It's precisely because there are such eerie things happening in the village that can't be explained by science, almost no one dares to go down to save anyone!
Zhou Ruolan and Li Chuan didn't know about the legend.
But Chen Sisi and Chen Lu, being young and eager to save lives, didn't give it much thought.
In the end, Chen Sisi came up, but Chen Lu did not.
Li Chuan, of course, didn't know these things; he was currently floating downstream, constantly searching.
However, after a long time, he didn't see any sign of someone, which made him anxious.
The longer one is submerged, the slimmer the chance of survival.
Meanwhile, the villagers onshore, seeing that neither Li Chuan nor Chen Lu had surfaced for a while, began to gossip.
"Look, the lower part of the river is haunted! Anyone who goes down there to save someone is doomed! Such a pity for our village's beauty and that newcomer student."
"Good thing I didn't impulsively jump in; otherwise, I'd be the one grabbed by the water ghost."
"It's one thing if that student dies, but it's really a shame if Chen Lu, that pretty young woman, dies. Isn't she our village's top beauty and hasn't even married yet?"
"Beauty fades early!"
"..."
...
At this moment, Chen Sisi was administering CPR to Chen Xiaole, while Zhou Ruolan was preoccupied with her own concerns, leaving no one to care for Li Chuan and Chen Lu.
"Why aren't you going to save them? Those who can swim, go down and save people!" Zhou Ruolan shouted to the villagers around her.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Ruolan's words elicited a flood of mockery.
"Teacher Zhou, you've only been here a few days and don't understand the situation. The lower part of this river is haunted by water ghosts! You're already lucky to be sitting here safe!"
"That's right, the student saved you and went off to trade his life for yours! He's surely been taken by the water ghost, and it's impossible to save him now."
"The water ghost is terrifying and comes to our village to grab people every three years!"
The villagers chattered noisily, but none were willing to go down to rescue anyone!
"You are all being superstitious! There's no such thing as ghosts in this world! Nonsense!" Zhou Ruolan said helplessly, "Please, go down and save them!"
At this moment, Chen Biao stepped forward from the crowd and loudly declared, "Teacher Zhou, we don't want to be caught by the water ghost! If you want to go, you go yourself!"
Chen Bao also said, "Do you think we're all as foolish as that student?"
Zhou Ruolan was furious, "You are really going too far! A student who just arrived here, unfamiliar with the village, was willing to go into the river to save someone, yet none of you, the villagers, are willing to go save others! This is simply absurd!"
Zhou Ruolan truly hadn't expected the villagers of Taohua Village to be so ignorant!
Seeing that these villagers were unwilling to help, she climbed up herself, looking for a rope or bamboo pole by the shore to assist Li Chuan.
At that moment, after groping around at the bottom of the river for two minutes, Li Chuan finally found a young girl. The girl's hands and feet were tangled in aquatic plants, and she had lost consciousness.
Li Chuan immediately picked up the girl and swam toward the riverbank. As soon as he surfaced, Zhou Ruolan happened to hand over a bamboo pole.
"Here, Chuan, grab my bamboo pole."
Without hesitation, Li Chuan grabbed the bamboo pole and quickly reached the shore.
Chen Bao, Chen Biao, and Chen Du, seeing this, had grim looks on their faces.
"This guy really is hard to kill, but the water ghost will still come for him. He won't live long!" Chen Bao said coldly.
With Chen Bao's comment, the villagers around became more reluctant to help, fearing retribution from the water ghost.
After Li Chuan placed the girl on the ground, he finally realized she was indeed worthy of being called the village beauty; her looks and figure were on par with Zhou Ruolan's.
But there was no sign of breathing, and from the looks of it, there was no water in her stomach!
"Damn it, in this situation, CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation are necessary!" Li Chuan said with a frown.
"Mouth-to-mouth? I can do that! Step aside, let me!"
Just then, Chen Bao saw an opportunity and stepped forward immediately.
"Damn it, Chen Bao, since when did you learn mouth-to-mouth? Let me do it!" Another villager came over.
"What do you guys know? Mouth-to-mouth isn't simple. What good is learning from TV or phones? You need practical experience. Let me do it!" Another villager stepped out.
...
Chen Lu was the village beauty of Taohua Village, the most beautiful woman. Who wouldn't want the chance to perform mouth-to-mouth on such a woman?
Li Chuan, hearing this, immediately got angry and scolded, "Shut all of you! So eager? Didn't see you jumping in to save anyone? I'm the professional at saving people, and if she can't be saved, can you take responsibility?"
"Student, that's not fair. We wanted to save people too, but we can't swim!"
"Yeah, how can you say that? I think you just want to take advantage of our village beauty!"
"College students these days have no shame, wanting to kiss our village beauty!"
Seeing Chen Lu's dire condition, Li Chuan couldn't be bothered arguing with these people. He extended his hand to perform CPR and mouth-to-mouth on Chen Lu.
But at that moment, Zhou Ruolan's voice echoed, "Let me do it."
Li Chuan hesitated, remembering all the surrounding onlookers. If he really proceeded, it might not look good for Chen Lu. So he stood up, "Alright, then I'll leave it to Teacher Zhou."
Clearly, Zhou Ruolan had learned such skills; her actions were very standard and she quickly revived Chen Lu.
The surrounding villagers, seeing there was nothing more to watch, started to disperse.
As for Chen Sisi, she also revived Chen Xiaole by now.
As Chen Xiaole's mother and grandmother arrived, Chen Sisi handed the child over to the family.
When Chen Lu regained consciousness, she was disoriented for a while before realizing, "What's the situation now? The last thing I remember is blacking out in the water. What happened after that? Was Xiaole rescued?"
Zhou Ruolan: "Yes, rescued, everything's fine now, everyone is safe."
"Teacher Zhou, Sisi sister, thank you. If it weren't for your rescue, I'd surely be dead now." Chen Lu said gratefully.
"Li Chuan, Dr. Li also saved you, brought you up from the river," Zhou Ruolan added with a smile.
"Thank you, Dr. Li." Chen Lu looked up at Li Chuan, and when their eyes met, she blushed.
"No need to thank me; it's what I should do," Li Chuan smiled, "As long as everyone's okay."
At that moment, Chen Xiaole's mother, bringing her daughter along, kept expressing gratitude to Chen Sisi and the others.
Chen Sisi suggested taking the child home promptly to avoid catching a cold.
After Chen Xiaole's family left, Chen Xiaobing also ran back home.
Kids have bouncy personalities and short memories.
Chen Sisi laughed, "Teacher Zhou, Little Lu, Dr. Li, why don't you all come over for dinner tonight?"
Zhou Ruolan immediately nodded, "Sure! I never quite liked cooking, so I'll come over for a meal!"
Chen Lu felt a bit shy, "Sisi sister, how can I impose on you like this? You've saved me and now you're inviting me to dinner."
Chen Sisi replied, "We're such good friends, no need to be so formal!"
"Teacher Zhou, if you don't like cooking, come over to my place often. Your presence as a teacher in our Taohua Village is a blessing!"
It was evident that Chen Sisi admired Zhou Ruolan very much. People often said city girls were spoiled and had bad tempers, but none of that was evident in Zhou Ruolan.
Not only was she beautiful and wealthy, but she was also courageous and full of love—a truly rare and wonderful teacher!
"You've spoken so highly of me, but I'm just doing my duty. Plus, I'm treating my time in Taohua Village like a vacation." Zhou Ruolan blushed a bit.
"Let's all go change out of these wet clothes first, before we catch a chill." Li Chuan, noticing the soaking clothes on the three ladies, purposely looked away due to the temptation, as his cultivation method made him prone to reactions.