Chapter 39

Bai Nan has never made a decision he regrets as much as he does today.

After Xu Xin left, Bai Nan and Bai Lu, as the instigators, took the initiative to bear the malicious stares of the other three and promised to bring him back.

Wang Ma put down her phone and returned to the dining table dejectedly: "I never imagined that child had gone through so much..."

Yuanli sobbed, "Waaaaah, sis, why did you suddenly bring that up? Xin-ge was already upset, and now he completely doesn't want to talk to us anymore, waaaaah..."

If Yuanli had cried like this in the past, she would have definitely slapped him. But now, Yuanli just stood there blankly, head down, as if he hadn't heard her.

Bai Nan and Bai Lu chased after them.

She was very glad that she didn't hear the roar of the motorcycle, otherwise no one would have been able to catch up with Xu Xin, and no one would have known where he went.

"This aimless search isn't going to work. He's tall and has long legs; he might just walk to that hilltop in a minute!" Bai Lu wiped his neck hard, beads of sweat streaming down the back of his hand.

They had been searching like headless flies for half an hour, but Xu Xin was nowhere to be found on several nearby roads.

They hadn't searched the few mountains not far from here.

As afternoon approached, clouds slowly covered half the sky, hanging above the rolling hills like a sunshade, firmly shrouding the entire mountain.

The foot of the mountain is bright, but it gets darker and darker as you go up. The dense pine and cypress trees are so dense that they make it hard to breathe.

"How about we go up the mountain?" Bai Lu suggested, but his face actually betrayed his fear.

"Beep beep beep—"

The phone kept ringing with an unanswered tone, and Bai Nan looked up at the nearest mountain peak.

What she fears most... is darkness and ghosts.

In her eyes, that mountain was no different from a dragon's pool or a tiger's den. The pines and cypresses on the mountain were like countless ghostly shadows. As soon as she entered the mountain, the demons and monsters would swarm up and devour her.

But Xu Xin...

As she was pondering, her finger instinctively tapped the redial button, and the familiar "beep beep beep" three-tone notification sound came through, short and heart-wrenching.

Bai Nan unconsciously gripped his phone tightly, so hard that his knuckles cracked.

She finally made up her mind.

"Let's go into the mountains!"

At that moment, a strange sound suddenly came from the other end of the receiver, a "thud" that seemed to hit her heart.

"Hello? Nan Nan? Is that you? Hello?"

It was Wang Ma's voice, "Nannan, Xiaoxin didn't bring his phone, he went out. I'll have him call you back when he gets back, don't worry."

She thought Bai Nan, who was still working, had heard about Xu Xin's departure from Bai Lu, so she called him specifically, but unexpectedly, Xu Xin didn't bring his phone.

Bai Nan couldn't speak. The first thing she heard was Bai Di's voice, and she couldn't explain it. She could only remain silent for a few seconds before hanging up.

"You got through?" Bai Lu had obviously heard the voice, but he didn't understand the content.

She shook her head. "Wang Ma answered the phone; he didn't have his phone with him."

"No wonder we couldn't get through. Shall we... go into the mountains?"

"Okay, I'll go back and get the flashlight and walkie-talkie. You wait for me here." After saying that, Bai Nan turned around and ran towards Bai Lu's courtyard.

She not only brought a walkie-talkie and a flashlight, but also searched online for everything she needed to bring when going into the mountains to search for someone, such as thick hemp rope, compass, raincoat, first aid kit, and even two sets of the gatekeeper's reflective vest, one for her and one for Bai Lu.

After distributing the supplies, they entered the mountains one after the other before Wang Ma came to stop them.

When you first climb the mountain, the pine and cypress trees are not very dense, and light occasionally shines through the gaps, making it difficult to see the path under your feet.

It was uncertain how long the search for the missing person would take, so Bai Nan didn't turn on her flashlight at first to save battery power.

As the mountain path became increasingly difficult to traverse and visibility decreased, she had to grip the tree roots tightly with her hands for almost every step. In areas where the sun did not shine for extended periods, the soil was exceptionally moist, making it easy to slip and slide if one's footing was not firm.

Fortunately, the pine branches and leaves were not large, so apart from scratching her arms, they weren't too slippery when she stepped on them.

Twenty minutes later, she stopped to drink some water and check her condition. Upon discovering the wound on her arm, she promptly took out a bandage from her first-aid kit and stopped the bleeding.

“Sizzle—Hello? Is Bai Di there? Is Bai Di there?” Bai Lu contacted her on the walkie-talkie.

She glanced at her wrist; it was their agreed-upon plan to call each other every ten minutes to ensure both of them were in the right frame of mind.

After the two finished their call, Bai Nan continued on her way. At this point, she was less than 200 meters from the mountainside. Thanks to the BeiDou system, the GPS was still working for the time being.

Three minutes later, the vegetation increased significantly, and the hillside gradually became steeper. Almost no light could penetrate the dense forest, and she could only rely on a flashlight and GPS to determine her direction.

But GPS isn't a magic bullet; the signal was intermittent, and after climbing for another two minutes, it completely stopped working.

At this moment, besides the determination to find Xu Xin and bring him back, Bai Nan was filled with fear.

The fear of darkness, the fear of being alone, the fear of the menacing pine trees, and the fear of those vivid, heavy scenes in my mind.

She thought of Master Zong, then of Old Man Li, and then of Daoist Huang Qi.

She seemed to smell a scent unique to death.

Just then, a strange noise suddenly came from behind.

"Who?! Who's there! Speak!" Every hair on his body stood on end. Fear made all the pores on his body open instantly. Bai Nan could even feel beads of sweat sliding down his spine on his taut back, soaking his already soaked clothes.

"Is it Bai Lu?" She didn't want to believe that this was a non-human thing, and she didn't want her brain to lose control and start wildly guessing which of the demons and monsters it was.

There was no reply from behind, but the sound of breaking branches came very regularly, which made her even more nervous.

She had never heard of any large animals living on this mountain; the most common were foxes and badgers, but they couldn't make such a loud noise.

Bai Nan took the thick hemp rope out of her backpack, tied a knot at the end, and wrapped it tightly around her arm. She did this very carefully, trying to move as quietly as possible, with a flashlight in her mouth, her eyes fixed on the front, her whole body tense, ready to flee at any moment.

The clouds seemed to sense the deathly silence of the area and, as if by divine grace, allowed the sunlight to breathe.

The flashlight was no longer the only source of light. Bai Nan squinted and pushed off with her heels. Perhaps God didn't want to treat her so soon, which was why the situation was slightly in her favor.

She was fully prepared; once she could see what animal was behind her, she would run for her life.

"Thank you for the sunshine," she thought.

But the animal that came into view the next second made her eyes widen instantly, and the next second tears welled up in her eyes.

"Don't be afraid, it's me." Xu Xin came stepping in beams of light, the dim sunlight shining on his profile, making his already deep-set eyes even more profound, and Bai Nan couldn't see his expression for a moment.

Then tears blurred my vision, and all I could see was Xu Xin's shirt, its stark white color.

"Sizzle—Hey, hey, hey? Is Bai Di there? Is Bai Di there?"

When it was time to communicate with Bai Lu, Bai Nan took out the walkie-talkie, paused for a moment, and replied: "Received. Xu Xin is with me. Repeat, Xu Xin is with me."

"Sizzle—Really? That's great! I'll go down the mountain first, we'll meet at the foot of the mountain! Repeat, we'll meet at the foot of the mountain!"

Once Bai Lu's voice had completely disappeared and the walkie-talkie had fallen silent, Bai Nan sat down as if all her strength had left her.

"Where...did you go?" She placed the flashlight at her feet, wrapped her arms around her knees, and asked in a low voice.

Actually, she was very angry. After the initial joy, she felt a deeper sense of fear. She was angry at Xu Xin's sudden departure, and even more angry that he hadn't taken her with him. But she couldn't bear to blame him, especially after learning why he had fled the Xu family. She... felt sorry for him.

Xu Xin walked over to her and sat down with her.

“I followed you up the mountain.” He spoke softly, but his words struck Bai Nan like a jolt.

"What?" she exclaimed incredulously.

"I followed you up the mountain. I saw you and Bai Lu at the foot of the mountain, and I wanted to go over, but for some reason..."

He turned his head and found Bai Nan's eyes in the pitch black. The light reflected from his eyes was like the only starlight in the dark universe.

"Why?" Bai Nan murmured unconsciously, as if bewitched.

"A voice inside me tells me I want to follow you up the mountain, to watch you overcome your fear step by step, to observe the source of your reckless courage, to..."

Bai Nan clearly heard a sound of throat bobbing before he continued, "I want to see just how far you're willing to go for me..."

Silence spread between the two.

Xu Xin seemed to snap out of his daze and murmured, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so willful..." Unable to see Bai Nan's expression, he quickly shut his mouth.

After a long while, a sigh lingered.

"Xu Xin, next time you apologize, remember to choose a well-lit place, at least one where people can see your face clearly."

"I'm sorry," he continued apologizing, but this time his tone wasn't as tense.

Bai Nan sighed again, "You have nothing to apologize for. I only came up the mountain to find you because I care about you. If I had to say exactly how much I care, I certainly couldn't do that with the Force."

"If it's Aunt Wang, she might reluctantly invite the gatekeeper along. But Aunt Wang will probably never run away from home in her lifetime."

The slightly teasing remark eased the tension considerably, and taking advantage of the good atmosphere, Bai Nan continued:

"Do you remember the question you asked me back then? It was about 'hate'."

Xu Xin nodded, paused for a moment, and then said, "Mm."

“I’ve always believed that hate is love, even more than love. So after Li Laokou did that, I spent a long time convincing myself not to hate him, then a long time investigating him, and finally, I channeled my hatred into a rope called ‘revenge,’ and in the end…”

She took a deep breath. "In the end, things turned out this way. But I don't regret it. So I sincerely hope you can let go of 'hatred' too."

She looked at the starlight that had reappeared in the darkness and said with a smile.

"Go and take your revenge, Xu Xin."