After walking for about five or six hours, perhaps because of the higher altitude, the trees became increasingly sparse, while the shrubs and calf-high weeds became more and more abundant. Several mountain ranges could be vaguely seen ahead, and the uphill path became increasingly difficult to walk.
The sky was clear and blue, without a single cloud, and the sun was high in the sky, so it was probably past noon.
Jiang Xi's hair was already soaked with sweat, and Yan Zheng, who had been leading the way, was in no better shape. His pants had been torn in several places, and in some places, his skin was even scratched, leaving bloody marks. Even his sleeves were torn.
"The river gets wider as we go further upstream. Let's rest for a bit and have something to eat." Yan Zheng took off his backpack and walked towards a tree by the river.
Jiang Xi had no objection. The current water was no longer a stream. Not long ago, they had passed through two forked waterways. The river in front of them was about two or three meters wide, and the current was more rapid than before. Both banks were lined with rocks of different sizes.
This place is a small open area at the foot of the mountain. I don't know if it's due to the sunlight or the soil, but although there is a water source, there are few trees. There is only a relatively lush shrub forest that is as tall as an adult. The wild grass on the ground is drooping with its withered yellow head, half dead.
Yan Zheng inspected the area under the tree with an axe, and only after confirming that there were no problems did he signal Jiang Xi to come over.
She picked a flat, relatively clean stone and put her clothes on it. Seeing Yan Zheng busy unloading his backpack, she ran over to help.
It was much cooler under the tree than elsewhere, so the two found a rock to sit on. A damp, humid breeze blew in from across the river, instantly dispelling the earlier heat. After cooling off, Yan Zheng finally spoke: "Do you see that mountain over there?"
Jiang Xi looked in the direction he was pointing. There was a large mountain on each side of the river. Yan Zheng was pointing to their side. From their position, the mountain slope was relatively gentle, and the mountainside was covered with lush and verdant trees.
Besides the relatively gentle terrain, the most crucial point is that the mountaintop has no trees that block out the sun. The top is a rocky landscape, with only bare rocks visible on the entire summit, making it ideal for surveying the terrain and placing survival signals.
Yan Zheng gestured with his chin toward the mountain, his voice low and deep: "We'll eat something later, then climb this mountain."
He then asked meaningfully, "Are you physically capable...?"
Jiang Xi glanced down at his legs, which were covered with bloody scratches from thorns. Although they weren't exactly torn open, they weren't in much better shape. Compared to his legs, her own legs were practically undamaged.
She understood Yan Zheng's meaning, but she didn't want to keep hiding behind him and be treated as a woman.
Most importantly, she needed to make herself appear less weak. She was unsure of herself; he had long known that the person in front of him was always unpredictable, and although his attitude towards her had softened somewhat after yesterday's incident.
But she didn't dare to gamble. Who knew if he would find her troublesome and abandon her?
What happened yesterday doesn't mean anything. In today's society, two adults kissing isn't something that necessarily requires taking responsibility.
Besides, this place is sparsely populated, and who knows what might suddenly appear? Traveling together is the best way to avoid injury.
She looked up at him, trying to make her eyes appear clear and brave: "I'm fine. I want to go to the top of the mountain and see what this place is all about."
Yan Zheng glanced at her, his eyes swirling with unreadable emotions. Perhaps he could read her mind, he simply squeezed his right wrist and said nothing more: "I'm going to gather some firewood." With that, he hoisted the axe onto his shoulder and headed toward the bushes.
Seeing that he had gone to the bushes, Jiang Xi did not delay. After a short while, she quickly built a simple campfire with stones, opened her backpack, took out a pot full of chestnuts, picked out the chestnuts that Yan Zheng had opened yesterday, washed them in water, and filled the pot halfway with water to cook later.
The riverbanks here are not covered with lush aquatic plants, but only with stones of all sizes, forming a shallow pebble beach on both sides, with the river rushing downstream.
She walked along the riverbank but didn't see a single wild vegetable. Instead, she saw many shellfish and small river crabs. What was even more gratifying was that there were fish in the river, not small fry, but real, edible fish.
She secretly counted them and found that she had seen more than a dozen in just a few minutes. After eating chestnuts and dry rations for so many days, looking at these gray and black fish in front of her, Jiang Xi's brain betrayed her and told her that she wanted to eat them.
With no fishing gear at the moment, Jiang Xi could only watch them slip away one by one. She wisely picked out some coin-sized crabs that looked most like clams from the slower-moving water, cleaned them, and then picked out a few walnut-sized river crabs from the crevices of the rocks.
Just as he returned to the tree, he saw Yan Zheng carrying firewood back. There were many dead branches here, so he didn't have to spend too much effort. He even found a wild fig tree at the edge of the bushes.
This tree is unlike any other fruit tree I've ever seen. Its fruits typically grow in dense clusters on the main trunk, and someone who hasn't seen one before would definitely not dare to try it. The fruits are also quite different from their appearance; they have a soft, chewy texture and a sweet, refreshing juice.
For dinner, Jiang Xi threw dozens of chestnuts into the ashes, and added some boiled clams and river crabs.
With the addition of wild fruits, the two were quite satisfied with their meal, especially Jiang Xi, whose only fruit on the journey had been small and not very juicy raspberries.
She ate four figs in one go during the meal, and even her favorite chestnuts from yesterday became her second choice.
Yan Zheng wasn't very interested in fruit; after trying many different kinds, he still felt that chestnuts were the most substantial, so he peeled and ate a lot of them himself.
Later, when Jiang Xi finished eating, she saw that he was still peeling chestnuts, so she grabbed a handful to help him. He put in a lot of effort, and dozens of chestnuts ended up in his stomach.
As for clams—the two were quite certain they weren't suitable for food; they were too hard and the texture was very different from the clams they had eaten before. However, the seafood soup made with crab was so delicious that they didn't leave a drop.
After finishing our meal, we cooked another pot of chestnuts and packed them into our backpacks as a reserve of food. There might not be water or firewood on the mountaintop, so we needed to prepare in advance.
After packing up, they didn't linger; they filled their water tanks and headed straight for the mountaintop.
As usual, Yan Zheng led the way, turning back to help Jiang Xi when they encountered difficult sections.
The path up the mountain was slightly easier than Jiang Xi had imagined. There were many trees on the mountain, the path was not steep, there was no damp moss, and there were small animal tracks on the ground. She even encountered a few "natives".
There was a bright orange-red squirrel that boldly hopped and skipped along with Jiang Xi on a branch beside her. But when Yan Zheng spoke, it was startled and let out a squeak before disappearing into the woods in a flash.
Along the way, we also encountered many large, bowl-sized, blue-purple dahlias growing in the jungle, appearing exceptionally bright and eerie. There was also a strange flower, with a single bloom a meter wide, its color displaying vibrant red spots, similar to the Titan Arum, often depicted in documentaries, which emits a putrid stench.
But unlike what she saw on TV, this flower was double-petaled. Jiang Xi felt nauseous from the smell even before she got close to it, and she avoided it the whole way.
The two supported each other and trudged along for an entire afternoon, finally reaching the summit as the sun began to set.
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