Fu Heng and Xuan Yu returned to the camp and found that only Ye Yunxi and a few other girls were there; Chen Zhe and the others had not yet arrived.

When Ye Yunxi saw Fu Heng and Xuan Yu arrive, she asked them a question.

"So, have you found the way up the mountain?"

Fu Heng nodded. "We found it, but the car can't go up the mountain; we can only walk. We'll discuss it when Chen Zhe and the others return."

Ye Yunxi wasn't surprised at all by Fu Heng's words; she had already guessed that there was only a small path leading to this mountain. There was nothing else around, just several mountains connected together.

After waiting for a few minutes, Chen Zhe and the others returned. Fu Heng told them to sit down and rest.

After they sat down, Fu Heng spoke.

“Xuanyu and I found the way up the mountain, but cars can’t drive up; we have to walk. We need to leave some people here to keep watch, and the rest of us will walk up the mountain.”

Chen Zhe and Zhang Haiyi remained silent after hearing what Fu Heng said.

Fu Heng wasn't in a hurry; he looked at them and waited for their reply.

Then Chen Zhe said, "Brother Heng, Sister Yunxi, you go ahead, I'll stay here and keep watch."

When Zhang Jing heard that Chen Zhe had stayed, she chimed in.

"Ah Zhe, I'll stay here with you."

Lu Hengyi continued, "I'll stay and keep watch too. You five go ahead, the three of us are enough here."

Ye Yunxi and the others looked at Chen Zhe and the other two, unsure of what to say.

Seeing their hesitation, Chen Zhe spoke to them.

"Don't worry, there are three of us here. What are you worried about? If you come back late, we'll camp here tonight and set off tomorrow morning."

If we get back early, we'll walk a bit further. Okay, stop thinking about it. We're three grown men, we're not afraid of getting lost.

Besides, apart from a few connected mountains, the surrounding area is mostly flat road; there's no way there could be any danger.

Seeing their insistence, Fu Heng said...

"Alright, then wait for us to come back. We'll try to be as quick as possible. If we're not back by 7 p.m., we'll set up camp here and rest for the night."

Lu Hengyi nodded and said, "Go ahead, there are walkie-talkies, just keep in touch."

It's already past 2 PM, they need to hurry up and go up the mountain to check before coming back.

Ye Yunxi and the others didn't say anything more. They quickly packed up, left Yunzi with Chen Zhe and the others, and the five of them started walking up the mountain path.

Led by Fu Heng and Xuan Yu, the five of them arrived at the path leading up the mountain.

The path was narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass at a time. Fu Heng led the way, followed by Ye Yunxi, Gu Qingqing, Zhang Haiyi, and Xuan Yu brought up the rear.

The mountain was covered with a lot of weeds and branches, and the five of them looked around warily, each holding a pistol.

The five of them walked towards the summit. The mountain wasn't very high, but it consisted of three large mountains connected together. Their pace was neither slow nor fast.

An hour later, they reached the top of the mountain. They had not found any caves or encountered any danger along the way.

There were no caves on this hill, and we quickly traversed it. Then we headed towards another hill.

The other hilltop is connected to the one they are currently on.

After twenty minutes, they reached another hilltop. They looked around but couldn't find the cave. They decided to try walking downhill.

Another half hour passed, and they were halfway down the mountain when they couldn't go any further. They found a small cave near the precipice ahead.

There was nothing inside, and it didn't look like anyone lived there.

There was another mountain peak. They planned to search that mountain and then descend to meet up with the others.

Ye Yunxi and Fu Heng were tired from walking, so they found a clean place to sit down and rest.

Fu Heng took out several bottles of mineral water from his backpack and handed them to Ye Yunxi and the others.

Gu Qingqing took a bottle of mineral water and said to Fu Heng.

"Brother Heng, it will take us a long time to get back to the base, so we should conserve the water. Brother Yi and I can share one bottle."

Zhang Haiyi agreed with Gu Qingqing's statement.

"Yes, we need to conserve water. Qingqing and I will share a bottle."

Ye Yunxi and Fu Heng hadn't considered conserving water after they came out. They had enough water in their space, but what about Qingqing and the others?

I doubt they brought much water. Even if they did, the car wouldn't be able to hold it all.

Ye Yunxi said with a smile, "Okay, let's save water. Xuan Yu will have one bottle, and Aheng and I will share one."

Fu Heng nodded and put the remaining two bottles of water into his backpack.

Gu Qingqing took a sip of water and handed it to Zhang Haiyi. She then looked around and said...

"Sister Yunxi, if we don't find anything after climbing this mountain, let's move on to the next one. Anyway, it'll still be light out, so let's hurry to the next place."

If you get tired of driving, find a place to stop and rest for the night, and then set off again early the next morning.

Ye Yunxi really meant it. They had looked around the area at the foot of the mountain and felt it wasn't very safe, so they decided to leave and find a safe place to rest.

"Okay, let's walk faster in a bit. If we don't find anything, we'll go down the mountain and meet up with them, then find another place to rest."

When Fuheng saw that they said they wanted to leave, he thought something had happened and asked them.

"Xixi, what happened to you down the mountain?"

Ye Yunxi looked at Fu Heng and said, "No, when you guys were looking for the path up the mountain, the rest of us just looked around nearby and had a really bad feeling."

"It's alright. If you've rested well, let's go."

Zhang Haiyi and the others had rested enough, so they got up from the ground and followed Fu Heng to another hilltop.

The path to this connected hilltop isn't too difficult to walk on, and it's quite wide enough for three people to walk side by side.

After walking for about ten minutes, they arrived at another hilltop and checked the area, but still found nothing. There were no caves, not even birds.

From the moment they started climbing the mountain, it was eerily quiet. There were no birdsong, no insects, and no other animals.

Apart from the sound of their footsteps, there was no other sound.

Seeing that they hadn't found anything, Ye Yunxi and the others decided to return the way they came.

Although the way back is not easy, if we go down the mountain, we might lose our way and become lost, making it harder to find them.

There are several paths on this mountain, and they are not afraid of the way back; they have marked the path on tree trunks along the way.

Ye Yunxi and Fu Heng walked back very quickly, unlike when they first went up the mountain.

On their way back, Ye Yunxi kept calling out to them.

"Be careful, watch your step. Going downhill doesn't mean you have to go uphill. Prioritize your safety and increase your pace appropriately."