The echo of gunshots floated over the woods. It took a long time before the woods regained their tranquility.
"Why are there gunshots? Are you sure we are on the right track?" Tong Lele looked at Lei Lanting nervously, with a hint of anxiety in his voice.
Lei Lanting raised his hand and looked at the simple compass on his watch: "We have been walking northeast, and the direction must be correct." He forced a smile and comforted Tong Lele, "Maybe someone is hunting here. Let's go quickly. , you’ll feel more at ease if you arrive early.”
Dong Qiangqiang looked towards the front of the road: "What's after passing through the woods? How far do you estimate it is?"
"We have been walking for almost half an hour. According to the route I took last time," Lei Lanting took out a piece of crumpled paper from the inner pocket of his jacket, opened it and read it, "there should be a river ahead. Crossing the river It will be much easier to walk later. I really don't think the distance is very good." His tone sounded normal.
Dong Qiangqiang picked up a long and thick branch from the ground, broke off some extra branches, and handed it to Tong Lele: "You can use this to walk easier."
Tong Lele wiped the sweat from her face, nodded, and reached out to take the stick.
The three of them continued walking, and from time to time the sounds of cooing birds and the soft calls of animals could be heard in the woods. Everyone had their own thoughts, no one spoke, and the atmosphere was a bit solemn. The only sounds were the footsteps of the three people and the click of their shoes when they stepped on the branches on the ground.
At some point a large cloud floated in the sky, blocking out the sun's rays. The light in the forest suddenly dimmed, as if it was evening.
After walking around a tree, Tong Lele was about to carefully walk down the slope in front of her when she suddenly heard Dong Qiangqiang behind her say "Huh". Just as she was about to turn around and ask, her foot suddenly tilted, and she saw that the person was about to step down from the slope. Fall down. She immediately let out an exclamation. Lei Lanting, who was walking in front of her, didn't know what was going on behind him, so he quickly turned around. Dong Qiangqiang, who was behind her, had quick eyes and quick hands. He stepped forward and grabbed her right arm, holding her tightly. He didn't fall completely to the bottom of the slope, but his body still slipped heavily on the slope.
The wooden thorns on the stick immediately cut her palm, and blood flowed out in streams. Upon seeing this, Lei Lanting quickly took out a tissue, and Dong Qiangqiang also took out a band-aid from his bag and applied it to her.
"You still carry a band-aid when you go out?" Lei Lanting looked surprised.
"Well, I often hurt my hands, so I'm used to carrying them with me." Dong Qiangqiang explained.
"Good habit." Lei Lanting nodded, turned his head and glanced at Tong Lele: "How are your feet? Can you still walk?"
"What kind of broken road do you think this is?" Tong Lele glanced at Lei Lanting angrily, then looked up at Dong Qiangqiang, and said resentfully, "My feet hurt from the fall."
Lei Lanting knew that she felt wronged, and half-crouched in front of her, saying apologetically: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault for not choosing an easy path. Lele was hurt. I deserve the punishment." After that, he He lightly slapped himself twice.
"Lao Lei," Dong Qiangqiang stood on the slope and looked at the surrounding environment, "We seem to be spinning in circles."
"What?" The other two people raised their heads in shock at the same time and asked in unison.
"Well, we seemed to have walked through this forest just now." Dong Qiangqiang looked around.
"Don't be ridiculous, how is that possible?" Lei Lanting said while looking at the compass on his watch, "Look, the needle is still pointing to the northeast, it hasn't changed."
Dong Qiangqiang didn't say anything. He raised his hand and pointed at a tree in front of him and said, "Look there."
Tong Lele and Lei Lanting followed his hand and saw trees all around. Lei Lanting asked suspiciously: "Where do you want us to look?"
Dong Qiangqiang didn't say anything. He ran two steps and stood under a tree. He raised his hand and pointed at the trunk and said, "Here."
The two of them followed his finger and saw a rough pattern carved on the tree that looked like an arrow.
Lei Lanting slowly walked under the tree and looked up at the arrow: "What is this?"
"The road sign I just made." Dong Qiangqiang glanced at the two of them, "I thought I might still take this road when I come back, so I thought of making a mark to make it easier to walk when I come back."
Hearing this, Tong Lele nervously stood up with her hands on the tree stick, looking at Lei Lanting intently.
Lei Lanting was silent for a while, looked at the watch and murmured to himself: "It's impossible, the hands on this watch... have never changed..."
Dong Qiangqiang raised Lei Lanting's arm and changed the direction of the watch left and right, but no matter how he changed it, the hands were firmly locked in the northeast direction.
"Holy shit." Lei Lanting sat down on the ground and grabbed his hair with his fingers, "I'm so stupid."
Tong Lele also understood what was going on at this time. She asked in a trembling voice: "Are we...lost?"
Dong Qiangqiang shook his head: "We may have gone a wrong way, but we can't say we are lost."
Hearing this, Lei Lanting quickly raised his head: "Do you still have an extra compass on you?"
Just as a few people were talking, the sun came out from behind the clouds again, and the sunlight suddenly shone into the forest again.
"That's not true, but," Dong Qiangqiang said as he took a few steps forward and stood in a place with sparse leaves above his head. The sun shone on him and cast his shadow on the ground. "Germany is in the northern hemisphere. During the day, it is 12 At 1:00 pm, the sun is usually due south. But now it's past 1:00 noon, and the sun's position should start to move southwest. As long as we keep an eye on the sun's position and walk in the opposite direction, we should be able to reach the villa."
"That's right." Lei Lanting jumped up, "You know better. Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I just remembered it. Besides, the sun was also in the clouds just now."
When he heard that he was not lost, Tong Lele breathed a long sigh of relief and said angrily: "Then what are you waiting for? Let's leave quickly. I don't want to spend any more time here."
"Yes, yes, go quickly, go quickly." Lei Lanting said as he went to hold Tong Lele's arm. Tong Lele opened his hand and rolled her eyes at him: "Look at him, then look at you. He has no geographical knowledge at all."
"This is obviously natural knowledge," Lei Lanting muttered in a low voice, "What does geography have to do with it?"
"Still talking back." Tong Lele pretended to hit Lei Lanting. Lei Lanting wanted to run but was afraid that Tong Lele would fall, so he had to close his eyes and stand motionless on the ground with a frown. Tong Lele glanced at him and walked past him.
Lei Lanting was still waiting for the slap, but there was no movement for a long time. He closed his eyes and shouted: "Fight quickly, otherwise we will not wait until the time comes."
Dong Qiangqiang's voice came from behind: "Old Lei, hurry up and follow."
Lei Lanting quickly turned around and saw that the two of them had gone far away, so he hurriedly chased after them.
After an incident, the three of them started talking and laughing again.
After walking for a few more minutes, Tong Lele suddenly shouted excitedly: "Hey, listen, there seems to be the sound of water ahead."
