City's Best Divine Doctor-Chapter 1550 - 1549: Encountering a Maze in the Mountains
After letting the two women quench their thirst at the vines, Ye Qiu had them take a rest. Now that they were ready, he prepared to continue on, hoping to reach the cave by afternoon.
Ye Qiu had an uncanny feeling that there was something strange about the cave, suspecting that the source of the virus causing the epidemic might be there.
It was an instinct more accurate than a sixth sense.
As Ye Qiu squatted down to carry Wen Xin on his back, Wen Xin glanced at Zhou Wenting, and upon seeing that she was fine, leaned onto Ye Qiu’s back.
The three continued forward, but suddenly, when they saw a long, black snake crawling by, the two women jumped in fright.
For girls, snakes are among the scariest creatures, especially since Professor Zhang had almost died from a venomous snake bite. This had left a psychological scar on the two women, causing them to feel even more afraid now.
"What’s there to be afraid of? As long as you don’t step on it, it won’t attack prey larger than itself." Besides, this wasn’t even the snake’s territory; it was just passing through.
However, Zhou Wenting was still very scared, grabbing onto Ye Qiu’s hand nervously.
Ye Qiu carried Wen Xin on his back, while Zhou Wenting held onto his hand, and they continued walking for over two hours, reaching past two in the afternoon.
Despite this, they still hadn’t seen the cave on the mountain, clearly having taken the wrong path, deviating from their intended route.
Moreover, to Ye Qiu’s surprise, hadn’t they just been at this exact spot where he had cut the vines?
How could they be back here again?
"Wenting, take a look around; do you know this place?"
Zhou Wenting looked around, noticing that the surrounding area had been chopped at, and exclaimed excitedly, "Ye Qiu, someone’s been here!" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
"Someone has been here alright, but that someone was us just moments ago."
What?
Zhou Wenting and Wen Xin, who had climbed off Ye Qiu’s back, realized this was the spot Ye Qiu had cut the vines before, and those vines they sucked dry for water were still discarded on the side.
How could this be?
Could it be that they really had gotten lost?
"We’ve hit a ghost wall."
Ye Qiu said.
How else could they have circled back to the same spot?
Over two hours of walking and they ended up right back here?
Zhou Wenting was somewhat fine, influenced by Western modern culture, she knew "ghost walls" were just movements in circles, the eyes couldn’t clearly see the surroundings, leading them to end up back where they started.
But Wen Xin wasn’t; having grown up in the countryside, she believed in the supernatural notion of "ghost walls," thinking one could walk to exhaustion and still remain trapped.
"Ye Qiu, have we encountered something unclean?" Wen Xin asked fearfully.
"It’s not unclean, it’s the terrain here." If there really was something eerie, it wouldn’t be here, but at the abandoned building in Jinling.
If this place was truly sinister, Ye Qiu would have felt it upon arrival. However, he didn’t sense anything odd, indicating it was definitely the geographic formation at play.
Ye Qiu cut a small piece of cloth from his clothing, tied it to a prominent branch, and led the two women uphill again. To their dismay, after walking for over another two hours, they found themselves back at the same place once more.
Ye Qiu and the women had no choice but to stop, as Ye Qiu used his curved knife to scrape away the leaves around them, drawing a diagram in the dirt. Based on this diagram, Zhou Wenting and Wen Xin could clearly see the route they took formed a semicircle, indicating they misjudged directions at a certain point.
"Would you dare stay here by yourselves?"
"No way." Wen Xin and Zhou Wenting replied.
...
Near lunchtime, Director Wei wanted to find Ye Qiu to discuss the patient situation, but unexpectedly, Ye Qiu wasn’t in sight.
Upon inquiring with other doctors, it was discovered that Ye Qiu had gone up the mountain again to find the old lady.
Ma Wenwen decided to go to the old lady herself, only to find her there without a trace of Ye Qiu or the others.
"Granny, where are Dr. Ye and the others?"
"Young lady, you mean that young man? He went up the mountain with those two girls."
Ye Qiu went up the mountain?
That means Ye Qiu is searching for the source of the virus. If only I had joined him, I’m growing more and more curious about this Ye Qiu.
Earlier in the day, she heard that Ye Qiu had saved Professor Zhang, who was nearly killed by a venomous snake bite.
Now Ye Qiu was absent, having been up the mountain for quite some time, and she had no idea of his whereabouts.
After coming down from the old lady, Ma Wenwen approached Director Wei, saying, "Director Wei, Dr. Ye and Dr. Zhou are likely up the mountain searching for the virus source."
What?
Did all three of them go up?
Director Wei was worried.
Vast, seamless mountains stretched across miles, teeming with venomous snakes, wolves, and other poisonous wildlife. While Director Wei knew that Ye Qiu could treat Professor Zhang from a snake bite, hence not fearing snakes himself, he was still concerned about the three getting lost in the mountains. How would they find their way back?
There was no signal in the village, let alone the mountains.
"How long have they been gone?"
"The old lady said quite some time."
"Hurry, call them back. I’m worried they’ll get lost. Villagers have disappeared here before," said Director Wei, recalling tales shared by village officials.
Ye Qiu and the others were strangers from the city, unfamiliar with the mountainous terrain surrounding the village.
Furthermore, only Ye Qiu could treat the epidemic patients. If something happened to him, what then?
Han Dexi and Pang Xinhua were visiting patients when word came that Ye Qiu had gone up the mountain with Wen Xin and Zhou Wenting to find the virus source, and as lunchtime arrived without their return, a growing concern for Ye Qiu’s safety spread.
"Let’s wait a bit more. If they’re not back by two, we’ll go search for them."
Past two in the afternoon, under the leadership of village officials, along with scientists and medical experts, they urgently headed up the mountain to the grassy area.
"Dr. Ye!"
"Dr. Zhou!"
"Nurse Wen!"
...
Calling out their names, the group received no answer, not knowing where the three could be in the endless expanse of mountains.
"They might really be in trouble," said a village official.
The comment heightened their tension.
Quickly descending from the mountain, Director Wei waited anxiously for news, only to see the village officials and scientists coming down, but no sign of Ye Qiu or the others.
