5 Movie 05‖ Domain
None of the six of them had any experience chopping down trees. Lin Haichen, gripping the axe tightly, stood before a large tree. After taking a deep breath, he swung the axe with all his might and struck the trunk. However, the axe only left a shallow mark on the trunk.
He frowned and raised his axe again, but this time he still made no significant progress. He realized that this was not an easy task and required more skill and strength. So he adjusted his posture and tried to chop with more force, but the results were still unsatisfactory.
Seeing this, several other people came forward to try, but found it equally difficult. They took turns and tried their best, and finally succeeded in chopping down a tree in an afternoon.
When the last axe fell, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but the sky was gradually getting dark. They knew that time was running out and they had to speed up to complete the task.
"One tree is enough...that's enough." Xu Yaoyu stood aside, stamping her feet as she was bitten by mosquitoes in the woods. She couldn't help with the tree felling, and now she couldn't wait to go back.
Lin Haichen looked at the sky and said, "It should be enough. Let's carry it back first. If it's not enough, we can continue tomorrow. It's getting dark soon."
It was obviously not a good idea for them to stay in the woods after dark, because no one knew what would happen.
"How do we get it back?" Yan Shuang said.
"Carry it." Lin Haichen said and took the lead, "Carry it all, hurry up."
Five men carried the heavy tree trunk. The road was slippery after the rain, so everyone walked extremely carefully. Xu Yaoyu walked in front to lead the way.
Yan Shuang walked in the middle, carrying the tree quite easily. He lowered his head and looked carefully at the road under his feet, following the footprints and moving forward step by step.
A gentle breeze rustled through the dense woods, and the leaves rustled. Yan Shuang could clearly sense that the figure in front of him had quickened his pace, so he followed suit and took a few quick steps.
As they continued to move forward, Yan Shuang felt an indescribable strange feeling in his heart, but he couldn't tell exactly why.
Yan Shuang couldn't help but look up, her eyes fixed on Jing Ning's back as he walked in front of her. He didn't seem to notice anything unusual, but Yan Shuang's brows furrowed involuntarily, and she muttered to herself: Am I really just overthinking this?
Perhaps it was the change in his surroundings, or perhaps it was his inner tension that caused him to feel this strange sense of disharmony. Yan Shuang took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, telling himself not to be too nervous and that it was all just because he was too nervous.
Yet, the feeling of disharmony still lingered, like a shadow hanging over his heart. Yan Shuang decided to remain vigilant, paying close attention to everything around him, just in case. After all, in this world full of unknowns and dangers, caution is always a good idea.
Suddenly, there was a loud "bang" behind Yan Shuang, like the sound of something heavy falling to the ground, and the tree trunk on her shoulder couldn't help but feel heavier.
"What's wrong?" Lin Haichen asked.
"No... I'm sorry, the road was too slippery and I accidentally fell." Xiao Zhang, who was walking at the end, propped himself up and said embarrassedly.
"Let's rest here for a while. We have been walking for so long, we should be close to the village." Lin Haichen said.
Yan Shuang was grinding the mud under his feet, hunched over, squinting his eyes at the soil on the ground, as if looking for something. After a while, he felt a little pain in his shoulder, so he raised his head and met Jing Ning's eyes.
Yan Shuang frowned and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Jing Ning replied with a barely perceptible smile on his face, "Let's see how long it takes you to finish playing in the mud."
Yan Shuang's face flushed instantly. He quickly retracted his foot, like a child caught doing something bad, and said awkwardly, "I...I was just looking."
He tried to explain his behavior, but he didn't know how to say it in a way that would make him less embarrassed. In the end, he could only lower his head and pretend to continue studying the soil under his feet.
Suddenly, he felt something was wrong and looked stunned.
He walked a few steps forward, stopped, and carefully lifted his foot to place it in the previous footprint.
He finally understood where the sense of dissonance came from. His foot matched the footprint right before his eyes perfectly.
Regardless of the size or the pattern on the soles, it was definitely his footprints.
But this discovery made Yan Shuang feel a little desperate. At the previous speed, there could be no trace of his shoes ahead, as the tracks going up the mountain were in a different direction.
Then there is only one possibility, he walked past here, but how could that be?
"Yanshuang, come back!" Jing Ning's solemn and stern voice came from behind.
After hearing this, Yan Shuang immediately turned around and ran back to Jing Ning as fast as he could. He looked at the series of footprints in front of him and said with a heavy breath, "Brother Ning, this road is wrong."
Jing Ning squatted down, his eyes fixed on the chaotic patch of footprints on the ground. He frowned, concentrating on carefully distinguishing the details of each footprint.
At this time, the people who were sitting and resting also gathered around him. Several of them held their breath and watched his movements nervously.
"These footprints look chaotic, but if you look closely you can find patterns in them." Jing Ning said in a low voice.
He stretched out his fingers and gently touched the footprints on the ground, feeling their depth and direction. His eyes gradually became sharper, as if he could see through these footprints what had happened in the past.
"These footprints..." Jing Ning stood up and pinched the dirt between his fingers. "Based on the depth of the footprints, they must have been left by us carrying the tree."
"Are you sure?" Yan Shuang asked.
Jing Ning pursed his lips and whispered, "Look at the footprints left when we went up the mountain next to us. They are relatively shallow."
"How could this happen?" Xu Yaoyu said anxiously, "We've clearly never walked this road before."
"Who said we haven't been there?" Jing Ning said.
"ah?"
Not only Xu Yaoyu, but everyone else couldn't help but ask questions.
"We are in the domain." Jing Ning did not keep them waiting and continued to explain patiently: "It is commonly known as the ghost wall."
Yan Shuang: "So we've been going around in circles?"
Yan Shuang couldn't help but want to laugh. Five people were carrying a tree and were circling in one place.
It was obviously not the time to laugh at this moment. A light rain began to fall from the sky, and the sky became darker with the accumulation of dark clouds.
"Tsk," Lin Haichen's face was full of gloom. "This is troublesome."
Everyone was in a state of confusion.
"Is there any way to get out?" Xu Yaoyu looked at Jing Ning and asked.
It was a strange feeling. The team seemed to be led by Lin Haichen, but at the critical moment everyone chose to ask Jing Ning, always feeling that he would have a solution.
But this time Jing Ning said bluntly: "No."
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