Chapter 32 Fear
In the afternoon, everyone found an open space on the mountainside to have a barbecue.
Several people were divided into groups to set up the barbecue grill, prepare the ingredients, grill, set the table, and serve drinks.
Digestion after meals and group games.
From truth or dare to Werewolf mystery game.
The autumn outing ended only when night fell.
Kan Zhao, Qiao Yang, Zhou Yu and other boys went to the bus to put back the barbecue rack they brought, but when they came back they heard Ruan Yanyan say that Lin Qingxu was missing.
Ruan Yanyan's voice was filled with tears. "It's all my fault. I should have stayed with Qingxu the whole time."
Ruan Yanyan dragged Lin Qingxu to the bathroom, but when she came out, she was gone. Ruan Yanyan searched for a long time but couldn't find her.
"I don't know either... Qingxu disappeared as soon as I left. I couldn't get through to her on the phone... She didn't respond when I called her..."
Among the anxious crowd, Zhou Yu was fortunately the calmest. He grasped Ruan Yanyan's wrist, which was shaking with excitement. "Calm down, Ruan Yanyan. First, tell me clearly, where did you break up? Are there any obvious signs around? How long have you been apart?"
"I don't know... I've been looking for her for a long time... but I can't find her... The mountains are so high... Qingxu... Will she be careless..."
Rather than describing it as high, it would be better to describe it as a cliff. The unfinished words at the end were like a heavy hammer, hammering down on everyone's heart.
Especially Kan Zhao. I could still vividly remember the scene in the morning when Lin Qingxu accidentally leaned back because of the moss.
And what caused Ruan Yanyan to lose her position after a while and get no response when she called out?
unless……
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
The sounds around me quickly receded, became blurred, and distorted, eventually turning into a hollow hum, isolated from the outside world.
In Kan Zhao's world, only the words "Lin Qingxu," "disappeared," and "cliff" spun and collided madly. His blood seemed to flow backward, then in the next second, it rushed violently to his head, crashing into his eardrums with a thunderous roar.
"Where did we part ways?" Kan Zhao heard him ask. His voice was low and hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against rough rock, and every word was stretched to its limits. His mind was frozen, and he couldn't think of anything else.
"Ahead...at the fork in the road...turn right..."
Zhou Yu had already anticipated what Kan Zhao was about to do, so he quickly held his shoulders.
"Kan Zhao, calm down! I've already contacted the teacher, and he's contacted the scenic area management staff. They'll organize a search and rescue operation."
"It will be too late when they arrive." Kan Zhao shook off his hand and turned to head up the mountain. His back quickly disappeared into the twilight.
Ruan Yanyan covered her face with her hands, tears welling up in her eyes.
*
The darkness was like a cold and sticky tide, silently pressing in from all directions.
Lin Qingxu didn't know where she fell.
The treetops overhead almost completely blocked out the sky, making it difficult for even moonlight to penetrate.
Perhaps she sprained her ankle. The pain in her ankle came in waves, as if countless steel needles were stirring inside, and every slight movement brought unbearable pain.
Can't leave.
Lin Qingxu could only hug her legs and bury her face between her knees, carefully hiding herself.
Just now she saw a snake slithering past her. It was dark in color and not very long, but it looked very scary. She didn't dare to shout for help and even breathed carefully.
Snakes like damp and sticky places. Lin Qingxu didn't know if she had fallen into one of their nests. On her way to find Ruan Yanyan, she accidentally stepped on a moss-covered stone. It was very slippery, and it hurt to fall off.
My cell phone is broken and won't turn on.
She didn't even know how much time had passed, and every minute and every second was unbearable.
People are always afraid of the unknown.
Especially when you hear an extremely sudden and clear sound of a branch breaking.
Is it a wild beast? Or a large snake? Or a tangled mass of snakes?
Extreme fear seized her in an instant.
Lin Qingxu has been afraid of these slender and slimy creatures since he was a child, and he used to skip watching "Anaconda".
She hardly dared to think any further.
“Lin Xiaoxiao——!”
Hoarse cries that were almost broken came through the layers of branches and leaves.
It’s Kan Zhao.
That familiar voice now sounded as if it had been severely polished by sandpaper, hoarse and out of tune, and every syllable was drenched in anxiety and fear.
All the accumulated fear, grievance, and pain finally found an outlet at this moment. Lin Qingxu could no longer suppress her sobs and cried out Kan Zhao's name, even though she was at the risk of being bitten or swallowed by the terrifying snake beast.
The sound of hurried and heavy footsteps madly crushed through the thick layer of fallen leaves, coming from far away and approaching. A tall and straight figure appeared in front of Lin Qingxu, pushing aside the bushes blocking the way.
Kan Zhao paused a few steps away, his chest heaving violently. Sweat soaked his dark hair, leaving a few strands clinging to his temples. His school uniform jacket had been zipped open at some point, revealing a dark T-shirt underneath. The collar was stained with noticeable mud, grass debris, and blood from scratches by branches and leaves.
He took a few steps to stand in front of Lin Qingxu, and his tall figure loomed over him with a strong sense of oppression.
In the dim light of his phone screen, Kan Zhao's gaze was fixed on her, unblinking. His eyes seemed to be burning with two dark flames, sharp as a knife, as if he wanted to dissect Lin Qingxu from the inside out and examine her thoroughly.
"So stupid!" Kan Zhao said.
His voice was low and hoarse, but it was filled with undisguised, overwhelming anger. "Who told you to run to this kind of hellhole all by yourself?! Where's your head?! Don't you know it's almost dark?! Don't you know how dangerous it is here?! Can't you just wait for Ruan Yanyan to come out?! What are you running around for?! Do you think your life is too long?!"
Lin Qingxu was stunned by his yelling. Her heart felt like it was being gripped by an invisible hand, causing a sharp pain. She remained motionless, staring at Kan Zhao with her eyes wide open.
After just scolding Lin Qingxu a few times, Kan Zhao felt that he was being too gentle. He simply didn't want to experience that kind of uneasy feeling a second time.
He wiped the dirt off her face with his fingertips, and couldn't help but scold her: "You've got yourself so dirty..."
Lin Qingxu slapped away his outstretched hand.
Kan Zhao was also stunned, his anger rising rapidly. He was not a good-tempered person to begin with. All the negative emotions from before intertwined together, and his voice became louder: "What kind of eldest daughter's temper are you? Can you please stop being so willful? Do you know..."
He pinched the flesh on Lin Qingxu's face with his thumb and index finger, forcing her to look at him. He wanted to scold her more harshly, but he didn't expect to see tears quickly filling Lin Qingxu's eyes.
The water gathered into large drops and hit Kan Zhao's knuckles, causing a burning sensation and a pain as if the skin had been broken.
Kan Zhao suddenly stopped.
The anger disappeared in an instant, and the hostility also dissipated in the tears that flowed from her eyes.
Kan Zhao touched her face with his fingers, trying to wipe away the tears. His Adam's apple rolled violently, and the words he had just fiercely scolded were stuck in his throat, and he couldn't utter a single word.
He began to feel at a loss: "Lin Xiaoxiao, don't cry."
Lin Qingxu turned her head and looked away, not wanting to make contact with Kan Zhao. However, her tears continued to fall, but she cried silently.
She didn't want to cry, but she had been frightened for a long time. When she saw him suddenly, she was filled with joy, but was suddenly scolded.
Obviously, at the very beginning, she just wanted to go to the temple to pray for good luck for Kan Zhao in the exam.
She had visited this mountain with Gao Luo three years ago. Not only did they once have a marriage tree on the top, but there was also a small temple on the mountainside. While the temple had seemed quite popular then, it was now in a state of disrepair.
In his third year of junior high, Kan Zhao said he wanted to apply to Nanhua High School. With his grades at the time, he could barely get into Chongqing High School, but Nanhua was practically out of the question. Gao Luo had taken him hiking, and Lin Qingxu had made a last-ditch effort to help him. Unexpectedly, Kan Zhao performed exceptionally well.
So this time Lin Qingxu went again, hoping that Kan Zhao’s wish would come true.
"..." Kan Zhao's gaze fixed on Lin Qingxu's ankle, which was visibly red and swollen and was crouched there unconsciously. He opened his mouth, and the panic in his eyes was instantly overshadowed by a deeper, more acute heartache. The ice and anger in his voice disappeared without a trace. "Does it hurt?"
The tears that had just stopped were about to burst out again, and the sourness in the tip of her nose could not be stopped. Lin Qingxu buried her face in her knees and stopped looking at him.
"When Ruan Yanyan said you were gone, I was scared."
"My mind is full of bad thoughts..."
"Fell off the mountain? Encountered a wild beast? Or... did you really meet a bad guy? Or... worse..."
"I can't find you...what should I do?"
"It's dark...you're alone...are you scared?"
"I'm injured...does it hurt?"
"At first I couldn't find you, and there was no response when I called you. I kept asking myself why I wasn't by your side at the time... If anything happened to you, I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life."
"Lin Xiaoxiao." He called her name, his voice so low and hoarse that it almost sounded like pleading, with an unprecedented, almost fragile seriousness, "Don't be like this."
"I really can't stand it."
The night wind seemed to still. The built-in flashlight on my phone was dim. At this moment, the entire world seemed to be concentrated in Kan Zhao's embrace, and in his most direct, trembling confession of fear.
*
Before leaving, Lin Qingxu sent a text message to Ruan Yanyan, saying that she would leave for a while and be back soon, but Ruan Yanyan didn't know why she didn't receive it.
Lin Qingxu lay on Kan Zhao's back, and he led him step by step towards the light.
"...Are Yanyan and the teacher looking for me now?"
Lin Qingxu buried his head in Kan Zhao's neck and shoulders guiltily.
"Yeah. Ruan Yanyan cried anxiously at that time. I wonder if she is still crying now."
"Oh..." Lin Qingxu's voice came out muffled from his collar, with a strong nasal tone and fatigue. Thinking of how much trouble she had caused everyone, a heavy sense of guilt weighed heavily on his heart.
Kan Zhao's footsteps seemed to pause for a moment, so brief that it was almost imperceptible. He tilted his head, and his chin brushed against the strands of hair on Lin Qingxu's forehead, causing a slight tingling sensation, and the arm around her knees tightened a little.
"It's okay, they don't blame you. Just apologize and buy them a cup of milk tea."
His voice drowned out the sound of the wind in the forest and the faint voices in the distance. "I've been running out of writing material all day, and you just happened to solve their problem."
Lin Qingxu leaned on Kan Zhao's strong and broad back. She paused for a moment and said, "Kan Zhao, we are no longer friends."
Kan Zhao laughed: "Are you an elementary school student and you're breaking up with me?"
Lin Qingxu unconsciously tightened her arms around his neck. She said in a low voice:
"I hate you."
I hate you just as much as I did when I was a kid.
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