Chapter 212: Entering the Mountain Late at Night

Chapter 212: Chapter 212: Entering the Mountain Late at Night

Zhang Yun thought about it carefully. He had no idea when he had lost that piece of jade; he truly didn’t have the slightest recollection.

He sighed inwardly. Perhaps this was some sort of divine will? Or maybe it simply reflected that Xiuxun didn’t hold enough weight in his heart? On second thought, that wasn’t right either. Look at everything he had encountered these past few days: thugs, assassins, Martial Arts Masters, knives, swords, guns, bombs... Any one of these was something an ordinary person might never encounter in a lifetime. Naturally, his life had to come first. Thinking this way, his mind cleared, and he no longer felt guilty.

Having driven the whole way without anyone to switch with, Zhang Yun was genuinely exhausted. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Usually, to avoid interruptions, Zhang Yun would log out of WeChat or leave his phone on silent. But just before falling asleep, a strange feeling nagged at his mind. He didn’t log out of WeChat and instead switched his phone to vibrate.

If you carry an umbrella every day, it won’t rain; the one day you forget it, it pours. When your phone is fully charged, no emergencies happen after work; the rare time the battery dies, you miss important work messages. The phone always rings when you’re in the shower; the checkout line you choose is always the slowest... Murphy’s Law strikes right on time!

He rarely received emergency calls in the middle of the night. But today, having neither closed WeChat nor muted his phone, Zhang Yun was jolted awake halfway through the night by a voice call!

Seeing Zhang Long’s profile picture, Zhang Yun instantly understood why he had inexplicably switched his phone to vibrate before bed. It was because they had gone on that "tomb raiding" excursion. Subconsciously, he had been uneasy, worried that something might happen.

"What’s go—"

The moment the call connected, Zhang Long’s terrified voice cut him off.

"Come save us! Something terrible happened! Come save us!"

"Slow down!" It was the middle of the night, so Zhang Yun kept his voice low. "Speak clearly. What happened? Where are you?"

The soundproofing in rural houses was poor, and the middle of the night was exceptionally quiet. If he shouted, he wouldn’t just wake up his dad—he might wake the neighbors and the dog at Xiuqin’s House, too.

But without him raising his voice, Zhang Long couldn’t calm down at all. He just kept screaming for Zhang Yun to come save them. His voice was shaky and erratic, sounding as if he was running for his life.

This was pointless! Zhang Yun decisively hung up the call. He threw on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, slipped into his shoes, and headed out the door.

"Master...?"

Xu Jin and Ma Yuming had been steadfastly fulfilling their duty of "guarding the house" and had remained on high alert over the past few nights. Hearing Zhang Yun heading downstairs, they immediately opened their doors and came out.

Neither of them turned on the lights, and they opened their doors with utmost caution. The thought of a potential enemy night raid banished any trace of sleepiness.

Zhang Yun said quietly, "It’s nothing serious! Someone in the village ran into some trouble and asked for my help. Go back to sleep."

He grabbed a flashlight and left alone.

Xu Jin and Ma Yuming immediately felt a bit deflated. All that tension and excitement for nothing; there would be no chance for them to fight. However, they were perceptive enough not to offer to tag along and help. They wondered who their master was secretly going to see in the middle of the night. What if he was sneaking into the cornfields with some village girl? Did he really need their help for that? If they interfered, they would undoubtedly be beaten up and expelled from his tutelage.

Once Zhang Yun was outside, the dog at Xiuqin’s House immediately barked and charged to its courtyard gate. But soon, it just started panting—PANT PANT PANT—having recognized Zhang Yun’s footsteps or scent, and stopped barking wildly.

Although Zhang Yun didn’t know the exact location, the ownerless Ancient Tomb Zhang Long and the others had mentioned was most likely in the mountains, perhaps somewhere around Old Tomb Ridge.

Knowing that distant help was useless in an emergency, he didn’t rush to call back and press for details. It was only after he had left the village and was heading into the back mountains that he finally dialed back.

However, the call rang for a long time without an answer.

Zhang Yun frowned slightly. Were they blaming him for hanging up earlier? Or was this all just a prank?

As he continued into the mountains, he analyzed the situation. Last time, Bao Sheng had been pranked into going to Old Tomb Ridge and was frightened out of his wits. Now, a whole group of them had dared to go "ghost hunting." When young people banded together, they definitely had the guts for it. So, whatever had terrified Zhang Long just now was probably something else—perhaps they had startled a large snake hiding in the brush. Pitch black as it was, they might have genuinely believed they’d run into a ghost.

While it was possible they were just pranking him, the worst that would cost him was some lost sleep. But if they were truly injured and stranded in the mountains, waiting until dawn would only make things worse.

Zhang Yun called a few more times, but Zhang Long, Jin Lu, and Guang all failed to answer.

Old Tomb Ridge was deep within Bijia Mountain, making it difficult to traverse at night. The last time, it had taken them over an hour. If someone was bleeding or had been bitten by a venomous snake, they could easily be dead in that amount of time.

"Damn it! If this is a prank, I’m going to smack you into next week!"

Muttering curses, Zhang Yun broke into a mad sprint, quickly crossing the fields and entering the mountains.

His eyesight was excellent now; guided by the faint starlight, he didn’t even need the flashlight. Even when he reached the mountain paths, which were significantly darker due to the tree canopy, he was barely hindered.

Truth be told, Zhang Yun still lacked an intuitive understanding of the Fourth Grade, Fifth Grade, and Seventh Grade levels that Qi Luo had mentioned. By the time he was capable of grabbing and throwing a motorcycle, he already considered himself exceptionally strong.

But now, as he sprinted, he felt the difference. He was much faster than when he had carried Ouyang Mingruo along the mountain trails. Even navigating these paths at night, his speed rivaled his previous dash along the paved road from town! More importantly, his breathing was even, and his heart rate remained steady. His footsteps were light yet grounded; even when he stepped on a loose rock and slipped, his balance remained completely unaffected as he bounded forward.

The mountain paths were rugged, but Zhang Yun found the run increasingly exhilarating. For the first time, he began to think that the legendary Lightweight Skill wasn’t completely impossible.

It took him less than twenty minutes to sprint all the way to Old Tomb Ridge. Although charging uphill was far more demanding than running on flat ground, it hadn’t pushed his heart and lungs to their absolute limits.

Zhang Yun checked WeChat. Zhang Long and the others hadn’t sent any messages, and his calls still wouldn’t go through. The signal here was poor; was it even worse wherever they were?

"Zhang Long!"

"Jin Lu!"

No longer caring about disturbing any ghosts, Zhang Yun shouted at the top of his lungs. But aside from startling a few nocturnal birds, he received no response.

He stepped into the graveyard, flicked on his flashlight, and swept it around. There wasn’t a soul in sight. They clearly weren’t digging up the village graves.

Following the logic that they were looking for an ownerless ancient grave, Zhang Yun prepared to venture deeper into the mountains, continually redialing Zhang Long’s number as he walked.

The mountains spanned a massive area, and in the dead of night, finding someone who might be unconscious would be incredibly difficult. Worse yet, there was the terrifying possibility that they had gone somewhere else entirely! If he guessed the wrong peak or valley, he would be miles away from them.

Just as Zhang Yun was about to give up, he finally heard a WeChat ringtone!

He immediately homed in on the noise and rushed toward it. Relying on sound to pinpoint a location in the mountains came with a massive margin of error; a single echo could cause immense confusion. But Zhang Yun focused intently. His hearing was much sharper now. Relying on his acute sensitivity to sound, he hung up and redialed three more times before finally pinpointing Zhang Long’s location.

"Zhang Long?" Zhang Yun rushed over, only to swallow a curse!

It was just the phone lying in the bushes! No wonder his calls had gone unanswered.

However, this clue was much better than running around like a headless chicken. Using the flashlight, he inspected the ground for traces.

No one usually walked through here. The grass, leaves, and mud bore fresh footprints, clearly revealing that someone had been running in blind panic.

"Zhang Long!"

He called out once more, but still received no response.

Even if they had run far away, voices carried in the dead of night; a lack of response most likely meant they had fallen and lost consciousness. Zhang Yun hurried along, tracking the trail on the ground.

A few minutes later, he spotted two people lying on the ground in a dense patch of forest.

He walked over and shone his light on them. It was Guang and Bao Sheng. He quickly checked them over; both were unconscious, but neither was bleeding or showed signs of external trauma.

Zhang Yun flashed his light further ahead but couldn’t find any more footprints. He guessed they must have been separated, and Zhang Long hadn’t gone this way.

Should he wake them up first?