688: Chapter 677: Driving and Walking 688: Chapter 677: Driving and Walking Five Girls Peak was actually quite far from Sunan.
At the foot of Five Girls Peak was a city; it would take at least three hours to drive there from Sunan, and Song Yun and his party had taken almost four hours to reach the mountain base.
This Five Girls Peak belonged to a provincial natural reserve.
The area covered was vast, and since it had only been set up as a natural reserve in recent years, many of the basic infrastructures were still under construction, making it somewhat dangerous.
The origin of the name “Five Girls Peak” was because the entire mountain range consisted of five large mountains, each representing a woman.
Of course, this was what people said.
At least Song Yun, at the base of the Five Girls Peak, didn’t think any of them resembled a woman.
If anything, they resembled robust men; the aura was more fitting for that descriptor.
“Our car can only get this far,” Song Yun pointed at a col not too far away.
“If we hike, it will take at least twelve hours to reach the summit.
So our target tonight is over there at that col, right?”
“That looks quite close, can’t we make it there by evening?” Li Shishi said, looking through a pair of military binoculars.
“You can tell you’ve never ventured into the mountains,” Song Yun said.
“Places that seem close might turn out to be far beyond your imagination once you start walking.
Fortunately, there aren’t any floods or fierce animals here, and the weather is good today; no rain.
Otherwise, with just you guys, it would take at least till dawn to reach that col!”
“Psh, are you looking down on us?
Brother Song, why do you always underestimate us?
I run regularly!” Liu Ran complained.
“Yeah, I used to go camping in the mountains a lot when I was a kid, several times actually; it’s nothing!” Song Yuxue chimed in.
“Alright, let’s just walk!” Song Yun smiled, not saying anything further.
He picked up some of the heavier items and headed into the mountain path, with Li Shishi and the other women following him, carrying their things.
Qingluan took up the responsibility of bringing up the rear.
“You need to be careful of dangers,” Song Yun instructed.
“Although it’s winter now, and there aren’t any poisonous insects or snakes, you can never be too sure what’s in the mountains.
I’ve heard there are leopards around here; don’t let a leopard carry you off!”
“Leopards?
I’ve never seen one before.
If we do come across one, I’ll have to take a good photo!” Qingluan, holding a SLR camera, said excitedly.
“If you want to attract a leopard, just catch a live animal, let some blood, and wait a few days.
They have a keen sense of smell and can detect blood from far away,” Song Yun explained.
“Then we can try it tonight at the col!” Qingluan’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
“Just a heads-up, don’t be fooled by a leopard’s size; its bite force can easily pierce your cervical vertebrae, rupture your major arteries, or if it bites your forehead, it could crack your skull,” Song Yun noted.
“That’s impressive!” Qingluan exclaimed in awe.
“Indeed, in nature, leopards have quite a strong bite force!”
“I really must see one then!” The gleam in Qingluan’s eyes grew even brighter.
“Goodness, you…” Song Yun chuckled and shook his head.
Although there had been news of leopards in the mountains, the natural reserve was overall very well managed.
Since its establishment, there had been no accidents, and it was largely safe.
Song Yun mentioned these risks only to scare the women a little; as the only dependable man in the group and the fact that they had only one large tent meant they would all be sleeping together that night.
If he could frighten them, his advantages were undeniable!
As for the possible dangers?
Song Yun wasn’t truly afraid of any threat.
Not even a gray bear or a Northeast Tiger gonna pose a problem with Song Yun and Qingluan present; they would be no challenge.
Shortly after Song Yun and his group ventured deeper into the mountains, a small team emerged from another mountain path.
These were Divine Calculator and his companions.
“We’ve finally made it!” Divine Calculator sighed in relief before noticing Song Yun’s parked Range Rover nearby, and a look of shock crossed his face.
Divine Calculator didn’t know this was Song Yun’s car; what shocked him was that a car could actually reach this place.
“Darn it, what’s going on?
Isn’t this place supposed to be deserted?
How could a car get here!” Divine Calculator pointed at Song Yun’s car angrily.
“How would I know!” Ghost King shrugged helplessly, looking at Mr.
Yamamoto Goro.
“Mr.
Yamamoto, we walked day and night to get here, yet it seems like cars can drive right in?”
“That Japanese fellow studied the map long and then said, “**This…
The map says to enter the mountains from Sunan and follow XXX mountain roads to XXX place, then follow the stream for a day and a night to get here; how was I to know they’ve now made a road accessible by car!**”
“So it took us a day and night of walking to reach a place that could be accessed directly by car?” Zhou Guang took out his phone, opened up the map app.
To maintain secrecy, Zhou and the others present had turned off their phones to avoid being traced and they had been walking through dense forests, which also left them without a signal.
Zhou’s phone, the latest iPhone, was equipped with a strong built-in map, and he quickly located their position.
Tragically, he found that indeed there was a road leading from the city below Five Girls Peak directly to their location, which was only a three to four-hour drive from Sunan.
“Are we idiots!” Zhou wanted to knock Mr.
Yamamoto Goro out with a punch, but considering they still needed this Japanese member for their upcoming efforts, Divine Calculator managed to swallow his anger.
“I’ve got it!” Mr.
Yamamoto Goro exclaimed suddenly.
Everyone was taken aback, wondering if there had been some mishap, only to hear Mr.
Yamamoto Goro continue, “**This map is centuries old, from a time with no roads; naturally, it couldn’t mark any routes for cars.
What we’ve followed were paths from hundreds of years ago by your Shen Zhou people, so we weren’t wrong!**”
Zhou really wanted to tell Mr.
Yamamoto Goro that if his intelligence was only at this level, they might as well cancel the treasure hunt and just go home to sleep.
Seeing how excited and proud Mr.
Yamamoto Goro appeared, Zhou thought better of it; as an international friend, it wouldn’t be appropriate to mock him.
“Going this way is definitely correct!” Mr.
Yamamoto Goro pointed at the mountain path nearby— the same path Song Yun’s group had taken not long before.