Feng Ling had no time to listen to Li Qing's excuses. Bracing one hand against the railing, she flipped over it and jumped down—
Sanqing Mountain's terrain was extremely steep. Below the railing lay hard, rugged layers of granite and thick old pines that had grown for centuries.
The moment Feng Ling landed, her view was obscured by the lush vegetation all around her. She could not see where the monkey had scampered off to, and with tourists on the mountain constantly shouting and yelling, she could not make out the sounds in the forest either.
Li Qing chased after her. "Wait!"
He took out his phone, which had a long string of cheap cartoon beads hanging from it. Moving swiftly, he removed three plastic beads and tossed them into the air—
The beads flew high, then quickly fell back down.
Feng Ling was utterly baffled, but Li Qing pointed with absolute certainty in the direction of one of the beads. "This way!"
Feng Ling stared. "Is that accurate?"
"It should be!" Li Qing lifted the front hem of his Taoist robe, revealing the bound trouser legs, black cloth shoes, and cloud-patterned socks beneath. He ran nimbly down the Mountain, as agile as someone accustomed to scaling peaks and crossing ridges.
Watching his rapidly receding back, Feng Ling sighed in admiration and immediately followed.
The Mountain path was far too difficult to traverse. Many stretches rose and fell almost vertically. Even with Li Qing leading the way, Feng Ling felt as if she had become a human roller coaster.
The terrain here was simply too steep. If the monkey let go halfway through, the child would surely be dashed to death.
Fortunately, Huangfu Miaomiao had reacted quickly enough. By the time Feng Ling and Li Qing had caught up halfway,