Chapter 74

Luo Jingyao's heart tightened. Could it be that children could see her soul?

Soon, she realized that she was overthinking it, because a dull sound of footsteps came from behind her.

Caught off guard, Luo Jingyao felt as if something had passed through her soul. The creepy feeling made it difficult for her to maintain her original calm state.

The soul began to tremble violently and slowly dissipated.

Just before leaving the crime scene, she vaguely saw a dark figure opening the iron bars, and the little boy began to roar in resistance: "No... No... No!!!"

"This lady?"

Luo Jingyao was gasping for breath, the shrill child's voice still echoing in her ears. It took her a long time to regain the focus of her eyes. What she saw was a strange face that was full of worry.

"Madam? Are you feeling unwell? Do you want me to help you sit down?" The speaker was a young man.

Only then did she realize that because she had been standing at the door of the beverage store for a long time without moving, there were already many people queuing outside.

Forced to smile apologetically, Luo Jingyao quickly made room at the door and expressed her gratitude to the young man.

Until the waitress came out of the public restroom, she was still standing in front of the beverage shop in a daze, trying to draw a little warmth from the late autumn sun in the sky.

"Sister Luo, what are you doing standing here? Why don't you go in and wait?" the shop assistant asked in confusion.

"I don't know what you like to drink." Luo Jingyao explained with a faint smile. Her relaxed expression didn't let the other party notice anything unusual.

The two of them walked into the store one after the other. The waitress ordered a cup of iced passion fruit tea. She hesitated for a long time and finally asked for a cup of hot pure milk.

After taking two sips of hot milk, Luo Jingyao finally felt a little more alive.

After checking their tickets at the foot of the mountain, she and the shop assistant climbed up the first stone steps of Black Wind Mountain, chatting and laughing.

Black Wind Mountain is a well-known scenic spot in several surrounding provinces and cities. Although it has been over-developed commercially, its beautiful and magnificent scenery is still widely praised by tourists from all over the country.

The scenic area is well-equipped with various facilities. The mountain path is paved with stone steps and wooden stairs. If you feel tired, there is also a cable car halfway up the mountain. There is a temple halfway up the mountain for praying for marriage, and there is another temple on the top of the mountain for praying for wealth.

"The cable car can go directly to Yue Lao Temple, Sister Luo, do you know what this tells us?" The shop girl said vaguely while holding a straw in her mouth.

"What?"

"That means marriage isn't a good thing. Experience tells us that anything that comes easily isn't a good thing." The shop assistant replied in a serious tone, word by word, "Men are unreliable. Only the money you earn step by step is your eternal support!"

Luo Jingyao frowned and tilted her head, feeling a bit awkward and amused: "What are you saying..."

If you think about it carefully, it makes some sense.

In the end, the shop assistant did not choose to take the cable car. The girl shook her head and said that climbing a mountain is about enjoying the process of climbing step by step.

Hearing this, Luo Jingyao could only grit her teeth and sacrifice her life to accompany the gentleman.

After climbing for two hours, the two finally saw the eaves of the Yue Lao Temple halfway up the mountain from a distance.

But before she could come to her senses, the shop girl next to her cheered and rushed towards the temple on the platform in front.

With an incredible look on her face, Luo Jingyao just stared at the shop girl as she devoutly worshipped Yue Lao, asked for a red string, and even spent 150 yuan to hang a prayer board under the osmanthus tree.

As they took a short break and continued to climb, Luo Jingyao couldn't help but be curious and asked, "Didn't you say that marriage is not a good thing? Men are unreliable. Then why did you just..."

The shop assistant said confidently, "Yes, but don't I have to go back up there and ask for money later?"

"Sister Luo, think about it, I'm rich now, so isn't it normal for me to just find a few men to play around with?"

It seems...there's nothing wrong?

Smiling and shaking her head, Luo Jingyao couldn't help but sigh inwardly that her younger sister nowadays was very transparent. Then she suddenly remembered something and spoke again: "After we go down the mountain this afternoon, the owner of a nearby B&B will come to pick us up. I've booked a luxurious villa with a mountain view."

"There's a stream in front of their house. We can go barbecue and catch fish tomorrow morning."

"Is it true?" The shop girl reached out and put her arm around her shoulders with a touched look on her face. With the mountain view villa in front of her, her feet stepping on the stone steps became extra powerful.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when the two successfully reached the summit of Black Wind Mountain. They took some photos on the top of the mountain, made a pious wish in the Temple of the God of Wealth, and added some incense money. Then they set out on their return journey without any delay.

It is said that going up a mountain is easier than going down, and the shop assistant agrees with this.

Seeing that her legs were shaking, Luo Jingyao felt really pitiful. After returning to the Yue Lao Temple halfway up the mountain, she took the little girl on a one-way cable car.

Unpredictable weather is the norm in the mountains. The two people had been on the cable car for less than five minutes when the raindrops began to hit the glass.

The fog gradually rose, and when I looked up, all around me was white.

Amid the shop assistant's congratulatory voice, Luo Jingyao lowered her head and took out her cell phone to check the time she had agreed to meet with the B&B, but was surprised to find that there was no signal on the cable car.

She raised her eyebrows nonchalantly, and after confirming that it was five o'clock in the afternoon, she glanced at her watch again.

Four thirty-three.

The cable car will reach the foot of the mountain in about ten minutes, so they still have plenty of time.

After getting off the cable car, the raindrops falling from the sky seemed to be more dense. The shop assistant pulled her to the nearby tourist distribution center to take shelter for a while, but she didn't expect that the place was so crowded that it was about to overflow.

The two of them had no choice but to continue running to the parking lot. Fortunately, the car arranged by the B&B owner had arrived early. After Luo Jingyao showed the driver the B&B reservation order, they got into the van smoothly.

"What awful weather!" the driver started the car immediately, cursing and complaining, "It's just like this in the mountains. It's often sunny one second and thundering and lightning the next."

"When it rains, the winding mountain road becomes difficult to walk on. Don't rush!"

"We're not in a hurry. Thank you for your hard work, master." Luo Jingyao replied politely. When she turned to the side, she found that the young clerk was so tired that she fell asleep in seconds. She had a baseball cap covering her face and was breathing evenly.

The van quickly left the Black Wind Mountain Scenic Area and drove onto a winding mountain road with more than eighteen turns.

As time passed, the light outside began to dim, and coupled with the heavy fog with visibility less than 50 meters, this mountain road could not be described as just "difficult to drive".

Several times, I saw oncoming headlights while turning a corner, and being able to avoid them in time really depended on the driver's experience and reaction.

"Ms. Luo, there is a resting place ahead. Can I stop there to use the restroom?" After passing another bend smoothly, the driver asked politely.

"Okay, you must be tired after driving for such a long time at night. If it doesn't work, we can just wait here for the rain to stop before we go on the road again." Luo Jingyao was very easy to talk to, and the key was that she didn't want any accidents to happen in this remote place.

The driver responded softly and soon turned into an intersection. The dim light of the car headlights flashed across the sign at the door, and Luo Jingyao couldn't see clearly what was written on it.

As soon as she turned into the gate, she found that there were many other cars parked in the yard, with both out-of-town and local license plates. She thought that they were all stopping here to rest for safety because the mountain road was difficult to travel on a rainy night.

The three sides of this yard are covered with houses. There are several bungalows on the east and west sides, and a two-story building on the north side facing the gate.

After parking the van, the driver got out and ran hurriedly towards the second-floor building where the lights were still on. Not long after, a figure in a raincoat came out of the building.

The other person quickly stepped forward and knocked on the van's window. After Luo Jingyao lowered the window, the person invited her in a hoarse voice, "Madam, you can go inside and wait a while. I'm afraid this rain won't stop for a while!"

The voices woke up the shop assistant, who was looking around at the dark environment in confusion.

Perhaps noticing their hesitation, the man in the raincoat took the initiative to reveal his identity: "We are from the Qingshan Rescue Association. We are not bad people."

Luo Jingyao glanced towards the second floor and saw that there were indeed quite a few people milling around and looking around inside the glass door. She nodded in agreement and said, "Okay, thank you."

The two men followed the man in the raincoat out of the car. As soon as they entered the lobby on the first floor, they saw the big words "Qingshan Rescue Association" hanging on the wall in front of them. There were also many plastic stools scattered in the lobby, which should be for people who were hiding from the rain to sit and rest.

The lobby is about 50 to 60 square meters in size, with two deep and dim corridors connecting the two sides.

"Someone's coming. I'll go out and let them come in to rest for a while." The man in the raincoat didn't even have time to catch his breath before a new private car came into the yard. He could only dive into the rain again.

"Sit down and drink some hot water."

Luo Jingyao turned around and saw a young girl holding a plastic tray filled with disposable cups filled with hot water.

She and the shop assistant each got a cup of hot water, picked up two stools and sat down while saying thank you.

A few minutes later, the driver walked out from one of the corridors and sat down next to them. "This place has been open for many years. The president is a very kind person! He has saved many lives!"

“There are so many accidents on the winding mountain roads, and sometimes the Qingshan Society members arrive faster than an ambulance.”

The nature of this association was explained in a few words. Luo Jingyao blinked in understanding. In fact, just from the name, it can be seen that it is a non-profit private self-help charity organization.

After gulping down a large cup of hot water, the driver stood up and wiped his mouth. "Ms. Luo, shall we go? The B&B is less than a twenty-minute drive away, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Luo Jingyao naturally would not disagree.

The three of them walked out of the hall together and were about to go up to say hello to the man in the raincoat, but were interrupted by a noise coming from outside the door.

Two figures rushed out of the door in a panic and came straight to the man in the raincoat, shaking their heads in panic.

Amid the sound of dripping rain, Luo Jingyao vaguely heard the words of one of them.

"...Lost...Can't find it..."