Seeing them stagnant, not knowing how much time it would take, Chi Yue patiently asked for help due to hunger, took Wen Qizhou's hand, and walked into the forest together to find a place to rest.
After walking five or six hundred meters, a stream came into view. She found a stone to sit on, leaned over to wash her hands, and then took out two hamburgers from the space to rest on his belly.
She had only eaten half a piece of roasted sweet potato since she got up. As soon as she smelled the aroma of the burger, she couldn't help but bite into it, filling her entire mouth with bread and beef.
"Eat slowly, don't choke." Wen Qizhou took out the thermos cup from his hiking bag, unscrewed the lid and handed it to her hand.
Chi Yue responded vaguely.
She slowed down her chewing movements, opened the greaseproof paper containing the burger with her fingertips, took a sip of water, and took a second bite.
After eating one burger, her empty stomach was satisfied and she no longer grumbled.
"Shall we set up a tent here tonight?" She leaned on Wen Qizhou's chest: "It would be more convenient if there is water."
"Can."
Wen Qizhou hugged her waist.
He shined a flashlight on his delicate white hands and found that the skin on his wrists was broken. He frowned slightly and took out an iodophor cotton swab from his pocket: "Does it hurt? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It doesn't hurt." She lowered her eyes and watched him pick up the cotton swab and apply iodine on her: "I didn't even notice it myself."
They relied on flashlights to illuminate the road. As long as there was no bleeding, it was difficult to detect the abrasions on the wrists without looking closely.
Wen Qizhou put a band-aid on her.
Thinking that Chi Yue had just stepped on the broken board, he bent down, lifted up her trousers, and inspected them carefully again.
He felt relieved when he was sure there was no injury.
He put the flashlight between his knees and followed the light to look at the gurgling stream. His fingertips slipped into Chi Yue's fingers, and while holding her waist tightly, he interlocked with her fingers.
"Yueyue." He pondered for a while, still frowning Qingjun: "I just realized how you felt before."
The moment she stepped on the air and fell, his whole body seemed to have received a heavy hammer, and even the depths of his soul were trembling.
Looking back now, I still feel scared.
Afraid of not being able to catch her, afraid of losing her completely.
"It's all over." Chi Yue knew that he was referring to his previous life. She witnessed with her own eyes how he felt when he was submerged in the flood.
She raised her head, traced his features in the dim light, and said softly: "Aren't we fine now?"
Hearing Qizhou was silent for a long time.
He caressed that radiant face, no longer assuming things that have not happened and adding worries to himself at the moment.
"Well, we will be fine in the future." He pressed against Chi Yue's forehead, covered her soft lips and gave her a peck.
Chi Yue bent her eyes and smiled.
They listened to the symphony of flowing water and the chirping of insects and birds, and sat quietly by the stream, enjoying a moment of peace.
Not long after, a beam of light came from the forest.
She poked her head out of Wen Qizhou's arms, glanced in the direction of the footsteps, and judged from their figures that they were Xie Changxiao and Chi Yunyan, and asked, "How are those people?"
"Falled down the mountain."
"all?"
"No." Xie Changxiao put down Xunsong in his arms and led him to the stream: "The man who is afraid of heights and the girl behind him are still on the bridge, and the rest have all fallen down the mountain."
"Where are the people at the bridge?"
"They shouted for the soldiers to go back to pick them up, but the soldiers didn't know the way, so how could they pick them up? Master Ming couldn't lead the way, so they had to find their own way to come from the bottom of the mountain."
Obviously not stupid.
His willingness to let them into the Taoist temple and take them away from Yuanyun Mountain is the limit of his kindness. Once his own safety is involved, there is no room for negotiation.
"Then did they go down the mountain?"
"It seems like you're walking a U-shaped loop." Chi Yunyan finished washing his face and found a place to sit down: "Sister, were you not injured just now?"
"No."
Chi Yue handed him a pack of tissues.
Thinking that they were still hungry, she rummaged through her hiking bag and found two bags of homemade spicy rabbit jerky, and handed them to them: "You guys eat something first."
"Okay." Chi Yunyan was so hungry that he chewed a piece of dried meat slowly: "Are we still going forward?"
"I won't leave for now."
When Mingzhang and his party came over, Chi Yue talked about staying in this mountain temporarily and setting up a tent near the water source to rest for a night.
There are four tents in their backpacks, and each tent is large enough to accommodate eleven people.
"Let's set up on the opposite side." Wen Yaxian glanced at the location of the residents: "It's easy to cause trouble if we are too close."
"Okay." Everyone stepped across the stream.
Chi Yunyan looked back at the team of soldiers, but did not see the boy who was afraid of heights or the brown-haired girl. He asked them out of curiosity: "Why didn't that girl reach the end of the bridge?"
"She was dragged down by the person in front of her."
"..."
He lamented that showing kindness could cost people's lives, and stopped talking about them too much, striding to set up a tent under a tree.
Because they were too tired, after setting up the four tents, they didn't bother to prepare dinner. They simply ate some dried meat to fill their stomachs, then closed the door chains and lay down to rest.
The people across the stream were too lazy to move.
They gnawed on biscuits, crowded together in three tents, and fell asleep with exhaustion and sleepiness.
