Chapter 69
Ran Xian was worried because he couldn't get in touch with anyone.
But what worries him even more is that he is still on his way back to S City.
"Damn it..."
He couldn't help but curse into his phone, then slammed on the gas.
--
Jin Chuwan also didn't hear Ran Xian's voice.
She glanced at her phone screen, and sure enough, the signal bar had dwindled to just a single, intermittent dot.
However, it's normal for the signal to be poor in such places, so Jin Chuwan could only put down her phone and walk down the mountain alone.
In short, she told Ran Xian that she was just visiting the scenic area, and he should be reassured.
Jin Chuwan broke off a tree branch as a marker and randomly chose an intersection to head down the mountain.
Although there seems to be no one around her now, you can occasionally see beverage bottles and other things that haven't been cleaned up yet.
Jin Chuwan followed these traces down the mountain, her mindset gradually becoming more relaxed.
The scorching sun was hidden behind the clouds, with only irregular rays of light shining through the thin clouds. A gentle breeze blew, and the temperature became more comfortable. Jin Chuwan twitched her nose and smelled the fragrance of unknown flowers and grass.
Jin Chuwan peeked out and, following the gaps in the woods, saw a stream not far away. Birds occasionally flew by the stream and quickly disappeared. There seemed to be no facilities there, only an old-fashioned pavilion and a winding path paved with pebbles.
Next to the pavilion was a sign with red exclamation marks on it. Kim Cho-wan guessed it probably said something like "Deep water, danger, do not approach".
She couldn't help but smile, but a clip from a video suddenly flashed through her mind.
She gazed at it quietly for a while, estimating the distance.
It's not very far; it should only take four or five minutes to get there by going through the woods.
Jin Chuwan hesitated for thirty seconds. The roadside was a hillside, which looked somewhat steep, but that wasn't what Jin Chuwan was worried about. She was worried that there might be some kind of small animal that hissed in the grass.
Her luck can't be that bad, right...?
Jin Chuwan carefully peered down the hillside covered with fallen leaves.
The journey over the past few minutes was generally smooth. If there was anything to mention, it was that when Jin Chuwan passed under a tree, a pine cone hit her squarely on the head. She was in a lot of pain. When she looked up, she saw a furry thing on the thick branch, which should be a squirrel.
Jin Chuwan stared for a while, but in the end, she just silently looked away.
The pain instinctively annoyed her, but when she saw the little squirrel, all she could think about was its cuteness.
Upon reaching the water's edge, Jin Chuwan washed her face. The cool stream water relieved some of her fatigue.
Having walked for so long, she was a little tired. She found a flat spot to sit down and took out water from her backpack. But after only taking a couple of sips, Jin Chuwan suddenly felt a cool sensation on her face...
She paused, then suddenly looked up at the sky.
--
When Jiang Chen received Ran Xian's call, he had just come out of K University. He immediately tried to call Jin Chuwan, but he got the same answer as Ran Xian.
Unable to connect.
Without hesitation, he drove directly to the North District.
Jiang Chen frowned, a faint chill lingering on his usually stern face. He had been trying to contact Jin Chuwan the entire way, but to no avail. As they approached the most congested section of the road, Jiang Chen even irrationally considered abandoning the car and getting out, thinking it would be faster.
Time ticked by, and although the air conditioning in the car was quite strong, Jiang Chen still felt a sense of anxiety.
On one hand, he felt that Jin Chuwan wouldn't be so stupid as to think that she would be fine just climbing a mountain. On the other hand, he couldn't help but overthink, worrying that she might be trapped somewhere alone with no one to help her, and could only wait foolishly.
Two conflicting thoughts kept Jiang Chen fluctuating between calmness and inner turmoil.
Soon, the vehicles in front finally started to move, and Jiang Chen also lifted his foot, but after a while, the movement returned to stillness. Jiang Chen had a gloomy face. He opened the car window to get some fresh air, but the wind that rushed in also carried some icy touches.
At almost the same moment, Jiang Chen, who was heading to the North District, and Jin Chuwan, who was sitting by the river, both frowned deeply.
...because it's raining.
--
Sensing that it was raining, Jin Chuwan immediately took shelter in the pavilion.
The rain wasn't heavy, but the fine, dense rain quickly soaked the ground. Jin Chuwan looked at the sky with some worry, unsure whether she should continue down the mountain in the rain or wait in the pavilion for a while.
But it seems her phone suddenly has a signal.
As the phone rang, Jin Chuwan took it out of her backpack, but she seemed a little surprised when she saw the caller ID.
"Jiang Chen?"
The other party was silent for a moment, and then asked in a somewhat suppressed tone.
"Where are you?"
As the rain fell, the wind carried a chill. Jin Chuwan touched her arm and then answered hesitantly.
"As for me... I'm currently taking shelter from the rain halfway up the mountain."
As Jin Chuwan spoke, her gaze drifted towards the outside of the pavilion. Fine raindrops were pattering against everything in the mountains and forests, and with each passing second, the originally fine lines of rain gradually evolved into intermittent strings of beads. She could see several small birds hiding under the treetops, shaking off their feathers, and rain curtains hanging from the eaves.
At that moment, Jin Chuwan heard a deep and long sigh coming from the phone. It sounded like she was relieved, but also like she was suppressing her anger.
Jin Chuwan pondered the meaning of the phone call in her heart, and then gave a general overview of her situation.
She's good at downplaying the problem, even though she's genuinely worried right now.
With her explanation, the breathing on the other end of the phone gradually calmed down, but soon the static in the receiver became heavy again.
Jiang Chen's voice became intermittent, and Jin Chuwan sensed that he was somewhat anxious, but apart from the initial "Wait for me there," Jin Chuwan couldn't hear anything else Jiang Chen said.
The phone call ended shortly after.
Jin Chuwan stared at the number on the gray screen and continued sitting in the pavilion.
Actually, she had planned to hurry down the mountain before the road became completely muddy.
But now she's uncertain again.
Should we wait for Jiang Chen here?
Can we wait?
Will he really come?
And if he doesn't come, isn't it a waste of her time to just sit here?
Jin Chuwan shook the bottle in her hand. It was cool when she took it out, but now it was warm in her palm.
After some hesitation, Jin Chuwan finally decided to continue waiting, not because she was determined to wait for Jiang Chen, but because the rain seemed to be getting heavier.
Whether it was her imagination or not, Jin Chuwan felt that the stream beside the pavilion seemed to be getting faster and faster.
Even the two little birds that had landed on the branch before are now nowhere to be seen.
The rain washed away the heat, and amidst the pattering rain, Jin Chuwan surprisingly began to feel sleepy.
She placed her backpack on the stone table and then rested her head on it.
Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore.
In any case, there are staff members in this forest area. As long as she waits for the rain to stop, forest rangers or someone similar will surely come looking for her soon.
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