Being Alone

Duan Xu had almost forgotten what had happened that morning, but the moment Shen Yanlang brought it up, he remembered too, and his cheeks turned even redder than before.

"Eat!" Duan Xu tried to divert Shen Yanlang's attention so he would stop dwelling on that.

Shen Yanlang's eyes crinkled with amusement. "Mm, I'll eat."

The others could barely stand to watch, yet they could not help staring with wide eyes, their faces brimming with gossip.

Duan Xu turned to look at the scenery, focused on eating, and pretended not to notice.

After resting for over ten minutes, they continued climbing. They passed many beautiful spots along the way and stopped to take pictures, including selfies and group photos.

Finally, shortly before one o'clock, they reached the cable car station. There were several restaurants and plenty of snack stalls nearby, so they picked a restaurant and went in.

After lunch, they bought cable car tickets and rode together to the mountaintop.

After getting off the cable car, they still had to climb a stretch farther to reach the summit campsite, which was also the best place to watch the sunrise.

"Phew—finally made it up." Ye Xinyu let out a long breath. The morning's climb had drained a great deal of her energy.

Not just her—aside from the three alphas, everyone else was exhausted, especially Ye Xinyu and Han Xi, who were omegas, as well as Duan Xu, who was about to complete his differentiation.

By the end, their bags had all been carried by someone else. Only Xiao Xu was a sports student, so his stamina was somewhat better than Zhou Zhou's and the others'.

"After climbing this mountain, I don't want to climb another one for the next two years." Zhou Zhou leaned against Xiao Xu and panted lightly.

Xiao Xu supported him, grinning foolishly.

Duan Xu nodded in wholehearted agreement. Shen Yanlang then said to him, "We can climb another mountain when you feel like it later."

We can travel to other places together too.

Duan Xu looked up at Shen Yanlang, then quickly lowered his head again. He said nothing, but the corners of his lips could not help lifting.

The terrain here was relatively flat. A wooden boardwalk extended into the distance, and beside it lay a broad grassy field that served as the campsite.

Though the temperature was several degrees below zero, there was no snow on the mountain. Instead, there were countless wild grasses and large trees whose names they did not know, making it easy to mistake the place for summer—when in fact it was freezing.

A row of buildings stood beside the camping area, shops that rented tents and sold food. A public restroom had also been built some distance away from the shops.

Near the slope, there was also a wooden viewing platform built specifically for watching the sunrise.

Before coming, Xue Jingshu had asked a friend to contact the owner of the tent rental shop and had reserved four two-person tents in advance.

They went over to collect the tents, chose a good spot, and set them up. Since there were exactly four, they arranged them in a square, leaving the open space in the middle for cooking hot pot that evening.

As for the cookware and ingredients, the little shop had everything. It had to be said that the owner really knew how to do business.

Climbing to a mountaintop over three thousand meters above sea level, cooking hot pot while looking up at the stars—it sounded amazing just thinking about it!

The tent arrangements were the same as at the hotel. Duan Xu did not say anything; there were two sleeping bags in the tent, so it would not be like last night, when they had shared one bed.

"It's only three thirty. Is there anything fun to do around here?" Zhou Zhou checked the time on his phone and deliberately asked.

They had finished setting up the tents, and there was still some time before evening. They needed to find something to do.

"There's nothing to play, but we can take a walk along the boardwalk." Xue Jingshu held Han Xi's hand and said casually.

The boardwalk was very long. Du Shen had already run off to take a look and found that it rose and fell along the way, seeming like another route down the mountain, though it generally remained within the summit area.

Duan Xu immediately grew interested, suddenly feeling as though they were about to embark on a wilderness adventure. "Come on, let's check it out!"

Seeing this, Shen Yanlang followed Duan Xu while reminding him, "Be careful. Don't slip."

The summit was thick with fog, and the wood on the boardwalk had been soaked damp. If they were careless and stepped wrong, they could easily slip.

"Mm, I know. You be careful too," Duan Xu replied.

The boardwalk was fairly wide, so Shen Yanlang and Duan Xu could walk side by side without crowding each other. Shen Yanlang kept his eyes on Duan Xu's footing, one hand slightly raised in case Duan Xu accidentally fell so he could catch him immediately.

Watching them leave and gradually disappear into the fog, Xue Jingshu adjusted his glasses and said, "The owner has bows and arrows. Want to try?"

"Yeah!" Ye Xinyu nodded excitedly.

Zhou Zhou was interested too. "Let's go, let's go. Let them wander around by themselves."

In truth, they had deliberately claimed there was nothing to do because they tacitly wanted to create an opportunity for the two of them to be alone. There actually was something to play.

When they had collected the tents, Shen Yanlang and Duan Xu had stood on the outskirts and had not looked inside the shop, so they did not know there were bows and arrows there.

There were not many people camping on the mountaintop, and it was still early. Aside from them, there were only two other groups, both busy with their own activities and not wandering around.

Thus, only Duan Xu and Shen Yanlang were on the wooden boardwalk.

"Hm? Where did they go?"

After walking for a while, Duan Xu noticed there were very few footsteps behind them and none of the others' laughter or chatter. When he turned around, there was only the boardwalk obscured by fog.

Shen Yanlang had noticed long ago and knew they had done it on purpose, so he had not mentioned it. Now, he said with a faint smile, "Maybe they thought it was boring."

"Oh."

Duan Xu looked fairly calm on the surface, but he had already realized that they were being given time alone together.

It was not as though he had never been alone with Shen Yanlang before, but now that he knew it was only the two of them, half his interest in exploring faded and shifted to Shen Yanlang instead.

"Look at this tree." Shen Yanlang suddenly grabbed Duan Xu's wrist and pointed to a large tree beside the boardwalk.

The tree grew strangely. Its trunk did not grow upward but sideways, twisting and turning. The perpetually damp fog had covered it with moss, and its leaves were even larger than an adult alpha's palm.

"What kind of tree is this?" Duan Xu's attention was immediately drawn to it.

Shen Yanlang shook his head. "I don't know. It's my first time seeing one too."

As he spoke, he glanced sideways at Duan Xu beside him. Fog shrouded the surroundings like a thin veil, lending everything a hazy quality. Moisture clung to Duan Xu's long lashes, making them damp as if he had cried.

What would Xuxu look like when he cried?

Duan Xu, who was studying the tree: ???

What was wrong with him?

When Shen Yanlang saw Duan Xu turn to look at him, he withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes slightly. "Shall we keep going?"

"Mm, let's go." Duan Xu could not be bothered to ponder Shen Yanlang's hidden meaning. It was probably related to filthy thoughts anyway.

But as he lifted a foot to walk, the hand gripping his wrist slid downward and clasped his hand instead. "I'll hold your hand so you don't fall."

He won't reject me if I hold his hand now, right?

Duan Xu's eyelashes trembled. He did not refuse, merely giving a quiet hum.

Shen Yanlang's peach blossom eyes curved at once, and he tightened his grip.

From this point onward, both sides of the boardwalk were lined almost entirely with these strange trees. Apart from them, there was only scattered moss and wild grass beneath the trees.