291: Chapter 291 The rain stopped, and we went down the mountain.

He turned his head to look at Su Mian and said, "I'll go down first, and then I'll catch you when you come down."

Su Mian nodded, a flicker of trust flashing in her eyes.

Seeing this, Chen Fan quickly climbed out of the cave entrance in a few swift moves, his feet sinking slightly into the damp, soft soil upon landing.

He quickly steadied himself, looked up at Su Mian at the cave entrance, and shouted, "Sister Su Mian, jump down, I'll catch you."

Su Mian stood at the edge of the cave entrance and looked down. The distance from the cave entrance to the ground was not too high, probably a little over two meters, less than three.

But for someone without climbing experience, looking down from this height was still a bit daunting.

She leaned her head out to look at Chen Fan's outstretched arms, then looked at the protruding rock beneath her feet, hesitating for a moment.

Chen Fan looked up, his gaze locked steadily on her. He adjusted the angle of his arms and opened his palms upward, saying, "Don't be afraid, I'm right here."

Su Mian took a deep breath, closed her eyes, as if she had made up her mind, and then leaped forward, falling from the cave entrance.

The feeling of weightlessness lasted only for a moment. Before she even had time to prepare herself mentally for the landing, she felt herself being steadily caught by a pair of strong arms.

The moment Chen Fan caught her, his body sank slightly, his arms wrapping around her waist and back, holding her firmly in his embrace.

Su Mian opened her eyes, and Chen Fan's face was right before her eyes.

"Let's go, Sister Su Mian."

"Mm."

Chen Fan took Su Mian's hand and headed back the way they came.

After walking for about ten minutes, the sound of rushing water came from ahead. It was the very river they hadn't crossed earlier; it was much wider than when they arrived, the water was muddy yellow, and the current was quite swift.

Chen Fan stopped at the bank, looked left and right, and found a spot where the water surface was narrower and rocks were exposed underneath.

"Can we cross?" Su Mian asked, standing behind him.

Chen Fan stepped on the nearest rock; it was steady. He then jumped a couple more times to test the ones in the middle, turned back, and reached out to her: "Come, step where I stepped."

Su Mian looked at his outstretched hand, then at the rushing stream beneath her feet. She hesitated for a moment, but still handed her hand over.

Chen Fan gripped her wrist with moderate force, guiding her step by step onto the stones.

When they reached the largest rock in the middle, Su Mian's foot slipped, and she swayed. Chen Fan was quick-witted, wrapping his arm around her waist to steady her.

"Careful," he said.

After standing steady, Su Mian looked down at her feet; the water rushed past both sides of the rock, splashing up fine white foam. It was a bit frightening.

She let out a breath, her voice quieter than before: "...It's okay now."

After crossing the river, the two walked for another five minutes when his phone suddenly rang with a series of notification sounds. He took out his phone and saw that it actually had a signal now; the series of notifications were all text alerts for missed calls from Chen Tong.

He quickly found Chen Tong's number and dialed it, and it was connected soon.

"Hello, Chen Fan." A worried voice came from the other end of the line.

"Sister."

"Where are you guys, how are you now?"

"We're fine, Sister Su Mian and I are walking toward where we parked. Where are you now?"

"I'm at a restaurant at the foot of the mountain. If you didn't call, I was about to call the police."

"We're fine, we'll be down to find you soon."

The two walked for another ten minutes or so and arrived at where Chen Fan had parked. He took out his keys and unlocked the car.

The "beep" of the car doors unlocking sounded. Chen Fan pulled open the driver's side door and sat in, and Su Mian followed suit, opening the passenger door and sitting in.

Chen Fan started the vehicle and gently pressed the gas pedal, heading down the mountain road.

A heavy rainstorm had made the ground especially muddy. Fortunately, Chen Fan was driving a land rover range rover this time, so driving on such muddy roads was no problem; if he had been driving the Porsche, it probably wouldn't have worked.

As the wheels rolled over the pitted, muddy surface, the car body swayed slightly. The suspension system steadily filtered out most of the bumps, and sitting in the car, one only felt slight undulations.

After driving for five minutes, they finally saw the road down the mountain.

The moment the wheels rolled from the muddy dirt road onto the asphalt surface, the tire noise instantly became clear and even, and the car body stabilized.

Both of them let out a sigh of relief simultaneously.

After driving for another twenty minutes or so, they finally reached the foot of the mountain.

The scenery along the road changed from dense mountain forests to village houses, and shops and pedestrians gradually became more numerous.

Chen Fan slowed the car down to about forty and stopped on the side of the road, taking out his phone to call Chen Tong.

The call was connected quickly, and Chen Tong's voice came from the other end: "Have you come down the mountain?"

"Just came down, where are you?"

"I'm at the restaurant called 'Ruyi Restaurant' at the entrance of the town. There is a big locust tree at the entrance; you can see it after you turn the corner at the intersection ahead."

"Okay, I'll be there right away." Chen Fan hung up, threw his phone into the slot in the center console, and pressed the gas pedal to drive toward the destination.

Sure enough, after turning a corner, he saw the big banyan tree, its branches and leaves spreading out to create a dense shade. Beneath the tree stood a faded sign with the four characters "Ruyi Restaurant" written on it.

Arriving at the entrance of the restaurant, Chen Fan parked the Land Rover on the side and turned off the engine.

The two got out of the car and walked toward the restaurant. Before they reached the entrance, Chen Tong walked out.

She looked at the two with an excited face and said, "It's so good that you're okay. Do you know how worried I was? I almost called the police."

"Tongtong, we're fine." Su Mian said, stepping forward to take Chen Tong's hand to comfort her.

Chen Tong held her hand back and looked her up and down again, letting out a sigh of relief only after confirming that she was indeed uninjured.

"Have you been staying on the mountain for these two or three hours?" Chen Tong asked.

"Yes, we were lucky; we found a cave and only came down after the rain stopped." Chen Fan said.

"Then you were indeed lucky." Chen Tong said with some relief.

As she was speaking, Chen Tong stopped. She looked at Chen Fan's chest with some confusion, "Why does your chest look like it has some black handprints on it?"

Su Mian, who was standing to the side, immediately became nervous upon hearing this. She knew those were stains from when she was wearing Chen Fan's clothes. Although Chen Tong couldn't possibly know, she still glanced at Chen Fan nervously.

Chen Fan, however, said with a normal expression, "It's nothing, I probably brushed against something by accident."

Chen Tong gave an "Oh" and didn't ask any further.

Chen Fan checked the time; it was already past five in the afternoon. He hadn't eaten much all day and was hungry now. Su Mian was the same; he figured she must be hungry too.

He looked at Chen Tong and said, "Sister, have you eaten?"

"Not yet." Chen Tong shook her head, "With you two on the mountain, how could I have the appetite to eat?"

"Alright, then get in the car first. We'll go back to Chang'an to have a meal, and after eating, I'll take you back to school."

"Okay." Chen Tong nodded.

After everyone got in the car, Chen Fan immediately started the car and drove in the direction of Chang'an.