With just a slight tension, Du Heng’s mind immediately cleared.

He had seen many such sinkholes when he was a child. They were usually caused by poor drainage in the fields, compounded by rat holes or loose soil.

For such sinkholes, there had to be an outlet below. Now the question is, where is this outlet?

Du Heng quickly recalled childhood memories, then leaned over the top of the hole and carefully observed it again.

This time, with conscious observation, Du Heng saw a faint light coming from below.

There’s light!

Du Heng was immediately overjoyed.

Since there was light, it meant there was an opening to the outside. Even if it wasn’t the outlet, the earth there definitely wouldn’t be very thick, making it easy to dig through.

Du Heng reconfirmed the approximate depth of the hole and immediately jumped down from the edge of the field.

After jumping down, Du Heng quickly found the gap letting light through. What excited him even more was that the outlet was less than a meter below the gap, which would make it even easier to dig.

Du Heng assessed the situation and dug twice with his hands, then suddenly realized this was too slow. He quickly climbed back up to grab the iron shovel the boy had just discarded.

Although Dong Yuezhang had caught the boy, the teenager struggled violently. Dong Yuezhang, despite being in his prime, found it difficult to restrain him at once. He had to resort to a ’bear hug’ takedown to finally get the boy on the ground. Then, using his adult male height and strength advantages, he barely managed to control him.

Dong Yuezhang hadn’t seen what the boy did earlier, but hearing Du Heng’s angry and anxious tone, he knew the boy must have been up to no good. He immediately shouted fiercely, "What were you doing just now?"

The boy continued to struggle relentlessly, ignoring Dong Yuezhang’s questions. As Dong Yuezhang gradually gained control, his anger grew. Unable to bear it any longer, he raised his hand and delivered two slaps. Afterward, even his own palm throbbed with pain.

But he didn’t care about that and shouted again, "What did you do just now?"

This time, the boy beneath him quieted down. His eyes, besides panic, now held a touch of fear. Hearing Dong Yuezhang yell again, the boy stammered for the first time, "I didn’t... didn’t do anything. Let me go."

Dong Yuezhang asked a couple more times, but seeing the boy still refused to speak, he flipped him over. After restraining him again, Dong Yuezhang took out his phone and dialed the number of the Wangjiazui Village Secretary. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

A few minutes after the call, Wang Shizhen, Wang Shiyuan, and Xixi’s father came running over.

"Mayor Dong..."

"Quick, President Du is in that bend over there! Go help him."

Wang Shizhen and the others looked grim. Xixi’s father, however, suddenly knelt before Dong Yuezhang, his eyes staring blankly ahead at nothing in particular.

As soon as Wang Shizhen and Wang Shiyuan reached the edge of the field, they saw Du Heng below, covered in dirt, carefully digging out soil bit by bit.

"Du, have you found her?"

Du Heng looked up briefly, then continued to stare at the small hole he had dug. "The child’s found. She’s in this hole. Come down and help."

The two Wang Shizhen brothers jumped down from the field’s edge and carefully approached Du Heng. "Du, what’s going on?"

Du Heng stopped what he was doing, glanced inside the hole again, and then said, "I followed that boy here and saw him throwing soil into this hole with an iron shovel. That made me suspicious.

I came over, and sure enough, Xixi was in there."

By this point, Du Heng had become extremely calm. He spoke coldly, "Let’s not waste words. Xixi is head down right now. I just reached in to check; she’s still breathing, but it’s very weak.

Moreover, Xixi’s head and left shoulder are pressed together. I suspect she might have a cervical vertebra dislocation or fracture. We have to move quickly; we can’t afford to waste a single minute."

As he spoke, Du Heng pointed to the outlet’s position. "See that? Xixi is actually stuck mid-air. If we dig in from this position, we might cause her to fall again, which could further injure her cervical vertebrae."

Wang Shizhen stepped back slightly, looked at the terrain before them, and asked, "Can’t we dig from above?"

"It’s nearly two meters deep. That would be time-consuming and laborious. Besides, while digging, clods of earth and loose soil would fall down. No." Du Heng immediately rejected the idea.

Wang Shizhen pointed at the layer of earth in front of them. "What about digging straight in from here?"

Du Heng looked up but didn’t answer. Instead, he began to squeeze himself into the hole he had been digging earlier. "I’m going to squeeze in now. I’ll check on the child first. Once I’m supporting her, you can start digging from beside me."

Obviously, Wang Shizhen’s second suggestion wasn’t adopted. Du Heng couldn’t wait any longer; he feared any further delay would cause the little girl to suffocate.

Actually, as soon as Wang Shizhen had said it, he realized his proposal wasn’t feasible either. Digging from the front would also be time-consuming and laborious. If they weren’t careful when they got close, it could still cause secondary injuries.

Du Heng, having forced his way into the hole in an extremely awkward position, slowly reached out. He carefully supported the little girl’s shoulders, allowing her neck to return to a more normal state and ensuring her airway remained unobstructed.