Chapter 121 Did you hear any sound just now?
Because Meng Lan was short on time and could only stay in Yongquan City for three days, the plan for mountain climbing and camping was quickly agreed upon and scheduled for the next day, Saturday. They would spend the night in the mountains and go down the mountain on Sunday to wash up and have a meal. Meng Lan would just rush back to Linshan City in the evening.
Pang Le is a person who likes to be lively. As soon as he heard Guan Xia’s proposal, he agreed readily and actively helped Guan Xia contact other friends.
Guan Xia seemed hesitant. "Do you want to call anyone else? I was thinking it would be just the three of us. After all, Meng Lan wants to meet the new friend I made after we broke up. Isn't that you?"
Pang Le shook his finger seriously. "No, no, I'm not the only friend you have now. And didn't you say that? You both want to see each other's lives now. Obviously, the more friends you have, the more reassured she will be. So, not only should we call people, but we should call as many as possible. This way, your life will seem rich and colorful, and you won't feel lonely at all."
Guan Xia felt something was wrong. "Is that so? But if there are too many people, she'll feel awkward. After all, she doesn't know anyone except me."
Pang Le put his arm around Guan Xia's shoulders and said with a smile, "We definitely didn't know each other at first, but we became familiar with each other as we chatted. Besides, you don't know me yet. I'm such a socially accomplished person, how could I possibly embarrass your friend? Don't worry, Xu Nian and the others aren't difficult people to get along with either. I'll definitely make her feel at home tomorrow."
Seeing Pang Le's solemn promise, Guan Xia thought about it carefully and felt that it made sense, so she nodded and agreed.
So the three-person trip on the second day became a small group. What made Guan Xia unbelievable was that not only Ji An came, but Zhong Xiaoyu also came, putting her arm around Ji An's shoulder and jumping to greet Guan Xia.
Guan Xia thought she was hallucinating. She stared at it for several seconds, and after confirming it was real, she couldn't help but pull Pang Le and whispered, "What's going on? Didn't we agree to invite Xu Nian and the others in addition to the three of us? Why are Sister Ji and Zhong Xiaoyu here too?"
Pang Le also excitedly waved at Zhong Xiaoyu, then lowered his voice and whispered in Guan Xia's ear, "I didn't say that. I just said that the more friends you have, the more reassured Meng Lan will be. In fact, I didn't specifically ask you. I just asked casually when I sent a group message. Who knew Zhong Xiaoyu was just sitting at home picking her feet and came as soon as I asked. Sister Ji is even better. She was going to come to see you after her vacation, but now she's just coming two days early. Speaking of which, Lu Tingfeng wanted to come too, but something happened and he couldn't come. He also specifically told me to invite him to the next interesting activity like this."
Guan Xia was a little skeptical after hearing this. "It's just hiking and camping. How can it be interesting?"
Pang Le nodded seriously, "Of course it's interesting. This has nothing to do with hiking and camping. It's about the people you go out with. It's because you want to go hiking and want to introduce your friends to your friends that everyone thinks it's interesting."
Listening to Pang Le's words that sounded like a tongue twister, Guan Xia was successfully convinced and nodded thoughtfully.
Everyone successfully reunited, and Guan Xia quickly introduced them to each other.
Meng Lan was obviously surprised at how many friends Guan Xia had. When Guan Xia introduced one to her, Meng Lan couldn't help but turn around and look at Guan Xia after shaking hands with the person, as if she was getting to know her all over again.
Compared to Meng Lan, the other people behaved very normally, especially Xu Nian and the others who helped Guan Xia investigate Meng Lan's accident that year. They smiled just the right amount, their eyes neither curious nor looking around too much. After shaking hands, they stood aside, as if they were suddenly very interested in the surrounding scenery. They kept looking around, as if they were looking at the scenery, or observing.
Guan Xia always felt that the look was familiar, as if they had observed the surrounding environment of the crime scene in the same way when they went to Jianyang City to investigate the case of Zhong Xiaoyu's uncle.
Guan Xia breathed a sigh of relief after finally getting to know everyone. She was just helping Meng Lan check if she had everything she needed when Zhong Xiaoyu asked curiously, "How did you find this place? We're outside of Yongquan City, and some of the facilities look new. Was this recently designated a scenic spot?"
Guan Xia stopped what he was doing when he heard that. Just as he was about to explain, Meng Lan said a little embarrassedly, "I chose this place. I was watching a short video before and heard that blogger say that although this mountain is also part of the Cuiping Mountains, it is not very famous because of its low altitude and the scenery is nothing special compared to other mountains. But because it is not famous, not many people know about it, and even fewer people go hiking and camping. On the contrary, it is a good place for those who like to enjoy the quiet and listen to the sounds of nature. I thought that if I went to some large scenic spots tomorrow, there would definitely be a lot of people, so I thought of this place."
Pang Le listened thoughtfully, then remembered something and his eyes lit up as he asked, "The blogger's style you mentioned sounds very familiar to me. Do you still remember that blogger's ID? Is it called Yiran Zide?"
Meng Lan thought about it, then her eyes lit up and she smiled and said, "Yes, yes, that's her name, Yiran Zide. She seems to be a blogger specializing in niche scenic spots. I clicked on her homepage and saw that many of the places she promoted in her videos were places I had never heard of."
When Meng Lan said this, Guan Xia also felt that it sounded familiar. After a little thought, she remembered it and smiled, "That's really a coincidence. You like the same blogger."
Pang Le said: "No wonder the location you posted in the group looked familiar to me. It just so happens that I had been thinking about coming here before, and this time I finally got what I wanted."
Pang Le is indeed a community leader. With her deliberate approachability and jokes, Meng Lan quickly became familiar with everyone.
While chatting, they checked the things they brought with them. After confirming that they had everything, Zhong Xiaoyu took the lead and started climbing the mountain before the sun was too strong.
This wild mountain is much easier to climb than the one we climbed last time while camping. There are man-made steps. Although it is narrow and steep due to funding and time constraints, at least there is a clear foothold. Apart from the fact that Guan Xia's physical strength is exhausted very quickly and he needs to rely on trekking poles, he does not need to be pulled and pushed by others like last time.
However, unlike what everyone imagined, there were quite a few people climbing this wild mountain. At least from what Guan Xia saw, in addition to their group, there were at least two other groups of people.
Looking up, I could vaguely see the backs of some people, and looking down, I could also see scattered figures on the winding mountain road. A rough count showed that there were at least twenty or thirty people, including Guan Xia and the others.
Qi Bai couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Isn't this mountain considered a rare mountain? Why are there so many people climbing it? Could it be that the camping area tonight is filled with tents right next to each other, with no place to rest?"
If Qi Bai hadn't spoken up, Guan Xia would have almost forgotten that he was here this time. It was really a cause for celebration. After being in plaster for so long, he finally recovered and was able to run and jump again.
After such a long climb, Pang Le, apart from a little shortness of breath and sweat on his forehead, looked quite energetic. Hearing this, he casually pulled Guan Xia by the shoulder and explained, "Although Song Yi isn't particularly famous among travel bloggers, she still has quite a few followers. In fact, these videos were taken in July of last year. Back then, there were so many people, and it was because of the sudden increase in tourist traffic that the local government approved some funds for development. However, a long time has passed, and Song Yi moved to Ningyun Province for development for some reasons, so fewer people come to climb the mountain."
"Is this considered too little?" Qi Bai asked in astonishment.
Meng Lan smiled and said, "It's indeed a small number. I checked the guide before, and during the peak period, there can be one or two hundred people a day. But don't worry, this wild mountain is a bit special. There is more than one place to camp, so you will definitely not be left with nowhere to stay."
Qi Bai was immediately delighted when he heard this. "That's good. I even brought a thick sleeping pad this time. I also wanted to lie down and look at the stars before going to bed. I even brought a telescope specifically for this purpose."
Qi Bai fiddled with the small telescope hanging around his neck as he spoke, his face full of anticipation.
Wang Yu couldn't help laughing. "It seems like this injury has really stifled you. You've even become artistic and looking up at the stars."
Qi Bai chuckled, "New hobby, new hobby. I was bored at home and watched a documentary. Suddenly, I found the celestial bodies very interesting. Now I can accurately identify many constellations with a telescope."
Qi Bai's leg had been lame for nearly two months, but his physical strength was surprisingly maintained quite well. Not only was he able to keep up with Pang Le's speed throughout the whole process, but he was also now talking to Pang Le about some of the new celestial knowledge he had learned.
Guan Xia looked at the two of them with admiration and continued to stay at the end of the team. Fortunately, there was Meng Lan, who had the same physical strength as her, accompanying her, which made Guan Xia feel a little comforted.
After climbing for more than two hours, they reached a platform halfway up the mountain before lunch. Zhong Xiaoyu turned around to take a look at Guan Xia's condition and asked everyone to rest for a while and eat something to replenish their energy.
Guan Xia was the first to sit down. As soon as he sat down, he opened the bottle of mineral water and drank half of it in one gulp.
Pang Le peeled off a piece of chocolate and gave it to her as usual. Guan Xia just took it, and Meng Lan on the other side also handed her a piece.
All three of them were stunned. Pang Le had a normal expression, but Guan Xia looked at Meng Lan and didn't know if it was an illusion, but she always felt that her eyes were a little resentful.
Although Guan Xia felt that eating two pieces of chocolate in a row was a bit greasy, but considering that she couldn't favor one over the other, Guan Xia finally took the chocolate from Meng Lan's hand and ate it very fairly, taking a bite on the left and then a bite on the right.
After eating some snacks to suppress the greasy taste in his mouth, Guan Xia finally breathed a sigh of relief and began to look at the beautiful scenery.
But he felt something was wrong at first sight. Guan Xia looked suspiciously at Xu Nian who was standing on the platform and looking around, and then looked at Jiang Yingyao who was looking around. He always felt that they seemed to be looking for something, and there was some vigilance in their expressions.
Guan Xia was about to ask when Wang Yu suddenly said, "I looked up the guide. There are four or five places to camp on this mountain. Some are caves, some are on cliffs, and some are in a small basin between two cliffs. Where should we camp?"
When Wang Yu asked this, Guan Xia's attention was immediately diverted and she looked at Meng Lan curiously.
This relaxing trip was originally organized for Meng Lan, so naturally it was based on her ideas.
Meng Lan didn't hesitate. She immediately took out her phone and started searching. Then she handed it to Guan Xia and said, "Let's choose this cave. I've been looking for travel guides for a long time, and I saw many people recommending this cave. It's big enough and safer. There's also a small platform outside the cave, about 50 to 60 square meters. If we want to see the stars, we can lie down there. What do you think?"
Guan Xia took the phone with interest and began to look at the photos carefully. Others gathered around after hearing what he said.
Judging from the photos with people as reference, the area of this cave is indeed very large, about three or four hundred square meters. I don’t know whether the cave was formed naturally or developed artificially later. There are even steps to form a height difference, so that the upper area can be used for people to sleep at night, and the lower area can be used to store some sundries for people to eat and chat.
Everyone liked it at first sight and nodded in agreement.
Wang Yu pulled out a map from somewhere and studied it for a long time before deciding, "Let's go here. I've done some research. Although this cave is a bit far away, it's not the farthest of all the camping spots. Besides us, there are two other groups of people. One is larger than us, so this cave obviously can't accommodate them. The other group is too small. There are more suitable camping spots ahead of us that won't conflict with our needs."
Wang Yu's analysis was absolutely perfect, so after a short rest, everyone set off again and headed straight for the designated camping spot.
Compared with the first half, the second half was more difficult to walk, but because there were a large number of people with excellent physical strength, with the help of Pang Le and Zhong Xiaoyu, including Guan Xia and Meng Lan, everyone arrived at the camping spot smoothly before the sun set. They could also watch the sunset while eating a simple dinner.
When the last ray of sunlight disappeared on the horizon, everyone, under Qi Bai's persuasion, took out their sleeping bags and spread them on the platform outside the cave, lying on their backs and starting to look at the stars.
I have to say that being away from the hustle and bustle of the city, listening to the chirping of insects and birds, and the chatter of friends in my ears, is really the best hypnotic tool.
Guan Xia was chatting casually with Pang Le Menglan one second, and became a little confused the next second. She only felt that the voices of her friends in her ears were getting farther and farther away and smaller, and she didn't know when she fell asleep.
Accompanied by the sounds of nature, Guan Xia slept soundly. She didn't know how long she slept, but was suddenly woken up by Pang Le.
Guan Xia drowsily opened her eyes and saw Pang Le's face, which looked extremely serious under the illumination of the camping light. "Don't sleep, Guan Xia, did you hear any sound just now?"
Guan Xiaren was still unaware, so he sat up subconsciously and asked in confusion, "What's that sound?"
"Bang! It sounded like a cannon, but also like a gunshot," Wang Yu's voice came over. "In this wild mountain, I guess it could be a signal gun, but strangely, there was no signal."
Hearing the word "gun", Guan Xia suddenly woke up and subconsciously turned his head to look. He saw that everyone had serious expressions and was standing in a relatively safe position on the edge of the platform, looking around.
Guan Xia also stood up and looked around, but it was pitch black and he couldn't see anything.
Just when Guan Xia was confused and wanted to ask Pang Le, she heard a somewhat dull voice coming from afar.
Guan Xia was stunned for a moment. The sound... although very small and faint, but because he had watched too many crime dramas before, at first glance, it really sounded like a gunshot.
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