Although the boy's words while wiping his tears resonated with his companions, at a time like this, resonance was really not enough to help. They were hungry, in poor spirits, had no strength, and were covered in wounds. Everyone had reached their limits. Even the boy who was talking felt a little dizzy when he stood up from the hemp rope.
"Brother Aze, I'm cold and hungry..."
"I'm hungry too..."
It is still very cold in early spring, and the clothes have lost most of their warmth-keeping effect due to the humid environment in the mountains. It was fine when we were climbing and rushing before, but now I can't stand the cold after a short rest.
There were traces of tears on everyone’s face, and their exposed hands and faces were bruised from thorns and weeds and from falling.
"Let's find a place to rest and eat something first."
The boy called Aze wiped his face vigorously with his sleeve to wipe away his tears and snot, and the slightly cracked facial wounds hurt a lot.
"Walk, get up, don't sit down. If you sit down again, you will never be able to walk again!"
"Everyone get up, let's find a place to shelter from the wind and rain!"
"Everyone help out, don't leave anyone behind!"
"Um!"
Struggling with gritted teeth, the young men stood up and set out on the road again. The mountains in the distance were still shrouded in clouds and mist. The sun had not been seen in the past few days, and they could not even tell the direction in the mountains.
Including the child who was obviously several years younger, a total of five people were walking with difficulty in the mountains. Because they were so tired and the mountain road was difficult to travel, they walked very slowly. Half an hour later, they finally found a suitable place to stay. It was a horn-shaped mountain wall with a few protruding rocks on the top of the mountain. The effect of keeping out the rain might be far-fetched, but it was enough to keep out the wind.
"Over there! There's a good place over there where we can rest and live. Let's go over there quickly!"
There was a sense of excitement in Aze's voice, and the others became excited after hearing his words. They even quickened their pace and walked in that direction.
However, good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes alone. When everyone sat down against the wall to rest and was looking forward to making a fire to keep warm, a young man shouted in panic.
"Gone! Where did it go? Where did it go? It's not here..."
The young man was searching through his pockets, attracting everyone's attention. A panicked expression was written on his face, and he looked at everyone in despair for a long time.
"The flint... is lost..."
This was not a short trip into the mountains, nor was it in a comfortable home. There were no tinder available, and if one wanted to make a fire, one had to use a special flint and tinder cloth. Losing the flint was a heavy blow to these teenagers, so heavy that they could hardly breathe.
Aze stared blankly at the young man who was in charge of keeping the flint. He wanted to teach him a lesson, but looking at his panicked face, he couldn't muster up the energy or the strength to do so.
"No! We must make a fire! Let's find a way to make a fire. We can try to find some stones and then use a wood drill! You go find some firewood. It's not like we haven't made a fire at home before. We can definitely make a fire!"
It's a pity that hope is beautiful and reality is cruel. After a whole hour, Aze and several other companions' already scarred hands had more blisters, and some of them were broken. It was painful, but the fire still couldn't be aroused.
The environment was too humid, the wood might not be right, not to mention the boys were already exhausted.
"Boom boom boom..."
There was thunder in the sky. It should not be dark yet, but the mountain was already dark. A cumulonimbus cloud was floating over, with lightning flashing in it.
"Crack... Boom..."
“Ah…” “Wuwuwuwu…”
The youngest child was frightened and started crying, and the others were not much better off, so they all retreated back to the cliff together.
"Come on, let's get closer!"
"Snuck up in the corner, it'll be warmer!"
"Stay close, and you won't feel cold..."
"Boom..."
The sky was getting darker and the wind was getting stronger. Fortunately, this corner of the mountain wall was windproof. Although it was not absolutely windless, everyone could see the flying sand and rocks outside, which was definitely better than outside.
“Hua La La La…”
It soon began to rain heavily. The stones above their heads could not completely block the rain. As long as the wind direction changed slightly, Aze and the other two boys on the outside would easily get wet.
“It’s so cold…” “Come closer!”
"Brother Aze... it's raining so hard now... it's a good thing we didn't light a fire, otherwise it would be so uncomfortable..."
The child at the innermost corner suddenly said this, causing everyone to be quiet for a moment.
"Hehe, yeah, luckily there was no fire!"
"Hmm... it's much better to think this way!"
“Hehehe…”
Although several people were smiling, they couldn't stop crying.
Aze took off a cloth bag that had been hanging around his neck, tilted the mouth of the bag, and carefully poured out the contents. Then a small pile of rice grains mixed with rice bran appeared in the palm of his hand. The white color of the rice was so conspicuous and beautiful in the dim light.
"Here, a small handful for each person. There's no fire, so just eat it like this and chew it well!"
"Um!"
The young man next to him carefully took the rice bran with both hands, and then Aze poured out a small handful and handed it to others. After everyone had some, he poured some for himself.
I weighed the cloth bag and found that there wasn't much stuff in it.
“Crunch, crunch, crunch…”
The food, which was a mixture of rice and bran, was very dry and prickly when chewed without being cooked. The young men kept chewing it, and when they couldn't swallow it, they held the rain water in their hands and drank it. However, the calories from the food were not as great as the coldness brought by the rain water.
Except for the two younger ones who were slightly better off, all the other teenagers were shivering from the cold.
"Hehe... Hehe... It will be light soon, soon..."
It was late at night and the rain had stopped, but the boys were still asleep. Even though they were exhausted, it was really difficult to fall asleep without a fire in this environment. They lacked a sense of security.
"Brother Aze, what should we do if a wild beast comes?"
"It's just right that we're here. Let's see if it eats us or we eat it!"
"Yes! You're here just in time!"
The young men in front held a hatchet tightly in their hands, one holding a wooden stick, while Aze had a dagger with a leather sheath in his hand and pulled out a small piece of it that was shining with cold light.
"Ani, A'long, go to sleep. A'gu and I are here."
"Um… "
The boy and the child who were closer to the inside could not hold on any longer and finally fell into a deep sleep. Even the boy who was slightly closer to the outside soon fell asleep. Only Aze and the other boy who was closer to the outside held on, holding on with the hatchet and dagger.
"Aze, if I fall asleep, you must wake me up!"
"Um!"
After half an hour, Aze and Along fell asleep together...
There were faint sounds of approaching footsteps in the mountains, but the footsteps were so light that they could not possibly wake up the sleeping teenagers.
This is a brown and black leopard with long fur, sharp claws, and thick pads that allow it to walk silently. It moves closer to the teenagers step by step until it is within one step's distance.
"Hiss...hiss..."
The leopard grinned, revealing its sharp fangs, and sniffed at the boys.
At this moment, a short stick hit the leopard on the head, causing the leopard's head to shrink. It turned out that there was an old man in a green robe sitting on the leopard's back.
"Ah! These kids..."
While sighing, the old man pointed the short stick in his hand forward, and the clothes of the teenagers and children began to dry. He turned the short stick and pointed it to the side. Not far from the corner where the teenagers were sleeping, there were several wooden stakes and tree sections, with many mushrooms growing on them.
After doing all this, the leopard slowly turned around and walked away with the old man on its back.
"Hey, it's not so easy to go to the fairyland. It's best to turn back as soon as possible..."
The next day, the sunlight shone on Aze's face, making his eyes burn. He rubbed his eyes hard and finally opened them with difficulty.
'Oops! I fell asleep!? '
Aze looked around in panic and found that no one was missing, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Aaron, Aaron, wake up Aaron."
"ah!?"
A'long shuddered all over, and his first reaction was to raise the hatchet. Only after he saw the situation clearly did he let out a sigh of relief and turned to look at Aze.
"Aze, why didn't you wake me up..."
Aze did not say that he had fallen asleep, not because he wanted to take credit, but because if he did so, everyone might be more afraid in the future. He could only remind himself in his heart to be alert when it was his turn to keep watch next time, while forcing a smile.
"It's okay. I saw you were sleeping soundly so I didn't call you."
"Brother Aze, is it dawn yet?"
"Well, it's daybreak!"
Aze and A'long made way so that everyone whose feet were numb could stand up and stretch their bodies. Today was a rare good day since they entered the mountains.
"I haven't seen the sun for a long time, it's great!"
The child also twisted his body and moved his legs, walking around. Suddenly, a few pieces of wood not far away came into his sight, and then a look of joy appeared on his face.
"Brother Aze! Mushrooms! There are a lot of mushrooms over there, big white mushrooms, big white mushrooms!"
"Where?" "Over there!"
Several people trotted over and saw that they were indeed big white mushrooms, and there were quite a lot of them. They all laughed happily.
"Great, there are mushrooms to eat!"
“It’s really a giant white mushroom!”
"Make a fire, make a fire, we must make a fire!"
At this moment, Aze and everyone were full of energy. Finally, after another half an hour, sparks came out from the drill, which ignited the oilcloth and they started a bonfire.
They set up their own pot, find some mountain spring water, add a little bit of rice bran and lots of mushrooms. The moment when the fragrance wafts through the pot is the happy moment for the teenagers.