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墨書 Inktalez
Xu Yicheng sat in his room, took a bite of an apple, placed it on the table, and then left for work. Without the constraints of his ex, Sister Hua, he spent his days teaching and his nights in the laboratory, researching when he had the energy and simply sleeping on a lounge chair in the lab when he was tired.
Days passed, and after so many consecutive days without returning home, the calendar on his desk finally turned to Tuesday. It was only when Xu Yicheng returned home to pack his bags that he remembered the leftover apple. When he went back to his room to check, it had already oxidized and turned black.
At 10:30 AM, a call from Professor Wang Ting woke Xu Yicheng up. Xu Yicheng was a typical night owl who loved staying up late; he had only fallen asleep at three in the morning the previous night.
Still groggy, he remembered the important event of the day upon hearing the phone ring. He quickly answered, "Hello, Wang Ting. Just wait for me; I’ll be there soon!"
Without brushing his teeth or washing his face, still wearing yesterday's clothes, he grabbed the bag he had prepared earlier and set off.
"What's taking this guy so long? Where is he?" Wang Ting glanced at his watch on his arm, having checked it multiple times already.
"Professor Wang, should we just go without him? We agreed to meet at ten o'clock, and we've been waiting almost an hour because of him," said Wang Ting's assistant.
"Let's give him ten more minutes," Wang Ting replied with a slight pout, feeling somewhat helpless.
In truth, Xu Yicheng's role in this team was not crucial; if necessary, Wang Ting could adjust the instruments himself since they were geographical tools that he understood to some extent—just a bit more work for himself.
Fortunately, Xu Yicheng showed up at the last minute, driving into view and parking in a nearby spot.
He ran over with his bag and said, "I’m really sorry; I overslept."
"Take my advice, Xu Dashen; try to stay up less at night," Wang Ting said while patting Xu Yicheng on the shoulder. Both were accomplished individuals in their respective fields but were not competitors in life; rather, they were friends. Xu Yicheng smiled and joined them in the specially designated off-road vehicle for this event.
On the way, Xu Yicheng stared out at the scenery out of boredom. Wang Ting put down his phone and jokingly asked, "Xu Dashen, how have things been with Sister Hua lately?"
"Oh, we broke up."
"What?!" Wang Ting was somewhat surprised. "I'm sorry; I... I didn't know about this."
"It’s fine; I actually prefer it this way," Xu Yicheng said as he fiddled with a lucky charm around his neck. "Hey, Lao Wang, what’s our mission this time? You should fill me in."
Wang Ting explained, "This time it's due to a request from higher authorities for us to investigate why the mountains near M Village have been so active lately with frequent earthquakes and such. I suspect it's just the rock layers pressing against each other."
Xu Yicheng smiled slightly. "I don’t understand that; I'm just here to help you calibrate some instruments." At that moment, Wang Ting's assistant leaned over to Xu Yicheng with a tablet in hand. He showed Xu Yicheng a news article titled: "Suspected Wild Man Sightings! Everyone Please Be Careful!" The accompanying image seemed to show a large figure flickering in the distance. The assistant raised an eyebrow at Xu Yicheng.
"Do you really believe this?" Xu Yicheng said incredulously. "That’s definitely photoshopped—just sensationalism. I don’t care about this stuff."
The two off-road vehicles parked on a hillside and immediately began their exploration work. After more than an hour of work under clear skies, suddenly the weather turned dark again and rain began to fall steadily.
"What’s going on? Didn’t they say it would clear up today?" Wang Ting complained while striking rocks with a geological hammer. Xu Yicheng heard him and replied, "This weather forecast is useless! They said it would clear up after heavy rain last week; now they say it’s clearing up when it’s raining again—sigh." Wang Ting didn’t respond.
Neither of them noticed that the river water was slowly becoming murky at that moment.
"Professor Xu, could you please insert the geological measuring instrument into that dried-up riverbed? And could you bring us a few bottles of water while you're at it? Thanks!" one colleague asked.
Xu Yicheng nodded, appearing quite willing, but inside he felt somewhat displeased—he had come here to relax, not to be ordered around. However, his team essentially functioned as the logistics group; as long as the equipment didn't malfunction, they wouldn't have much to do. Xu Yicheng inserted the geological survey instrument into the riverbed.
This instrument was also designed by Xu Yicheng. It could determine the activity level of a mountain based on various data. The results of this activity largely depended on this instrument. If it indicated that the mountain was active, then everything would be fine; if not, they might have to deal with it for a while longer.
To wait for the results, the exploration team had to camp out here. They set up tents and spent the night.
During the night, there was a small incident. Xu Yicheng suddenly woke up in the early morning. After all, he had never gone to bed this early before. It was two in the morning, and he would usually still be at his computer working.
He got up and listened carefully; aside from the intermittent snoring of people, there seemed to be heavy footsteps outside and the sound of rustling leaves. Xu Yicheng felt both puzzled and a bit scared.
"Could it be a bear or a tiger from the mountains..." Xu Yicheng thought, but curiosity got the better of him as he pulled back the tent flap to take a look outside. He saw a huge black shadow in the woods, with some blue intertwining lines attached to it in the air. Just as Xu Yicheng poked his head out, that enormous figure vanished into the forest.
He crawled back into the tent, recalling the news that Assistant Wang Ting had shown him earlier in the car. Despite his disbelief, he began to feel frightened. Sitting in the tent, he strained to listen for those footsteps again.
However, he didn't hear anything else for the rest of the night.
The next day, Xu Yicheng suddenly opened his eyes; he was alone in the tent.
"Oh no, why is no one calling me?" Xu Yicheng quickly sat up, fixed his hair, and stepped out of the tent.
He saw a group of people gathered around the geological survey instrument in the riverbed.
"How's it going?" Xu Yicheng approached and asked.
"The instrument indicates that this mountain is very stable—no growth or other changes. It's strange; this doesn't match my assessment," Wang Ting said as she bent down to check the instrument's data again.
However, Xu Yicheng felt relieved; he could stay out in the wild for a few more days.
Suddenly, a series of thunderous sounds erupted from the mountaintop. "No way, is it going to rain again?" an assistant exclaimed in surprise.
"No," Wang Ting's expression changed drastically. "This is not a thunderstorm."
In an instant! The sound was deafening, shaking the ground. The distant trees were crushed like cardboard, and stones were swept away like pieces of paper. These debris converged into a massive torrent that roared toward those in the riverbed!
"It's a mudslide! Everyone evacuate from the riverbed and spread out!" Wang Ting shouted immediately.
People screamed as they scrambled out of the riverbed and ran desperately to either side.
But while Wang Ting instructed them to run sideways, she didn't specify whether to run upstream or downstream.
In a panic, Xu Yicheng chose a direction and started running; however, he made an extremely poor decision—he ran downstream, meaning he was racing against the mudslide.
Seeing him escape this way, Professor Wang Ting immediately yelled, "Fool! Run upstream!"
But at this moment, Xu Yicheng could hear nothing! His companions had all run upstream, leaving him alone! He was running towards the steep drop in the mountainside! The roar of the mudslide had long drowned out Wang Ting's voice.
As he sprinted, suddenly, Xu Yicheng tripped over a grass pit on the ground! This cliff-like gap was no longer visible to those upstream.
"Ah!" Xu Yicheng screamed as he fell to the ground. He had been running too fast and spun several times on the ground, almost rolling into the mudslide. However, his head had already gone in. He hurriedly tried to lift his head when a massive rock came flying towards him, striking him hard…
Xu Yicheng felt dizzy and watched helplessly as he was about to roll in. Suddenly, he felt a large hand grab his foot and pull him back forcefully.
Blood continued to pour from Xu Yicheng's head, and the intense pain quickly caused him to lose consciousness…
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