WS - Chapter 78
Chapter 78
The previous day, when they left the Old Castle and disembarked from the aircraft, they had found themselves in a valley at the foot of a mountain.
Following that, they hiked for an entire day, reaching a rest camp at the summit by nightfall.
This morning, they started descending the other side of the peak. After just over two hours of walking downhill, they reached a pond at the base of this side. Had they continued forward in the morning's direction, it would soon be time to begin climbing yet another mountain.
In other words, the valleys on either side of the mountain they climbed yesterday were not at the same elevation.
The place they reached at noon this day could, from a certain angle, also be considered the foot of the previous mountain. However, seen from an overall perspective, it seemed more like the slightly sunken convergence point between two peaks in a vast stretch of rolling mountains.
Ascending a mountain is hard, but descending is even harder.
Yet, facing the next mountain before them, which was somewhat higher than the previous one, it was truly impossible to muster any cheerful words.
The group set off once more, stepping onto the upward path. Before they had traveled far, everyone noticed that the vegetation on this mountain seemed denser than on the one before. With thick trees and tall grasses, traversing this terrain was far more difficult than the flatland by the stream the day before.
"This won't do. I can barely see the ground beneath my feet anymore. If we run into another snake, it will be a real hassle." Zhuang Jiachuan, who was walking behind Captain Yang, stopped in his tracks. He looked back at the others and said, "Let's break off some long branches to probe the path ahead."
Captain Yang naturally heard Zhuang Jiachuan speaking right behind him, but when he turned his head, all he caught was the back of Zhuang Jiachuan's skull. With a cold snort in his heart, he simply pretended he hadn't heard and looked elsewhere.
"Yes, yes, my legs are almost dead with fatigue. Why didn't I think of getting a branch to lean on earlier..." Ning Chuyang, who immediately bent over and started kneading her knees frantically the moment they stopped, was the first to voice her agreement.
"A branch probably wouldn't be able to support you." Mu Xingzhou couldn't help but speak this blunt truth, earning him a glare in return.
"It could work, but don't we have..." Guan Yongyi tapped the sachet at his waist, "...this? Isn't it meant to repel snakes and bugs?"
"If we walk fast enough, we might still run into a snake or bug that doesn't have time to get out of the way, and that could be trouble." Zhuang Jiachuan said, tapping his own sachet. "Besides, this won't protect us one hundred percent."
As he finished, Zhuang Jiachuan's gaze shifted towards Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing, who always ended up at the very back of the group as they walked.
Things might have been fine if Zhuang Jiachuan hadn't brought it up, but the moment he did, Yu Nianbing involuntarily recalled the snake encounter from the previous day. A chill ran down her heart, and as the image of the snake flying towards her surfaced, cold sweat practically broke out over her back.
Though she said nothing, a hint of terror unconsciously flickered in Yu Nianbing's startled eyes.
"Don't be afraid, there aren't that many snakes around. There's nothing here." Song Shiyue noticed the somewhat strained breathing of the person beside her, clearly shocked by fright. She offered a gentle reassurance and looked towards the others, thinking for a moment before adding, "Alright, let's make a few walking sticks to probe the path. I'll go get them. Wait for me a while."
"Let me help you."
"I'll come too."
"Count me in..."
The three male guests all spoke up the instant Song Shiyue finished her sentence.
At a loss as to why she would need so many people, Song Shiyue paused briefly before nodding. "Teacher Guan, come give me a hand. Two people will be enough."
Guan Yongyi, being the one singled out, said nothing more and quickly followed her.
Not far behind, the production team had also stopped because the guest team ahead had ceased advancing.
Director Zhang tapped open the Camera Central Control System, skimmed forward slightly and watched for a moment, his brow furrowing faintly.
Beside him, Wang Daming peeked at the screen while rummaging in his bag, flipping through a notebook for several pages before hesitating to speak. "Ahem... in the woods we passed near the pond earlier, if you head left further into the forest, there are some thin bamboos we transplanted there earlier. They were specifically placed to serve as trekking poles for them..."
"..." Director Zhang looked at the various screens before him, watching the two individuals who had broken away from the group, and then at another screen showing the man still standing in place, looking utterly indifferent— Captain Yang. A long moment passed before he spoke. "Did he forget, or was it intentional?"
"Well..." Wang Daming gauged Director Zhang's expression out of the corner of his eye but found it unreadable for a long while. In the end, he could only guess at an answer Director Zhang might prefer. "It should be intentional. Who knows, maybe something will happen that makes them suffer a little. There might even be a chance to salvage the opening we botched yesterday."
Encounter something? Salvage what?
The one currently at the very front of the line was Captain Yang himself.
Standing behind Director Zhang and watching the screen, Feng Qianqian silently complained to herself, but held her tongue.
Director Zhang, however, gave Wang Daming no response, as if his earlier words had merely been musing to himself rather than a genuine question.
"In the end, Teacher Zhuang is the clever one, thinking first of getting some branches to beat the grass and flush out any snakes." After a long silence with no one speaking up, Wang Daming felt somewhat uneasy for some reason, and added this point.
"Indeed." This time, Director Zhang replied in a leisurely tone, but then added, "Though I keep feeling that Song Shiyue should have been the one to think of this first. After all, our trekking poles were brought out when we started climbing just now."
Oh, right...
The realization dawned belatedly upon Wang Daming as he glanced at the trekking pole hanging from his own hand, which had been distributed alongside the boxed lunches for noon today.
Why had he been flipping through his notebook? Shouldn't he have made the connection the moment he got his own trekking pole that the guests should also have corresponding tools...
"They haven't looked back at us since we started the climb. Otherwise, Song Shiyue really should have thought of it first." Feng Qianqian finally spoke up at this point to interject.
"They haven't looked our way at all?" Director Zhang turned his head to look at Feng Qianqian and smiled. "You're a rather detailed observer."
Yet these words of praise falling upon Feng Qianqian's ears only made her clam up again.
"Still, I believe that even without seeing us using ours, Song Shiyue should have thought of breaking off some tree branches for trekking poles a long time ago." Disregarding Feng Qianqian's reaction, Director Zhang simply turned back around as he spoke.
This time, Wang Daming did not dare to chime in on his own.
This was his first time serving as Director Zhang's assistant, and in just a few days, he had already sensed the director's shifting moods and unpredictable temperament. Just the day before, the director had seemed to harbor some intentions against Song Shiyue, yet overnight, today he had even sent the snake-repellent powder directly to her, and now his words even carried a hint of holding Song Shiyue in fairly high regard... it was truly beyond puzzling.
Regardless of how a nightmare had shifted Director Zhang's mindset, that high regard he directed at Song Shiyue was, indeed, somewhat overestimated.
Song Shiyue really... had never actually considered making a walking stick to support her weary body or drive away snakes...
The fact was, Song Shiyue wasn't tired in the slightest. Never mind climbing a single mountain in a day, when she was well-fed, running back and forth across several mountains was as easy as walking on flat ground for her. Naturally, she could hardly empathize enough to think of a walking stick. As for driving away snakes... ever since the incident right after disembarking the aircraft, Song Shiyue had been constantly using her slightly more sensitive hearing to stay alert. For her, this was far more convenient and reliable than beating the grass to scare the snakes.
It was only when Zhuang Jiachuan brought the topic up, and seeing Yu Nianbing's somewhat frightened expression, that Song Shiyue, unable to explain matters by simply citing her hearing, naturally needed to go make a couple to settle Yu Nianbing's heart. Moreover, since everyone clearly needed and wanted them, and it was no trouble, she decided to make a batch for all at once.
The moment the two stepped into the woods, Guan Yongyi began scanning the area for trees— either sturdy, large trees with especially thick branches, or small, thin saplings roughly the diameter of a single walking stick.
However, Song Shiyue seemed to take no interest in any of the trees Guan Yongyi looked at, heading straight deeper into the woods.
As Guan Yongyi followed after her, he couldn't help but think of Zhuang Jiachuan's earlier words. Had Song Shiyue not been walking ahead of him, facing wild grass so lush and tall that it reached the knees and obscured the ground entirely, even he would have been somewhat afraid to continue stepping forward.
Fortunately, just as Guan Yongyi was hesitating over whether to call out to her, the person ahead finally stopped.
"This one here will do." Song Shiyue patted the tree beside her, her tone somewhat casual, as if merely settling.
Guan Yongyi took a closer look. Well, the tree was quite upright and straight, but its size was really too awkward to be useful.
It had a girth roughly matching two of Guan Yongyi's waistlines. Using its trunk for a walking stick would be far too thick, and using its branches... those would really be far too thin.
Had anyone else come along, be it Zhuang Jiachuan or Mu Xingzhou, the godly frog-smashing display Song Shiyue had put on just that noon would still be fresh in their minds. Even if they had doubts, they would have observed first.
But Guan Yongyi was far more direct, and he simply stated his opinion outright.
"Yes, this one tree alone won't be enough. There's another one along the path we came that we can use, so we'll chop that one on our return trip." Song Shiyue showed no displeasure at Guan Yongyi's question, merely explaining briefly.
Three strikes of the Stone Knife against the tree, plus one well-placed kick, and before Guan Yongyi could even open his mouth again, Song Shiyue had felled it.
Then, before Guan Yongyi's astonished eyes, the tree was stripped of its branches and bark. Song Shiyue directly carved six long staves right out of the trunk, each with a block of wood of modest size left intact at one end.
Guan Yongyi very much wanted to ask what those wooden blocks were for, but his face was still smarting. He didn't dare to ask now.
"Let's go, one more tree." Song Shiyue picked the six staves out from the heap of scrap lumber on the ground. As she was about to head back, she paused, thought for a moment, and turned her head towards Guan Yongyi. "Teacher Guan, would you like to help me carry them?"
Having just witnessed live what might be called either a decades-old veteran lumberjack's craft showcase or a decades-old master carpenter's craft showcase— one that had him completely dazzled— Guan Yongyi actually froze for a moment. It was Song Shiyue's questioning voice that called his soul back to his body, and he hastily circumvented the scrap lumber on the ground, repeating "Yes, yes..." as he stepped forward to take the staves from her hands.
Arriving at the camp the previous night, Guan Yongyi had either been busily starting fires or busily setting up tents, perfectly missing out on witnessing Song Shiyue's superlative cow-dismembering skills alongside the others. Yet fate had still been kind enough to let him witness an equally brilliant wood-splitting skill demonstration live, which was already enough to leave him stunned for days to come.
Of course, stricken with equal awe were the melon-eating masses on StarNet.
As early as when Song Shiyue opened her mouth to indicate she would go make walking sticks, those hawk-eyed shippers on the Livestream Page had already let out a string of wails, casting their votes of opposition in the very first instant.
With walking sticks, where would be yesterday afternoon's hand-holding?
With walking sticks, where would be this morning's vine tether linking two wrists together?
With walking sticks, where would be the sweet sugar, so enduring and plentiful!
As CP fans chronically afflicted with sugar-deficiency syndrome, they resolutely and swiftly fired off Danmaku comments rejecting the walking sticks.
Yet, alas...
It was useless.
"Sister Song's tree chopping movements are so dashing, but I still spit on this tree's failure to stand firm!"
"Honestly, the cow-cutting yesterday was a bit bloody, but today's stone-knife wood splitting looked even better. I like watching those wood shavings curl out~~"
"Although Sister Song's craftsmanship is superb and the wood shavings are lovely, added together they can only offer me three minutes of comfort. After all, I am a poor little thing who can only survive for three minutes without eating sugar."
"Right, three minutes, not a second more!"
"I finally understand why Sister Song is so amazing, but after confessing for more than half a year, she hasn't managed to stir the slightest ripple..."
"I don't know if this wood is sturdy or not, I only know that Sister Song is really too wooden! So worried for them that tears are about to fall!"
"I just want to know, after Zhuang Jiachuan proposed making walking sticks, what is Little Ice Block, who has remained silent this whole time, thinking right now."
"Hahaha! Probably wants to chop the wooden Song down!"
"As a Little Ice Bucket, seeing the preceding danmaku makes me want to cry. After all, our Little Ice Block's combat power is truly low; she can't chop down wooden Song!"
"To say it weakly, ever since I started shipping the Song-Yu CP, I always felt that Yu Nianbing, with her low combat power, had no hope of topping. But after seeing that Sister Song's handiwork is so good, sometimes I can't help but think about..."
"???"
"!!!"
"Tre... trembling..."
"Friends, please stop our mental extrapolations... After all, no matter how good Song Shiyue's handiwork is, she is just butchering cows and chopping wood!"
"??? The friend above, are you really calling a stop? After all, the person way up above said 'handiwork,' so where did your 'work' go!"
"Beep, the StarNet safety guard you called has accepted the order and is on the way..."
"I can't, I can't anymore, hurry up and take you all away. My little heart from all this mental extrapolation is beating too fast, I can't take it..."
It had to be said that in the eyes of the CP shippers, real sugar was certainly sweet, but the most stimulating kind would always be extrapolated sugar.
Of course, Song Shiyue and Yu Nianbing could not see these mental extrapolations for the time being; otherwise, they would probably blush so hard they'd each retreat three thousand miles first.
And right now, just as some viewers were concerned, Yu Nianbing was indeed thinking about the walking sticks after Song Shiyue and Guan Yongyi entered the forest.
Only, unlike the wild imaginations of the CP shippers, Yu Nianbing was merely a little puzzled.
For Song Shiyue, carving a wooden stick out of a small tree should be a very simple matter.
Then yesterday...
Yu Nianbing couldn't help but think about that long uphill path where Song Shiyue had supported her by the hand yesterday afternoon, after taking on the beef.
Compared to having to constantly exert strength to bear a person's weight all along the way, carving out a wooden stick would definitely have been much more convenient and simple.
Clearly, carving a wooden stick would have spared Song Shiyue so much hardship.
But why hadn't either she or Song Shiyue thought of it?
Yu Nianbing couldn't help but lower her head, looking at the hand that had clasped Song Shiyue's for a very long time yesterday.
Very easily, she recalled that steady, reassuring feeling.
That strength which, no matter how she tried to borrow leverage or how she stumbled, would rise to meet her at the very first moment and steady her.
That kind of considerate steadiness is absolutely something a walking stick could never compare to, right?
However, when speaking of permanence, it also absolutely could never compare to a wooden walking stick, right...
From the forest over there, the rustling sound of grass and approaching footsteps rang out.
Yet, Yu Nianbing did not know why, for a very long time, she did not lift her head.
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