Chapter 55: Discovered

Previously, Cheng Xiangru had never thought about it in this direction. Since Tan Cheng and Boss Zhou both said so, he simply believed them, which was entirely based on his trust in Boss Zhou.

However, now that Leng Ying had raised doubts, Cheng Xiangru went back and rethought it, feeling that something was not quite right.

Putting everything else aside, just the fact that those people searched the desolate mountains far and wide for Cheng Xiangru—whom they supposedly thought had gone back to the county seat to buy a bicycle pump—was completely unreasonable.

If those people wanted to find Cheng Xiangru, shouldn't they be searching in the county seat? Taking a step back, even if they were searching in the wilderness, they should have searched along the road. Why would they search the entire desolate mountains?

Could it be that these people, including Boss Zhou, were lying? Were they actually not looking for Cheng Xiangru at all, but rather the Qing Dynasty Dragon Vein?

If that were true, then weren't the other things they said also heavily水分 (exaggerated/unreliable)?

Perhaps the mysterious person who sneaked into Cheng Xiangru's room that night to rummage through his things was also one of Boss Zhou's subordinates...

A cold sweat broke out across Cheng Xiangru's back, and he felt as though his brain was starting to reach its limits.

Seeing Cheng Xiangru sway slightly, as if he could barely stand firm under the assault of the biting mountain wind, Leng Ying reached out and steady him. "Are you alright?"

Cheng Xiangru waved his hand. "I'm fine."

Braving the wind, Leng Ying squinted forward, only to see layers upon layers of snow-covered pine and cypress trees, as if they were about to press down all at once. "Let's take it one step at a time. What's real cannot be fake, and what's fake cannot be real. What kind of person the Goatee really is, I will accompany you to see for yourself."

"Yeah." Cheng Xiangru felt his heart instantly settle down a great deal.

At this moment, after all, he was no longer alone, and he didn't have to face those unsettling unknowns all by himself.

"Let's continue."

"Okay!"

The two of them continued searching forward along the footprints in the snow. Aside from the messy and complicated snow pits, they also spotted pheasant claw prints.

Cheng Xiangru suddenly thought of something and shivered. "Could there be wolves?"

Last time, in order to force Chen Shangke to walk faster, Leng Ying had imitated a few wolf howls with remarkable effect, a memory that still lingered in Cheng Xiangru's mind.

Leng Ying chuckled. "This isn't a primeval forest; where would wolves come from? Don't worry blindly..."

Yet, before she even finished speaking, she heard a "Awooo" wolf howl echoing from a distant mountain peak, clearly transmitting into both of their ears.

Cheng Xiangru's face instantly darkened. "Didn't you say there are no wolves?"

As soon as his voice trailed off, another "Awooo" wolf howl rang out from a distant direction on the other side.

Cheng Xiangru's voice was actually trembling. "So many?"

Initially, upon hearing the first wolf howl, Leng Ying had also been startled, but when she heard the second wolf howl, she suddenly burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Cheng Xiangru stared blankly at Leng Ying, thinking to himself that this girl had truly thick nerves to be able to laugh at a time like this.

Leng Ying explained, "Under normal circumstances, every wolf in a pack has a role, with some responsible for searching for prey, much like scouts. Once prey is found, the sentry wolf will use howls to pinpoint the location and summon companions to hunt. The two wolf howls we just heard were both short and sharp, and each only sounded once. Most importantly, the sounds were too far apart, just like a pair of lovers from two different mountain villages singing folk songs to each other across the peaks."

"You mean, those two sounds weren't made by wolves?" Cheng Xiangru grasped Leng Ying's meaning and asked tentatively.

Leng Ying nodded. "That's right. I think both of those sounds were faked by people. The purpose is the same as real wolf howls: to summon companions, pinpoint each other's locations, or perhaps report that they are safe. If I'm not mistaken, we'll probably hear them again before long."

Cheng Xiangru asked, "Then which direction should the two of us go?"

After a moment of contemplation, Leng Ying raised a hand and snapped her fingers. "Almost got led astray! We won't choose either direction; let's keep following the footprints!"

Cheng Xiangru was stunned. "Uh... that makes sense!"

Even so, a new problem quickly arose. After climbing over a mountain peak following those chaotic snow pits, the two discovered that the footprints had split into two paths.

This meant they had no choice but to make a decision.

"Alright, let's wait here and rest for a bit." Cheng Xiangru took off his travel backpack, rubbed his aching shoulders, and sat directly down in the snow.

"Okay!" Leng Ying sat down beside him.

Although neither of them spoke it aloud, both knew that what they were waiting for was the next round of wolf howls.

In the bone-chilling wilderness, the cold wind wailed like ghosts, and Cheng Xiangru looked up at the starlit sky. "How did you spend all those years with my dad and the others?"

"Sleeping in the open, of course, just like the two of us right now." Leng Ying replied casually, resting her hands behind her back as she also looked up at the stars.

"Is it bitter?"

"It's alright, I'm used to it."

The two fell into silence once more—one striving to imagine, the other lost in memories.

After an unknown length of time, the anticipated wolf howls rang out once more, pointing out the next direction for the two of them.

"Let's go!" Cheng Xiangru got up and shouldered his travel backpack again.

"Yeah!" Leng Ying stood up as well.

This time, the two did not encounter another multiple-choice scenario. After climbing yet another mountain peak, they spotted lights in the distance.

Finally having a target, the two quickened their pace and headed toward where the lights were located.

There is a saying: "Seeing a mountain makes a horse run to death," which means that a mountain looks close but is actually very far away. This saying applied equally well here.

To Cheng Xiangru and Leng Ying, those lights didn't seem far at all, but they had to run a very long distance until Cheng Xiangru was drenched in sweat and panting heavily before they finally reached the vicinity.

Using thick pine and cypress tree trunks as cover, the two hid in the dark, watching the figures waiting in the cold wind, though they could not make out their clothing or facial features.

"I'll get closer to take a look; you watch the bags here." Leng Ying took off her travel backpack, dropped it at Cheng Xiangru's feet, and then crouched down, slipping away into the darkness.

Suppressing his inner anxiety, Cheng Xiangru waited patiently.

Before long, another wolf howl echoed from the distant rear, followed immediately by a second wolf howl from the lights ahead.

Although Cheng Xiangru already knew the truth, waiting here all by himself still made him feel somewhat creeped out. Fortunately, Leng Ying didn't make him wait too long and returned shortly after.

"Did you see clearly?" Cheng Xiangru lowered his voice and asked urgently.

Leng Ying shook her head. "It's still very hard to see clearly. I didn't dare get too close, or I would have been discovered."

Looking back, Cheng Xiangru pointed toward the slowly approaching lights on the mountainside. "Look, more people are coming. Do the two of us need to find another place to hide?"

He worried that the people behind were also following the footprints, which meant they would inevitably pass right through the spot where he and Leng Ying currently were.

Leng Ying nodded solemnly in agreement.

The two slipped away into the dark for a distance, holding their breath as they continued to observe in secret.

Sure enough, before long, a few more figures holding flashlights arrived and headed straight to merge with the people in front.

After the two groups combined, they took no further action for a long time, seemingly discussing something.

Anxious as he waited, Cheng Xiangru couldn't understand why these two groups were chatting so enthusiastically in a place like this.

Yet, to his utter astonishment, at that very moment, someone suddenly shouted loudly, "Friends, come out! Stop hiding!"