Rock Climbing

There was not a single place anywhere to aid in climbing! The mountain stood quietly before them, and as everyone looked at the scene before their eyes, they were left completely dumbfounded. It seemed that completing today's training was entirely out of the question!

With a mountain this steep, you wouldn't be able to fly up even if you grew a pair of wings, right?! Ouyang Xianyu and Shangguan Xiao stepped forward simultaneously and discovered several ropes on both sides of the base of the mountain!

Shangguan Xiao clutched the rope in her hand and said to Ouyang Xianyu, "It looks like our instructors made thorough preparations! They actually left us safety harnesses!"

She spoke through grates teeth, cursing the instructors' ancestors down to the eighteenth generation in her heart. What an absolute bunch of bastards! If not for them giving birth to such damned instructors, they wouldn't have to suffer this kind of torture!

She really wanted to dig up their ancestral graves and drag their ancestors out to whip their corpses! Why couldn't they properly educate their descendants instead of letting them run around terrorizing poor, innocent students like themselves?

Even though she was frantic with rage inside, Shangguan Xiao knew this was no time to act on impulse. She gave the rope in her hand a hard tug and turned around.

She called out to the people behind her, "Look over here! There are several ropes! We need to tie these around our waists!"

She demonstrated by tying the rope around her waist, then pulled on it to test its stability.

She even climbed upward a bit, lifting both feet off the ground. Stepping against the rock face, she felt as though she were flying.

She wanted to ensure it could support her weight. If she accidentally slipped and fell while climbing up later, at least this rope could save her life.

After securing the knot, she looked up at the crowd. Ouyang Xianyu watched her actions from the side, thinking once again how kindhearted she was! No matter when it was, she always helped others unconditionally.

Even knowing there would be no reward, she still rushed forward without a second thought! Could the concern she showed him possibly be out of sheer goodwill, rather than because he was special to her?

With this thought, Ouyang Xianyu suddenly felt his heart plummet to the bottom of the valley. The aloof arrogance he had always maintained was slowly dissipating! He looked rather dejected, and his mood was lower than ever before.

Shangguan Xiao was demonstrating to the group how to use the ropes. After seeing her classmates tie theirs securely, she prepared to climb up! Just at that moment, she caught sight of Ouyang Xianyu engulfed in his gloomy mood.

She walked over to him and gently tapped him on the shoulder. Standing beside him with one hand resting against the rock wall, she beamed brightly at him and said, "Hey! You aren't afraid of heights, are you? Hehe!"

She wore a crafty smile. Looking at that smile, Ouyang Xianyu felt the haze in his heart instantly swept away! It was as if he were finally seeing the sunlight after a long, gloomy stretch of rain.

Shangguan Xiao was his sunshine, warming the heart that had been frozen for years! Perhaps he wasn't a special existence to her, but so what? As long as she cared about him even just a tiny bit, that was enough!

Once his mood improved, his spirits naturally brightened as well! He smiled faintly and, in a rare move, chimed in, "Whether I'm afraid of heights or not, we'll know once we try!"

With that, he tied the rope around his waist without hesitation, gave it a firm tug, and began to climb upward!

Seeing him transition in an instant from that dejected look to such a cheerful expression—and even speaking to her for a change—Shangguan Xiao felt that truly anything could happen in this world!

People as moody as him were a dime a dozen! Yet not everyone was as ridiculously handsome as Ouyang Xianyu, nor did they possess such a brilliant mind!

Take Ouyang Xianyu for instance; who would have thought his eternal deadpan face would actually have a normal day? The main point was that she actually found his smile exceptionally striking! Her heart had even skipped a beat for a second!

She reached out to cover her chest, staring blankly at Ouyang Xianyu's retreating back. Could it be?! At the very thought of that possibility, Shangguan Xiao hurriedly shook her head.

Trying to shake that thought out of her mind, she lowered her head and muttered to herself, "How could I possibly like Ouyang Xianyu? Absolutely impossible!"

She slapped her cheeks hard, trying to clear her head. Yet the more she tried to forget, the deeper the memory became. With a sigh, she realized she had already fallen quite a bit behind the others!

She had to catch up! Following close behind them, she quickly climbed upward. Utilizing the protruding rocks, she made her ascent with great skill.

Since everyone else was rock climbing for the very first time, each person appeared exceptionally cautious, terrified that a single misstep would cost them their lives before they could return home. Drawing upon her rich rock-climbing experience, Shangguan Xiao quickly caught up to Ouyang Xianyu.

Back in Country S, her older cousins had dragged her along to go rock climbing almost every weekend. Consequently, she now possessed formidable climbing skills, and if she wanted to reach the top quickly, she could do so in no time with her current abilities. After all, the longer she stayed here, the more her stamina would deplete.

By then, she might not have the strength left to reach the top, so she climbed upward almost without hesitation. As she passed by Ouyang Xianyu, she cast a playful, mischievous smile in his direction.

She bantered, "Bye-bye! I'm heading ahead first! See you at the top!"

Then she quickened her pace and scrambled further up. Watching her speed, Ouyang Xianyu felt his heart leap into his throat! He was terrified she might slip and fall by accident!

Even with that safety rope protecting her, the odds of injury from a fall were still quite high! He hurriedly picked up his pace and followed right behind her, hoping to grab hold of her before she tumbled down!

Shangguan Xiao, who was striving upward with all her might, had no inkling of his thoughts! She simply assumed he wanted to race against her, which only fueled her speed even more.

The rest of the crowd could only look up at their pace in astonished admiration. It was something only superhuman beings could pull off! Meanwhile, Tang Meng was carefully making her way up step by step.

Her hands were trembling slightly! Back in Country S, Shangguan Xiao had always loved dragging her along to climb rocks too, but because she suffered from a fear of heights, she had never dared to try.

Now, however, she was forced to confront the very thing she feared, making her exceptionally cautious. Dongfang Shuo, out of concern, climbed upward at a leisurely pace while keeping a close eye on Tang Meng's movements.

Noticing that she looked utterly terrified, he flashed a gentle smile and spoke up, "Tang Meng, you need to relax a bit! It's really hard to climb when you're tensing your body up like that!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Tang Meng looked back and was nearly scared out of her wits! Both hands slipped loose, and she began to plunge downward! Fortunately, Dongfang Shuo was right behind her and caught her with lightning-fast reflexes!

Looking at her with worry in his eyes, he asked anxiously, "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"

Tang Meng, who had thought she was a goner, opened her eyes to find herself cradled in Dongfang Shuo's arms. She quickly steadied her posture to lighten his burden.

Then, blushing deeply and looking utterly embarrassed, she said to him, "I'm fine. Thank you so much for saving me just now!"

Once she finished speaking, she frantically began climbing upward again! She had actually been held in Dongfang Shuo's arms! Never in her life, from childhood until now, had she ever had such physical contact with any male other than her older and younger brothers.

Even Shangguan Han had never been that close to her! The mere thought of Shangguan Han made her spirits droop! In truth, she wasn't entirely sure whether Shangguan Han liked her or not, but she and Shangguan Xiao were best friends!

Even if she ultimately couldn't end up with Shangguan Han, they would still remain best friends! That was something no one could ever change. Because of Xiao's kindness, she would always stand by Xiao's side.

Moreover, Shangguan Xiao was both a beneficial friend and a mentor to her! To have a friend like that meant that even if she spent the rest of her life supporting each other, their friendship would not have been in vain!

No matter what happened, she would unconditionally trust her and help her, ensuring that Shangguan Xiao never felt lonely.

Perhaps Shangguan Xiao didn't realize it, but she was the dearest, most cherished friend in her heart!

If not for Shangguan Xiao, as a citizen of Country Z studying abroad, no matter how wealthy her family background was, she probably wouldn't have made any friends.

In any country, people tended to exclude those whose appearances differed from their own. Thus, being a foreigner studying in Country S was truly a grueling ordeal.

It was Xiao who unconditionally studied alongside her and even helped her learn the local language, resolving her communication barriers in a foreign land!

Without her, she might have ended up just like those classmates said—packing her bags and getting chased out! Yet precisely because of Shangguan Xiao's appearance and help, she had learned so many things! She could even walk the streets alone without fearing any communication issues!

Gathering her courage, she climbed upward step by step with resilience. Watching her persistent back, Dongfang Shuo suddenly felt a wave of curiosity toward this young woman. What made her persevere like this? Even though she was clearly terrified, she insisted on completing the task entirely on her own.

A girl like this was truly eye-catching! Smiling faintly, he followed closely behind her.

Shangguan Xiao and Ouyang Xianyu reached the mountain peak almost simultaneously!

The moment they climbed up, they were dumbfounded by the sight before them! The scenery here formed a complete contrast to the foot of the mountain! Surrounded by lush green trees on all sides, it was fully equipped with numerous training obstacles! Moving forward in a daze after their swift climb, Ouyang Xianyu furrowed his brows even deeper the moment he laid eyes on these apparatuses!

The sight of these things filled him with a bad omen! He loathed this feeling!

Recovering her wits, Shangguan Xiao excitedly ran over, grabbed Ouyang Xianyu by the arm, and pointed enthusiastically at the equipment while saying, "Yu! Look! Those things look so interesting! They must be a blast, right?"

Listening coldly to her words, Ouyang Xianyu genuinely had no idea how to respond. If he answered affirmatively, Shangguan Xiao would probably rush over to try them out immediately!

If he said no, it would certainly dampen her spirits! So he simply chose to remain silent; at the very least, this wouldn't extinguish her enthusiasm or make her overly obsessed with those dangerous apparatuses! Right now, for her safety, he could only sacrifice himself and take a few scoldings from Shangguan Xiao!

Sure enough, seeing Ouyang Xianyu maintain his blank expression without making any reaction to her words, Shangguan Xiao's exhilarated mood dropped several notches instantly!

Anger slowly ignited in her eyes as she reached out and pinched Ouyang Xianyu hard on the waist. The flesh around his waist was probably bruised purple from the pinch, yet Ouyang Xianyu's face remained completely expressionless.

This left Shangguan Xiao pinching him while roaring furiously, "Damn it! Would it kill you to make a peep?!"