Volume 4: Hidden Struggles, Chapter 180: A Wild Journey

“Are you going to war or planning some terrorist activities? I think bringing in a tank would solve the problem better!” Chu Tianyu couldn’t help but mock them at their insane actions.
The few people busy with their tasks ignored Chu Tianyu completely and continued with their preparations.
In response to Chu Tianyu’s question, Ouyang Ziyi, who was in charge of coordination, slowly walked over to him and said, “I’ll explain everything here later. First, tell me about meeting Qin Nianran. Has she agreed?”
Ouyang Ziyi’s words pulled Chu Tianyu’s thoughts back to the awkward scene at Peking University earlier…
Actually, before going there, Chu Tianyu had already called Qin Nianran to arrange a meeting. He was prepared to be rejected, but to his surprise, she agreed to meet. Though her cold tone suggested it would just be a few minutes of talking downstairs in the girls’ dormitory, it was enough for Chu Tianyu!
He didn’t really expect Qin Nianran to be friendly toward him—after all, the awkward relationship between them was mainly his fault.
Yet when Chu Tianyu saw her, memories of the past flooded back, leaving him feeling complicated and frozen in place.
That day, Qin Nianran was dressed in white and blue striped casual clothes. Her long, smooth black hair swayed over her shoulders, her complexion rosy, and her forehead slightly damp, as if she had just finished exercising, giving her a fresh and sunny appearance.
“H-hi, it’s been… a while since we last saw each other…” Chu Tianyu started their conversation with a clichéd, old-fashioned greeting.
“Yes, it has been a while since you left so casually that night!” Qin Nianran replied bluntly right away.
“Ahem, ahem… That night, I was just too excited. My actions were also influenced by Xue Feifei’s beautiful singing…” At that moment, Chu Tianyu wished he could slap himself—why bring up Xue Feifei when things were already chaotic enough?
But Qin Nianran seemed unaware of this and interrupted him before he could finish, “You don’t need to explain anything to me. You have no obligation to explain, and I have no right to listen. Just get to the point. I’m packing my things…”

Chu Tianyu also picked up on it—the implication was that they were quite busy! So Chu Tianyu organized his thoughts a bit and decided to be straightforward. After all, there was no need to beat around the bush; everyone was smart enough to think rationally about how to proceed.

“It’s like this—this summer vacation happens to present an opportunity, and we wanted to…” As he spoke, Chu Tianyu elaborated at length on his ideas from the previous day, his grand goals, and the plan to take advantage of Chen Qing’s opportunity to go on a field trip, which would also serve as a vacation.

As he spoke, Chu Tianyu kept an eye on Qin Nianran’s expression. From start to finish, not only did her expression not change even after he finished speaking, but she didn’t even frown once, making it impossible to tell what she thought about the matter.

Her indifferent expression made Chu Tianyu even more uncomfortable. It would have been better if she had said no or criticized his idea harshly than to remain expressionless, showing no emotional reaction at all.

“You’ve said so much—so what exactly do you want from me?” Qin Nianran asked calmly, seemingly feigning ignorance.

“I just want to invite you to join us for this trip, as a way to thank you sincerely for helping me successfully thwart Tianxing Group last time! I was wondering if Qin… Qin Nianran would be so kind as to accept?” Chu Tianyu, who originally intended to admit that he needed her help, changed his words at the last moment.

This shifted the tone of his speech from a request for help to an invitation as a form of repayment!

Especially the way he separately pronounced “Qin Nianran” gave it a friendly feel, as if he were affectionately addressing her.

Qin Nianran, who had remained calm until then, felt a sudden tremor in her heart upon hearing Chu Tianyu’s last words. Though her expression remained cold, she knew inside that the defenses she had built up had instantly crumbled, even if she hadn’t shown it yet.

By this point, Chu Tianyu’s words were quite clear, and Qin Nianran was someone who understood things instantly—how could she not guess his intention to include her in the plan?

She had thought he would continue speaking, but to his surprise, he suddenly changed the subject to past events, leaving her utterly surprised and rendering her prepared responses useless.

“Are you going? This time we’re choosing to drive there ourselves. They’re all getting off-road vehicles ready. If everything’s set, we can set off around tomorrow.” Chu Tianyu asked again in a hesitant voice, still unsure.

Don’t confront your opponent when you’re in a bad mood!

That was what her great-aunt had said the first time she taught her the Ice Heart Technique. Qin Nianran was exactly in such a state at the moment, so instead of answering Chu Tianyu’s final question, she simply turned around and left, leaving Chu Tianyu stunned in shock…

…

“Ziyi, do you think I said something wrong in my last sentence?” Chu Tianyu was still puzzled, unable to figure out what went wrong that made Qin Nianran walk away silently after hearing his question, leaving him behind.

Chu Tianyu had hoped to get an answer from Ziyi, but to his surprise, she replied, “How would I know where you went wrong? Maybe it wasn’t your words, but maybe it was your lecherous gaze or your dishonest hands—anything could have upset her. You should know best!”

After saying that, Ouyang Ziyi giggled and ran off to get back to her busy work. Only then did Chu Tianyu realize she was teasing him!

He shook his head helplessly as he watched her go, then deliberately raised his voice and called out, “Hey! If you don’t know about this, then why did you say you’d explain the situation here? With all these weapons you’ve prepared, I deserve to know, right? After all, I’m the one who initiated this operation…”

Before Chu Tianyu could finish speaking, a hurried voice came from behind him, “Sorry, excuse me! Leader, be careful!”

As she spoke, Lan Yue, after installing the heavy machine gun, deliberately held up a tiny screw and rushed past Chu Tianyu…

“Typical! We’ve been working hard all this time, and only you’re idle. You can’t even handle a simple task like inviting someone over. And yet you still dare question Leader Ouyang’s intentions!” Bai Lei’s words came at the same time as Lan Yue’s action.

Chu Tianyu glanced at Bai Lei, who was spouting insults, and also noticed the items around him. Wow, aside from some weapons he had seen first, there was everything else imaginable. Common car spare parts: engine oil, power steering fluid, air filters, spare tires, and so on; basic repair tools and many daily necessities, such as simple sleeping bags and thermoses. It seemed they had been quite busy that day. No wonder Bai Lei spoke with such confidence.

For a laborer who had been ordered around all day, it was understandable to feel resentful upon seeing someone who hadn’t done anything at all.

So Chu Tianyu didn’t bother arguing or retorting. Pretending Bai Lei wasn’t there, he went straight over to Ouyang Ziyi. Before he could ask anything, Ouyang Ziyi smiled—probably thinking enough joking had taken place—and explained everything to him.

It turned out that before going to college, Ouyang Ziyi had joined a group for outdoor activities with Lan Yue. They traveled through some mountains in Guangxi and Guizhou and unexpectedly discovered a very primitive forest that couldn’t be found on satellite maps. Due to steep cliffs, it was almost uninhabited. With the help of a few expert rock climbers, they found a path in. But once inside, they were attacked by unknown wild beasts and faced a poisonous mist in the forest that could paralyze people, forcing them to retreat before they could go far. Two team members sacrificed their lives to cover everyone’s escape.

When they called the police for help, it was only logged as a case, and the local police were powerless, saying that even local boar hunters dared not go there. Moreover, the entrance changed each time, and the entire primitive forest seemed to move on its own. Various people and experts had tried to study it before, but to no avail—because those who managed to go in never came back!

According to the police, their town’s limited resources meant they couldn’t enter to search for the bodies. In the end, they even gave them a lecture.

Ouyang Ziyi and her group then contacted others and brought in a group of professional field experts, hoping to return and search again. As the locals said, the entrance they had found had indeed disappeared. Faced by the vast sea of ancient trees, they had no choice but to leave with regret.

That’s why Ouyang Ziyi and Lan Yue later engaged in reckless car racing on the road and acted in a bold, flirtatious manner—all due to the bad mood caused by this incident…

This matter had always remained buried deep in Ouyang Ziyi and Lan Yue’s hearts, something they were unwilling to face. The itinerary proposed by Chu Tianyu, along with Chen Qing’s hometown, happened to be in that direction and area. That’s why Ouyang Ziyi and Lan Yue were now preparing frantically, even thinking about weapons. Especially Ouyang Ziyi, whose immense trust in Chu Tianyu’s powerful strength made her want to uncover the secrets of that place. As for preparing so many weapons, it was purely out of fear of the dangers there—she wanted to have as much self-protection as possible. “With humans’ reach everywhere these days, does such a place still exist?” Chu Tianyu asked curiously. “Well, to be honest, when I first started school, I also hired several exploration teams to investigate, and I searched online and through various channels desperately for information about that place, but to no avail. The results from those exploration teams were surprisingly consistent: unless every tree there was cut down from the outside in, there’s no way to enter!” Ouyang Ziyi replied. “What happened after that?” Chu Tianyu pressed further. “After that, I ran into you, this troublemaker, who kept pestering me all the way to Hong Kong. Then something happened at home, so the matter got delayed. After that, I followed you, with one thing after another happening. If not for your proposal this time, I wouldn’t have thought about it again!” Ouyang Ziyi said reproachfully. “Hehe, no problem. Anyway, we’re just going for a stroll this time. We’ll find a time to fulfill Ziyi’s wish and explore this mysterious place you mentioned,” Chu Tianyu said with a smile. Ouyang Ziyi nodded. “By the way, Ziyi, won’t these guns cause any trouble? And that heavy machine gun Lan Yue set up is way too much, right? We still need to send Li back home first!” Chu Tianyu asked. “Hehe, don’t worry about the guns. Lan Yue and I can handle that. As for that heavy machine gun, Lan Yue just installed it temporarily for testing. When we set off officially, it will be stored in the trunk…” Ouyang Ziyi explained. “Actually, we probably won’t need any of this in the end. With you around as a superhuman, it’s enough!” Ouyang Ziyi added with a coquettish smile.

“Ugh, you guys just go with your original plan. Don’t try to flatter me intentionally. I know exactly how chaotic you all like things to be. If I got involved in everything, it would take away your fun of adventuring! Look at Bai Xue and Lan Yue’s enthusiasm—if I weren’t sensible, they wouldn’t even know how to glare at me! Sigh, sometimes we should give these young people a chance…” Chu Tianyu said with sighs.
“Go away! Bai Lei is several months older than you!” Ouyang Ziyi retorted.
While the two were joking around, two fully equipped off-road vehicles were already ready. Ouyang Ziyi and Lan Yue each drove them around to test their performance and the stability of various attachments before returning satisfied, ready to set off the next day.
“Tianyu, should we try contacting Qin Nianran again? Maybe she’ll change her mind,” Bai Lei suddenly suggested after discussing the details of the trip and what else needed to be prepared for the lecture.
Chu Tianyu and Ouyang Ziyi exchanged a glance, and Ouyang Ziyi stepped in to save Chu Tianyu: “Tianyu, why don’t you give it another try? If it doesn’t work out, it’s fine. After all, this is just a quick visit—there will be plenty of opportunities in the future!”
“I don’t think so. From her expression today, she seems uninterested,” Chu Tianyu said helplessly.
“Hehe, it’s okay if she doesn’t come this time. Remember, as long as she doesn’t move out to live alone, I’ll stick around with her in the dorm, in class, and on campus—persistently pestering her until she gives in! By the way, you scoundrel, do you still remember the shooting tips I taught you today?”
Ouyang Ziyi spoke casually, quickly shifting the topic back to gun usage, giving Bai Lei another chance to vent—especially since Li Rou was even better at shooting than him, which still bothered him, and he was teased by everyone again…
On the morning of the tenth day, everyone got up early. After all, this impromptu trip planned by Chu Tianyu was an unprecedented experience for them all, especially for Bai Lei and Chen Qing, who were extremely excited and barely slept all night!
While the girls were busy showing off their cooking skills, Bai Lei had already taken Chen Qing to handle those guns. He had never had the chance to touch real guns before, so of course he wanted to make the most of it now.
Chu Tianyu also got up early, sticking to his usual habit of exercising in the morning. But with so many people around in the villa this time, he chose to go for a run outside to breathe some fresh air.

Just as Chu Tianyu ran in a big circle, he was suddenly surprised to find Qin Nianran’s sports car parked quietly at the entrance of the villa. When he hurried over to say hello, he found the car empty. Out of curiosity, when Chu Tianyu entered the living room, he saw that everyone was already gathered together having breakfast. Qin Nianran was sitting there, using a knife to handle an omelet…

…

When they set off, Bai Lei, Lan Yue, Chen Qing, and her girlfriend took one car to lead the way. The second car, driven by Ouyang Ziyi, had Chu Tianyu, Qin Nianran, Li Ruo, and Angel on board. Originally, Chu Tianyu and Ouyang Ziyi planned to have Sister Xin take care of Angel, but she chose to stay with Chu Tianyu instead. Her determined expression left Chu Tianyu helpless. Since it was just a trip, there was no harm in bringing her along, so she ended up being part of the group as well.

Chu Tianyu was quite surprised by Qin Nianran’s arrival. Who would have thought that after leaving in a huff that day without even finishing their conversation, she would show up early the next day, looking relaxed—completely different from her usual cold demeanor. She got along well with everyone, especially joking around with Ouyang Ziyi from time to time. But this warmth didn’t extend to one person: Chu Tianyu!

Chu Tianyu admitted that whether she was deliberately trying to embarrass him or really had nothing to say, it was fine as long as she came. Though he appeared calm on the surface, he was actually the happiest about Qin Nianran’s arrival. Especially when Ouyang Ziyi would give him meaningful glances, Chu Tianyu would feel guilty. Sigh, it was because he now had certain expectations—a selfish desire to have more, like a snake wanting to swallow an elephant…