Gu Qingqing watched from below as Ke Xun snapped off several thick, long branches from the tree and threw them down.
Ke Xun jumped down, broke off the twigs from these branches, and then tied them together one by one, using torn pieces of clothing to bind the ends tightly, creating a branch dozens of meters long. Finally, he tied his phone to the very top end.
"I'll climb as high as I can, and then you can hand me the branch," Ke Xun said, climbing back up the tree. Gu
Qingqing understood his intention and quickly asked, "Will the phone be able to take a clear picture? There's green everywhere, it'll be hard to distinguish things, right?"
"My phone has 40 megapixels, which is equivalent to five times zoom, so the clarity shouldn't be a problem," Ke Xun said, quickly climbing to the highest point possible. Gu Qingqing handed him the long branch, and Ke Xun turned on the camera mode, holding the branch so that the end with the phone attached protruded as high as possible from the treetop, then slowly and steadily rotated it 360 degrees.
Withdrawing his hand, Ke Xun held the end of the phone attached to the tree down for Gu Qingqing to untie. "Take a look at the picture you just took. Can you see the kapok tree?"
Gu Qingqing did as she was told, carefully pausing and examining it repeatedly, then shook her head. "No."
Ke Xun climbed down from the tree and pointed in the direction they were heading. "Then we don't need to look carefully for this part of the road. Let's go straight to the farthest point in the frame and take another picture there. That will save time."
Gu Qingqing looked at him in surprise, thinking his idea was indeed very clever and good.
The two of them ran and stopped, quickly climbing trees to take pictures and climbing down to check, which indeed saved a lot of time.
However, time waits for no one.
The sky gradually darkened, a gloomy atmosphere hanging overhead. The silent, imposing trees in front of them gradually turned into a dark silhouette in the dim light. There was no wind, and the branches and leaves were motionless. Only from the depths of the dark forest could one occasionally hear the melancholy calls of birds and beasts.
"It's time..." Gu Qingqing whispered to Ke Xun. They had agreed to return to Qin Ci and Wu You's location before it got completely dark, and then go back to the residential area together.
Sweat poured down Ke Xun's face like a burst dam.
Gu Qingqing had lost count of how many trees he had climbed; he had long since reached his physical limit, yet he was still frantically searching.
Gu Qingqing was afraid—afraid he wouldn't go back, afraid of the unwavering determination in his eyes.
Ke Xun wiped his face. Taking pictures of the distant scenery with his phone was no longer an option; it was too dark to discern the shapes of the leaves. He also saw the worry in Gu Qingqing's eyes—not just for herself, but for Qin Ci, and for him.
Ke Xun closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
If facing the death of a companion required courage, then he... had to muster that courage now.
"Let's go back," Ke Xun said, his voice slightly nasal.
Gu Qingqing was about to turn back the way she came when Ke Xun pulled her back: "Let's not go back the way we came. Let's go a long way to the side, to the farthest point on the left that we saw on our phones earlier, and start walking back from there."
That way, they could search an even larger area on their way back.
"Can you keep going? We might have to run back," Ke Xun asked Gu Qingqing.
Gu Qingqing moved her calves, which had cramped up twice from exhaustion, and gritted her teeth: "I can."
"Okay, keep up with me, watch your step." Ke Xun started running to the left, and Gu Qingqing followed through her teeth.
The two of them ran and searched their surroundings as the forest grew darker. Gu Qingqing felt like crying because the sweat that kept dripping down her face had blurred her glasses and her vision. She kept wiping them, but it didn't help. Her clothes were already soaked through, and the lenses she had wiped with them were covered in messy water stains.
She was very nearsighted; without her glasses, she couldn't even see Ke Xun running ahead of her, let alone distinguish which tree was a kapok tree.
Gu Qingqing ran, sobbing, hating herself for being nearsighted and useless in this crucial moment.
Just as she was overwhelmed with emotion, she felt a hand reach out and grab her. This hand, just like hers, was sweaty, but large and strong, holding her tightly and pulling her forward.
"Don't cry," Ke Xun's voice came through her tear-blurred eyes, "We've done our best."
Gu Qingqing murmured a tearful "Mmm," trying to quicken her pace, but stamina isn't something you can keep going indefinitely. She stumbled and fell, her legs growing weaker and weaker, until finally, as she crossed a small, higher mound, her legs gave way and
she collapsed to her knees. Ke Xun turned to help her up, but her legs were shaking so badly she couldn't stand. He turned to carry her on his back, but she knew he was also exhausted; his legs had been trembling as they ran.
"Leave me alone…" Gu Qingqing trembled as she picked up her fallen glasses and put them back on her nose. "Leave me alone… Go back, I don't want to be a burden to you. I'll just leave it at that… I've done my best, it doesn't matter if I die…"
"Shh—" Ke Xun suddenly pointed to a spot not far away. "Look at those trees, aren't they kapok trees?"
Gu Qingqing looked in the direction he was pointing. In the hazy light, she could see an extremely thick and tall tree standing tall, and around it, in four directions, there were four equally tall and strong trees, forming an irregular quadrilateral surrounding it.
"I—I can't see clearly—" Gu Qingqing frantically wiped her glasses, but the lenses only became more blurred.
"Don't worry." Ke Xun patted her shoulder, took a picture of the five trees with his phone, and then held it up to her.
Gu Qingqing held her glasses in one hand and her phone in the other, her face almost pressed against the screen. Ke Xun zoomed in on the photo for her, and after a few seconds of scrutiny, she excitedly looked up: "Yes! It's a kapok tree!"
Ke Xun wiped his face, brushing away the sweat from his hands, and turned to look at the five trees.
These five trees were hundreds of years old, their canopies reaching high into the already darkening sky.
They were indeed inconspicuous, surrounded and concealed by many other equally tall and robust trees.
Yet, they were also very conspicuous, because from Ke Xun's perspective, disregarding perspective and depth of field, these five trees resembled a giant hand that had burst from the earth, desperately reaching towards the sky. The branches, bent and twisted by centuries of wild growth and the ravages of wind and rain, were like five gnarled and twisted fingers, struggling, desperate, and unwilling to accept their fate, pleading with the heavens to continue living on this earth, which was already riddled with holes but still deeply loved.
This was the hand, the hand in the painting yearning for survival.
Ke Xun told Gu Qingqing to touch the tree in the middle. Gu Qingqing walked towards it, glancing back at him with a puzzled look.
"You should leave the painting first. I need to go back and bring everyone over."
Ke Xun said, about to leave, when he heard Gu Qingqing say anxiously, "I touched the trunk, but it didn't work... How do I leave the painting? What should the normal reaction be?"
Ke Xun frowned: "Isn't Abel's name on the trunk?"
"No." Gu Qingqing shook her head anxiously.
"What about the other four trees?" Ke Xun didn't dare to touch them, afraid he might accidentally leave the painting.
Gu Qingqing quickly circled each of the four trees, shaking her head again with a grim expression.
This discovery, finding nothing, felt like a devastating blow.
If these five trees weren't the only ones… then all hope for today would vanish.
Ke Xun pressed his lips tightly together, desperately trying to think of every possibility, while Gu Qingqing continued examining the tree trunks without stopping.
In what form would Abel's signature appear? Ke Xun stared intently at the trees. At the top? On the leaves? Carved into the bark? Buried at the roots?
—No. Abel was an environmentalist; he wouldn't carve his signature into the bark or bury it at the roots. He wouldn't do anything to harm trees—"Pull back the fallen leaves under the trees and look!" Ke Xun raised his voice to Gu Qingqing.
—If Abel were a foreigner, he wondered if he had ever heard of the Chinese poem "Turning into spring mud to nourish the flowers," or if he shared a similar sentiment.
He was an environmentalist; he wanted to protect these last guardians of the earth. Therefore, his signature was likely—
"Found it!" Gu Qingqing cried out, her voice trembling.
Beneath the thick layer of fallen leaves, the name Abel appeared as a slightly raised mound of earth, nestled among the five Trees of Life. The mound, hardened by time, resembled the grave of a soldier who had sworn to defend the source of life.
"Put your hand on the signature!" Ke Xun told Gu Qingqing.
Gu Qingqing did as instructed, and a white light flashed; her figure vanished instantly.
Ke Xun turned and sprinted towards the meeting place he had arranged with his companions.
Night had fallen; the night birds had stopped singing, the forest beasts had stopped howling, and in the still forest, countless rustling sounds rose from afar.
Something was scraping the ground, surging through the dense forest towards them.
"Yiran—Yiran—" Ke Xun roared, "Come this way—to the east—I found the autograph—follow my voice—"
He ran and shouted, his exhausted body seemingly no longer his own. All his movements had become subconscious, mechanical actions. Sweat poured down his forehead like a waterfall. His vision was so blurred that he couldn't even see the trees right in front of him. He used his phone as a light source and turned the music up to the maximum volume, hoping his companions would hear him as soon as possible and arrive before those things came.
Ke Xun staggered, his legs buckling and he tripped. His body, feeling like it was about to fall apart, wished it could just melt away and lie there forever, never to get up again. He gritted his teeth and used all his strength to barely stand up, swaying as he continued forward.
He was too tired. He had never been this tired in his life. Even the grueling training under the devilish coach had never left him this exhausted.
He couldn't hold on any longer. He stumbled forward several times before collapsing headfirst.
This fall might be the last he ever got up. Ke Xun's mind went blank; he couldn't even muster a single word of apology to Mu Yiran.
He fell forward, but not into the muddy ground crawling with insects and covered in decaying leaves that he imagined.
He fell into a familiar embrace, into a familiar scent and with familiar strength. He was helped up and carried on a strong back.
"East, everyone follow," he heard him calmly and resolutely instructing his companions.
Then he carried him and ran at breakneck speed, a series of footsteps behind them, and the ever-growing, overwhelming rustling of crawling creatures.
Everyone was exhausted, everyone was too weak to speak; all Ke Xun heard were heavy breathing and the pounding of footsteps.
Everyone was fighting for their lives, clinging to life with all their might. Each person was filled with a desperate yearning for survival, like a hand struggling to break through the soil, reaching out desperately towards the last vestige of hope.
Until he heard Shao Ling's hoarse voice suddenly rang out: "Old Qin—he's started coughing up blood—"
Author's Note:
Shao Ling: Old Qin—he's started coughing up blood—
Reader: Hahaha, even if he coughs up his intestines, it's useless. Who are you trying to scare?
Shao Ling: ...Someone's giving away spoilers?!
Xing Yue: None of my business.
Qin Ci: ...Looking at you with a face full of blood.