At the end of September, East 824 District remained hot and humid. The continuous rain over the past two days had greatly increased the moisture in the air, yet it could do nothing about the heat trapped within it.
When Tao Ju arrived in the northern mountains, it was the hottest time of day, and there was no longer any road leading up the mountain here. More precisely, the only properly maintained roads all ultimately led to the Military Camp of the mobile defense forces in the mountains.
So Tao Ju had abandoned his vehicle early and climbed on foot, wandering aimlessly through the hot, humid air.
After two or three hours like that, sweat had soaked through his clothes. The wounds still on his body began to burn fiercely and seep blood again. Only then did he stop in the lush mountain woods, panting and lost, and once again lash at his own heart:
What the hell did I come here for?
Because of that saying, "Sincerity Leads to Spiritual Response," I've been circling around here for three hours?
At first, he had seemed to be looking for a suitably impressive "spirit tree." But later, even he no longer knew what he was doing. Perhaps he felt that such desolate wilderness better suited his current tangled state of mind. Thus, it turned into simple wandering, and he even became immersed in it, unwilling to return to the city at the foot of the mountain.
Perhaps his ultimate retreat would be to throw himself into that vast, undeveloped Wilderness and become a savage, a Wanderer.
Tao Ju could not help thinking that way, but the mosquitoes, snakes, and ants still teeming with life despite the theoretically autumn weather quickly dispelled the thought. To hell with "Sincerity Leads to Spiritual Response."