Chapter 1767 - 2069: Mountain Climbing (2)
The bus left East Sea City and headed north. After about an hour and a half, the bus finally stopped at the destination.
Getting off the bus, Ling Chen looked far ahead. In front of him was a forest, with a mountain over a thousand meters high at the center, which was also their final destination on this trip.
"Ling Cheng, look at this." Hearing Wei Jiahao’s voice, Ling Chen quickly walked over. He saw several deep tire tracks at the edge of the forest, likely made by off-road vehicle tires. Furthermore, from this direction, the grasses and branches inside the forest were crushed and snapped by the off-road vehicles.
"They should have entered the mountain from this path." Saying this, Ling Chen shouldered his backpack and said, "Everyone, follow me."
Following the traces left by the off-road vehicles, Ling Chen walked forward. Half an hour later, they finally reached the depths of the forest, just a bit further to reach the foot of the mountain. At that moment, Ling Chen, walking at the very front, suddenly raised his right arm and clenched his fist towards the people behind him. Everyone crouched down, slowly moving toward his position.
"Ling Cheng, what’s wrong?" Qiu Yong asked.
Ling Chen parted the grasses in front of him and pointed ahead. Everyone looked intently and saw an area twenty meters ahead cleared out with more than ten tents set up, surrounded by supply boxes forming a fortification.
Counting the people, the camp had about thirty people. Among them, Ling Chen saw a familiar face.
Huang Jie! He was once the Vice Sect Leader of Dangyang Sect. Now that Qi Yong has joined the Heavenly Dragon Sect, he surely wouldn’t be an exception.
At this moment, Huang Jie was directing people to move supplies. Meanwhile, two forklifts came from a short distance, lifted two supply boxes, and headed for the foot of the mountain. "Ling Cheng, look over there." Qiu Yong seemed to have discovered something and lightly patted Ling Chen’s arm.
Ling Chen turned his head to see a vertical lift installed on the mountain wall, with a rope hanging down from the mountain top. After securing the supply boxes, they were slowly hoisted up.
"Zhu Hong, that lunatic, actually built his camp on the mountain peak." Yuan Yun furrowed his brows and said.
"It’s a prudent arrangement," Ling Chen said. "Look, this mountain is extremely steep, with no path going up. Only via lift or helicopter can one reach the top; it’s the optimal defensive position."
"So what do we do now? Maybe we should deal with this camp first, then figure out how to take control of the lift?"
Hearing Qiu Yong’s suggestion, Ling Chen shook his head and said, "We mustn’t alert them yet. The lift’s control panel is at the mountain top; it’s hard to seize. If they are alerted, we can’t hope to climb to the top."
Just as he finished speaking, the sound of vehicles suddenly came from behind. Ling Chen looked back and saw several off-road vehicles slowly approaching, each dragging two supply boxes behind. As the vehicles drew near, everyone quickly moved to the sides.
Just as the leading off-road vehicle was about to pass by, Ling Chen thought of something, his eyes suddenly brightening. Then, he struck out with his palm, aiming at a large tree before him. Instantly, with a crisp ’crack’, the tree trunk split in the middle and fell directly onto the off-road vehicle behind.
In an instant, with a loud ’bang’, the trunk hit the vehicle’s roof, forcing it to stop.
"What’s going on?" The driver jumped out of the off-road vehicle, cursing as he looked at the tree trunk on the roof. "Why did it fall just like that?" As he spoke, the driver headed toward the camp for help.
"Brother, you guys stay here; I’ll find a way to blend in first." Finishing, Ling Chen quickly dashed to the back of the off-road vehicle, leaping straight onto the top of a supply box.
Opening the supply box, he found it full of frozen food. Ling Chen grabbed a few packages, tossing them into the nearby grass, then climbed into the supply box himself, closing the lid.
A short while later, the driver returned with a few people, moved the trunk off the vehicle’s roof. As the vehicle entered the camp, someone immediately moved the supply box aside.
In the supply box, Ling Chen waited for over forty minutes, trying to control his breathing to avoid using too much air. Although there were gaps in the box, they were too small, with poor air circulation. Also, he had no idea how long he’d have to wait.
Another ten minutes later, he finally felt the supply box move. If he guessed correctly, the forklift was preparing to transport the box to the lift.
To be honest, Ling Chen was a bit worried. The lift only had one rope secured to the top of the supply box. With the mountain standing a kilometer tall, if a malfunction occurred halfway leading to the box falling, he’d have no chance of survival.
Fortunately, the box ascended smoothly, apart from occasional swaying, without other issues. A few minutes later, the box was finally pulled to the mountain top by the lift. With the box settled, Ling Chen quietly waited for a moment, confirming there were no sounds around before slowly opening the lid. However, he soon discovered a problem.
A lot seemed to be piled atop the box—very heavy, preventing the lid from easily opening. Forcibly pushing the lid open might topple everything piled above, thus attracting others’ attention.
With a headache, Ling Chen rubbed his nose. Now wasn’t the time to make a big move. Besides, he was unaware of the surrounding situation. If his whereabouts were discovered, escaping would be extremely difficult.
After thinking for a while, Ling Chen decided to wait a bit longer.
Waiting like that, several more hours passed. Checking his phone, it was already evening. Outside the supply box, it was silent, presumably everyone was off eating and resting. At this point, he pushed hard on the top with both hands. As the lid opened, heavy objects immediately fell surrounding him.
Ling Chen didn’t dare delay, pushing the lid aside and quickly scanning his surroundings. Luckily, the location was a tent specifically for storing supplies—no one was inside. Still, the fallen supply boxes would surely attract members of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Without delay, he swiftly leapt out of the box, then hid in a more concealed corner.
As this happened, a few people entered the tent, seeing the scattered supply boxes. One man couldn’t help complaining, "You’re all handling things this way, not even placing things properly. Hurry, set them up."
Under his urging, the men quickly became busy, restacking the supply boxes.