Chapter 734: the imagination of the masses
Chapter 734 The imagination of the masses
got windy.
In the snow-capped mountains, Xia Ling opened her hood and took a breath. The wind and snow poured in, forcing her to wrap her gear tightly again. They had been climbing towards the snow peak and had walked a long way. Li Lei was walking at the front, little Shao Hui was walking in the middle following his footprints, and she was walking behind them.
Looking at the two figures, one large and one small, in front of her, she felt a little dazed.
I don't think so at ordinary times, but at this moment, Shao Hui really looks like Li Lei - his back, hair color, and even his walking posture are all carved from the same mold. The little child has been imitating his father, holding his head high and strutting, trying to act like a little man. However, he was too young, and his father's steps were a bit big, so he had to jump two steps from time to time in order to accurately step on his father's footprints.
Fortunately, the father took care of their mother and son, so they didn’t go too fast.
"Take your time, don't be in a hurry." He said, "Follow my footsteps and you won't miss anything." He explored the path ahead for them, stepping on the originally soft snow so that they wouldn't miss it. Danger of falling.
The cold wind mixed with scattered snowflakes whistled through his short hair.
Xia Ling looked at his back, and a very stable feeling slowly emerged in her heart, as if as long as this man was here, no matter the unfamiliar snow-capped mountains or any dangers, they were not worth mentioning.
I don’t know how long I’ve been walking.
Li Lei suddenly stopped.
The little child couldn't hold back his momentum and hit his father's back with his nose.
Li Lei turned around and gave the child a hand.
“What’s wrong?” Xia Ling asked.
“Someone is following us.” Li Lei said.
"Huh?" Xia Ling was startled and turned around instinctively. Sure enough, she saw a group of travelers coming in their direction in the distance. She pointed at them along the way. After seeing them turn back, she pretended to be nothing. He turned his head and looked at the sky, the ground, and the scenery, but not at them.
It seems something is not quite right.
Xia Ling frowned: "Why are they following us? Could they be ordinary travelers who happened to take the same path as us?"
“This road is not a regular tourist route.” Li Lei replied briefly, raised his telescope, and looked down. After a moment, he smiled, "They suspect that we are human traffickers, and some people think that we are treasure hunters, tomb robbers... bringing a child to sacrifice, to open a secret treasure somewhere or something."
Xia Ling was stunned, what kind of mess is this?
"Have you read too much "Tomb Raiders"?" She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Li Lei also didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “The imagination of the masses has always been very rich.”
Xia Ling thought of something: "They are so far away, how do you know what they said?"
Li Lei: "I can read lips." He grew up in a gangster family. When he was ten years old, he left home alone to work as a mercenary. Without some extraordinary skills, he would have died countless times.
Xia Ling nodded. This man knew so many skills that she was no longer surprised.
Shao Hui, on the other hand, looked very excited: "Dad, dad, I want to learn too! Can you teach me how to lip-read?"
"Okay." Li Lei responded with a smile and touched Shao Hui's little head, but only a layer of snowflakes came off. It didn't snow in the mountains, but the cold wind howled, bringing scattered snowflakes down from the top of the mountain, and gradually accumulated a lot on people's bodies. Li Lei looked around and said to them: "Let's go, hold on a little longer, and if we climb up a bit, there will be a cave for us to stay tonight."
This is the result of the reconnaissance by the advance troops he sent. Xia Ling and Shao Hui nodded, followed him, and continued walking up despite the wind and snow.
Sure enough, after walking for a while, we arrived at a cave. The cave was very dry, and there were grain reserves and dry firewood left by the advance troops Li Lei sent out half a month ago. Li Lei lit a fire, hoisted a stainless steel lunch box to melt the snow, and broke off a few pieces of dried meat and grains to put in.
The family is waiting for dinner around the campfire.
The firelight reflected Xia Ling's delicate eyebrows, which were dyed with a bright red color, making her look uniquely beautiful. While she was warming herself up by the fire, she asked Li Lei: "Will those people always follow us?"
"It's hard to say," Li Lei replied, "They are just ordinary travelers. They followed us on a whim. It's possible that they can stay with us for ten days and a half or give up immediately."
“That’s really annoying.” Xia Ling was not very happy.
Climbing such a dangerous snow-capped mountain with such a young son is already very irritating, but there are still people who are ignorant and want to find out. "How do we get rid of them?" she asked.
Li Lei spread out the map by the light of the fire and pointed it out to her: "The tourist area ends here, which is still half a day's journey from us. Beyond that is the dangerous zone where tourists stop. They are traveling in a group, and the tour guide should not allow them. They continue to go to the penalty area. Let’s go faster tomorrow and enter the penalty area.”
Xia Ling nodded. At present, it seems that this is the only way.
The family had a meal amidst the howling wind and snow. Li Lei even found a pack of hot chocolate among the supplies left by the advance team, boiled it with snow water, and shared it to drink.
After eating and drinking enough, Xia Ling's body felt warm, and she fell asleep in a daze while hugging Shao Hui, who also had a round belly. Li Lei stayed by their side, but did not sleep. He looked at the mother and son tenderly and intently in the light of the extinguishing fire. "Xiao Ling..." He murmured, with infinite love in his voice.
It wasn't until dawn that he woke up Xia Ling and asked her to keep watch while he slept for a while.
The family continues on the road.
It took half a day to leave the safe tourist area and enter the restricted area.
"It's dangerous going up from here," Li Lei looked serious, but his voice was very soft, "Do you still remember the key points during training? You must follow my footsteps, don't look around when walking, and don't talk loudly. , if it causes an avalanche, everyone will be buried alive."
Xia Ling nodded solemnly.
Xiao Shaohui also nodded his head heavily.
Li Lei then led them up, step by step, more slowly and carefully than before. The snowy peak has nine twists and turns. It seems like a long walk, but in fact, it is difficult and steep, and you can't climb very far.
Suddenly, faintly, I heard voices coming from below.
Xia Ling looked back and saw that it was the tour group from yesterday chasing them to the edge of the restricted area. The tour group stopped at the edge and did not go deep inside. Several people pointed at them and didn't know what they were talking about.
For some reason, Xia Ling felt a little uneasy and tugged at Li Lei.
At this time, Li Lei also noticed the strange movement below. His expression changed and he felt something was wrong. He saw a tourist from the tour group curling his hands into a trumpet shape and shouted to them: "Hey - where are you going?! Then The edge is off-limits—danger—!”
The man's voice echoed in the empty snow-capped mountains, lingering in the air.
Faintly, there was a muffled thunder-like sound coming from the top of the mountain.
(End of this chapter)