For the next three days, the group ambled through the rainforest as if on a leisurely stroll, eventually arriving at the edge of the rainforest where their cars were initially parked.
It had to be said that the Bassi rainforest was immense. Without Tim's guidance, Guo Xuyang's own wilderness survival skills would have made getting lost highly probable.
Without his abilities, whether he could have made it out alive was a different story altogether.
"Alright, let's find a hotel, have a good wash, and get some sleep. We'll head back tomorrow," Tim said.
Just as they had arrived, four people in two cars found a motel and checked in.
Guo Xuyang had been exhausted these past few days. He had never walked so far before.
Before Lü Liang had even finished showering, he had fallen asleep.
Xiao Yun had been enjoying herself immensely at the farm. On the third day after Guo Xuyang left, the weekend arrived.
Many children came with their parents, hopping and skipping, looking very cute.
"Are you from Shenzhou?" a Mandarin-speaking man asked when he saw her nearby.
"Yes. Are you too?" Xiao Yun was very happy to meet a compatriot here.
"Oh, that's great. I'm Li Xiang, I'm from Shenzhou. I live in this city now," Li Xiang said. "I didn't expect to meet someone from home here."
People living abroad always felt a deep sense of connection when they saw someone from their own country; it was like meeting family.
"Are you here for tourism, or...?"
"I came here to play with friends," Xiao Yun replied.
"Tourism?" Li Xiang asked.
"This place is nice. I usually like to come here with friends and family to grow some vegetables, water the fields, and go fishing to relax."
"And your family?"
"They've gone fishing by the river."
"You don't look that old?"
"I'm almost thirty this year," Li Xiang said.
"Did you come here to study and stay, or for work?"
"I found a job here after graduation and then stayed," Li Xiang said.
"Hmm. That's good."
"Can I have lunch with you today?"
"Wouldn't that be inconvenient?"
"It's fine. I'll introduce them when they get here. It feels so familiar to meet someone from home here."
The two were chatting very congenially.
At this moment, a man and a woman carrying fishing rods walked over from the riverbank.
"What are you guys talking about?" the girl asked.
The girl looked to be just over twenty.
"This beautiful young lady is from Shenzhou, and we were just chatting," Li Xiang said.
"Oh, hello. I'm Li Yukun. What's your surname, Miss?" Li Yukun introduced herself quite familiarly.
"My name is Xiao Yun."
"Sister Xiao, hello. This is my boyfriend, Lin Liping," Li Yukun said, introducing the man beside her to Xiao Yun.
"Hello to you both," Xiao Yun said, also very happy to meet fellow people from Shenzhou.
"I was just saying I wanted to invite Miss Xiao Yun to have lunch with us. Are you done? Let's go together when you're finished," Li Xiang said.
"Okay!" Li Yukun jumped up happily.
Seeing how enthusiastic they were, Xiao Yun went along with them.
What she didn't know was that this outing almost prevented her from ever seeing Guo Xuyang and the others again.
The group left the farm following Li Xiang's car.
As she left, Xiao Yun had a sudden thought. Pretending to be very happy, she took a photo with Li Yukun and sent it to Guo Xuyang.
This small action ultimately saved her.
There was no signal in the rainforest. By the time Guo Xuyang received the picture, he was already on his way back.
He slept so soundly that he didn't wake up until late morning.
Guo Xuyang and the others cleaned up, had lunch, and leisurely drove back to the farm. There was no longer any rush on the return trip.
The site had been seen, and Lü Liang had given up his hopes, so they drove casually, enjoying the scenery along the way.
They had driven at high speed to save time on the way in, not having had a chance to appreciate the surrounding beauty.
Now that their minds were at ease, they realized the scenery along the route was indeed beautiful, with tall trees and a blue sky with green grass.
Although the roads were not as good as the highways back home, as long as they weren't potholed, unpaved dirt roads, the other roads were quite good.
Both of them were very relaxed, following Tim's car, enjoying the freedom of the journey.
"Ring ring..." Lü Liang's phone rang.
"Hello? Mr. Bruce, hello. What? When did this happen? Okay, I understand. We are on our way back. Okay, goodbye!"
"That..." Lü Liang hung up the phone, carefully choosing his words.
"Xiao Yun is missing. It was only discovered today. Bruce doesn't have your number, so he asked me to apologize to you. He's currently sending people to search everywhere."
"Xiao Yun is missing? Didn't we tell her to stay at the farm? How could she have gone missing?" Guo Xuyang was a little disbelieving.
"Bruce didn't explain the specifics on the phone. We'll only know the exact situation when we get back," Lü Liang said, pressing the accelerator harder, overtaking Tim's car.
Guo Xuyang then remembered to pick up his phone.
He hadn't looked at his phone at all since entering the rainforest.
There was a photo on his phone sent by Xiao Yun, appearing to be taken at the farm, a photo of her with a young woman.
Judging by the date, it had been three days.
Could this be related to that woman?
Guo Xuyang dialed Xiao Yun's number. The phone only responded with a non-Mandarin voice saying, "Sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off."
He maximized his perception and focused his gaze along the electromagnetic waves, only to discover that the phone was in a trash can.
He looked at the location and found it was at a large hotel called Bolt.
It was about three hundred kilometers away from their current position.
"Receive," he murmured and absorbed the phone into his mind.
He hung up his own phone, put it in his left pocket, and then took out Xiao Yun's phone from his right pocket.
When they first disembarked, he had taken Xiao Yun to buy three phones and given one to Lü Liang. The phones of the three were identical.
Lü Liang was focused on driving and didn't notice Guo Xuyang's subtle movements.
Guo Xuyang turned on Xiao Yun's phone and browsed through her photo gallery. He saw many photos taken at the farm, as well as some selfies taken after bathing.
The last three photos caught his attention.
One was a photo Xiao Yun had sent of herself with the young woman.
Another was a photo Xiao Yun took at Bolt Hotel of a car, its license plate ending with the letters '93'.
The last one was a very blurry photo that seemed to be of someone vomiting in a restroom.
Based on these photos, he pieced together a sequence of events:
Xiao Yun was with a young girl, they went to Bolt Hotel to eat, drank too much, and didn't return. She then went missing.
Who was this young girl?
Where was Bolt Hotel?
Why did they go to Bolt Hotel?
Why was there vomiting? Was it from drinking too much, or had Xiao Yun discovered something that made her vomit?
Guo Xuyang had many questions.
He knew that to find Xiao Yun, the most urgent task was to find this young girl.
[Author's Note]: Happy New Year with new beginnings! Wishing all friends a prosperous new year and abundant wealth!
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