Whether viewed up close or from afar, Mount Yingying was a mountain of 'character'.
The base was bare, the middle was covered in greenery, and the summit was even capped with snow.
The Elite Man was the first to arrive at Mount Yingying.
He was a loner and saw no need to wait for others.
After looking around and finding no obvious dangers,
He started his climb, holding his water bottle and a stick with a sharp point he had found on the way.
Climbing the mountain twice in one day was taxing, even for the Elite Man, who exercised regularly.
He started to sweat halfway up.
Panting.
He rested for a while before continuing his ascent.
Only one person could climb at a time,
But they had to return to the village before dark.
If the people behind waited too long and went up ahead, everyone would be in trouble.
As he reached the summit,
The surrounding air dropped sharply, and the Elite Man couldn't help but shiver.
Despite the cold,
He found a pool in a depression at the top of the mountain.
The pool was about five meters in diameter and emitted white mist, making it difficult to see clearly.
He bent down and took out his water bottle to collect water.
Whoosh—
A gust of wind suddenly blew beside him,
And the white mist in the pool swirled with the wind, resembling ethereal mist.
A faint crying sound, like that of Yingying, drifted from afar, yet seemed to be right by his ear.
In a daze,
He saw the white mist in front of him dissipate,
Revealing a small patch of water beneath.
It was just enough to reflect his face.
Soon, the pool's surface changed to his wife's face.
Then, he felt a weight on his back.
As if something had climbed onto him, cold sweat broke out instantly.
His mind screamed, 'Run!',
But no matter how he struggled, his body was frozen in place, unresponsive.
At that moment, a cold breeze blew past his ear.
"She's gone."
"Not only did she cheat on you, but she also took your child and ate with that man."
This voice seemed to possess a magical quality; from the moment it spoke,
All of the Elite Man's thoughts were pulled back to the past.
His emotions surged with the voice behind him.
His eyes turned bloodshot.
"While you were working overtime and on business trips, the three of them were like a family, happy and joyful."
"That absurd woman... if only I had known,
I shouldn't have married her, shouldn't have believed her promise to be devoted to you alone."
"Back when we were by the school pond, I should have pushed her in..."
...
As Jiang Lin and the other two arrived at the foot of the mountain, the woman in the red dress ran up to them with a mineral water bottle.
Her feet were covered in mud, and her long skirt had been torn into a style that allowed for easier movement.
It looked like it had been chewed by a dog.
Liu Yao admired her for making such a mess just to cling to someone.
However, if she had to stay alone on such a strange mountain, she wouldn't want to stay for even a second longer.
The group expanded, and they became a party of four.
On the principle of surviving together,
Qi Liu and Liu Yao, with the streamer's permission, began to share the information they knew with the woman in the red dress.
And their recent speculations.
Finally, Qi Liu confidently stated,
"Follow the streamer, and as long as you don't court death, you'll definitely survive!"
He looked as if he was about to pat his chest and guarantee it.
The woman in the red dress nodded obediently; she still wanted to go home alive.
Viewers: "To be honest, I also want to cling to the streamer's leg."
"I suspect you have ulterior motives, upstairs."
...
Amidst the teasing from the viewers,
The party of four arrived at the foot of Mount Yingying.
They immediately spotted the suit jacket hanging on a tree branch at the mountain's base.
It belonged to the Elite Man.
Qi Liu: "Did he go up and hasn't come down yet?"
Under the suit jacket, there was another line of text—【I'm going up first, I'll be back soon.】
This seemed to imply that he was afraid they would follow him up,
As more people might attract the mountain spirit mentioned by Uncle Feng.
"Could something have happened?" Liu Yao looked at the strange mountain before them.
Her gaze fell on the snow at the summit, which was quite unusual.
As a southerner, she rarely saw snow.
But thinking about the strangeness of this place, all her curiosity vanished.
Qi Liu: "Maybe he's still climbing?"
The woman in the red dress listened to their idle chatter and glanced at Jiang Lin, who showed no reaction.
She sat down on the spot to recover her strength.
As soon as her red dress touched the ground, it became dirty.
What was Jiang Lin thinking?
He noticed that the Yin energy at the summit of this mountain...
Was quite substantial.
He wondered if it would become even more intense when night fell.
...
After waiting at the foot of the mountain for about half an hour,
The Elite Man's figure appeared before them.
However, he looked mentally unwell, with bloodshot eyes.
He took his jacket back from the tree branch and caught sight of Qi Liu and the others out of the corner of his eye.
Tiredly, he left them with a piece of advice: "I have one piece of advice for you, don't listen to anything once you get up there."
Then he turned and walked away.
Qi Liu called out from behind, "Hey, are you okay?"
The Elite Man did not reply.
This was consistent with his solitary image, like a lone ranger.
He looked a bit cool, but also a bit pitiful.
Qi Liu watched his retreating figure, thinking that the man was not bad, at least he hadn't completely abandoned them, the 'newbies'.
But how did this guy manage to miss discovering the streamer every single time?
Qi Liu couldn't understand.
Perhaps some people were just born unlucky?
...
"I thought he would definitely notice this time, since he could see the streamer and the others as soon as he came down, but..."
"I was overthinking it."
"It feels a bit strange, he still hasn't noticed?!"
The viewers in the live stream were amused and bewildered.
When the Elite Man appeared halfway up the mountain,
They had started to anticipate it.
Unexpectedly, it turned out like this in the end.
It was truly... unimaginable.
"Reality isn't even this absurd. He could just skip over it like this."
"Reality might be more absurd, we just don't know it."
"Am I the only one wondering what's on the mountain?"
Why did the Elite Man say those words?
Could there be some spirit that bewitched people?
Mentioning bewitchment,
The viewers' minds conjured an image of a charming, seductive figure with a soft voice.
...
"I'll go up and take a look first."
After the Elite Man descended the mountain, Jiang Lin was the second to go up.
After telling the three behind him, he set off with his water bottle.
Mount Yingying was cool halfway up and cold at the summit.
The further Jiang Lin walked, the stronger the Yin energy felt.
It felt like something was stealthily following him from behind.
The three at the foot of the mountain saw the streamer's figure enter the mountain and then it was as if he teleported.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in one spot, and in the blink of an eye, he was almost halfway up the mountain.
In just a few breaths, he disappeared from sight.
Qi Liu stroked his chin and pondered, "If we had the streamer's speed, would we be afraid of not getting back before dark?"
Soon,
Jiang Lin reached the summit and saw the sunken pool that seemed to emit ethereal mist.
He didn't rush to collect water; instead, he surveyed the surroundings.
Then he raised his hand and waved,
A gust of Yin wind swept through, dispersing the white mist floating on the pool.
It revealed the clear water beneath... and the white bones at the bottom of the water.
...