Cave (3)

Soon, the mud was loose and his whole body was pressed against the mountain wall, slowly sliding down.

Ruan Qingmu was scared out of his mind by this sentence. “Qin Yuan… what happened to you? Don’t scare me!”

The rock that Qin Yuan was holding suddenly came loose, carrying his body downward and slipping away by a few dozen centimeters. He used all his strength and fumbled with his hands before grabbing a few wild vines full of barbs.

“Ruan Ruan, there’s nothing for me to grab onto… I’m probably going to fall.” His voice was calm and his mind was clearer than ever. “Don’t worry about it. I will pay attention to protect my head when I fall.”

Ruan Qingmu’s ten fingers dug into the ground, uncertain if they were bleeding, and hissed, “Hold on. I’ll go down now.”

Qin Yuan’s voice suddenly rose harshly. “What nonsense are you saying? Stay there and wait for help!”

Ruan Qingmu climbed to his feet and turned to look at Xiao-Siquan. “Stay here and don’t move. You absolutely can’t run around. Wait until Xiao-Zhuang brings people here and remember to tell them to distribute people and find Miao Miao. Miao Miao is probably lost and is somewhere nearby in the mountains, understand?”

Xiao-Siquan was out of breath from crying and nodded desperately. “Where is gege? Why doesn’t gege come up…”

Ruan Qingmu hugged her gently. “Gege is stuck. I’m going down. “I’m saying if… if we fall together, you have to be strong and calmly wait for people to come. Understand?”

Xiao-Siquan cried and nodded her head. “Understood…”

Ruan Qingmu stood up and silently began to climb down the mountain.

Qin Yuan shouted from below, “Ruan Qingmu, stop right there. It’s easy to come down but not so to go back up. I can’t even go back up. Why are you adding trouble by coming down?! Are you crazy–”

Ruan Qingmu didn’t say a word, climbing down the mountain wall little by little in the night. Slipping midway, his body fell hard for a while before finally landing not far from Qin Yuan’s side.

“Yes, I’m crazy.” He laughed, no longer sounding anxious but instead more relaxed. “Surname Qin, listen to me. Wherever you are, I will be there.”

What the fuck was this nonsense? He knew the reasoning better than anyone, but he did not want to understand it. It was not like he had never died before, so what was he afraid of?

Qin Yuan looked at him and was silent. There was no way to persuade him. He should’ve known that.

“Fine. You can accompany me then.” Qin Yuan stopped complaining and said softly, “But you have to promise me something. If I genuinely fall, you are not allowed to…”

“Shut up.” Ruan Qingmu cut in, “Whatever I do is none of your business. If you don’t want us to fall together, you must hold on.”

He carefully reached out and covered the back of one of Qin Yuan’s hands.

They could not hold each other now, but touching each other like this seemed to give each other some courage.

The mountain wall was steep and the night wind blew snow onto both their faces. Qin Yuan had nowhere to support his weight, so he relied on gripping the mud on the side of the mountain wall with one hand while the other held onto the thorny vines. His arm was sore and his palm was bloody.

The vine with soil, being gripped for too long, finally loosened. Qin Yuan’s heart suddenly sank sharply, with only enough time to turn his head and take one last look at Ruan Qingmu. “Ruan Ruan… I’m sorry.”

Ruan Qingmu only felt that the hand that covered Qin Yuan was suddenly empty and nearby debris and mud flew together as Qin Yuan’s body plummeted toward the blackness below!

Qin Zhufeng and his group were searching blindly in the empty ski slopes at the top of the mountain when Uncle Yan’s cell phone suddenly rang and Mu Wanli’s voice sounding urgent and trembling came from the receiver. “Xiao-Zhuang has returned! He seems to say the two sisters had an accident. Mu Mu and Xiao-Yuan are also there and are thinking of how to save them!”

Qin Zhufeng listened to her voice, his mind abuzz, and he could barely stand on his own two feet. How many of them were there?!

Uncle Yan also felt like he was struck by lightning. “Accident? What accident?!”

“He didn’t say it clearly, but looking at the gestures, it seemed they had fallen down the mountain. The hotel had called for professional search and rescue personnel, and they had already gone out to look for them.” Mu Wanli was equally troubled. “I have no idea how they could’ve run into each other like that!”

Next to her, Wei Qinglian’s voice whimpered with a sobbing tone. “It must be that the two boys were naughty and led them to a dangerous place. I knew it. They kept talking about girls having to be brave all day long. How could this be reassuring…”

Over the phone, Mu Wanli’s voice suddenly rose out, “Can you not speak nonsense? Is this the time to complain?!”

***

Looking at the suddenly empty space before him and the dark, uncertain valley below, Ruan Qingmu’s blood felt like it had suddenly stopped flowing, feeling bone-chillingly cold.

He clung to the mountain wall, motionless, and did not even let out a shriek. Only after a long time did he tilt his head back and call upward, “Siquan? When people come in a while, tell them your gege has fallen. I will go down to look for him. Tell them to find a way to come down.”

Not caring about the little girl’s sudden screams and cries from above, he snapped a few branches with all his might and held them in his hands, wrapped his dirty jacket around his head and face to protect his eyes, and slid straight down the mountain wall with his body pressed against it.

The branches scraped against the mountain wall, stopping some of the fall’s momentum. Without a landing spot, he slid along, unable to grab anything with his arms, stumbled and bumped along the way. With his head and face wrapped in his jacket, he could not see outside, but he would at least not hit his head or hurt his eyes when he fell…