Chapter 320 An Awkward Eye Contact

“Nonsense, if we don’t take a shortcut, is it even considered mountain climbing?” Lin Dong said, speechless. “There are so many people on the main road, it’s like a damn picnic.”

“But…” Sun Zhicheng hesitated.

“What exactly are you here for, A-Cheng?” Lin Dong countered, “Don’t tell me you really plan to be a tour guide? How can you have intimate opportunities with so many people around?”

As the two spoke, the two chattering sophomore girls in front turned their heads in confusion.

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing, he just twisted his ankle a bit.” Lin Dong quickly gave himself a reliable persona. “I helped him fix it, it’s not a big problem.”

“You can even set bones?” The girl who spoke, Zhong Shulan, her eyes couldn’t help but light up.

“It’s alright, my family is a Traditional Chinese Medicine family.” Lin Dong casually embellished, and then added a bug, “But I’m not interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine.”

“Then what do you like?” Gu Mengfei asked with a smile.

“Compared to Traditional Chinese Medicine, I prefer traveling and photography.” Lin Dong smiled indifferently, “When I go to university, I’ll find someone to go to Lijiang with during the holidays.”

“Lijiang! I really want to go too!” Zhong Shulan blinked, then sighed, “Too bad, my family won’t let me go.”

“It’s okay, you should be an adult next summer, you can go with friends.” Lin Dong comforted her, and also expanded the topic.

“Shulan will be an adult, but I won’t be next summer, I’m a year short.” Gu Mengfei said, implicitly revealing that she was younger.

“No way, what date were you born?” Lin Dong asked, “I heard that now adulthood isn’t based on the date on the household registration book…”

“Ah? The date on the household registration book… I don’t know.”

Sun Zhicheng followed behind the three, listening to Lin Dong having subtly extracted both their birthdays and already chatting with Zhong Shulan about Lijiang.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated. What was wrong with him?

If it were before, he could have joined in on these topics too. After all, Brother Dong saying he loved photography was just showing off, but his family actually had a camera.

Teacher Chen has something to say.

But what was he doing? He couldn’t even talk about niche hobbies anymore.

Unrequited love had turned him from a human into a ghost!

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but let go. He thought, just this once, be himself again!

Anyway… they were in the mountains, who would know?

“The first stop is best to get off by Erhai Lake in Dali.” Sun Zhicheng took a deep breath, joining in, “See Erhai Lake during the day, and explore Dali Ancient City at night.”

“Oh? Is that so?”

“Go this way! Where are you planning to go? The bottom of a prison.” Jiang Nian pulled Wang Yuhe, correcting her direction, “That path is blocked.”

“Aren’t these two paths the same?” Chen Yunyun was confused.

She stood beside Jiang Nian, glancing at the rarely used small path. She couldn’t help but shrink her neck, instinctively leaning closer to Jiang Nian.

“Blocked?”

“Yes, they look the same.” Jiang Nian pointed to the small path going down on the right, explaining, “Actually, that one leads to the village.”

“The few households living by the road got tired of climbers always taking the wrong path, so they simply blocked it off and put up a ‘Road Closed’ sign.”

The further they walked, the narrower the path became.

Wang Yuhe walked in front, Chen Yunyun in the middle, and Jiang Nian brought up the rear.

“As soon as we entered the mountain, it seems… colder?” Chen Yunyun curled her hands into fists, blowing on them, “Do you two feel it?”

Wang Yuhe turned back, “I’m not cold at all.”

“Awesome, awesome, awesome.” Jiang Nian praised casually, then asked Chen Yunyun, “This area at the foot of the mountain is quite shady, do you want a jacket?”

Chen Yunyun turned to look at him, then shook her head.

“It’s fine, you’ll catch a cold.”

“Oh, I have another idea.” Jiang Nian’s mind sparked, and he suddenly smiled.

Chen Yunyun immediately blushed, waving her hand.

“No.”

“I haven’t even said it yet, and you’re already saying no.” Jiang Nian looked rather regretful, “What I mean is, I can lend you my hoodie.”

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun’s steps faltered, and she almost tripped.

“Ah!”

Jiang Nian, who was behind her, was quick-eyed and quick-handed, pulling her back.

“Be careful.”

“Oh, oh, thank… thanks.” Chen Yunyun’s face turned even redder.

They walked a bit further.

Wang Yuhe was getting a bit impatient; she wanted to climb a mountain, not walk on flat ground.

So she stopped and turned to ask.

“How much longer until we start climbing?”

“Soon, about ten more minutes.” Jiang Nian replied, simultaneously lowering his voice to remind the two girls, “You can look back on the path, but don’t look in a mirror.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Yuhe immediately felt a chill down her spine; she thought of something bad.

“Wh-why?”

Chen Yunyun was also made nervous by Jiang Nian’s words; several terrifying images inevitably floated through her mind. Looking in a mirror, then discovering someone behind her… However, Jiang Nian said.

“The soil here is quite loose, and if you look in a mirror, you won’t watch your step. What if you miss your footing and fall? It’s too dangerous, so don’t look.”

Wang Yuhe:

Chen Yunyun:

Some people are truly despicable, not getting involved in anything. Purely despicable.

“Cough, cough, but then again.” Jiang Nian said, “It’s best not to take selfies with your phone in the mountains, it’s easy to attract some strange things.”

“Is it another ‘taking pictures without watching your step’ thing?” Wang Yuhe complained.

The three walked around a corner and saw a gap ahead.

“That’s it, we go up the mountain from there.” Jiang Nian pointed to a path that had been artificially cleared ahead, “The path up the mountain is a bit difficult, be careful where you step.”

“Mm, you be careful too.” Chen Yunyun responded.

At this moment, Jiang Nian finally had time to respond to what Wang Yuhe had said a minute earlier.

“That’s not it, it’s just that I heard about a few students once. They climbed Qingmu Ridge late at night, planning to watch the sunrise after reaching the summit.”

“Wouldn’t you know it, there were exactly three students.”

“They thought it was still early, and to pass the time, they didn’t take the main road. Instead, they chose the small path up the mountain, chatting and laughing all the way.”

“Somehow, a heavy fog rolled in at dawn.”

“The three students felt a bit strange, so they sped up their climb. They only stopped when one of them ran out of stamina and needed a rest.”

At this point, Jiang Nian paused, then lowered his voice.

“One person pulled out his phone and took a photo to show his classmate. Coincidentally, his classmate wasn’t asleep and replied with a question mark.”

“He said… ‘Are there so many people climbing the mountain behind you?'”

Hearing this, Chen Yunyun gasped and slapped Jiang Nian hard.

“Don’t… don’t scare us!”

Wang Yuhe’s face also turned a bit pale, and she looked around, suddenly feeling a little panicked.

At this point, she couldn’t act tough anymore and swallowed hard.

“You’re… you’re lying, right?”

With a buzz, Wang Yuhe’s phone rang.

She picked it up and saw a message pop up.

“Are there so many people climbing the mountain behind you?”

“Ah!!!” Wang Yuhe screamed, but on closer inspection, the sender of the message was… Jiang Nian!

She glanced at Chen Yunyun, seeing that she had no reaction. She then knew that that scoundrel Jiang had only scared her, and immediately she was furious!

“Jiang Nian! I’ll kill you!”

Wang Yuhe wanted to get past Chen Yunyun to get revenge, grabbing Jiang Nian and giving him a good beating.

“Let that be for scaring me! Scaring me! Wuwu!!”

Jiang Nian grinned, feeling no pain, and explained.

“Didn’t you say climbing was boring? I thought I’d tell a little story to cheer you up.”

“You’re still talking!!” Wang Yuhe’s tears started to fall.

Chen Yunyun was also quite scared, but she hadn’t received Jiang Nian’s message.

So she quickly realized it was another one of his made-up stories.

“You…”

She felt both angry and amused, unable to say anything.

She could only comfort herself, thinking that no one is perfect, and perhaps this was the price of beauty.

Suddenly, a sound came from above the mountain.

Chen Yunyun and Wang Yuhe’s faces immediately turned pale, remembering Jiang Nian’s story.

The two girls screamed in unison, instinctively leaning towards Jiang Nian.

“There… there’s…” “Don’t grab me, grab Jiang Nian!”

Jiang Nian was hugged by the two girls, like a sloth clinging to a tree.

He was quite helpless. In broad daylight, were there really market goods?

Most likely, someone was climbing the mountain, took the wrong path, and just happened to cross through there.

Sure enough, after a rustling sound.

A group of people emerged, led by two girls. Their clothes and appearance looked decent, but their faces were a bit less striking, just ordinary pretty girls.

“? There are people down here too?” Zhong Shulan asked curiously.

She had come over when she heard the screams and saw two incredibly beautiful girls hugging a boy whose gaze would linger for at least five seconds.

What… what were they doing?

She was a bit confused.

“What’s wrong?” Gu Mengfei also came over, “Was it that rock that fell after someone missed their footing, scaring others?”

“No way?” Lin Dong was about to move forward.

“Brother Dong, people still use this small path?” Sun Zhicheng eagerly stepped forward, saying gently to the two girls, “Be careful where you step.”

He squeezed past, took a look, and met the gazes of Chen Yunyun, Jiang Nian, and Wang Yuhe.

He froze.