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.

"Eat!" Duan Xu wanted to distract Shen Yanlang so he would stop thinking about that stuff.

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 full of gossip-hungry curiosity.

Duan Xu turned to look at the scenery and eat, pretending not to notice.

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

Finally, just 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 inside.

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 little farther to reach the summit campsite, which was also the best spot to watch the sunrise.

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

It was not just her. Other than the three alphas, everyone else was exhausted, especially Ye Xinyu and Han Xi, the omegas, as well as Duan Xu, who was about to complete his differentiation.

Later on, the others had carried their bags for them. Only Xiao Xu was a sports student, so his stamina was somewhat better than Zhou Zhou's and the rest.

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

Xiao Xu supported him and grinned foolishly.

Duan Xu nodded in complete agreement. Shen Yanlang then said to him, "We can climb again when you feel like it someday."

We can travel to other places together too.

Duan Xu glanced up at Shen Yanlang, then quickly lowered his head without saying anything. Still, the corners of his mouth could not help curving upward.

The terrain here was relatively flat, with a wooden boardwalk stretching into the distance. Beside it lay a wide expanse of grass, which was the camping area.

Although the temperature was several degrees below zero, there was no snow on the mountain. Instead, there were many wild grasses and huge trees whose names they did not know, making it seem like summer when it was actually freezing.

A row of buildings stood beside the camping area, shops specifically for renting tents and selling food. Some distance away from the shops was a public restroom.

Near the slope, a wooden viewing platform had also been 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 together to collect the tents, then chose a good spot and set them up. Since there were exactly four, they arranged them in a square, leaving the middle open for cooking hot pot that evening.

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

Climbing to the top of a mountain more than three thousand meters above sea level, cooking hot pot while looking up at the stars—it sounded amazing just thinking about it!

The tent assignments were the same as at the hotel, and Duan Xu did not say anything. There were two sleeping bags in each tent anyway, so it would not be like last night, when they had shared one blanket.

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

They had already set up all the tents, and there was still a while before nightfall. 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 it casually.

The boardwalk was very long. Du Shen had already run over to take a look and found that it rose and fell all the way along, like another path down the mountain, though overall it still seemed to stay within the summit area.

Duan Xu immediately became interested, suddenly feeling as though they were on a wilderness expedition. "Come on, let's go take a look!"

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

The summit was thick with mist, and the wooden boards of the walkway had been soaked wet. If they were careless and failed to plant their feet properly, they could slip and fall.

"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 watch 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 vanish into the mist, Xue Jingshu pushed up his glasses and said, "The owner has archery equipment. Want to try it?"

"Yeah!" Ye Xinyu nodded excitedly.

Zhou Zhou was interested too. "Let's go, let's go. We'll let them wander around on their own."

In truth, they were tacitly creating an opportunity for the two of them to be alone. That was why they had deliberately said there was nothing to do, when there actually was.

When they had picked up the tents, Shen Yanlang and Duan Xu had been standing on the outside and had not looked into the shop, so they did not know there were bows and arrows inside.

There were not many people camping on the summit, 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?"

Duan Xu only noticed after walking for a while that there were very few footsteps and none of the others' laughter or chatter. When he turned around, all he saw was the boardwalk obscured by mist.

Shen Yanlang had noticed long ago and knew they were doing it on purpose, so he had not pointed it out. He merely smiled faintly now. "Maybe they thought it was boring."

"Oh."

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

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

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

The tree grew strangely. Its trunk did not grow upward but sideways, twisted and crooked. Because of the mist that kept it damp all year round, the trunk was covered in moss, and its leaves were 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. "No idea. It's my first time seeing one too."

As he spoke, he glanced sideways at Duan Xu beside him. Mist enveloped their surroundings like a veil, lending everything a hazy quality. Duan Xu's long lashes had caught a little moisture from the fog, making them look damp, as if he had cried.

What would Xuxu look like when he cried?

Duan Xu, who was examining the tree: "???"

What the hell is wrong with you?

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 figure out Shen Yanlang's deeper meaning. Anyway, it had something to do with filthy yellow thoughts.

But when he lifted his foot to move on, the hand gripping his wrist slid down and took his hand instead. "I'll hold your hand so you don't fall."

He shouldn't reject me holding his hand at a time like this, right?

Duan Xu's lashes trembled. He really did not refuse, only giving a quiet hum.

Shen Yanlang's peach blossom eyes immediately curved as he clasped Duan Xu's hand more tightly.

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