Первая книга из серии «Мастер озорства» Кто я

Глава 20

Chapter Twenty-One: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge

Just as we cautiously and nervously walked about a hundred meters, a chilling wind rose from the fault line on the cliff, "whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—" I almost had a heart attack from the wind. To make matters worse, the rope suspension bridge beneath our feet began to sway slowly under the force of the wind.

1 One of them

2 Night

Chapter Twenty-One: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge

1 One of them

Considering she came from the other side of the world without makeup and was unharmed, except for her lips and teeth being tightly closed, there was basically nothing unusual about her. With such a good "precedent," it shouldn't be as scary over there as it is here.

Just thinking about the scene in front of and behind the Diaohu Gate makes me shudder.

Su Yan's detailed account of the events leading up to this conclusion was largely consistent with my guess. She had simply gotten separated from the group, and the loneliness and fear of the unfamiliar, dark environment had thrown her into extreme mental turmoil. She had stumbled and staggered her way to find us, but hadn't actually encountered anything truly terrifying. As for the incident with Lü Fang where she encountered countless versions of herself, she couldn't remember a single thing.

She was lucky and quite bold.

However, judging from her intelligence, the road ahead is still fraught with danger. This is because, when recounting her experiences, she frequently used a phrase that I find utterly detestable—one of them.

The most difficult thing we face in life is making choices—to gain or to give up. Why do we gain something, and why do we give it up? The saying "every loss has its gain" is merely a temporary consolation. Because we cannot see the true shape of the future, we are all plagued by anxieties and uncertainties when faced with choices, truly reflecting the myriad aspects of life: "some are excited, some are sad; some laugh, some are grieving." See, the probability of encountering such a difficult situation is far higher than encountering a ghost.

This shows how resilient humans are.

Since making choices is so painful, let others choose. In my opinion, if this girl with the plain face has a good memory, we can simply return to the "Floating Clouds and Dragons" housing complex where we rested last night. But that's easier said than done; relying on her memory is far from easy. What if she makes a mistake…

We are about to experience firsthand the true meaning of "a small difference can lead to a huge error".

Throughout history, the lessons learned from taking the wrong path have been bloody examples. This saying is quite apt for our group. To put it bluntly, those who could have failed are already gone. The two remaining are of utmost importance to me, so there can be absolutely no mistakes. We must proceed step by step, taking it one step at a time.

Out of caution regarding safety, I cannot entrust such a significant responsibility to this young girl, Su Yan; I cannot trust her. The specific marching route must be decided by me; she is at most a part-time strategist. As for the intelligence she provided earlier, I initially only considered it as a reference and never intended to put it into action. What needs to be implemented now is my own strategy.

Chapter 169: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge (2)

Behind Zhilei Temple, in front of us, this meadow was so different in quality or quantity from the grassy woodland where lightning had been stored. Perhaps it was because of the fear of being bitten by a snake once, but from the moment I first saw it, I had no intention of crossing it again. No matter what was inside, whether it was a small snake, lightning, a serpent dragon, money, or even Wang Zhaojun, I was unmoved and refused to go in.

Supporting Ye Min, I told them both, "Go to the right."

Since we're still within the vast city walls, following the wall should make things easier. At least there's a high wall to keep us calm and support us, so we don't end up as passive and resigned to fate as we were last night.

The reason I didn't choose to walk on the left was probably because I was influenced by the saying "men on the left, women on the right" on the stone bridge, which created a kind of psychological resistance, a very passive feeling of resistance. It's like dating a girl who always talks about how much her ex-boyfriend liked this or that. After hearing it for a long time, whenever you see or hear those things again, you will involuntarily feel a sense of hatred towards them.

So I decided to go to the right.

We quickly reached a consensus. Ye Min and Su Yan, being the two more obedient girls, had no objections. The three of us then supported each other, starting from the horizon on our right, preparing to travel through the night.

There's a reason I'm saying this. As the saying goes, summer days are long and winter days are short, but in Yunnan's unique climate zone, this isn't so obvious. Yunnan's climate doesn't fluctuate much throughout the year, especially in Xishuangbanna, a tropical rainforest region, where there's almost no change. Apart from abundant rainfall and year-round humidity, it's just one word—hot.

The persistently high temperatures mean that for more than 360 days a year, no matter when you go out, the sun is blazing overhead (except during the rainy season, of course). Winter is alright, but in summer, the sweltering heat in the air is just like the song says, "One wave hasn't subsided before another comes in," the scorching weather makes people sweat profusely and is hard to resist.

Of course, in winter, due to the influence of the surrounding ocean monsoon, there will occasionally be frosty weather there, but rest assured, that will definitely happen around midnight. After noon, the scorching sun will be like a volcano, enveloping the tens of thousands of people who live here.

Section 170: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge (3)

In short, it's a long summer with no winter, and a single rain can bring autumn.

Judging from the time on my wristwatch, we've been dawdling for almost an hour since I woke up. The sun is setting, and dusk is falling; twilight is descending, and all things are about to rest. We've slept too much during the day, and now we're wide awake. It looks like we'll have to travel through the night again.

I was furious. Why can't my biological clock be reset?

In my youth, my addiction to online games not only ruined my studies but also led to extremely poor eating and sleeping habits due to my relentless "struggle" day and night. It was common for me to skip meals and drinks, and the long-term disrupted sleep schedule of sleeping during the day and playing at night has resulted in many serious long-term consequences. Insomnia is one of the most devastating.

Looking back now, I deeply regret it.

Sighing and filled with regret, we had already walked quite a distance. The blood-red sunset had not yet completely sunk into the twilight. Under the influence of the crimson glow, I noticed that much of the ghostly mist that had swirled around us had dissipated, leaving only a thin wisp of cold fog in the air, as sparse and thin as a girl's heart, unfathomable and unfathomable. Although it would soon be dark again, the visibility had improved considerably. Sure enough, after only walking for a short while, I could clearly see the wall not far away with my naked eye.

"Quick, let's go take a look."

The inner walls of the city, weathered by time, appeared mottled and desolate. The plaster had peeled away almost completely, exposing the rammed earth and stones beneath the walls to the sunlight. Wow, it dried pretty quickly after last night's torrential rain. I gently touched it, and dust and debris immediately crumbled off.

Apart from the eternal marks of time, nothing else is visible on the inner walls. The lush green grass underfoot extends all the way to the base of the wall, making it seem at first glance that the grass and the high wall are completely integrated, inseparable in life and death.

This is a common occurrence, but I still felt a chill. "The damage to the wall is too severe; just seeing it is enough, there's no need to feel your way through it," I reminded them.

After making a turn, we walked forward in the direction the high wall extended.

The sky gradually darkened. Night was approaching in Xishuangbanna.

2 Night

As the last rays of the crimson sun disappeared into the horizon, a lingering breeze, neither warm nor cold, pulled the vast night sky, like a lonely, enormous dark curtain, slowly covering the entire world.

Section 171: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge (4)

As time went on, everything around us was slowly covered by endless darkness. Fear, along with this darkness, pressed down on my heart in an instant and lingered for a long time.

Standing beneath the towering, dark walls, our souls seemed to be swallowed by the darkness. Fortunately, a moment later, the bright "jade plate" appeared on time, hanging high in the dark sky. The ground immediately looked as if it had been coated with layers of snow-white frost, and our eyes were bright again.

Just as the last rays of sunlight disappeared below the horizon, we reached the end of the meadow. And the journey had been smooth sailing.

All was quiet, the moonlight gentle. If those things hadn't happened, how romantic it would have been in this setting. But the dreamlike moonlit paradise often praised by poets and writers now evoked only one feeling in me—

tremble with fear.

Night is often fraught with danger, especially with a beautiful woman by my side; I dared not let my guard down. I had imagined the scene at the end of the meadow countless times in my mind along the way: magnificent palaces, high walls and red tiles, stone platforms and steps, grand gates… but now, actually standing here, I realized that no matter how hard I tried, I could never have imagined it…

It turns out that this is how it is.

Ye Min and I stared blankly at the scene at the end of the meadow, unable to believe our eyes for a long time. After a while, I remembered that Su Yan had come from this side, so I asked her.

"Where... is the road?"

Su Yan was clearly also stunned by what she saw. She remained silent for a while before shaking her head and answering me. She said that when she came over last night, nothing like this happened, so she didn't really understand either.

The scene before me could have formed overnight, but could it really be such a coincidence? I observed carefully for a moment, and based on the degree of freshness, I dismissed this theory. Could it be... because of the torrential rain, she was too preoccupied to pay attention to the path and wandered aimlessly, thus misremembering the terrain? Or perhaps she wasn't even from this side of the meadow... Was she lying to us too?

I frowned as I stared at the woman with bare skin stammering her explanation.

As we all know, the five continents and four oceans on which we depend for survival were shaped by tectonic movements to form our current geographical landscape. Because of this, many places on Earth retain traces of these changes—such as canyons, or what we call fault lines or fault zones.

Section 172: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge (5)

And what lies before us is precisely such a fractured layer, like a fissure in the earth.

How...how could it be a cliff?

The meadow stretched on and on, finally stopping at a fault line resembling a cliff. We stood on the edge, somewhat bewildered. The other side directly ahead was completely invisible to the naked eye; it was so dark it seemed nonexistent. The abyss below the fault line was even more unfathomable. Just a brief glimpse from the edge made me dizzy and my legs trembled. In the daytime, I might be able to make some sense of it, but in the dead of night, what could I possibly discern?

Even the usually weak and powerless night wind became fierce and howling, taking advantage of this natural barrier.

Fortunately, the silent buildings are telling us in their own way, and at least I understand the chicken-or-egg question.

The meadow tightly connected to this fault line had its fracture points neatly trimmed, bearing clear signs of human intervention. It was based on these traces that I ruled out the possibility that this small canyon was formed last night. Clearly, it has stood here for many years, witnessing far more springs, summers, autumns, and winters than this cluster of buildings.

Why are they still "planning and building houses" here when there are fault lines and canyons? I discovered that not only the grassland, but even the city wall is gone here, as if it was neatly cut off along the fault line.

Having bonsai trees at home makes one appear cultured, planting a tree in the yard adds charm, and creating a lake in the city exudes sophistication... So, does having a canyon in a maze make it seem grand? The thoughts of the ancients are sometimes truly unfathomable, but the "planning" is quite good; the canyon and the buildings look harmonious. However... even treacherous places like the "One Line Sky" have railings, so why isn't this one?

The thought of the guardrail sent a chill down my spine. Good heavens, if we had encountered something in this meadow and ended up here while being chased, in the dark and on the slippery road, we wouldn't even have had a chance to react...wouldn't we all have fallen to our deaths like dumplings being dropped into a pot?

My back was soaked with sweat from the shock of the "what if" statement.

In my shock, I calmed my racing heart. There's always a way out. It's still hard to say whether this is a dead end or not. Let's search along the edge of the rift valley.

Section 173: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge (6)

I had no choice but to stubbornly cling to one approach, like someone hanging themselves on a single tree.

However, I discovered I was incredibly lucky; I'd only walked a short distance to the left along the fault line when a miracle occurred. Of course... there's also a chance it could be bad luck...

Have you heard the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl? Legend has it that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were truly in love, but because of the heavenly rules, they faced all sorts of obstacles from the Queen Mother of the West. Although they ignored them, the Queen Mother still punished them by separating them across the Milky Way, preventing them from meeting...

Of course, China is a democratic, fair, and loving country, and it would not create a human tragedy like the Manjusaka flower being unable to meet in every lifetime. Therefore, the Queen Mother of the West and the Jade Emperor of the East are much more loving than that guy Zeus from Northern Europe. This essentially determines that the fate of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is much better than that of Manjusaka and the Weaver Girl. Driven by love, the Queen Mother of the West had no choice but to make an exception and allow them to meet once a year.

Well, that's fine too. This lovelorn couple are both immortals, living from the day Pangu created the world until the day he closed it again—that's trillions of light-years! Meeting once a year is nothing to them, right? So it's no problem. Even immortals need their own space. Thus, every year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl would cross the Magpie Bridge across the Milky Way, connecting their two hearts, to meet.

The legend is undeniably beautiful, but why does the legendary Magpie Bridge now appear so unbelievable, mocking us as it stands before us?

Am I supposed to follow the example of the Cowherd, wearing a cowhide and flying over there?

Of course, it wasn't actually a bridge made of magpies, but its level of danger was no different from that of the Magpie Bridge.

On the edge of a bare cliff, an incongruous little bridge stands. Like the Monkey King's magic staff, it spans the entire rift valley from south to north, its length barely visible beyond a few dozen meters, the rest shrouded in darkness. Moreover, I discovered that the bridge is constructed primarily of countless twisted hemp ropes, its surface covered entirely by wooden planks, layered four or five times—perhaps for added strength and stability. The hemp ropes wrapped around the bridge appear thick and robust, seemingly bound in many layers. At the bridgehead on the meadow side stands an obelisk, its inscription almost entirely weathered away, making it impossible to decipher.

Section 174: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge (7)

This...this bridge reminds me of those suspension bridges in primeval forests. Yes, the kind over the Liusha River. They have serious quality issues! But without a suspension bridge built across the mountain, a path even monkeys would struggle to traverse, we have absolutely no way to cross this towering peak.

The three of us stared silently at the suspension bridge, which resembled a small boat adrift in a raging storm, equally perilous... It lay there quietly... It certainly looked peaceful, but I wondered if the world would change drastically if we stepped onto it...

Actually, when I first glanced at it, I was terrified. I didn't even have the courage to step on it, let alone get to the other side. But I couldn't let my guard down, especially with two girls watching me. How could I, a grown man, become a coward in the face of such a small storm?

So I coughed a few times to bolster my courage and said to them nonchalantly, "Things will work themselves out. Look, there's a way now. We're lucky, the bridge isn't too wide. I'll go first, Ye Min, you follow behind me and can put your arm around me. Su Yan, you walk at the back so you can take care of her. How about that? No problem, right?"

Ye Min and Su Yan, the two young girls, had expressions that changed like the weather, both biting their lips and shaking their heads. It seemed that the suspension bridge, perched on a precipitous cliff, had terrified them.

I chuckled awkwardly, putting on an air of "everything's okay," and continued, "The ropes on this bridge are as thick as legs, there won't be any problems. Besides, it's not raining heavily or windy, so it's very stable. Just don't look down when you cross. The bridge is straight, so don't worry. Just follow behind me and close your eyes. You'll see my BMW soon."

I gazed at the suspension bridge disappearing into the darkness on the other side, my heart pounding but a smile on my face, confidently poised to move forward.

I fully expected the two girls to continue shaking their heads and pleading with me to look for another way out or something. That way, I could put on that troubled but concerned expression, pretend to think it over for a while, and then agree to their request. That way, I could legitimately take them away from this damned, terrifying suspension bridge, and my legs, which were shaking like a leaf, would immediately return to normal...

"Oh well."

Section 175: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge (8)

As a result, I looked at Ye Min without makeup, and Ye Min looked at me. Then they said this.

I never expected they would actually believe me after I said that. I was inwardly groaning and filled with regret: It's over, now I have no choice but to go even if I don't want to. What's said is said, so I gritted my teeth and took the first step, my legs numb, trembling as they took the first step.

At this moment, all we can do is hope that flowers bloom on our ancestral graves.

"Crunch—Squeak—Squeak—"

The suspension bridge seemed untouched by weight for years; it creaked and groaned the moment we stepped on it, making my face turn pale. After just a few steps, I was shaking uncontrollably, cold sweat pouring down my forehead. I don't have a fear of heights; back in junior high, I even climbed to the roof of a six-story building in my neighborhood, leaning a third of my body over the edge without even blinking. Uh… of course, back then it was to peep at girls showering… but I swear to Chairman Mao, I didn't see anything, really! Because there were just too many of us that time, and space on the edge was limited… by the time I squeezed in, they'd already washed and hung their dirty clothes out to dry…

Oh, where have we gotten to? The reason I'm shaking like this is because this suspension bridge is just too narrow. Although I've crossed even narrower bridges before, bridges with traps and puddles, at least those weren't cliffs!

Stepping onto this bridge filled me with dread, like discovering that the wheels on a roller coaster are a bit loose. Oh God, death is coming again! I felt like my hair was standing on end, almost like a wig. Luckily, even though the bridge was narrow, there were railings about half a person's height on both sides. If it were a log bridge, even if that old hag with a horse-faced body rode those weird insects in the trees through a lightning strike zone, I would have turned back!

Let's go, why think so much?

Just as we cautiously and nervously walked about a hundred meters, a chilling wind rose from the fault line on the cliff, "whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—" I almost had a heart attack from the wind. To make matters worse, the rope suspension bridge beneath our feet began to sway slowly under the force of the wind.

I almost yelled and ran back. But there were two girls behind me whose souls seemed to have vanished with the wind. In my panic, I could only shout for them to hold onto the railings on both sides and crouch down.

Section 176: The Terrifying Suspension Bridge (9)