"Where are you going?"
Hua Shi watched him step out of the door and asked.
Her words also caught Hua Xiao's attention. She stopped mending the clothes and looked up at Hua Yu intently.
Hua Yu paused for a moment, turned around, and saw his sister-in-law looking at him eagerly. He whispered, "I'm going into the mountains for a while and will be back in the evening."
Hua Xiao held the worn-out clothes in her hand and stood up. Her big eyes were filled with worry. "Second brother, your leg isn't healed yet. Don't go out."
She whispered, her eyes concerned, her gaze fixed on his still swollen ankle.
Hua Yu's expression remained unchanged. He shook his head at her and said, "It's okay. I know what's going on."
Hanashi also looked at him. After hearing him say that he was going out, she noticed that there seemed to be something in his basket. She looked at it carefully for several times and recognized that it seemed to be the style of the trap she had made before.
She immediately guessed what he was going to do...
"Hua Yu, you..." Hua Shi frowned, obviously disapproving of him going into the mountains.
Hua Yu acted as if he didn't see it, walked straight out of the door, and his back disappeared from sight as he turned the corner.
“Second brother!”
Hua Xiao ran out after him, her little face full of anxiety and helplessness. She stood at the gate of the yard, watching the limping figure walking away, not knowing whether to follow.
"Second brother, don't go..." The little girl shrank behind the door frame, looking at him pleadingly.
Hua Yu didn't even turn his head back. After making up his mind, he insisted on doing so.
When Hua Shi saw this, he sighed silently in his heart...
…
At noon, the sun hung high in the sky, scorching the dry ground.
Hua Shi was walking on a sparse forest path, his steps hurried. He frowned, looked up and around, but he didn't see the hunched figure.
After Hua Yu left, she also went back to the yard to pack up her things, took a knife, water, and a piece of steamed bread left over from breakfast, and followed him out.
She walked quite fast along the way, and now she has chased Hua Yu to the foot of the mountain, but still hasn't seen any sign of him.
"Hua Yu? Hua Yu!"
Hua Shi shouted twice towards the empty grove.
In the quiet space, I could faintly hear the echo of my own voice...
“How could it be…”
Hua Shi's brows furrowed even tighter, and he murmured something, somewhat confused.
She wasn't walking slowly. Logically, Hua Yu's leg was still injured. Even if she walked faster, she had been chasing for so long, she should have caught up by now...
How come she had followed him all this way without even seeing his back? As far as she knew, this was the shortest way into the mountains. It was impossible for Hua Yu to have taken a long detour...
“Hua Yu! Hua Yu…!”
She shouted twice more into the empty woods, but still no one responded.
"Alas...where did this brat go? He's such a worry..."
Hua Shi muttered to himself, looked at the shrine of the mountain god temple not far in front of him, thought for a moment, and walked over.
Following Hua Yu's example last time, he put his hands together and bowed to the shrine.
Although she did not believe the rumors in the village that it would bring bad luck if one did not worship the mountain god when entering the mountains, she was already there, so she would rather follow the local customs and believe that it would be okay to worship him.
And for some reason, she felt vaguely uneasy, especially when she thought about what Xie Mingchi had told her last night about the rumors about mountain spirits...
Before stepping into the mountain, Hua Shimoming looked back. From her high vantage point, she saw the large leaves along the mountain road, blocking her way.
Then, she turned back and walked into the mountains...
In a place completely invisible to her, both sides of the entire Linhai Mountain were covered by a vast and fine drizzle, and the originally scorching sun was also gradually obscured by the thick clouds...
Hua Shi had just reached the halfway point of the mountain when a cool breeze blew, and her back and neck suddenly felt cold. She looked up.
I suddenly realized that the blue sky and white clouds above my head were now covered with dark clouds. The sky and the earth became dark, and it seemed that there was going to be a downpour of rain.
"Why is it raining suddenly?"
Hua Shi muttered softly, his heart skipped a beat, and he felt inexplicably flustered.
If it rained, she didn't have an umbrella, so getting wet was the least of her worries. The sky was dark, and the mountain road would become muddy and slippery due to the rain.
She was already a little wary of the mountain spirits and ferocious beasts Xie Mingchi mentioned, and now that it was about to rain, she couldn't help but panic even more...
“Hua Yu! Hua Yu…! Hua Yu…”
Because of uneasiness, Hua Shi's voice couldn't help but rise a few pitches, and he called out twice towards the empty woods.
After walking for a while, Hua Shi stopped where he was, not daring to go any further.
She was afraid that if she went too deep, she would not be able to find the way back. It would be really terrible if she got lost in the mountains on a rainy day.
"Could there be some kind of accident that's why they didn't go into the mountains..."
Hua Shi frowned in thought, then looked up again. It seemed as if half the sky was covered by dark clouds. It was so dark that not even a ray of sunlight could be seen...
The towering trees that reached the sky made it difficult for her to see the sky clearly, and she could only vaguely see a small area in her sight.
“Boom!”
There was a sudden flash of lightning and thunder, which caught her off guard and scared her.
Hua Shi stood there again and called out the boy's name twice, but no one answered. It was eerily quiet all around.
She didn't dare stay any longer. After hesitating for a moment, she turned and walked down the mountain.
It was not a good idea for her to search in the mountains alone. If it really rained, the road would be muddy and slippery, and she was afraid something might happen.
She had no choice but to go back to the foot of the mountain to look for her again. If she still couldn't find her, she could go back to the village and ask someone to go into the mountains to look for her. It was better than for her to stay here alone, wandering around like a headless fly.
She lowered her head and hurried down the mountain, not noticing that after a burst of lightning and thunder, a layer of white fog had risen from the clearly visible forest.
“Huff—Huff—”
A cold wind blew, and Hua Shi's panicked mind suddenly became clear.
The road in front of her was blocked by a misty, damp white fog. Looking back, she saw white fog everywhere, so vast that she couldn't even see the road clearly.
Hua Shi widened his eyes in astonishment, as if he couldn't believe what he saw...
What's going on? Where did this thick fog come from...
She remembered that she had not walked very far, so even if there was white fog blocking the way, it would be right to keep going back, and she should be able to go down the mountain.
“Huff—Huff—”
The wind whistled in my ears, and in the vast white fog, the branches and leaves on the treetops made a rustling sound.
Hua Shi's pace quickened as he walked, and as the whistling of the wind became increasingly eerie, he ran towards the mountain path...
She didn't know how long she had been running or how far she had run. The way she came was obviously very short, but she had been running for so long and yet she could not see the end of the road down the mountain.
“Hu…, huh!”
Hua Shi held on to the sturdy tree next to him with one hand, took a few deep breaths, and looked a little ugly.
Oh no, she seems to be lost...
…
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