Chapter 54: Returning to the Remote Mountains

Cheng Xiangru could not tell whether he was brave or cowardly.

Every day waiting in the county town, he couldn’t sleep soundly.

Whenever he closed his eyes, he felt as if the door would suddenly open silently, and a mysterious black shadow surrounded by venomous insects would sneak into the room, rummage through his things, even threaten his life.

Yet at the same time, every day he longed for Boss Zhou and the others to be discharged from the hospital soon, so that he could follow them once again to those desolate mountains and wild lands hiding countless evils, searching for answers that kept him tossing and turning but eluded his understanding.

Aside from all this, what hurt Cheng Xiangru the most was his longing and worry for his sister.

Although, with Boss Zhou’s help, Cheng used Aunt Liu’s phone to call Cheng Yimo,

her crying and concern only deepened his yearning for her.

Sometimes Cheng Xiangru thought, if his father was not heartless, he must be living in pain every day—thousands of times more painful than Cheng himself.

Days slipped by, and after a week, Boss Zhou and the others were finally discharged.

When Cheng Xiangru saw Tan Cheng and his men inspecting the equipment in every vehicle, he knew the moment he had been waiting for had come.

“Uncle Zhou, take me with you!” Cheng Xiangru’s eyes were resolute, his tone firm.

Boss Zhou shook his head slightly, raised his hand to pat Cheng’s shoulder lightly, then turned to Leng Ying. “If you truly care about him, take good care of him. Wait for us in town, and then we’ll all return to Rongcheng together.”

“I’m not a child anymore!” Cheng Xiangru was a bit angry. “I can take care of myself! Uncle Zhou, I…”

“Enough! No more!” Boss Zhou, rarely serious, gave Cheng Xiangru a stern look and turned toward the already running vehicle, leaving no chance for Cheng to say more.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhu followed behind, and Lin Xiaqin gently adjusted Cheng’s collar with a concerned look. “Child, none of us know what dangers we might face this time. Boss Zhou truly means well. You have to understand.”

Chen Shangke walked last, wearing a mask that concealed his chapped mouth but could not hide the bruises on his face. “Little brother, don’t go causing trouble. Stay put and wait for us to come back.”

Watching the vehicles puffing white smoke as they slowly drove away, Cheng Xiangru clenched his fists, unwilling to accept the situation.

Leng Ying nudged him. “Come on, stop playing it up. Didn’t we both expect this?”

Cheng relaxed his fist and exhaled a cloud of white mist. “When do we set off?”

“A little later. We know the general direction, so we’ll just follow the tire tracks and won’t lose our way,” Leng Ying glanced at the time on her wrist. “We’ll rest a bit back at the hotel and set out in two hours.”

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Two hours later, Cheng Xiangru and Leng Ying checked out of the hotel, lugging their bags as they boarded the van.

The battered bread van had been washed and had cost extra to mostly remove the pungent stench inside.

Leng Ying stepped on the accelerator; the van moved slowly, picking up speed with a cacophony of strange noises as it plunged into the snow-covered wilderness.

“Red Fatty and Blue Fatty online, requesting to engage!” Leng Ying was spirited.

Cheng Xiangru was speechless. “Why do you seem so excited?”

Without taking her eyes off the road, Leng Ying gripped the steering wheel with one hand and the gear shift with the other. “Of course! I’ve been cooped up these past few days.”

For over a week, they had been confined to a routine between the hotel and hospital, nowhere else to go, accompanied by one snowfall after another, feeling stifled and bored. Now, with the awaited moment arriving, both Leng Ying and Cheng felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

The old van weaved through the deserted snowy land, moving slowly, following tire tracks, heading southwest.

In the late afternoon, as the cool sunset cast a faint golden light over the snowy plain, Leng Ying realized they had lost the trail.

After observing for some time outside, she returned to the van, temporarily hid the vehicle nearby, cut the engine, and urged Cheng Xiangru to grab his travel bag and walk with her.

“The tire tracks were deliberately wiped out. I estimate we’re not far from where they parked. To avoid missing them, we’ll have to find the way on foot,” Leng Ying pointed ahead, sharing her deduction.

Cheng also noticed the traces of deliberate smoothing on the path ahead, hard to see from inside the vehicle. “Got it! Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

After more than a week of rest, Cheng Xiangru’s stamina had fully recovered. Walking a bit more was nothing.

He knew well that the real test still lay ahead.

After nearly two kilometers, just as night began to fall, they found Boss Zhou’s group’s vehicle hidden beneath a pile of snow.

It was clear they had been extremely cautious this time, deliberately covering the car in thick snow, so that at a glance it could easily be overlooked.

If they found the vehicle, the people must be nearby.

They continued following the concealed traces further on. After crossing a ridge, they finally saw scattered small snow pits—signs of people having passed through.

“Blue Fatty, don’t you feel something’s off?” Leng Ying seemed to have noticed something.

Cheng, panting, asked, “What did you find?”

---

Leng Ying stopped and looked around. “If I’m not mistaken, last time they never found the Great Qing Dragon Vein, right?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“I feel like this time they have a very clear goal, as if they’ve already pinpointed a location and headed straight there.”

Cheng was stunned. Thinking it through carefully, he realized it was indeed so.

If they hadn’t locked onto a location, Boss Zhou’s group would have had to search as they went, their footprints spreading out like a net. There was no reason for them to be in a straight line like now.

Cheng felt puzzled.

If they had already pinpointed the location, why did they make such a fuss last time? But if they hadn’t, why was their direction so clear this time?

Leng Ying frowned, pondering deeply, then suddenly asked, “Blue Fatty, do you think there’s a possibility?”

Cheng turned to look at her, breathing a little heavily. “Don’t keep me in suspense. Just say it.”

“Do you remember after we returned last time, that heavy smoker told you many people were searching the mountain for you?”

“Heavy smoker?” Cheng was taken aback, then realized Leng Ying was referring to Tan Cheng.

Tan Cheng liked to smoke and always carried a strong tobacco scent.

“Talking to you is exhausting—you keep making up nicknames,” Cheng said with a hint of exasperation.

“Just answer me—do you remember?”

“Yeah, I remember. So what?”

Leng Ying said nothing, silently gazing at Cheng as if looking at a fool.

Cheng blinked, piecing the context together, and suddenly a realization hit him. He exclaimed, “You mean they weren’t really looking for me back then, but for the Great Qing Dragon Vein?”