55: Chapter 55 A Moment of Terror

At 4:30 in the morning, A-Jun came to knock on the door.

"Time to get up."

Li Xin opened his eyes; it was still dark outside. The straw mat made his back ache, and he hadn't slept soundly all night. He climbed up and used a ladle to scoop water and splash it on his face. The water was cool and quite refreshing.

A-Juns wife brought over breakfast—sticky rice and roasted pork.

"Come on... eat, don't be shy," A-Jun said.

Li Xin grabbed a handful of rice, stuffed a piece of pork inside, and finished it in a few bites.

After breakfast, they prepared to set off. The two of them strapped on their bulging hiking backpacks, and A-Jun picked up his machete.

"Let's go."

The two of them left the village in the dark. A-Jun walked in front, his headlamp swaying back and forth. Li Xin followed behind, stepping on his shadow.

After walking for half an hour, the sky began to brighten. The cloud cover was very thick, and the sun was not visible.

"It's damn hot," Li Xin said casually.

A-Jun spoke indifferently, "It'll be even hotter today."

"Yeah."

They entered the mountains. The tree canopy blocked the sky, and the light suddenly dimmed. The air was humid and stuffy, like being soaked in warm water.

"You're sweating," A-Jun said without turning his head, smiling.

"You are too," Li Xin also smiled.

"I'm used to it. You aren't."

Li Xin didn't reply. His T-shirt was soaked through and stuck to his back, which was uncomfortable. In reality, he couldn't feel the heat, but to avoid making A-Jun suspicious, he acted like a normal person, sweating profusely. It wasn't easy.

The path became increasingly difficult to walk. There was no ready-made path, so A-Jun used his machete to clear the way in front. With one swing, snap, the vines broke.

"Careful," A-Jun said.

A tree branch sprang back and whipped across Li Xin's face. It stung sharply.

"I'm fine."

"Your face is going to peel when we get back."

"It won't kill me."

The two of them chatted aimlessly like this. After walking for about two hours, A-Jun stopped, found a place to sit, took out his water bottle from his bag, and took a big gulp.

"Let's take a break."

Li Xin found a rock to sit on. The rock was slick and quite nice-looking, but it was a bit hot on his backside.

"How much further?" he asked with a smile.

"Once we cross that ridge ahead, it'll take about another two hours."

"Let's go," A-Jun said a moment later.

They continued walking. The slope became steeper.

"Give me a hand," A-Jun reached out.

Li Xin grabbed his hand and pulled hard. A-Jun climbed up and turned back to pull Li Xin up.

"You're quite strong," A-Jun said.

"It's alright."

"Have you trained?"

"Sort of."

They walked for another hour and reached a ridge. A-Jun suddenly stopped and raised his hand.

"Don't move."

Li Xin was stunned.

"Listen," A-Jun lowered his voice.

A low snoring sound came from ahead, like muffled thunder, coming from behind the bushes.

"What is that sound?" Li Xin asked.

"A bear."

The hair on Li Xin's body stood up.

Pushing aside the bushes, a black behemoth appeared before them. It was huge, covered in black fur, just sitting there, its nose sniffing the air.

"Don't run," A-Jun's voice was so low it was almost inaudible. "Back away slowly, don't look it in the eyes."

Li Xin's legs felt a bit weak. He stepped back step by step, the rotten leaves rustling under his feet.

The black bear didn't move. It just stood there staring at them.

Suddenly, a "snap" rang out; Li Xin had stepped on and broken a dry branch.

The black bear's head jerked up, and then it stood up. Its two hind legs supported it on the ground, front legs suspended in the air; its build was as sturdy as a small mountain.

"Run!" A-Jun shouted urgently.

Li Xin turned around abruptly, without a moment's hesitation, and bolted.

Tree branches whipped his face, vines tangled around his ankles, but he ignored it all, burying his head and charging forward frantically.

Behind him came the heavy thud of the black bear landing, the thump-thump-thump sound making his heart tighten. Following that was the snap of bushes breaking one after another, jarring and urgent, closing in step by step.

"This way! Run this way!" A-Jun shouted loudly.

Li Xin followed him, turning into a narrow path. On both sides was a dense, air-tight bamboo forest, the bamboo thin and packed closely together.

Running left and right like this for several hundred meters, the sound behind them gradually faded.

A-Jun stopped, bent over, and panted heavily.

"Did it... not follow?" Li Xin gasped, his chest heaving continuously.

"It can't get in. The bamboo here is too dense."

Li Xin squatted down, his hands still shaking.

"Are you okay?" A-Jun asked.

"I'm fine. Let's go."

"We'll take the long way around; don't go that way again."

"Okay."

The two of them took a wide detour, walking for nearly an hour longer. It was almost noon.

A hillside full of holes and scars appeared before them.

A large section of the hillside had been forcibly excavated; the yellow soil was exposed, vegetation crushed into mush, rotten wooden frames scattered about, and soil and rubble piled up in heaps. It had long since lost any semblance of its natural state.

"We're here," A-Jun smiled slightly.

"This is it?"

"This is it."

Like a curious baby, Li Xin looked around the mining area, sometimes squatting down to sift through the gravel and soil on the ground for a closer look, sometimes suddenly standing up to Scan the surrounding forests and mine shafts, unable to stay still for a moment. He took out his camera and kept taking pictures.

A-Jun, however, appeared bored, too lazy to join in the fuss. He just found a relatively clean rock to lean against, took out a cigarette, lit it, and smoked leisurely.

Taking advantage of when A-Jun wasn't paying attention, he silently recited in his mind: "System, Scan."

[Scanning... No gold mine detected.]

None.

Li Xin stood up and frowned.

"What's wrong?" A-Jun asked casually.

"Nothing."

"Didn't find the rocks you were looking for?"

"Didn't find them."

A-Jun flicked the cigarette ash, looking helpless: "This crappy place, what kind of good rocks could it have?"

"Are there any other mines nearby?" Li Xin asked, still unwilling to give up.

A-Jun thought for a moment: "There are. If you go west and cross two mountain ridges, there's an old mine, but we can't make it there today; we'll have to go tomorrow."

"Alright. Then where are we staying tonight?" Li Xin looked at the sky. The cloud cover was thicker than in the morning, dark and oppressive.

"It's going to rain." A-Jun also looked up at the sky, pondered for a moment, and said, "We need to find a good place to set up camp."

The two of them walked towards the ridge. A-Jun found a wind-sheltered highland, with large trees blocking the surroundings.

"This place is pretty good," A-Jun said.

Li Xin nodded, put down his backpack, then took out the tent from inside and began to set it up.

Just as the tent was set up, it started to rain. The rain didn't give anyone a chance to react; it came crashing down fiercely.

"Get in quickly!" A-Jun shouted urgently.

Li Xin quickly crawled into the tent and zipped it up. The rain hit the tent heavily, making a pitter-patter sound.

"A-Jun, how is it on your side?" he shouted loudly.

"I'm fine on my side!" A-Jun shouted back.

"That's good!"

It rained for nearly an hour, with no sign of stopping.

Suddenly, Li Xin heard a sound. It wasn't the rain, wasn't the wind, but a low rumbling sound coming down from the mountain.

"A-Jun!"

"I heard it!"

"What is that sound?"

A-Jun didn't answer. Then he shouted urgently, his voice changing: "Get out! Get out quickly!"

Li Xin unzipped the tent and crawled out. The rain hit his face, stinging painfully. A-Jun was standing not far away, pointing at the top of the hillside.

Li Xin looked in the direction he was pointing, and his blood instantly ran cold.

On the hillside, a large patch of soil and rubble was sliding down. The mud mixed with rainwater, carrying stones and broken trees, looked like a long gray snake sliding down from the mountain.

"Damn... a mudslide!" A-Jun shouted urgently, "Run! Run that way!"

The two of them ran quickly to the side, cutting across, running towards the other side of the ridge.

"Quick! Quick!" A-Jun shouted from the front.

Li Xin took deep and shallow steps, stepping into the mud, pulling his feet out, only to sink in again. He charged forward like a madman, his chest in severe pain, his lungs feeling like they were about to be torn apart.

A dozen seconds later, the mud mixed with rubble roared past just over a dozen meters behind them!

That rumbling roar was just like a train passing right by their faces, full of overwhelming pressure! The closest part of the mudslide was only five or six meters away from them.

A-Jun pulled him, and the two of them scrambled and rolled over a dirt ridge, lying on the ground. Both of them were filled with terror; it truly was a narrow escape.

After about ten minutes, the sound gradually faded.

Li Xin lay on the ground, panting heavily. The rain poured on his back, and he shivered with cold.

A-Jun stood up first, covered in mud from head to toe.

"It's over now," A-Jun's voice was a bit airy and also a bit hoarse.

Li Xin slowly climbed up, his legs still shaking. He looked back—the campsite's tent was gone, completely covered by mud.

"The tent..." he said, trembling slightly.

"Don't think about it," A-Jun shook his head, "As long as we're alive, that's all that matters."

"What about your camera?"

"It's all in the bag. I've been carrying the bag the whole time."

Li Xin didn't speak again. His equipment was all in his spatial storage, and the tent had just been for show. But A-Jun didn't know that.

"Let's go," A-Jun looked at Li Xin, still shaken, "Let's head back. This rain won't stop anytime soon, we can't stay here any longer."

"Go down the mountain now?"

"Do you want to die here?"

"No."

"Then let's go."

The two of them took a detour back. The rain was still falling, and the mountain path had turned into a muddy river.

"Slow down, it's a bit slippery here," A-Jun reached out to pull him.

"I know."

"If you slip and fall, I can't carry you."

"I don't need you to carry me."

Several hours later, it was completely dark.

A-Jun turned on his headlamp, the beam of light shining on the path ahead.

"How much further?" Li Xin asked casually.

"Almost there, another hour and we'll be there."

"You said 'almost there' just a moment ago too."

"This time it's really almost there."

After walking for another hour, they finally saw the village lights.

A-Juns wife, looking anxious, saw them return and hurried over, speaking rapidly in Vietnam, pulling A-Jun and looking him up and down.

A-Jun waved his hand and said a few words. She finally breathed a sigh of relief and then looked at Li Xin.

"Let's go, get inside," A-Jun said.

Li Xin came under the eaves, took off his soaked clothes, and wrung them out. Water flowed all over the floor with a splash.

"Here's a towel for you," A-Juns wife handed over two dry towels and also brought two bowls of hot ginger soup.

Li Xin took the ginger soup and took a sip; it was really bad, although he didn't want to drink it, he didn't dare to refuse her kindness.

"Are we still going tomorrow?" A-Jun asked indifferently.

Li Xin was silent for a few seconds.

"Yes."

"Are you sure? We almost died today." A-Jun's eyes widened, a bit incredulous.

"We didn't die," Li Xin replied noncommittally.

A-Jun looked at him and shook his head: "You really don't value your life."

"I value my life. But I also want the rocks."

A-Jun didn't speak again, lit a cigarette, and sat at the doorway smoking.

The rain gradually eased.

"Tomorrow we go west, over two ridges," A-Jun exhaled a puff of smoke, was silent for a moment, and then spoke, "The road is harder to walk than today's."

"Okay, I understand."

"There might be bears too," A-Jun added with a sly smile.

"I brought a knife."

"A knife can't kill a bear."

"Hahaha... then we'll run," Li Xin grinned and laughed.

A-Jun also laughed and stubbed out his cigarette.

"Alright. Five o'clock tomorrow."

"Okay."

Li Xin held the ginger soup, sat on the threshold, and looked at the rain outside.

It was pitch black in the distance, and he couldn't see anything. But who knows, perhaps in the mountains to the west, there was something he wanted hidden there.