From a distance, the driver of the compact car was a ruffian-looking young man with a tuft of dyed green hair. In the passenger seat sat a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties with a two-finger-long scar on his left cheek. Smoking a cigarette, the middle-aged man stared directly at the tour bus, and upon seeing Lin Tianchen, he made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.
Lin Tianchen responded by giving him the middle finger. Angered, the middle-aged man flicked his cigarette out of the window and paid Lin Tianchen no more attention.
Twenty minutes later, everyone was back on board, and the bus set off once more.
Over an hour later, the bus arrived at the foot of Dongyue Mountain, and everyone checked into the pre-booked Haoke Lai Hotel.
The reservations were for standard double rooms. Lin Tianchen and Sun Yang shared a room, while Su Shanshan and Chen Yixian shared another. The afternoon was left free for everyone to relax, with the climb scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM in order to reach the summit before sunrise.
Once they had unpacked, Su Shanshan called out to Lin Tianchen to go try some local specialty snacks with her. Meanwhile, instructor Qin Yang had asked Teacher Chen Yixian out on a date.
Su Shanshan and Lin Tianchen strolled side by side down a nearby snack street until they reached a specialty restaurant called Yue Shang Ren Jia, where they ordered dishes like red-scaled fish and sugar-crisped pancakes.
During the meal, each of them ordered a bottle of beer. After finishing a glass, Lin Tianchen felt completely fine with a normal complexion, while Su Shanshan's pretty face was slightly flushed, making her breathtakingly beautiful. This caused everyone around them to keep turning their heads to look. A few young couples even had angry girlfriends because the boyfriends kept staring at Su Shanshan.
Accustomed to such reactions, Su Shanshan chatted quietly with Lin Tianchen on her own, "Tianchen, do you think Instructor Qin Yang will succeed in his confession?"
"It's a bit touch and go," Lin Tianchen said.
"How do you know?"
"On the surface, they seem to get along well, but Teacher Chen seems to have an unconscious sense of distance from Teacher Qin. You can't see any sign of a passionate romance," Lin Tianchen continued.
"Teacher Chen told me about their relationship on the way here. She only sees Teacher Qin as a friend," Su Shanshan said.
"Ah, the feeling is only on one side like falling blossoms yearning for the indifferent flowing water," Lin Tianchen remarked.
After lunch, the two bought a pair of walking sticks on the street to prepare for the mountain climb.
Su Shanshan also prepared some drinks and snacks. They came to a large shopping mall where the first floor featured an entertainment area with two claw machines, which immediately caught Su Shanshan's eye.
"Tianchen, let's play the claw machine! I've never succeeded once since I was a little kid, and today I'm determined to catch one with my own hands."
Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Lin Tianchen's arm and pulled him over.
She exchanged with the owner for a hundred game tokens, ran excitedly up to the claw machine, operated the joystick, and started trying to grab a prize. Su Shanshan targeted a cat doll, moved the claw above it, and lowered it. The claw gently lifted the doll and began moving toward the chute, but halfway there, the doll dropped back down.
Su Shanshan gave an annoyed huff and said, "I don't believe this. Again!"
With that, she inserted another coin and tried again, but failed once more. After trying a dozen or twenty times back and forth, every attempt ended in failure.
"This is definitely a scam. How else could it fail every single time?"
Watching Su Shanshan's cute expression when she was upset, Lin Tianchen said, "Shanshan, how about I give it a try?"
"Can you do it?" Su Shanshan asked doubtfully.
Lin Tianchen replied, "How can a man ever say he can't? Drop the question mark and just leave it to me."
With that, Lin Tianchen inserted a coin, gripped the joystick, and slowly controlled the movement of the claw, feeling out the exact amount of force needed as he operated it.
Ever since he began his cultivation, his control over every part of his body had reached the pinnacle of perfection, allowing him to regulate even the tiniest variation in his muscular tension.
In no time, he mastered the essentials of the game and smoothly grabbed the cat doll out.
Su Shanshan excitedly hugged Lin Tianchen's arm. "Tianchen, you're amazing!" Lin Tianchen felt the soft sensation coming from his arm, and a faint, indefinable fragrance drifted into his nose, intoxicating him.
Lin Tianchen inserted another token and successfully caught five dolls in a row. Su Shanshan's arms were completely full.
Just then, an exquisitely beautiful young woman walked over, holding the hand of a five-year-old little girl who looked just like a porcelain doll. With two little braided ponytails and rosy, chubby cheeks, the child made anyone want to gently pinch them.
In a cute, childish voice, the little girl said, "Mister, you're so amazing! Can you help Kee'er catch a little bear?"
Su Shanshan squatted down and gently pinched Kee'er's chubby cheek. "You're so adorable. I'll have this mister help you catch a bear right away."
The stunning young woman apologized, "I'm so sorry to bother you two. Kee'er loves this little bear so much, but I've never managed to catch one."
Lin Tianchen said, "No problem. Watch the mister help you catch the bear, Kee'er."
In a short while, Lin Tianchen skillfully grabbed the bear and squatted down to hand it to Kee'er.
After taking the bear, Kee'er jumped for joy, then planted a kiss on Lin Tianchen's cheek. "Thank you, mister! Kee'er has wanted this little bear for so long."
After thanking the two once more, the stunning young woman took Kee'er and went off to shop in the supermarket.
Looking at Kee'er's adorable appearance, Su Shanshan thought to herself that her own children would probably be just as cute in the future, while glancing up at Lin Tianchen at the same time.
The two played for a little longer, returning only when they had fully enjoyed themselves. They were back at the hotel by four in the afternoon, and both returned to their respective rooms to rest and build up their energy for the night climb.
~~~~~
Elsewhere, Sun Yang and four local toughs were sitting together around a table in the corner of a restaurant, whispering among themselves. Among them were a middle-aged man with a scar on his face and a young man with a tuft of green hair.
~~~~~~
Time flew by, and by 7:30 PM, everyone had gathered at the entrance of Dongyue Mountain.
Class monitor Sun Yang stood at the front and said, "Let's do a headcount to confirm."
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... 30." All the students finished calling out their numbers—a full attendance. Together with instructor Qin Yang and the beautiful teacher Chen Yixian, there were 32 people in total.
Then, following their respective groups, with each boy paired with a girl, Lin Tianchen and Su Shanshan formed a pair. Lin Tianchen carried a double-strapped backpack, holding a portable searchlight in one hand and a climbing stick in the other, while Su Shanshan traveled light, stepping briskly as she began climbing the mountain.
Chen Yixian and Qin Yang walked at the very back of the group, while class monitor Sun Yang's group took the lead at the front, guiding the main force up the mountain.
Lin Tianchen and Su Shanshan were in the second-to-last position, just ahead of the instructors. As they climbed, Lin Tianchen kept an eye on behind them and noticed that about 200 meters back, four men were following them—the scar-faced man, the green-haired youth, and the others.
Without showing any alarm, Lin Tianchen quietly kept a close eye on the four men, choosing not to alert the others to avoid causing unnecessary panic. The first priority right now was to figure out what they were after.
After climbing about a mile upward like this, Lin Tianchen acutely noticed that the four men frequently stared at him and Su Shanshan. It seemed their targets were indeed the two of them.
Lin Tianchen whispered this to Su Shanshan. Hearing this, she grew somewhat flustered and started to turn her head to check, but Lin Tianchen immediately pulled her back. "Don't look back, so we don't alert the enemy. Ahead is the temple scenic area. When we get there, we two will lead them to a secluded spot, and I'll deal with them. Don't worry, these guys are totally small fry."