Chapter Seventy-Nine: Midsummer 2
The next day, while it was still dark, just as predicted, Ma Zhichao began knocking on each room door, organizing everyone to get up and climb the mountain to watch the sunrise.
The awakened employee looked at Vice President Ma with a hint of murderous intent in his eyes.
"Hurry up! Everyone's up, you're the only one missing." Even though no one was actually ready, Ma Zhichao lied through his teeth to motivate his employees to quickly wash up.
Some people are too lazy to expose him, yawning as they slowly walk to the bathroom to wash up.
Some people are new to the workforce and are naive, believing everything they're told. They might actually believe that they're the only ones who overslept and that everyone else is waiting for them, and immediately rush to wash their face and brush their teeth.
After getting ready, he walked into the hotel lobby and saw that only a third of the people had arrived. He was one of the early risers, and his murderous intent intensified.
Ma Zhichao pretended not to know anything and shouted into the distance, "Hurry up! You're the only ones left!"
The first batch of employees who arrived looked on in surprise – there were still more than half of them who hadn't arrived yet, so why were they saying "we're the only ones missing"?
Yunxin: He is truly fearless.
Half an hour later, all the company employees finally gathered.
After counting the number of people, Ma Zhichao was extremely satisfied. He waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
The group took a bus to the foot of the mountain and then began their long journey.
Twenty minutes later, the fast walkers had already reached the halfway point, while the slow walkers were so tired they wanted to collapse. "I can't go on... I really can't walk anymore!!"
The person supporting him asked, "Didn't you survive several accidents, and your four attributes all increased to varying degrees?"
The girl, already half-dead, retorted angrily, "If my agility and constitution hadn't increased, do you think I'd be complaining about being tired now?! I'm a spirit-attribute superpowered being! In other words, I'm as fragile as a mage!"
The companions beside him were exasperated. After looking around for a moment, they asked loudly, "Is there anyone with strength, agility, or physical abilities who can lend a hand and carry him up?"
Yes, there really is!
However, they were already carrying someone on their backs, and they were "huffing and puffing" as they walked up to the top of the mountain.
After waiting for a long time and no one passing by, they guessed that they had probably fallen behind. Their companion suggested, "Why don't you just bear with it a little longer? Climb to the top of the mountain in one go, and then rest as much as you want?"
The girl plopped down, grumbling, "Whatever! I'm not going to see the sunrise today unless that bastard comes and carries me up there himself."
As for who this "dog-bi" is, those who know, know.
After saying that, he took out a mineral water bottle from his backpack and chugged it down in large gulps.
His companion, not wanting to leave him behind, simply sat down next to him and rested for a while as well.
The same scene is playing out everywhere.
The difference is that some people, after resting, will get up and continue their journey. Others, however, simply give up and refuse to budge, no matter how powerful the heavens themselves are.
Time passed by, second by second. Before we knew it, the sun was slowly rising.
The morning sun is not as dazzling as at noon, shining on the surrounding clouds and creating a magnificent and beautiful scene.
The girl, who was still halfway down the mountain, said, "You don't necessarily have to go to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise. Staying at the foot of the mountain is just as good."
Her companion covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Did I say something wrong?" the girl argued confidently. "Sitting here, you can still watch the sunrise, and it's much more convenient to go down the mountain."
If it weren't just the two of them here, and two more people came, they could even play cards, mahjong, and other recreational activities!
Isn't this show much more interesting than climbing a mountain to watch the sunrise?
After waiting for a while, no one came down. The girl wondered, "What are they doing on the mountaintop?"
The companion replied, "Taking photos, enjoying the scenery, playing cards, playing mahjong?"
The girl who asked the question: ? ? ?
"Our itinerary this morning is just hiking, so we won't be leaving anytime soon." His companion looked back innocently. "Are you still planning to go up?"
The girl who asked the question, "..."
If she doesn't go up, she'll just have to sit here and wait.
If they make it to the top, they may have to go through a lot of hardship to reach the summit, while the others prepare to leave.
So difficult!
The girl closed her eyes in anguish. After struggling for a while, she finally said angrily, "I'm not going! I'll just sit here and play on my phone until they come down!"
Just as they had expected, the people on the mountaintop were indeed engaged in a series of recreational activities such as taking photos and enjoying the scenery.
Yunxin strolled through the woods.
The sun was high overhead, birds chirped all around, and the occasional laughter of colleagues drifted over. A thought suddenly popped into her head—she wondered if Xiao Wei was busy right now, and if it would be convenient for her to make a video call.
Before he could think about it, as if sensing something, he glanced into the depths of the woods.
Yun Xin frowned and took a few steps in that direction.
Before long, a burnt smell reached her nose.
The mountain is covered with trees and flowers, so how could there be a burnt smell?
Yunxin continued walking forward and saw that the grass and trees were burning. In addition, a faint wisp of black smoke was lingering in the air.
The incident happened suddenly, and Yun Xin turned and ran, shouting warnings, "Fire!!"
In the distance, colleagues were still taking photos in twos and threes, completely unaware that disaster was approaching.
Upon hearing the shouts, their first reaction wasn't to run down the mountain, but rather to exchange questions: "How could there be a fire on the mountain?"
"That can't be right, I didn't smell any smoke."
Some people who understand the situation said, "No normal person would joke about something like this, run!!"
Those with strong awareness of prevention sped off, leaving only their voices echoing in the air: "The signal is bad on the mountain, I'll go down and call the firefighters to put out the fire!"
After being reminded, everyone hurriedly followed and ran downstairs.
The experience of the past few months has taught them that anything can happen in this world! Better safe than sorry; excessive optimism will only harm you!
A group of people rushed down the slope.
The girl who refused to climb the mountain sat on a rock, looking at the hurried appearance of the person who came, and asked blankly, "What's wrong?"
Anyone who didn't know better would think they were fleeing a disaster.
The colleague who ran down the mountain first was out of breath and spoke haltingly, "I heard there's a fire on the mountain."
The girl was shocked and quickly took out her phone, saying, "I'll call the firefighters."
His companions then inquired about the situation on the mountain, asking, "How big is the fire? How are the others? Did they escape?"
The colleague who was the first to run down the mountain said, "The others reacted slowly and are still behind. I reacted quickly and have high agility, so I should be the first one down."
"I don't know how big the fire is. I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I heard people shouting about it. I figured there are trees all over the mountain and no water source in sight. If it really caught fire, it would be hard to put out. In the current situation, no one would joke about a fire."
"So we should go down the mountain first, protect ourselves, and notify professionals to come over."
Upon hearing this, his companion thought it made sense and began to wait for the others to come down.
In the next ten minutes, the company's colleagues ran down the mountain one after another.
Looking up, one could clearly see the black smoke.
Yun Xin stood in the crowd and sighed almost imperceptibly. After evacuating her colleagues, she returned to the fire site, attempting to extinguish it.
Unfortunately, there were no suitable tools at hand. The fire was also large, and it quickly spread to the side.
Seeing that she couldn't stop them, she gave up and ran down the mountain with them.
The horn sounded.
Firefighters arrived and began extinguishing the fire.
Colleagues were buzzing with gossip, "What kind of thing is this? We went out to climb a mountain and watch the sunrise, and we still ran into a fire... This is just too unlucky!"
"How did the fire start? Was someone smoking?"
"No matter who did it, once they are found out, they must be severely punished! If it hadn't been discovered early, the entire mountain could have been burned down! The consequences were too serious, and the impact was too bad."
After waiting for more than an hour, the firefighters finally put out the fire.
A staff member came over and asked, "Who was the first to discover the fire on the mountain?"
“It’s me,” Yun Xin stepped forward. “I’m a spirit-attribute superpowered individual. I was wandering around the mountaintop when I suddenly decided to go over and take a look, and that’s when I discovered it was on fire.”
The staff member said with relief, "Luckily you discovered it early, otherwise it would have been a big problem."
Ma Zhichao squeezed out of the crowd and said angrily, "Comrade, can you tell me the cause of the fire? This has caused such a big mess, I must find that person."
"Someone carelessly threw away water bottles. Water-filled bottles can attract light, and it's likely that they ignited dry leaves and grass, causing the fire," the staff explained.
Because of this, my colleagues immediately stated, "From the moment we went up the mountain to the moment we came down, I didn't throw away a single water bottle! The bottle is still in my bag right now, it wasn't me."
"It wasn't me, I threw away the empty bottle."
The lazy girl replied in a unique way, "Don't look at me, I haven't been up the mountain yet today."
Almost everyone gave their statements, saying they were not suspects.
At this moment, a young man's eyes darted around.
Throughout the company, there were quite a few people with high spiritual attributes. Immediately, someone pulled him aside and asked, "Kong Rui, why aren't you saying anything? Did you do it?"
"I did throw away a half-finished water bottle today..." Kong Rui stammered in defense, "but I threw it in the trash can, I didn't litter!"
"Coincidentally, the mineral water bottle that was found was lying right next to the trash can. It might have been thrown off target, or it might have bounced off," the staff member said.
Kongrui Petrochemical, is this even possible?
"How many times have I told you not to litter unfinished water bottles?" The staff member was furious. "What if the whole forest caught fire? How dangerous would that be?"
"It might not be me," Kong Rui denied. "Maybe someone else did the same as me, throwing away their water bottle. They're probably hiding in the crowd watching the show."
"Don't worry, if you did it, you won't get away with it; if you didn't do it, you won't be falsely accused," the staff member said seriously. "The fire started some distance from the water bottle, and due to the wind direction, the fire didn't spread there, so the bottle is still there. Since the water bottle was used, there will be residual DNA. We can compare them one by one to find the owner of the water bottle."
Kong Rui was filled with unease, but he remained defiant, saying, "We'll wait for the investigation results. There's no evidence yet; it's all just speculation."
Colleagues nearby whispered among themselves, "Wasn't he saying that whoever did it must be severely punished once they're caught?"
"It was him. He even said the consequences were too serious and the impact too bad, but it turned out he was the one who did it."
"Goodness, is this some kind of performance where I condemn myself?"
"Even though it was unintentional, will I be sentenced to prison?"
"I don't know, but it's obvious that the vice president is furious. The carefully planned tourism project has been completely ruined."
"It's not like he just realized how many accidents happen today. Isn't it perfectly normal to encounter danger while traveling?"
"That's what they say, but when we're making plans, we always hope for a safe outcome. Before, on the mountaintop, I never imagined death would be so close to me. The fire came out of nowhere. If someone hadn't taken the lead, I wouldn't have thought to run away and would have just stood there dumbfounded."
"Who isn't? It's all thanks to the vice president hiring a new person before he left, otherwise, things would have been much worse!"
"I relied on someone to carry me through another dungeon... As my number of trials increased, I felt like I wasn't improving at all?"
Amidst the murmurs, Kong Rui's face grew paler and paler, and his sense of foreboding intensified.
Because of the incident, the original plan was canceled, and everyone is waiting for the results at the hotel.
In the evening, the investigation report was released—it was indeed Kong Rui who threw the mineral water bottle.
With the dust settled, Kong Rui felt utterly hopeless and despairing.
As the police handcuffed the man, they reassured him, "If it wasn't arson intentional, the punishment won't be severe; it'll just be a few days in jail."
He'll still get locked up, won't he?
Kong Rui was not comforted at all and dejectedly followed them out of the hotel.
"You've all had a long day, everyone should go home and rest. There's a new journey ahead tomorrow," Ma Zhichao tried to reassure his employees.
staff,"……"
Suddenly, I really want to leave with Kong Rui.
The girl who refused to climb the mountain felt that traveling was physically demanding and too easy to exhaust her, so she thought it would be better to spend a few days in prison.
Yun Xin had been in close contact with the fire source, and had also tried to put it out, so her hair was covered in soot and her body was covered in soot.
Before anyone else could say anything, she couldn't take it anymore and quickly went back to her room to clean up.
(End of this chapter)
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