As the sun rose, the light was not intense, and dew still clung to the plants in the woods, while raindrops pattered down on our heads.
Baoyu took a few steps and turned back. "Sister, is your basket heavy? Mine is still empty, could you spare some more for me?"
The basket on her back weighed over ten kilograms, and Zhou Chenyu's shoulders were being chafed raw by two ropes. However, she shook her head, "We've only covered a third of the distance. We'll need you to lead the way for the rest. You should conserve your energy, just in case."
His sister's words made a lot of sense. Baoyu wiped the sweat from his brow, called Huangdou, and continued climbing.
This forest was much more lush than the vegetation on the mountain behind Zhoujia Village. Along the way, Zhou Chenyu saw many strange and unusual species, giving him the illusion of venturing into a primeval forest. Before he had gone far, he was captivated by the mysterious and magnificent scenery before him.
The dense foliage blocked out the blue sky overhead, and strands of sunlight fell like golden threads. The area under the tree roots was completely covered by layers of fallen leaves, so there was no trace of soil on the ground, let alone the caves hidden beneath the leaf layer. Every step forward required careful probing with a stick.
Baoyu had not set foot here for a year, and the path he had walked in the past was now completely overgrown with weeds and fallen leaves. Relying on his remaining memories, he used a knife to clear away the weeds blocking his way and climb up.
Zhou Chenyu followed behind him, and every so often, she would use her knife to make a cut in the tree to mark it.
The two walked briskly for an hour, crossed a mountain, and collapsed in front of a small mountain spring waterfall. Huang Dou saw a small pool of water and jumped in.
The view here is expansive; looking beyond the waterfall, one can see the mountains surrounding Qingshui Town.
Baoyu took out the dry food from his basket and ate a steamed bun while looking for a way around him.
Zhou Chenyu was so tired she was about to collapse. She put down her basket, scooped up some water from the waterfall, washed her face, and saw him returning from scouting the way ahead. She asked, "How much longer do we have to go?"
Baoyu pointed to the taller mountain behind them and said, "Sister, we'll follow this path all the way to the top, then climb over that mountain and we'll get there."
The one in the back?
Zhou Chenyu looked up and saw that the mountain seemed to be right in front of him, and it was only a little taller than the one he was on now, so it should be easy to walk on.
"We're almost there." She breathed a sigh of relief, but then her nerves tightened again at Baoyu's words, "However, this mountain is not only full of trees, but also full of rock fissures, so we call it Stone Mountain. We must be extra careful when we walk on it."
After a short rest, they shouldered their heavy baskets again and embarked on their journey once more.
Baoyu was right. As soon as Zhou Chenyu stepped into the rocky mountain, he saw many broken stones on the ground and plant vines growing out of the cracks in the stones.
There are many rock crevices and traps here, but what's amazing is that very few wild grasses can survive. So there are basically no tangled weeds blocking the way. As far as the eye can see, there are only straight trees and thick roots struggling to survive on the rocks.
However, as Zhou Chenyu went further in, she truly understood what Baoyu had said earlier. On one side was a mountain cliff, and on the other side was a steep mountain slope. In the middle, there was only a narrow path that could only be passed by one person. If one misstepped, one would fall down and be crippled even if one did not die.
"Sister, be careful on the path below!" Baoyu climbed up the stone wall, stopped on the other side, and stretched out a hand.
Zhou Chenyu grabbed his hand, felt the texture of the stone wall, and cautiously walked over. Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense with the rolling pebbles, was not yet settled when she was immediately frightened by the bottomless dark hole in the crack of the stone wall ahead.
Huangdou stood at the door and barked three times inside. Intermittent echoes and eerie winds came from inside, as if a white-clad, long-haired female ghost might float out at any moment. Compared to this, escape rooms were a piece of cake.
Zhou Chenyu only glanced at it briefly before quickly catching up with Baoyu. As they walked, a huge boulder, as tall as a one-story building, blocked their path. She almost fainted and her breath caught in her throat. "Baoyu, you didn't lead us the wrong way, did you?"
“Sister, I’ve walked this road more than a dozen times. I’ll never forget this place, no matter where I’ve gone!” Baoyu grabbed the thick vines clinging to the boulder and climbed up step by step.
Zhou Chenyu looked around. The surrounding area was full of slopes with inclines of 90 degrees or more. It seemed that the only way to go was to climb up the boulder. "Help! Is it too late for me to regret this now?"
Baoyu took off his basket, turned around and called out, "Sister, take off your basket, I'll pull it up, and then I'll pull you up."
pull?
Baoyu carried all the heavy things on his back. Everyone had walked such a long way and was exhausted, both physically and mentally.
“I don’t need you to pull me, I can manage on my own!” Zhou Chenyu unloaded the basket and soybeans, tied them to the vines, and helped Baoyu up. Only then did she silently tie the vines around her waist, grab the wrist-thick vines beside her, and use the little strength she had left to climb up the boulder in one go.
Zhou Baoyu lay on the boulder, pointing her knife at the sky, and cursed, "It's all because of that damned bastard Qian Rushan! He's driven me to this point!!"
Baoyu sat to the side and kept praising, "Sister, the first time I climbed up here, I cried all the way up. You, a girl, actually climbed up by yourself. You truly deserve to be my sister!"
After collapsing onto the boulder, Zhou Chenyu was practically dazed. "Don't praise me, hurry up and find a way!"
"Oh!" Baoyu immediately became serious, leaning on his cane to get up, but looking at the road ahead, he suddenly became confused. "This way, no, it should be this way. Sister, get up quickly, let's go this way."
?
Hearing the uncertainty in his tone, Zhou Chenyu sat up. "Are you sure this is the right road?"
Baoyu scratched his head and said, "I think I've walked this path before, climbed the boulder, and walked a little further before arriving."
"Don't be so vague, I need a straight answer!" Zhou Chenyu stood up with the knife in hand, his strength almost gone, only his mind still functioning. "Since the journey isn't far left, you can unload the basket here first. We can go ahead and scout out the route, then come back to move the things."
Upon hearing this, Baoyu nodded vigorously. Zhou Chenyu followed behind him with Huangdou. Baoyu walked a few steps to the right along the deserted path, but couldn't recall anything. He then quickly went to the left to look around, but still found nothing.
As darkness fell, Baoyu's smile vanished. "Sister, it's not here. Where is it? I clearly remember it being nearby."
Seeing that he seemed flustered, Zhou Chenyu was relieved that she hadn't let him come alone. She forced herself to remain calm despite her exhaustion, patted his shoulder, and comforted him, "It's alright, I'm here. We can just stay here for the night and look for him again tomorrow!"
Baoyu was unwilling to give up. He sat down and calmed down for a while, then turned back the way he had come.
Zhou Chenyu was too exhausted to move. She sat there looking at her luggage, wondering how she would survive her first night in the wild. Suddenly, Baoyu exclaimed excitedly, "Sister, I see a house! I see a house!!!"
Zhou Chenyu scrambled to catch up, and upon seeing the house standing on the flat ground in the valley, he was overwhelmed with emotion, as if a long-awaited rain had fallen on a drought. Tears welled up in his eyes: "Heavens above, earth below, we've finally arrived!"
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