Sudden Lightning and Storm

"Reached the highest peak of Goat City—Nan Kun Mountain~ How magnificent, Nan Kun Mountain. Oh, isn't that Brother Chicken?"

To be fair, Brother Chicken wouldn't appear until many years later.

Right now, Phoenix Legend still dominated the charts.

Lin Mo found the highest spot and sat down.

Beneath his feet was a sheer cliff, but he wasn’t too afraid—after all, he could already fly.

Though not very far, landing safely was absolutely no problem.

Tonight, the sky was free of clouds, making it easy to see the bright moon hanging overhead.

Lin Mo sat cross-legged, the Divine Refinement of the Void technique circulating endlessly within him.

Perhaps spiritual energy was related to air quality.

Lin Mo felt an immense surge of spiritual energy rushing into his body.

But he needed to maintain this state for twenty-four hours.

This was an isolated peak, impossible for ordinary people to climb, so Lin Mo wasn’t worried about being disturbed in the slightest.

He simply sat there, cultivating.

At dawn, mist condensed into dew on his windbreaker, sliding slowly down the fabric.

A ray of sunlight fell upon Lin Mo.

He felt a warmth spreading through his body—not the kind from sunlight, but a warmth radiating from within.

Twenty-four hours passed quickly—the sky brightened, then darkened again.

......

"Perfectly fine weather, so why climb at night? And why take the wild path instead of the main trail?"

A fully equipped team was making their way toward Heaven’s Peak, the highest point of Nan Kun Mountain.

"What’s the point of taking the main trail? The wild path is the real adventure. What are you afraid of? There aren’t any wolves or leopards on Nan Kun Mountain."

Each of the dozen or so people carried a trekking pole.

They seemed like a group of moderately experienced, but not expert, hikers.

Hikers preferring off-trail routes was nothing unusual.

But just then, the sky suddenly rumbled with thunder.

They all looked up.

"Wait, that’s strange. The weather forecast said no rain tonight. Why the thunder?"

"You trust the weather forecast? Might as well believe I’m Qin Shi Huang."

"So, do we keep going? Hiking in a thunderstorm is dangerous."

One of them turned to the leader.

Leader Ma Linxi glanced at the sky—not exactly overcast, with plenty of stars still visible.

"Probably just a passing thunderstorm. Besides, it hasn’t started raining yet."

This reassured many, and they ignored the voices of concern.

"Tch, Old Qi, you’re always the cautious one. Relax, we’ve all got gear. We’ll be fine."

Old Qi was still uneasy, but since everyone else insisted, he had no choice but to follow at the back of the group.

After all, they were all familiar faces, and going down alone wasn’t safe either.

They continued upward, with two people at the front clearing the path with tools.

But as time passed, dark clouds gradually blotted out the starry sky.

The relentless rumble of thunder grew louder.

Seeing this, the group unconsciously quickened their pace.

Better to reach the top sooner and find a spot to set up tents.

As they reached the mountainside, a bolt of lightning struck terrifyingly close, freezing everyone in their tracks.

"This... this isn’t right. That lightning was way too close," someone shouted.

Their ears were ringing from the deafening crack of thunder.

Ma Linxi thought for a moment before raising his hand. "Turn back! Find a safe spot to rest!"

Everyone immediately turned around, retracing their steps down the mountain.

But then, the rain began—a heavy downpour.

The ground turned muddy, quickly washing away their earlier footprints.

BOOM!

Another massive bolt of lightning struck.

It landed frighteningly close behind them, the deafening roar making several people crouch down in fear. One even slipped, landing hard on his backside.

Ma Linxi tried to calm the group, then turned to look behind them.

Why was the lightning targeting this spot? And why so intense? He’d never seen anything like it.

Just then, someone yelled,

"Ma Linxi! Someone got impaled by a branch!"

A branch piercing through flesh was no small matter.

Ma Linxi rushed over and saw a man with a sharpened branch speared clean through his thigh.

It was clearly one of the branches they’d hacked away while clearing the path earlier.

Now it had come back to bite them.

Ma Linxi immediately pulled out medical supplies from his backpack while others held up a tarp for cover.

With a branch through his thigh, the man could barely move.

Thankfully, it hadn’t hit an artery, so blood loss wasn’t severe.

But navigating the treacherous path with an injured comrade made progress even slower and more precarious.

The rain grew heavier.

The already slippery mud turned into a hazard, forcing everyone to tread with extreme caution.

The downpour also obscured visibility—even high-lumen flashlights struggled to pierce through the storm.

At least they could still keep the group together.

"Wait! Wait! I think we took the wrong path. This isn’t the way."

"Doesn’t matter—just keep going down. Find a safe spot first, then figure it out."

Hearing this, the dissenting voice fell silent.

But they had indeed strayed far from their original route—hundreds of meters off, if not more.

Then, the sky flashed violently.

An even larger bolt of lightning split the night, illuminating everything in an eerie glow.

"Damn this wretched sky—"

"Don’t curse it. Stay focused."

At that moment, a powerful gust of wind blasted from behind them.

Like a typhoon, it sent people stumbling and flailing.

Some lost their footing entirely, tumbling down the muddy slope.

Their clothes were caked in filth.

The "casualties" kept mounting.

Realizing this couldn’t continue, Ma Linxi reluctantly pulled out his satellite phone.

Leading a group meant being prepared for emergencies, including getting lost.

But when he turned it on, the satellite phone showed no signal.

What kind of joke was this? A satellite phone was supposed to work anywhere on Earth!

Another fierce gust swept through.

The wind knocked them off balance like bowling pins.

Even Ma Linxi lost his footing, slamming into a tree and dropping the satellite phone.

The next second, the wind and rain abruptly stopped.

A hand caught the falling phone mid-air.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

By the time Ma Linxi regained his senses, the air carried a faint antiseptic scent.

The entire sky was bright.

No—not the sky. It was a white ceiling.

Where were they?!

Ma Linxi sat up abruptly, seeing the rest of the hiking team around him.

"How... how did we get here?!"

A nurse walked over, giving them a puzzled look.

"Didn’t you come here on your own?"

But Ma Linxi only remembered getting lost in the mountains, and then... then... his memory went blank.

Except for one thing—he thought he’d seen someone.

In the distance, a young man turned and walked away, vanishing into the night outside the emergency room.