Take a Walk with Me

The wind at the top of the mountain was a bit chilly.

"Did you bring a tent?"

"Nope."

"What about you?"

"Me neither."

The boys from Class 15 huddled together, their faces full of misery.

They had been called over at the last minute to join the fun. Let alone tents, they hadn't even brought an extra thick coat.

Sitting on the rough grass felt mediocre at best; after a while, their butts started to ache.

"Hey, look over there." One boy puckered his lips toward a spot not too far away.

Several brand-new tents were pitched, emitting a warm yellow light. Silhouettes could vaguely be seen moving inside, and the sound of laughter and card-playing even drifted over from another tent.

Heaven and hell were separated by just a few dozen meters.

"Should we go over and strike up a conversation? Even borrowing a mat would be fine. This grass is about to pierce right through my butt."

"They'd have to be stupid to hang out with you. Forget it, let's just make do. Sunrise is only a few hours away."

The guys from Class 15 didn't go over to make fools of themselves.

After all, they had all seen Lin Mo standing not far away.

You've got to be kidding, who would dare to go ask for trouble?

They shrank their necks and resignedly continued to feel the harshness of nature with their butts.

Lin Mo paid absolutely no mind to the distant whispers.

At this moment, he and Xie Yuling stood side by side by the railing, overlooking the dazzling galaxy formed by the lights of thousands of homes below.

A mature city is one that is brightly lit at any time of the night.

"Not going to rest in the tent for a bit?" Lin Mo asked.

"No need, I'm feeling really energetic right now." Xie Yuling's voice carried a hint of excitement she hadn't even noticed herself, feeling more like she had a secret to share.

"I feel like even if I don't sleep for a whole day, I'll just be a little tired. I won't get dizzy and groggy like before."

She paused and turned her head to look at Lin Mo, her clear eyes reflecting the bustling city below.

"I recently noticed that my studying seems to have improved, and my memory too. Is this normal?"

"Yes, it means you've successfully initiated."

Lin Mo smiled. "At this rate, it's not impossible for your grades to surpass Tong Dong's in the final exams."

Unexpectedly, Xie Yuling gently shook her head.

"Never mind that. I don't want to show off so much."

She stuck out her tongue with a bit of slyness. "So for this final exam, I controlled my score."

"Controlled your score?"

Lin Mo was genuinely taken aback and looked at her in surprise.

He himself hadn't even thought about controlling his score; he just wrote as much as he could to enjoy the public's attention. Yet Xie Yuling was able to suppress that urge to show off.

Not bad, her level of awareness is much higher than mine, the main character.

"Alright, controlling your score is fine too. We aren't really pursuing that anyway," Lin Mo chuckled.

Xie Yuling curled her lips into a smile, still keeping some words unsaid in her heart.

It was far more than just her memory improving.

Now, she had an almost photographic memory for those complicated vocabulary words, tongue-twisting formulas, and lengthy ancient poems.

The feeling was wonderful, as if her brain had been replaced by a computer.

But she guessed that Lin Mo was definitely the same, or perhaps even more exaggerated.

Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a bit worried and asked softly, "Teaching me this... will it really not cause you any trouble?"

"What trouble could there be?" Lin Mo said lightly. "Besides, you have the talent for it. It would be a pity if you didn't learn."

Hearing this, Xie Yuling also breathed a sigh of relief, but she still remembered the scene from that day when Lin Mo asked her to go upstairs.

Then when would she be able to stand by Lin Mo's side?

Lin Mo's divine sense swept over the tent. Jiang Yunlu and Chu Miaomiao were already lying in their sleeping bags. Although they were chatting, they clearly had no intention of coming out.

Very good.

The night breeze brushed past, blowing up a few strands of the girl's hair.

Lin Mo withdrew his gaze, thought for a moment, and suddenly reached his hand out to her.

"Take a walk with me?"

Xie Yuling's face froze in surprise.

The lights at the top of the mountain were not bright. Lin Mo's palm looked clean and slender in the hazy halo.

Her heart skipped a beat, and then, a bright smile slowly bloomed on her face.

Lin Mo recognized this smile.

In his past life, it was because he caught a fleeting glimpse of her showing this very smile to Auntie Zheng that he had etched her figure into his heart forever.

That smile from the bottom of her heart was bright, clean, and without a trace of impurity, enough to illuminate an entire youth.

It was just that back then, her smile was never meant for him.

But now.

It was directed right at him.

The young girl placed her hand in Lin Mo's.

Immediately, her warm hand was grasped by a broader palm. Lin Mo didn't give her time to react, taking her hand and turning to walk toward the other side.

As a key scenic spot, Tianxing Ridge naturally wouldn't only have one small camping area.

However, the path ahead was blocked by a high fence.

A No Entry sign was particularly eye-catching under the streetlamp.

Just as Xie Yuling was about to say something, she felt a tightness around her waist, and her whole body was pulled into a warm embrace by an irresistible force.

Lin Mo held her, and with just a light tap of his foot, the two of them flew over the obstacle like birds.

The wind whistled past their ears, and in just the span of a single breath, they landed steadily on the other side of Tianxing Ridge.

This was an undeveloped, steep cliff.

Although it couldn't be called a bottomless abyss, it still had quite some height. A normal person falling down would definitely turn into a splattered mess.

The surroundings were pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Because it faced away from the city, there were only scattered lights in the distance, as faint as dying stars.

A lone man and a lone woman, out in the desolate wilderness.

Xie Yuling's heart skipped a beat instantly and then began to pound like crazy.

Secretly kissing him in the dim light of her apartment building's stairwell was already the boldest thing she had ever done in her life.

But this current situation... was a hundred times more thrilling than that day.

The darkness amplified all her senses. She could clearly feel the warmth of his arm and the crisp, pleasant scent on his body.

Her mind went blank, yet it also seemed as if countless thoughts flashed by, ultimately converging into an almost inaudible murmur.

"Do you want to..."

Before she could finish, a finger was gently placed over her lips.

"Shh."

Lin Mo's voice was very low, carrying a hint of a smile.

He let go of the hand holding her and instead slowly opened his other palm.

Right in the center of that palm, a soft point of green fluorescence silently lit up and then slowly rose into the air.

"It's a firefly. I haven't seen one in so long."

Xie Yuling was a bit surprised. In a highly urbanized place like Yangcheng, fireflies were an extremely rare sight.

"It seems a bit dark here," Lin Mo said softly, as if stating the simplest of facts.

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers crisply.

The next second,

from the cliff beneath their feet, countless green points of light surged up, scrambling over one another.

One speck, two specks, hundreds and thousands.

They converged into a dazzling river of light, spiraling upward and gently enveloping the two of them.

This cliff, forbidden to visitors by the scenic area, had now transformed into a dreamy galaxy.