Firefly Journey

Chapter 185 Seeing Mountains as Not Mountains (2)

The moon shines brightly, its clear light spreading across the fields.

By the stream, a faint campfire flickered in the night breeze. Beside the fire, small fish and shrimp lay on sharpened sticks, gutted and disemboweled, like heretics placed on a stake.

Lin Yuanran poked at the fire without saying a word.

He felt ashamed because he thought what had just happened was embarrassing.

At that time, Fengling was focused on playing and had no idea that the boy would suddenly slip and fall, resulting in both of them ending up in the stream.

Even now, looking back, Lin Yuanran still feels hot all over.

The posture at the time was rather strange; he pounced straight down, and the wind chime, caught off guard, ended up falling on top of him.

Even across the stream, Lin Yuanran could still feel the girl's softness, especially in indescribable areas.

He has to admit that he had many inappropriate thoughts in that moment, and he has felt ashamed ever since. To put it bluntly, he's a bit shy, and this was entirely an accident; he wasn't the culprit.

But Lin Yuanran felt that it was his own mistake that caused it, so he dared not speak.

Lin Yuanran, being a "Flame Weaver," skipped the step of changing clothes and directly dried them with his magic.

Wind Chime went to the grove and came out with a different look, but she was still beautiful.

She casually propped up her clothes with sticks and dried them by the fire, just like grilling fish.

Lin Yuanran glanced at it secretly and dared not look again, because if he looked again, he would be reminded of the scene just now. The image of the girl being soaked in the stream was beautiful, but it made him worried.

Will she... hate me because of this?

The two remained silent. Lin Yuanran flipped the grilled fish and shrimp, while Feng Ling fiddled with her soaked clothes. This went on for a long time.

Suddenly, Fengling frowned and said, "It's too slow, you should do it."

Lin Yuanran looked up: "What?"

“I said, drying clothes with this fire is too slow, use your magic to help.”

Lin Yuanran responded with an "oh." In fact, the moment the two got ashore, Lin Yuanran wanted to help. However, considering that it was a girl's clothes, it would be too frivolous to volunteer, so he gave up the idea.

Since Fengling had asked, Lin Yuanran had no more concerns and used the divine oracle from a distance to dry the clothes.

Lin Yuanran didn't look over the whole time.

Fengling tossed the clothes into the "Venus" container and noticed that Lin Yuanran was still tilting his head to the side, so she picked up a pebble and threw it next to his legs.

"What are you looking at? The fish is going to burn."

Lin Yuanran turned his head, hurriedly flipped the fish stick over, and looked sullen.

Fengling wasn't stupid; after a few seconds of thinking, she understood what was going on. For some reason, she felt like laughing because she thought this person was a bit silly.

It's not a big deal, why are you shy?

She's the one who should be shy, okay?

Fengling didn't expose him, and waited quietly for a while until the aroma of fish and shrimp filled the air, then asked for a few skewers.

Wild fish and shrimp, combined with seasonings produced in Yicheng, tasted both tender and fragrant. Fengling revealed her love for food to Lin Yuanran more than once, and wolfed down the food.

Lin Yuanran lost his appetite and kept stealing glances at the girl, his feelings becoming even more complicated.

No, this person is so cute even when they're eating! I never noticed before, oh no, I'm totally hooked.

"I'm done eating, time to sleep," Fengling said, standing up and clapping her hands.

"Well, go to bed early."

The wind chimes fell silent and went straight into the tent.

Lin Yuanran continued eating the grilled fish, and after a while, he said in a voice only he could hear:

"I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep."

A soft "plop" sound came from inside the tent, but Lin Yuanran didn't hear it.

Wind Chime has many secondary professions, one of which is "Sound Mage".

……

……

The following day, the sun shone brightly.

Lin Yuanran didn't go to bed early that night, and when he got up, it was already past nine o'clock.

Fengling was probably still asleep. Although Lin Yuanran didn't really want to wake her, he had to because he had important things to do.

"Get up."

no response.

"Get up!" Lin Yuanran raised his voice.

A rustling sound came from inside the tent.

A short while later, Fengling came out, yawning and rubbing her eyes, clearly having not slept well at all.

Lin Yuanran said, "We should probably get going."

Wind Chime waved her hand: "Okay, okay..."

After packing up, the two resumed their journey.

Fengling held a map in her hand, comparing it with the terrain in front of her, her brows furrowing slightly.

"This is the right place, isn't it? Why aren't we here yet?"

Lin Yuanran remained silent.

After walking for another two hours, seeing that the surrounding area was still full of trees and there was no trace of human habitation, Lin Yuanran finally couldn't bear it any longer.

Are you sure you haven't gone to the wrong place?

Yesterday, Lin Yuanran trusted her completely, thinking that the reason they hadn't reached their destination was because she wanted to see the scenery along the way. But now, things might not be like that at all.

"I am sure."

Lin Yuanran breathed a sigh of relief; at least he hadn't gone the wrong way.

"I'm sure I've gone to the wrong place."

"???"

"Okay, it's my fault." Fengling readily admitted, "I told you it was my first time here, and it's normal to get lost without my family's help."

Is she apologizing?

Lin Yuanran's initial slight anger vanished in an instant, and he found her appearance quite adorable.

"So what do we do now?" Lin Yuanran asked.

"Don't panic," said Wind Chime. "I've re-examined the route, and this time I definitely won't go the wrong way."

Lin Yuanran hesitated for a few seconds, then held out his hand, "You should give me the map."

"You don't believe me?" Fengling said, handing over the map.

"Up to just now, I believed it, but the result wasn't good." Lin Yuanran said, taking the map and examining it, then looking around at the surrounding environment. After comparing the options, he made a decision.

"How about I lead the way?" Lin Yuanran said.

"That's great."

Feng Ling wasn't particularly sensitive to routes, so she was happy to take on all the responsibilities herself, enjoying the ease of the task.

"This way." Lin Yuanran, holding a flat knife he had bought cheaply, cleared the way as he walked.

There's no way around it. If we hadn't gone astray in the first place, there would definitely be a path. But now we've been led astray by the wind chimes, causing us to deviate too far from the correct route. The only way to get back on track in a short time is to clear the mountains and forests.

With the help of magic and tools, the journey was relatively easy. After more than an hour, the two finally saw a "broad road".

“Following this road, we can reach the nearest mine in half an hour,” Lin Yuanran said, looking at the map.

Wind Chime came closer and nodded, saying, "Yes, let's go quickly."

It is estimated that the road was built to be slightly wider, enough for two people to walk side by side, because the crystal mines were usually transported out of the mountains.

As Lin Yuanran had expected, about half an hour later, the two of them saw the entrance to the mine in the distance.

As they drew nearer, Lin Yuanran frowned and asked:

"The mineral vein... smells so strong."

"Idiot! Your mine smells of blood?"

The two men suddenly became serious; something must have happened.