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墨書 Inktalez
The mountain was truly vast, and the map was not very clear. Finding Flag was indeed difficult, but she was not someone who would easily give up; how could she abandon her quest halfway? However, recalling the strange phenomena she had encountered earlier and the words spoken by that woman sent chills down her spine. Could it be that this mountain really held some mysteries? She startled herself with such thoughts; she was an atheist, so how could she believe in curses? Amused, she shook her head to dismiss her own ideas, yet that unsettling feeling lingered in her heart.
“Jin'er, do you have something on your mind?” Chu Feifan approached Jin'er and cleared the grass blocking their path.
Su Jin'er shook her head and said, “No, I just feel a bit uneasy.”
Chu Feifan looked at the beautiful girl before him. Her calm demeanor earlier had impressed him. He had thought that a girl like her would be the type to scream at the sight of animal bones, but her composure exceeded his expectations.
Suddenly, Su Jin'er stopped in her tracks. She stood still as the wind blew through her smooth black hair, carrying a faint scent of shampoo.
“What’s wrong?”
Everyone looked at her serious expression, feeling a growing sense of unease.
The humidity in the forest was heavy, and the damp leaves on the ground emitted a musty smell. Each person wore a heavy expression.
Su Jin'er placed her index finger to her lips, signaling for silence.
After a moment, she looked in a certain direction and said, “I think I hear someone crying.”
Her words landed like a bomb among the group, causing everyone’s hearts to race as they recalled that woman and the things she had burned, sending shivers down their spines.
“It sounds like a woman's voice,” Zuo Yi said as he moved closer to Su Jin'er.
“Could it be that woman from earlier?” Linyuan asked.
The chair shook its head.
"No, the voice of that woman just now sounded sad and desperate, while this voice sounds resentful," Chu Feifan said next.
"Yes, and it should be a young woman," Su Jin'er continued to look ahead, speaking seriously.
"You three could start a detective agency," Du Xiaonan joked, and her lighthearted comment lifted everyone's spirits considerably.
"Let's not worry about the crying sound anymore; we should quickly find Flag and get out of this cursed place!" Zhang Junsheng, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. He was an ordinary-looking boy with a somewhat reclusive personality, often reluctant to talk to others. He walked at the back, holding a stick.
Everyone fell silent again, agreeing to find Flag and leave. Although Su Jin'er felt uneasy about the voice, she did not forget the purpose of their visit.
Nothing strange happened along the way; everyone walked with their own thoughts. Linyuan linked arms with Su Jin'er, chattering endlessly. According to her, it was to lighten the mood since everyone else was quiet, making the atmosphere even more oppressive. Xu Lingling cautiously followed behind Chu Feifan, occasionally tugging at his shirt to act cute.
At that moment, the damp smell in the air became more pronounced, and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees in an instant. Xu Lingling, wearing a skirt, shivered from the cold.
After she sneezed several times in succession, Chu Feifan had no choice but to give her his jacket.
"Flag should be nearby! Everyone look around," Chu Feifan said while holding the map.
Flag's location was marked right where they were standing; they just hadn't spotted it yet.
To their left was a slope that appeared quite deep due to many trees and some unknown grass obscuring the bottom. At that moment, Su Jin'er stood at the edge of the slope, peering down as something seemed to draw her attention.
Her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of something red. She leaned forward and saw a corner of the red Flag.
"The Flag is over there," her voice was soft, yet loud enough for everyone to hear. In the forest, aside from the sound of the wind and the rustling of leaves underfoot, there was no other noise. So far, they hadn't even heard a single bird call; in such a vast forest, how could there be not a single bird?
Upon hearing her words, Chu Feifan walked over to her and said, "I'll go get it. You all wait here."
"I'll go instead!" Zuo Yi suddenly interjected.
Zuo Yi was also a handsome boy, quiet like Chu Feifan. Just a glance at him made people like him. He seemed to be good friends with Chu Feifan, although they hadn't exchanged many words along the way; their exchanged glances were enough to indicate their relationship.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Feifan nodded and said, "Alright, just be careful."
Since the Flag was stuck halfway down the slope, retrieving it required going down. The coach had mentioned that they might need ropes on their way here, so each group had brought one. They tied the rope around Zuo Yi's waist while several boys held onto it to prevent him from accidentally falling.
"I really don't understand why the school would place the Flag in such a dangerous spot," Du Xiaonan complained, her eyes filled with concern as she looked at Zuo Yi.
"The profession of a doctor isn't just an individual matter; it requires everyone's effort. So the school must be testing our team spirit by doing this," Su Jin'er recalled what her mother had once said.
Everyone fell silent, nervously watching as Zuo Yi descended further down. They could only see his black hair above them, holding their breath in anxious anticipation until Zuo Yi's voice came from below saying he had retrieved it. When he called for them to pull him up, they finally exhaled.
However, when Zuo Yi was pulled back up, their hearts tightened again because his face was pale and devoid of color.
"What did you see?"
"White bones. A lot of them," he replied simply, as if he had not yet recovered from his fear.
Hearing his words, everyone gasped, relieved that it wasn't them who had to go down.
Indeed, this place was not simple at all.
"Damn it! Since we've already got the Flag, let's hurry down the mountain!" Zhang Junsheng said unhappily. He seemed quite dissatisfied with this Military Training, his brows furrowed tightly the entire way.
"We'll return the same way we came."
Knowing that there were bones below the slope, no one was willing to stand near the edge anymore; everyone moved far away.
Su Jin'er deliberately walked at the back. She had questions for Zhang Junsheng; this boy seemed to know something about this mountain. She herself wasn't sure why she felt compelled to investigate it. Logically, this was a place she had never been before, so she shouldn't feel such a strong connection. Yet, she felt a mysterious force drawing her in, as if the mountain had some connection to her.
Once everyone had distanced themselves from them, Su Jin'er asked, "Zhang Junsheng, you seem to know something about this place."
At her words, Zhang Junsheng momentarily lost focus. He looked at Su Jin'er's beautiful face and then lowered his head, saying, "How could that be? This is my first time here."
"You're lying!" she said sharply. "Since we entered this mountain, you've been filled with fear. Although you've hidden it well, your eyes can't deceive me."
Zhang Junsheng looked at her again; his long eyelashes resembled a veil, and his eyes were like a clear lake—no, rather than a lake, they were like shining black holes that drew him into an infinite abyss. In an instant, it felt as if she had sucked away his soul.
He hurriedly turned his head away from her: "So what if I do? I have the right to remain silent."
His words struck her like a nail in the heart. He was right; she had no right to demand others tell her anything. Was it because she had watched too much Sherlock Holmes that she became so sensitive?
"I'm sorry; I was too nervous."
Hearing her apology, Zhang Junsheng also felt he had been too blunt. Blushing, he said, "It's okay; let's hurry and catch up with them!"
After saying that, he strode forward.
The sky grew darker, and everyone was exhausted from walking, yet they still had not found the way down the mountain; it seemed they were lost.
"How did you lead us? Didn't you say we would return the same way? Where is the original path?" Xu Mengguang was becoming increasingly irritated. The fleeting image of the White Shadow lingered in his mind, making his legs tremble with fear.
"It seems like we've been going in circles," Su Jin'er pointed to a tree and said, "An hour ago, I placed a stone under this tree. Look! It's this one."
She pointed to a stone beneath a tree.
This stone was quite special, perfectly round with no sharp edges.
"Are you sure you didn't remember incorrectly?" Du Xiaonan asked as she linked her arm with Su Jin'er's.
"We have indeed been going in circles, but I was following the map!"
"Perhaps we've encountered a wall of ghosts," Li Yiqian, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
A wall of ghosts?
The term hit everyone like a heavy hammer, striking deep into their hearts.
"Please! Don't say such things!" Xu Lingling said with a discontented tone, pulling her neck in.
Everyone's fear grew as they looked at the darkening sky, feeling increasingly helpless.
They wondered if the other students had returned to the vehicle and were anxiously waiting for their return.
"Everyone, don't panic. Let's try going through it again," Chu Feifan and Zuo Yi said as they struggled to read the map. Due to the darkness, they could barely see anything.
Su Jin'er took out a flashlight from her bag to help them see. This was a habit she had developed since childhood. She remembered that when she was ten years old, she had stayed at her grandmother's house. One night, she came home late because she was playing, and Qiangzi had to walk her back. On the way, she accidentally stepped on something soft and, using the moonlight, discovered it was a flattened dead snake. Since then, carrying a flashlight had become her routine.
With Su Jin'er's flashlight, they retraced their steps according to the map. An hour later, they found themselves back at the spot marked by stones.
Xu Lingling could no longer hold back and squatted down, crying loudly.
"Shut up! Do you want to attract ghosts? Isn't it bad enough for us already?" Zhang Junsheng shouted.
Xu Lingling's cries abruptly stopped in the air.
"Damn it, how did we end up here again? We shouldn't have come in the first place."
Zhang Junsheng sat down under a tree, feeling utterly frustrated.
With tears on her face, Xu Lingling looked up innocently at Chu Feifan and said, "What should we do? I don't want to sleep here."
"Is it just you who doesn't want to sleep here? Can you stop crying? We're already stressed enough; don't make it worse," Linyuan finally couldn't take it anymore.
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