Mother, but as he laughed, he began to cry:
"It's Mother! We waited until it rained. This fire won't be able to burn anymore. That's wonderful..."
Qin Sang's laughter gradually died down.
Seriously, she had thought the sweltering heat of the past few days was due to her nervousness. If she had known it would rain, why would she have wasted so many mall coins to buy so many firefighting Drones?
She had even exchanged for so much water, costing her over a hundred thousand.
But if she had to do it again, even if she knew it would rain today, she wouldn't have gambled on the rain actually falling.
Qin Sang, San Gui, and Da Huang stayed where they were, watching the fire nearby. From being suppressed, the flames gradually grew weaker until the area became a pitch-black charred mess.
Qin Sang's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled:
"Let's go. We're going home."
With Da Huang leading the way, Qin Sang wasn't worried about losing her way even without a torch.
The raindrops washed over her body, which had been parched for many days, bringing a sense of refreshment.
Their cloth shoes were also soaked through, but the two of them enjoyed the squelching sensation as they stepped down.
After walking for a good while, Qin Sang heard cheers. It was the refugees, and the people from Tianjia Village hadn't left either.
Everyone protected a few scattered torches, cheering and wailing in the heavy rain.
Some opened their mouths wide and gulped down the falling rain, like fish thrown into a desert, striving to open their mouths as wide as possible, wishing they could swallow all the rainwater.
Some stripped off their clothes and bathed joyfully in the heavy rain.
Qin Sang quickly looked away and walked toward Da Zhuang and Tian Yougen.
Everyone was beaming with joy. They had dealt with the Rebel Soldiers and waited for the rain—a double blessing.
"Da Zhuangs Mother, it's raining! We won't lack water anymore."
Seeing that Qin Sang was fine, everyone flocked toward her.
Qin Sang nodded:
"It's fine for everyone to be happy, but I'm afraid people will get sick from being out in the rain too long. Moreover, some people have injuries. Let's finish up here as quickly as possible and head back."
Tian Yougen nodded with a smile:
"Mm, I'll go arrange it right away."
Qin Sang saw the women and children who had been whipped with vines by Tian Hongmei; they were standing behind Qin Sang.
Tian Da Zhuang explained:
"Mother, when the fire started earlier, those refugees had places to go, but these women kept following us. Later, when they saw it was raining, they followed us back again."
As Da Zhuang's voice fell, these women, one by one, pulled the children beside them and knelt down:
"We beg you, please give us widows and orphans a way to survive."
Seeing them prostrating in the rain, Qin Sang hurriedly went over to help them up:
"Don't worry, everyone. It's raining now. Heaven never cuts off all paths; there will be a way."
Qin Sang understood that these women and children had nowhere else to go, which was why they were clinging to them as a lifesaver.
They might not even be from the same village, and the other refugee camps might not necessarily have rations to spare for them.
Qin Sang said to Da Zhuang:
"Find a few villagers to take them to the Cave we used for trading earlier. Let them settle down there first."
"That Cave is large enough for them to stay in for now."
The women were about to kneel again, but Qin Sang stopped them:
"You all have injuries; don't stay out in the rain any longer."
Qin Sang looked at Er Fu: "Take your junior sisters to help them apply medicine. Everything is fine here."
"Yes, Mother."
Dealing with those Rebel Soldiers had gone surprisingly smoothly. None of the refugees were injured, and now that the initial excitement had passed, everyone was busy scavenging items from the bodies of the Rebel Soldiers.
The rain continued to fall, as if it wanted to pour out all the rain accumulated over the past few months at once, falling urgently and fiercely.
At first, everyone was overjoyed by the rain, but after being in it for a long time, they couldn't help but wrap the clothes scavenged from the Rebel Soldiers around their heads and bodies.
Seeing Qin Sang still standing there in the rain, Tian Yougen walked over and said:
"Da Zhuangs Mother, we can keep an eye on things here. You should go back to the camp first. You can also bring word to the camp while you're at it."
Qin Sang didn't insist on staying; she wasn't doing any work standing there anyway, so there was really no need:
"Alright, I'll go back and boil a pot of ginger soup. When you all return, everyone should have a bowl."
After saying that, Qin Sang rode her Horse and took Da Huang home.
The camp was quiet. Previously, two lanterns would hang on the stockade gate, but today they had been taken down.
Da Huang barked at the tall stockade gate, breaking the silence of the camp.
Qin Sang even heard Eldest Girl's shout:
"It's Da Huang barking! Da Huang is back! Grandma must be back too!"
A voice called out from atop the stockade gate:
"One, two, three, four, five."
Hearing that the secret code and rules she had set were being well-executed by the villagers, Qin Sang replied with a smile:
"Go up the mountain to hunt the tiger."
Soon, someone held a lantern and looked down. It was Old Sixth Tian's face. Seeing Qin Sang dismounting, Old Sixth Tian shouted loudly:
"Da Zhuangs Mother is back! Da Zhuangs Mother is back!"
It was unknown how far his voice carried in the heavy rain, but by the time the stockade gate opened, Qin Sang saw many villagers coming out in the rain to meet her.
"Grandma..."
Eldest Girl ran over in the rain, her face full of smiles.
Behind her was the old village chief leaning on his Crutches. The rain washed over the wrinkles on his face, and water droplets merged into lines flowing from the corners of his eyes and mouth. His voice trembled slightly:
"Da Zhuangs Mother, is it just you? Where are the others?"