14 Devil Mountain

Zhou Yun had no recollection of the doll Li Li mentioned. She shook her head, "I don't think I have one in my room."

Li Li then turned around and rummaged through the bag, then happily turned to the side, "Here it is."

Zhou Yun took the doll and examined it.

It is indeed a doll, more like a little girl's porcelain doll. Its limbs are slender and translucent, it wears a little black dress with fine, dense stitches and embroidery, has long hair, big eyes, full lips, and delicate features.

It's just... a bit heavy.

Zhou Yun lifted the doll as if it were a dumbbell, and it was unclear what material it was made of.

Zhou Yun glanced at it a few times before Li Li snatched it back.

Li Li carefully put it back into her small bag and even fastened the button.

**

As they were chatting, Zhao Ping suddenly spoke up from the kitchen. "Everyone, come and eat something! We cooked too much, let's eat together!"

He came to the dining table carrying a plate in each hand and greeted the others in the living room, while Chen Qingqing was in the kitchen ladling soup into a pot.

Li Li immediately raised her hand in response, "Okay!" She looked around, her eyes sparkling, and added, "I'll go and call Brother Pan down to eat with us!"

After saying that, Li Li quickly went upstairs to the second floor.

Zhou Yun, who was sitting on the sofa, got up and found Fang Chengjin, who was looking something up in the living room.

At that moment, Fang Chengjin was staring intently at a bookshelf. He picked up a porcelain vase from the shelf, lost in thought. Seeing his focused expression, Zhou Yun walked over. "Professor Fang, shall we go get something to eat?"

"Cheng Jin," he suddenly corrected.

"Huh?" Zhou Yun was a little confused and paused for a moment, seemingly not understanding what those two words meant.

Fang Chengjin put the porcelain vase back on the shelf, leaned forward gently, and whispered in Zhou Yun's ear, "Just call me Cheng Jin. Aren't we a couple now?"

Zhou Yun's ears were slightly red.

"If you're going to act, you have to go all the way," Fang Chengjin added.

Zhou Yun immediately came to her senses and hummed in response.

"Let's go, let's meet other people." Fang Chengjin turned and left.

Zhou Yun watched the departing figure and sighed helplessly.

**

The two returned to the dining table and sat down, where Zhao Ping and Chen Qingqing were also already seated.

There were four dishes and a soup on the table, along with two salads, which looked delicious.

Zhou Yun was a little surprised: "You guys are amazing, you finished cooking this whole table of dishes in such a short time."

Chen Qingqing smiled, "It was all made by Xiao Zhao. He's a great cook, so you can eat without worry!"

Zhao Ping flashed a hearty smile. He was only wearing a black vest, and the muscles on his arms were very well-defined.

Zhao Ping explained, "This guesthouse is quite nice. There are plenty of ingredients in the refrigerator, and I cook according to what I see. The prices are clearly marked and quite reasonable."

Chen Qingqing ate a small piece of salad, her knife and fork gestures were very elegant and proper. "This is my first time staying in a self-service homestay like this. It's not bad, but it would be even better if there were staff to serve you. However, staff would be more expensive."

Zhao Ping laughed: "For Sister Chen, this amount of money is not a problem at all."

Chen Qingqing smiled, her expression unreadable.

Zhou Yun couldn't help but glance at Chen Qingqing a few times. Chen Qingqing had a dashing and capable air about her. She was dressed almost entirely in high-end luxury brands. The Rolex watch on her left wrist was very eye-catching. Her short hair was dyed yellow, and her features were regular.

After chatting for a while, I learned from the two that Chen Qingqing is the owner of a media company, and Zhao Ping is a fitness coach. They are also a couple and met at the gym.

Soon, more people came down from upstairs.

Pan Fei came downstairs first. He had changed his clothes, wearing a white shirt and black sweatpants, looking very refreshed. When Chen Qingqing saw Pan Fei coming over, her eyes lit up, and she smiled as she poured him a cup of tea.

Pan Fei smiled and explained, "Sorry, I just took a nap in my room. Climbing mountains takes a lot of energy."

Chen Qingqing chimed in, "I need to rest. I'm tired too, mainly because I'm so hungry, so I'll have to cook something to eat first."

As the two were talking, Li Li also came over, but her expression was a little strange, as if she had something on her mind.

Li Li sat down to Zhou Yun's left. She didn't say anything after sitting down, but picked up her chopsticks and put some food into her bowl.

Zhou Yun noticed that something was wrong with her and turned her head to ask, "What's wrong?"

Li Li paused for a second, glanced at Pan Fei opposite her, then looked away and shook her head, "It's nothing..."

After eating for a while, Li Li suddenly asked, "What does Brother Pan do for a living?"

Everyone stopped and remained silent, all looking at Pan Fei.

Pan Fei twitched his lips, revealing a gentle smile: "I used to be a surgeon abroad, but the work was too tiring, so I'm currently in a gap year, probably unemployed."

Upon hearing this, everyone knew he was joking, so they all laughed to ease the tension.

Li Li simply said "Oh," then lowered her head to eat, muttering, "No wonder."

The voice was very soft, and only Zhou Yun heard it. Zhou Yun glanced at Li Li in surprise.

Before he could think it through, Fang Chengjin spoke up, "How much do you all know about this Devil Mountain?" His voice was cold, yet had a strange magnetism in the air.

Li Li put down her chopsticks, her eyes lighting up, clearly interested in the topic. "I've looked it up. This mountain has quite a history in Hong Kong, but because of some things, very few people come here to climb it. It's also one of the few undeveloped mountains on Hong Kong Island."

Zhou Yun asked, "Some things? What are they?"

Li Li continued, "This Devil Mountain is ostensibly called Devil Mountain because of its treacherous terrain and unique peaks, but actually, I heard from netizens that pirates once invaded this mountain, but they couldn't find a way out and were trapped and died inside. This mountain has buried many lives..."

Chen Qingqing interjected, "Isn't that just like some parks? But so many years have passed, those corpses should have long since returned to dust."

Li Li nodded and looked around: "Indeed, but... I'm also curious, this manor looks quite old, do you think the previous generation of the owner also experienced something like this?"

Zhao Ping: "I don't know where the boss is. It's all self-service here."

Li Li nodded: "Indeed, after looking around, the only way to contact the boss is by landline. I even tried calling it just now, but I found that I can only leave a message."

Zhao Ping shrugged: "I think it's just so-so. I feel like I can leave tomorrow. The environment here is nice, but it's a bit boring."

Li Li lowered her head. "But it's a bit strange. I'm quite curious to know why. The only connection between this guesthouse and the outside world is a wooden bridge. What if the bridge breaks?"

She just said something casually, but everyone present couldn't help but change their expressions.

Chen Qingqing said unhappily, "Don't talk nonsense. There are probably other ways out here. Let's go out for a walk later. Xiao Zhao, come with me!"

Chen Qingqing spoke to Zhao Ping with a habitual commanding tone.

Zhao Ping was used to responding in a flattering manner: "Okay, okay."

Although Fang Chengjin brought up the topic, he did not participate in the conversation; he kept observing the others.

Zhou Yun noticed Fang Chengjin's silence and glanced at him, but because there were other people present, she didn't ask him anything.

Zhou Yun put down her chopsticks and picked up the glass on her right to drink some water. Suddenly, she felt a strong gaze from across the table. She looked up and saw that Pan Fei was staring at her intently.

Pan Fei also raised his glass and gestured to Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun could only smile, clink glasses in mid-air, and then take a sip.

After dinner, everyone cleared the table. Pan Fei walked up to Zhou Yun and asked, "Are you and Professor Fang a couple? Are you sharing a room?"

Zhou Yun came to her senses and had no choice but to lie: "Yes, I was too embarrassed to tell you before because we are, after all, in a teacher-student relationship..."

Pan Fei curled the left side of his lip. "Looks like I've missed another chance to pursue this beauty."

Zhou Yun lowered her eyes and did not respond to his words.

Seeing this, Pan Fei realized he had made a fool of himself, turned around and left the living room, going upstairs.

Outside the window, night fell. Silence enveloped the guesthouse, which was surrounded by mountains and lush green trees.

Fang Chengjin stood alone in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing into the distance. His gaze pierced through the thin mist and landed on the wooden bridge.

**

As night fell, Zhou Yun sat on the sofa in the living room, browsing through papers on her phone. In order to understand the arguments in the first book, she had found many other psychology experts' papers for comparison and corroboration, and the materials were all stored on her phone's e-bookshelf.

I don't know how long I watched, but the surroundings were quiet. Zhao Ping and Chen Qingqing were talking on the side, but gradually their voices stopped and were replaced by the sound of footsteps going up the stairs.

Zhou Yun looked at the paper for a while, then flipped through the photo album and found the notes in the book that she had photographed.

This sentence was written with a black ballpoint pen, the strokes sharp and forceful. Below it was a line of red ink, thick and heavy, as if the writer had been slowly and deliberately writing each word.

Zhou Yun couldn't help but read it aloud softly, "Everyone is healing their childhood self."

Why did Fang Cheng hesitate when writing this sentence? What was he thinking at the time...?

While deep in thought about her academic paper, Zhou Yun suddenly felt a chill down her back. Her instinctive sense of danger made her more agile than most people, and she quickly looked up and turned to the side.

Behind the sofa, Pan Fei stood there, staring intently at Zhou Yun, his whole being gloomy, like a leopard lurking in the shadows.

Whether it was Zhou Yun's imagination or not, Pan Fei saw her turn around and resume her usual gentle smile.

"Still up so late? What are you watching?" Pan Fei asked in a relaxed tone.

Zhou Yun stood up, grabbed her coat from the sofa, and put it back on. She had taken off her coat earlier because she felt a bit hot after eating, revealing her vest. Her neck was slender, and her forearm muscles had smooth, beautiful lines.

She noticed Pan Fei's gaze on her bare neck and felt a little awkward, so she quickly zipped up her pants.

Zhou Yun smiled, walked around the sofa, kept a certain distance from him, and then walked up the stairs to the second floor, responding to him as she went.

"I was playing on my phone and got a little engrossed. I'm going back to my room to rest now. You should go to sleep early too. See you tomorrow."

Zhou Yun turned around and walked towards the steps.

"Zhou Yun," Pan Fei suddenly called out to her.

Zhou Yun paused, her back to Pan Fei.

The silence lasted only a few seconds before Pan Fei finally spoke, "Good night."

Zhou Yun didn't turn around, but replied in a muffled voice, "Goodnight," before continuing to walk uphill.