Searching for someone in northern Myanmar, and you call that earning tuition fees?

"Didi?"

Jerry, who had his face buried in the mud, looked up in despair when he heard those two words.

All around were roaring floods, and overhead were gathering thunderclouds.

Where would we get Didi in this godforsaken place? There isn't even a single motorcycle taxi!

"Thump—"

The ground shook again.

This time, Jerry sensed something, not thunder. The vibrations came from the bushes ahead, accompanied by the cracking sounds of trees snapping. An aura of savagery and violence washed over him.

Su Ming held the medicine girl even tighter on his back, staring at the water ahead, which was slightly calmer due to the backflow, and said in a deep voice, "The car is here, but it's not in a good mood, so you'll have to fight for a seat."

At that moment, a huge gray, long-nosed creature roughly pushed aside the two-meter-high bushes.

Immediately afterwards, a huge head emerged, its two yellowed tusks gleaming coldly in the lightning.

It is an adult Asian elephant.

Its thick, tree-trunk-like trunk whipped up a piece of dead wood and hurled it violently toward the shore with a deafening roar.

hold head high--!!!

The roar, accompanied by a foul stench, nearly blew Jerry off the broken bamboo raft.

This adult elephant, nearly three meters tall at the shoulder, was covered in vines and silt, and had clearly been swept down by the flood. It was now struggling anxiously in the shallow water.

Jerry's legs went weak, and he almost knelt in the water: "This is your Didi? This is a tank! It'll trample us to death!"

"That's land; it can't walk on water."

Su Ming tossed the broken bamboo pole to Ling Qiao. "Take this, use it as a walking stick. Jerry, aim for its back, I'll count to three, then jump on it."

"I'm not going! That's a wild elephant! It'll twist me up with its trunk!" Jerry shook his head violently, and the monkey on his back screamed wildly, clearly terrified of the enormous creature.

"If you don't get on the bus, you'll drown."

Su Ming didn't waste any words, nor did he explain any animal habits. He seized the moment when the elephant turned to breathe, pushed off with his feet, and like a light swift, he leaped and bounded on the floating deadwood.

"rise!"

Su grabbed the elephant's rough ear with one hand, used the leverage to flip it over, and sat steadily on the elephant's neck.

Startled, the elephant swung its head violently, its trunk whipping backward in an attempt to throw the audacious human off.

Ling Qiao's heart was in her throat.

Su Ming remained calm and collected, pressing one hand on a depression behind the elephant's ear—the most sensitive spot controlling the elephant's nerves. His fingers pressed and rubbed rhythmically, while he emitted a strange, low whistle.

This silent struggle lasted for nearly half a minute.

The once raging beast gradually calmed down, its movements slowing. Its long nose, which had been coiling towards Su Ming, paused in mid-air before finally drooping helplessly into the water.

Su Ming waved from the elephant's back: "Get in! It agreed to give passengers a ride, and it's a shared ride."

Ling Qiao no longer hesitated, grabbed the already terrified Jerry, and climbed up the elephant's leg, stepping on its rough, wrinkled surface.

"Hold on tight."

Su Ming patted the elephant's head, pointed downstream, and shouted, "Giddy up!"

The elephant let out a deep whinny, its four hooves striding forward, as steady as a mountain. The rapids that would have swept away the bamboo rafts were nothing more than a small splash in the face of its several-ton body.

Jerry lay shivering on the broad elephant's back, feeling the warmth and strength beneath him. The monkey also quieted down and obediently started picking lice off the elephant.

Jerry swallowed hard and asked in a low voice, "Brother Su... if I may ask, your grandfather... didn't he also work as an elephant trainer, did he?"

Su Ming didn't even turn his head: "Part-time job. Mainly because our family's ox got sick that year, so we borrowed an elephant to plow the fields."

Jerry: "..."

Ling Qiao: "..."

……

At this moment, the search and rescue line is located three kilometers downstream.

The beams of searchlight swept back and forth across the dark river, each pierce of darkness stirring the hearts of onlookers.

"The water level is still rising!"

Observer Li lowered his binoculars, his voice hoarse, "Team Leader Zhao, the current exceeds eight meters per second; the assault boat will capsize if it goes in! Unless we have amphibious armored vehicles, we simply can't get in!"

Zhao Gang gripped the walkie-talkie tightly, his knuckles turning white.

The amphibious armored vehicles are still on their way and will take at least half an hour to be dispatched.

Half an hour is enough to drown a person ten times over.

"Liu Jianjun!" Zhao Gang whirled around. "Weren't you going into the water? Is the rope tied properly?!"

Liu Jianjun was fastening his safety harness when he suddenly stopped. He turned his head, and the veteran's ears twitched slightly, as if trying to discern something from the cacophony of the rain.

"What's wrong? Scared?" Zhao Gang roared, his eyes red.

"wrong."

Liu Jianjun took off his hat, wiped the water from his face, and said with a strange expression, "Team Leader Zhao, listen... isn't there something making a sound?"

"Scream? I think you're hallucinating! That's just the wind!"

"No." Liu Jianjun shook his head, his eyes growing brighter and brighter, and his signature charlatan smile appeared on his face. "Team Leader Zhao, I told you, Mr. Su always manages to come up with something new."

Just then, Xiao Li, the observation postman, suddenly let out a shriek that was out of tune, as if someone had stepped on his tail.

"Report!!!"

"What are you shouting for! Did you see someone?" Zhao Gang rushed over and snatched the binoculars.

Xiao Li's signal flag was trembling as he pointed to the misty bend upstream, stammering as if his tongue was tied in knots:

"No...it's not a person...there's an elephant in the river!"

Zhao Gang: "?"

All the warriors: "?"

"Team Leader Zhao! There looks like someone is riding on the elephant!"

"My God..." a communications soldier nearby muttered to himself, "Are smuggling people this hardcore these days? Bringing their own mounts?"