One should know that this was Xiao Bei’s first adventure. Usually, whenever Xiao Bei faced any difficulty, he would cower and retreat. He always felt inferior when compared with Yang Chen, though he himself did not notice. Maybe it was due to his lifestyle? Ever since he graduated from University, the pressures of society came down on him, remodeling him, forcing him to conform to societal norms to avoid this pressure. Even though he was exceptionally outstanding during his University days, he still floundered when faced with the responsibilities society placed upon his head.
Outside, the autumn wind abruptly became stronger, like a huge turbine that was producing gales and causing the fallen leaves to scatter in all directions. Xiao Bei was helping Yang Chen carry two boxes, one big and one small, into the car. While doing so, he also checked whether there was anything missing as he waited for Yang Chen to fill the car’s oil tank.
As now that the initial trip had been canceled and was changed to a rescue mission, there wouldn’t be a need for too much of those things that were brought previously. Sleeping bags, worn clothes that required washing, and any other useless stuff were taken out. There was only equipment used for lighting, a portable stove, and a portable shovel or whatever that was in the bag. Other than that, Xiao Bei noticed that in Yang Chen’s huge bag, there was a large number of White Rabbit, Creamy Candy which made him totally speechless.
As Xiao Bei was frantic till he was witless, for now, he did not ask where Yang Chen managed to find this the all-terrain vehicle. Only when they were nearing an actual road after traveling for quite a while did Xiao Bei remembered, “Oh right, I didn’t ask, where did you get this car?”
When Yang Chen saw Xiao Bei’s nervous expression, his heart relaxed. He could not help but want to tease Xiao Bei for the time being. Hence he gave a mysterious smile, and answered with a question, “Guess?”
“Wèi wèi wèi, I saw in the movies when facing an emergency situation; any unlawful method would be used. So this car…it can’t be that you stole it, right? Or was it snatched?” There were only worries on Xiao Bei’s face. Now, he regretted coming along. “We will be doomed if we are caught. Though we have a reason, we still cannot avoid staying there for a few days…this…otherwise…let’s….”
He scratched his head and mumbled for half a day but still could not come up with a reason for their actions.
“What are you thinking?!” Yang Chen shook his head while one of his hand was controlling the steering wheel and the other was massaging his temples. “I need to have the ability to do that first, ah! Have you gone crazy after watching too many movies? Do you think that everyone is an omnipotent hero? I’m not that, alright!?”
“Then this is?” Putting it this way explained that at least the car was not taken illegally. Hence Xiao Bei finally sighed in relieve.
“This is Qiu Yu’s car and they drove it here. When they came, the Inn’s parking lot was full so they could only park at another place. Brother Liu also said that they booked the room next to ours. I climbed over the balconies to find the car keys. It is this simple. It seems like comparing to the past, your current logical thoughts have degraded even further, ah!” After a turn, Yang Chen parked the car at the foot of the mountain.
The whole mountain range was completely painted in gold as everywhere were fallen leaves. As the car was parked further away from the tourist attraction, it was sparsely populated, giving people a feeling of bleakness and desolation of this place.
“If you were like me, staying at home for too long, you would also waste away!” When this point was brought out, Xiao Bei was very much annoyed and his two eyes were burning with rage. “Forget it. Let’s not talk about this and start searching for ways to find the location of the tomb. If even the entrance could not be found, how are we supposed to rescue them, huh?” As Xiao Bei’s heart had finally calmed down, he quickly changed the topic. From within the car, he took the backpack and slung it over his shoulders. He assembled a portable shovel and tested it by waving twice. The feeling was quite comfortable and smooth. Not only could the shovel be used for digging, but during an emergency, it can be used as a weapon for self-defense. It was indeed pretty good.
“We will be looking along the ShiZi ridge. It certainly at this mountain, though!” Yang Chen clenched his teeth when he thought of QiuYu who, in the past, had traveled with him plenty of times. His heart was torn with anxiety but in this damn weather, who would welcome it? The fierce wind swept up those fallen leaves and even out the ditches. In this condition, it was unfavorable to their search.
Although Shi Zi Shan isn’t exactly a huge mountain, from afar, it’s around 500 meters tall and if one wants to find a bandit hole, it would be like fishing a needle from the sea. When Xiao Bei saw Yang Chen’s anxious looks, he could only bite the bullet and followed Yang Chen to find the tomb.
“Xiao Bei, do you feel that I’m very stupid? I am stubborn, wanting to continue and search, knowing what kind of condition it would be done in, and also the difficulty in doing so.” The two, one in front and the other behind, pushed forward through the treas. Yang Chen’s sudden turn of his body and the question gave Xiao Bei a scare.
“Hēhē, why did you suddenly think like this? Though I feel that searching in this condition is useless. However, it is different for you. I consider myself as not a really good person, but I understand, in terms of relationships, just how priceless they can be. Suppose that it was you that was trapped, I would not hesitate to do what you just did! Even if there’s only one out of thousandth chance, I will not abandon you.” Xiao Bei blanked out for a moment before he answered with a huge grin on his face.
Even if Yang Chen’s lips were to turn blue from the freezing cold wind, when he heard Xiao Bei’s words, his heart felt as if it was burning with warmth, hotter than the hottest sun on the warmest weather of the year.
The rustling of the leaves was never ending and unknowingly, the sky darkened. There was no signal on the phone and time was ticking away. They also did not know the situation in the tomb. Xiao Bei felt that his body seemed to stiffen and the reason for him to be able to move forward was because his body was functioning under condition reflexes.
“Gūlū.” Xiao Bei’s stomach growled, releasing wave after wave of pain. In his heart, he secretly cursed. It may be due to the cold weather, but why did it have to happen in this ridiculous situation?
“Urgh, Yang Chen, you rest here for a while; I will go over there to do a number two. It seems like this body’s condition is worsening! Damn it, so disappointing!” After saying all that, he passed his flashlight to Yang Chen and ran in a direction alone.
Night in the mountain forest was very eerie, causing people’s back to turn cold.
Xiao Bei ran for around ten meters before he could no longer hold it. He randomly found a tree and squatted there. After finishing his business and just when he was about to wear on his pants and head back, suddenly, he heard an ear-piercing sound of a gunshot resounded from underground, not far away. In this dead silent mountain forest, the sound came wave after wave, frightening countless birds, flapping their wings, they flew to the sky.
The gunshots were from underground as it sounded muffled. The tomb might be in this vicinity! The first thought that crossed his mind was to go back and inform Yang Chen.
Xiao Bei was extremely excited and as he moved, legs were like flying but unknowingly due to his over excitement, he went in the wrong direction and headed in the direction of the gunfire.
Gēdēng! Xio Bei as he was running, he kicked some stones and heard the sound of stones falling, hitting a cliff face. Zāo! There’s nothing beneath my feet! His mind and body seemed to respond in tandem, working together to reach out for something. Sadly he was too slow and his upward ascent came to an end. He weightlessly kicked around midair before he fell in.
His surrounding were pitch black. Xiao Bei who had fallen felt his entire body creak in pain. However, he dared not tarry and immediately stood up. He left his backpack with Yang Chen so there were no supplies on him, except for a piece of chocolate and a phone that was left with only two cells in his pocket.
Without a flashlight and no signal on his phone, he opted to use the phone as a light source. The blue light faintly illuminated a radius of two meters, nothing could be seen any further.
Xiao Bei carefully inspected his surroundings. It seemed that the hole was man-made and wasn’t a hunter’s trap as there was a tunnel. he looked into the tunnel, seeing nothing but pitch blackness; who knows where it could lead to? Looking up, he estimated that he was around six to seven meters deep and had fallen into a circular hole which was roughly a meter wide. From outside, starlight flittered into the hole.
