Cliff (3)

The two girls held hands and walked deeper in that direction. When they turned their heads, the little mute followed them.

“Don’t come over. Stand in your place. We will explore. Wait here!” Xiao Siquan gestured at him.

The little mute looked around timidly, shook his head vigorously, and followed them closely.

The two girls were left with no other choice but to take him with them. After a long time, they finally arrived in front of the redwoods.

The mountains were lofty, the snow untouched and there was a rare and wild valley behind the woods, incomparably spectacular.

“Wah! So beautiful!” Miao Miao exclaimed.

Xiao-Siquan was also stunned. “Isn’t there a small waterfall there? It’s flowing. Why isn’t it frozen?”

As she spoke, Xiao-Siquan’s body suddenly lurched.

White snow covered the ground, hiding dangerous uneven surfaces and a sloping cave-in swallowed her instantly. When Miao Miao turned her head, all she could see was her orange figure rolling sharply to the side, unable to gather momentum and rolling down the hill.

“Ahhhh–” Both girls’ screams rang out simultaneously.

Miao rushed over and looked in the direction where Xiao-Siquan had fallen. “Xiao-Quan! Where are you?!”

Luckily, Xiao Siquan’s faint voice immediately came from below. “I-I’m here. I seem to be stuck.”

The cliff wasn’t quite a cliff, but the slope was steep and the wall below was slanted with wild trees, leaving Xiao-Siquan’s small orange figure stuck in one of the branches.

She moved her body, but the branch beneath her immediately shuddered and she almost fell again, so she cried out in fear. “Huhuhu… I’m going to fall!”

Miao Miao was even more scared than she was. Seeing that the distance was several meters, she couldn’t grab ahold of her. “Xiao-Quan, don’t move. It’ll be all right. I will get help!”

When she felt around her body, there was only empty air. Crap!

“Xiao-Quan, is the phone with you?”

Xiao-Siquan cried. “I had it in my hands just now. It has fallen and is gone now.”

The two children were still young and the adults hadn’t bought them a cell phone, so the one they used to take pictures was the one they had borrowed from Qin Zhufeng. Now, Miao Miao became panicked. “Then, wait here. I’ll go to find someone!”

Xiao-Siquan cried even louder. “Don’t go. I’m scared…”

The two of them were at a loss, crying and anxious. Miao Miao was older and finally made a decision in her heart. “Xiao-Quan, don’t be afraid, okay? Stay there and don’t move. I’ll look for someone so that you can be saved!”

Xiao Siquan reflected a little, choking up and calling out, “Okay. I’m not afraid… Then, you have to promise me you’ll come back.”

The little mute was on the side, staring at the two in disbelief, not entirely understanding what was going on.

Miao Miao did not dare to leave Xiao-Siquan alone and gestured to him carelessly. “Jiejie will go and return. You have to stay here well and not move, okay?”

The little mute didn’t understand what she was saying. When he looked down and saw Xiao-Siquan’s figure, he too became anxious and screamed.

Miao Miao turned around frantically and ran back alone. But it was already dark and she had no sense of direction, so she walked around in the snow for a while and got lost.

She was not far from where they had come from, but when she got her direction wrong, she headed further into the mountains, running in the other direction.

In the silence of the cliff, Xiao-Siquan was cold and scared. As she cried, she began to call out, “Is someone there? Is Xiao-Zhuang there?”

As she screamed, a small snowball fell overhead and hit the tree beside her, accompanied by a cry of “Awoo.”

Although the little mute couldn’t hear or speak, he knew in his heart that she was afraid, so he threw little snowballs down now and then to show that he was still there.

The time passed little by little. Not sure if half an hour or an hour had passed, but Xiao Siquan only felt colder. The outdoor temperature began to drop, but Miao Miao never came back.

The little mute tilted his head and looked up at the cold moon in the sky, pursing his lips. He suddenly picked up a larger snowball and smashed it against the blurred orange figure below, then shouted a series of sharp cries.

Then, he turned around and ran back without looking back…

Qin Yuan and Ruan Qingmu really didn’t go back to the lodge. Instead, they ate dinner at another small specialty restaurant. After sitting by a quiet window and chatting, they started to get up and head back.

Ruan Qingmu was walking ahead while kicking the snow on the roadside restlessly. “Hey, what do you think if I study medicine in the future?”

Qin Yuan thought for a moment. “Do you want to become a doctor? Do you think Dr. Gong is good too?”

“It’s not like that. The main thing is I’m curious about dissecting cadavers.” Ruan Qingmu said smugly, “Moreover, I want to see if there’s any basis for the eight strange meridians or something like that.”

“There’s probably none. It doesn’t seem right.”

“Aiya. Then, it’s also not bad to study painting and calligraphy. I’m good at this.”

Qin Yuan laughed helplessly. “Be more reasonable. If you want to attend an art school, you should prepare earlier. You have to take the art exam like Fang Li.”

“Oh, forget it then. Or maybe I can learn how to become a pilot! It must be cool to fly in the air.”

Ruan Qingmu said casually, but Qin Yuan behind him replied somewhat carelessly.

Ruan Qingmu was finally a bit upset. His boyfriend was acting strange today. He wasn’t sick and didn’t have a fever, so why was he being so weird?

It must be because he tried it once yesterday and had some complaints, right? Was it because the gift he gave him wasn’t big enough?

But he was not yet eighteen, and besides, he was so tired that his wrists were sore and he was almost on his knees, right?

Damn. If this were unsatisfactory, this fellow boyfriend would be hard to please in the future!

He suddenly ran down the hill, shouting, “You walk too slow. I’ll return first!”

Qin Yuan was stunned and wanted to go after him but stopped in his tracks. He walked forward slowly with his head down.

The distance between the two people grew farther and Ruan Qingmu’s figure soon disappeared around the corner of the mountain path.

Qin Yuan walked with a heavy heart when a small figure suddenly leaped out from the side of the road, covered in snow and mud and with scratches on his face as if he had taken a hard fall somewhere.

It was the little mute, who was wearing an anxious face.

As soon as he saw Qin Yuan, his eyes lit up. He leaped at him, hugging Qin Yuan’s leg and screaming, “Ahhh.”

Qin Yuan almost stumbled as he was dragged down. “Hey, what happened?”

The little mute turned his head and was anxious when he noticed Ruan Qingmu was not there, desperately pulling his leg toward the road.

Qin Yuan frowned. For some reason, this expression of the little mute was inexplicably familiar as if it was not the first time he had seen him.

Go save someone! Go ah! It was like a voice exploded in his ears.