Chapter 16
When the group walked out of the woods, they saw a huge crack in front of them, which was almost endless in length.
Tang Zeyu leaned over and looked down the crack. It was like a bottomless abyss. During the day when the light was good, he could still see below, but at night it was pitch black. He had to be careful not to fall when walking nearby.
"Why is there such a big crack here?" Lu Shiyu asked.
"This is the canyon I told you about before," Tang Zeyu retracted his gaze and said, "This canyon changes periodically. When it's wide, it can be nearly a hundred meters, and when it's narrow, you can jump over it with a running start."
Tang Zeyu looked at the crack a few dozen meters in front of him and said, "We're lucky. The base has surveyed it in advance. This canyon is just shrinking, so it's a good time to go straight through and avoid taking a long detour. If we don't hurry and wait until the canyon widens again, we'll have to go around in a big circle."
That being said, Lu Shiyu didn't feel lucky at all. Tang Zeyu said it lightly, as if they could just walk across the canyon. However, the distance ahead was too great for Lu Shiyu to jump over, not to mention that there was so much luggage. It was impossible for him to jump over such a heavy load.
Even if there were any other methods, if he failed, he would fall to the bottom of the valley. Lu Shiyu estimated that it was just enough to break all the bones in his body.
"No, no, no, let's take a detour," Lu Shiyu shook his head frantically in protest. "Actually, the detour isn't that far. Maybe the canyon will suddenly widen when we're halfway across. So let's take a detour. It's much safer."
Tang Zeyu looked at the road and said, "But if we take a detour, it will add nearly a week to the journey."
"As long as we walk faster, it will be fine!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Yan Hong said, "Taking a detour is too troublesome, let's just go straight through the canyon."
"No, no, no, I don't want it."
Lu Shiyu shook his head vigorously like a dog shaking off water, but unfortunately, under the rule of minority obeys majority, Lu Shiyu's protest was rejected.
"Really? How can this possibly be possible?"
Lu Shiyu squatted on the ground, hugging his knees, watching a few people busy with something, without much expectation in his heart.
But if they really had a way to go straight through the canyon to the other side, what would it be?
Lu Shiyu began to wonder in her heart whether they could use some kind of bird, like the story she had read in a book when she was a child, where they tied a large piece of meat to their body and waited for a hawk to grab the meat and fly out of the canyon with the person.
No, no, first of all, they don't have such big pieces of meat. Secondly, that is a method of going from the bottom of the canyon to the top of the canyon, not a method of crossing the canyon. If it is really implemented, I am afraid that the entire team will be taken away by the big eagle.
Could it be that some kind of plant is used to build a bridge across the canyon, for example, by connecting the plants growing on both sides of the canyon to form a plant bridge?
That's not right. Where can we find such plants? Besides, the plants that grow temporarily are definitely not strong enough.
Just as Lu Shiyu was daydreaming, Tang Zeyu's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Here, this is yours."
"ah."
Lu Shiyu took the rock climbing equipment handed to him by Tang Zeyu with a confused look on his face.
"Put on your gear, we're getting ready to go down."
"Go down? Where to?" Lu Shiyu still didn't understand what Tang Zeyu meant.
Tang Zeyu raised his eyebrows slightly, pointed to the others who were already ready, and said, "We need to go down from here to the bottom of the canyon, and then climb to the other side. This way, we can get through in just one day."
Lu Shiyu's brain seemed to be cleared, and even his expression looked a little silly.
Ah, so this is the solution.
Lu Shiyu put on protective gear and a safety belt. Yan Hong and others had already tied ropes to a sturdy tree nearby. After repeatedly confirming that it was strong and secure, they pulled the safety ropes down.
"Pay attention to how they go down, and then follow their example," said Tang Zeyu.
"What if I haven't learned it?" Lu Shiyu's voice was still a little shaky. She was still afraid that she would die miserably after falling down.
"It's okay, you won't fall," Tang Zeyu said, pulling at her safety belt. "The rope will prevent you from falling directly."
Just as Lu Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief, Tang Zeyu added, "But if you don't hold on to the safety rope properly, you might hit the rock wall and even knock out your teeth."
Lu Shiyu got furious when she heard that. She didn’t want to have her teeth knocked out!
Tang Zeyu couldn't help laughing out loud, and the slight laughter was caught by Lu Shiyu, who instantly realized that the other party was deliberately trying to scare him. He was so angry that he couldn't help but hit his chest, which made Tang Zeyu laugh even louder.
Shaoxing Yang and Yan Hong were the first to go down to explore the way. After confirming that there were no deformed creatures or dangers below, they let the rest of the people go down.
Lu Shiyu was the second to last in line. Tang Zeyu put some white powder on her hands to increase friction. After confirming that the safety buckle was fastened, Lu Shiyu nervously tried to pull the safety rope down.
Lu Shiyu didn't dare to let go of her hands completely, for fear of falling down, so she could only move down little by little. Fortunately, Tang Zeyu had the foresight to apply powder on her hands, otherwise it would be more difficult to hold on once her hands sweated.
After moving slowly for a long time, Yu finally reached a few meters above the valley bottom. This period of time was really hard to endure. The finish line was in sight, but his hands were almost out of strength.
The three of them did nothing but stood on the road and watched her move down little by little.
When he was three meters away from the ground, Lu Shiyu felt that he had no strength to move any further, so he stopped there and did not move.
"Hey? Why aren't you coming down?"
"Could it be that he is exhausted?"
"No way, it's not that far away."
The discussions below made Lu Shiyu feel like crying. He tried to move down again, but one of his hands suddenly lost its strength and he felt weightless. Lu Shiyu thought he was going to fall this time and might even knock down the other three people below.
Just as Lu Shiyu's body was stiff with fear, he suddenly felt himself fall on something soft.
Lu Shiyu opened his eyes in surprise and found that he had fallen on a cushion made of several sleeping bags.
"Huh?" Lu Shiyu was surprised.
"Are you scared silly?" Yan Hong squatted down and waved in front of Lu Shiyu.
Lu Shiyu looked around at the sleeping bag under him and jumped up.
“When was it placed here…”
"When you're afraid to go down," Shao Xingyang kicked the sleeping bag. "The captain said, if you don't dare to come down, put something under you to hold on. How about that? It won't hurt if you fall, right?"
"Yes, thank you."
In fact, the place where Lu Shiyu fell was not very high from the ground. Even without the sleeping bag for cushioning, nothing would have happened. If Lu Shiyu had not been afraid, she could have even jumped directly from that height. In the end, she still had to rely on the team members to pile up cushions to catch her. Thinking of this, Lu Shiyu's face turned red.
"Oh, you're shy."
Shaoxing Yang tilted his head to look at Lu Shiyu, who was looking down and blushing. He looked as annoying as a boy in his elementary school class, and successfully received a slap from Yan Hong.
"Stop bullying others."
After confirming that Lu Shiyu had landed safely, Tang Zeyu also walked down along the safety rope. Unlike Lu Shiyu who was cautious, Tang Zeyu jumped down a distance directly and reached the bottom in a few steps, which was several times faster than Lu Shiyu.
"How do I recycle this rope?" Lu Shiyu pulled the safety rope, and it was still very strong.
"Just leave it here. You'll come back when you return."
Tang Zeyu found the backpack that had been hung down with a rope in advance, took out a new set of safety ropes from it and handed it to Yan Hong.
Yan Hong took the safety rope, moved her limbs again to ensure flexibility, tied the rope around her waist and began to climb towards the other side of the rock wall.
"After Yanhong goes up, she will tie the rope and then drop it down. Then we can just hold the rope and climb up." Tang Zeyu glanced at Lu Shiyu.
As he was walking, he looked at the steep cliffs and felt a little scared. He said, "I don't think I can climb up. What should I do?"
"It's okay. When the time comes, just tie the rope around your body and we'll pull you up from above."
Lu Shiyu: “…”
How come it sounds both feasible and unreliable?
The rock wall was quite steep, with many points to gain leverage, so it wasn't too difficult for Yan Hong to climb up. However, just as she reached the edge and was about to climb up, she pulled back and began to climb back down the same way little by little.
"What's wrong?" Tang Zeyu asked, "Why don't you go up?"
Yan Hong patted the sand off her hands and sighed, "Don't even think about going up there for now. I just looked outside and saw something that looked like a crocodile sunbathing on a big rock."
"Crocodile?" Shao Xingyang asked back, "There's no water nearby, where did the crocodiles come from?"
"Then I don't know," Yan Hong spread her hands. "Anyway, that thing looks like a crocodile. It has rough scales all over its body, and it's gray. Its nails are this long, and its teeth are very sharp. It's probably a carnivore. I'm not sure I can out-strengthen a crocodile by myself."
"No one else can climb up except you," said Chen Yunliang.
"Yeah, that's why I said don't even think about going up there for now." Yan Hong found a vacant spot, dusted it off, and sat down. "Let's wait for that thing to leave on its own."
There was no other way at the moment. We had already gone down to the bottom of the canyon, and if we took another detour, we would most likely get lost. We could only choose to rest on the spot and wait for the deformed creature to leave on its own.
After hearing this, everyone compromised and waited for the thing to leave. On the way, I noticed that the atmosphere was a little depressed, so I suggested, "Why don't we go find something to eat nearby?"
"Food?"
"Yes," Lu Shiyu said in a tempting tone, "It's hard for animals to survive at the bottom of this canyon, but that's not necessarily the case for plants. Perhaps there are plants growing here that you can't find outside, and they taste surprisingly good."
Chen Yunliang pushed his glasses and said, "It's not impossible. This canyon opens and closes frequently. Occasionally, an animal will accidentally fall into the canyon when it widens and then be buried by the closing canyon. This becomes nutrients for the land, so perhaps the plants here can use these nutrients to grow something unexpected."
Lu Shiyu: “…”
Although she could feel that Chen Yunliang was agreeing with her, the theory that the buried animals turned into nutrients made Lu Shiyu somewhat reluctant to eat the plants that might grow on the corpses.
"Then let's look for one nearby. We have nothing to do anyway."
Yan Hong stretched, stood up and looked around.
There were some newly sprouted weeds growing on the nearby land, which were obviously inedible, so Yan Hong turned her attention to the plants on the stone wall, and sure enough, she found a twisted tree on it.
Twisted means twisted in the literal sense. The whole tree does not grow outward but clings to the stone wall, clinging to it like a vine wrapped around a trunk, trying to survive in the cracks. Under such harsh conditions, it still successfully blooms and bears fruit, producing some small green fruits.
Yan Hong rubbed her hands, took aim, and quickly climbed up, picking up all the fruits on the small tree and stuffing them into her pockets. The few fruits to begin with were all taken away by Yan Hong.
When Yan Hong came down with a bag of fruits, she found that several others were gathered in a corner, not knowing what they had found.
"Yanhong, come and see, there are wild steamed buns here." Shaoxing Yang shouted to Yanhong.
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