Let Bygones Be Bygones

The first half of the route was settled, and everyone poured another round of drinks, clinked glasses, and downed them in one go.

Liu Bo noted the route in his memo and stared at his phone for a few seconds before speaking up. "I think we could tweak this part of the route a bit."

Chu Qiunan turned to him. "Go ahead."

"From Lincheng to Spring City—I think we should just push straight through to the City of Romance instead of stopping in Spring City. What do you guys think?"

Su Yang glanced at Liu Bo. "How many kilometers is it from Lincheng to the City of Romance?"

"Let me check..." Liu Bo pulled up a search on his phone.

"Whoa! It's over 900 kilometers!"

Su Yang shrugged. "I don’t mind driving that far in a day, but I’m not sure if the rest of you can handle it."

Liu Bo pondered for a moment, studying the map.

"How about this—we leave Lincheng early on the second day, drive straight to Ercheng, stay the night there, and then head to the City of Romance on the third day?"

"But I just checked—Lincheng to Ercheng is still over 800 kilometers. That’s not exactly close either," Su Qingci chimed in.

"Eh, no big deal. We’ll power through without stopping along the way."

"Alright then."

"Got it. I’ll adjust the route." Liu Bo made the changes and then looked up at the group. "What’s next?"

Zhang Ziming raised his glass. "After that, we take Highway 328 straight to Sacred City, then head to Gun Barrel from there."

"Sounds good."

Ji Bo raised his hand. "Actually, there’s another highway, 327, that runs close to 328. I’ve heard it’s pretty decent."

"Oh? Do you know much about it?" Liu Bo asked.

Ji Bo shook his head awkwardly. "Not really. Just saw it mentioned somewhere."

"I know a bit about it," Tang Ziyun interjected.

She glanced around before continuing. "If we take 327, it’ll be a bit of a detour since it runs north of 328. We’d have to loop around."

"A detour isn’t a big deal, but which route has better scenery?" Liu Bo looked up.

"I think 328 is more scenic. Neither is bad, but 328 passes through a lot of well-known spots. 327 is a bit more remote."

Liu Bo nodded. "Then let’s stick with 328."

"Fine by me. Just throwing it out there," Ji Bo said with a laugh, taking a sip of his drink.

"Alright, the main route’s set. Let’s also make a list of things we need to bring. Try to get everything ready by tomorrow. If we miss anything, we can always pick it up along the way."

Meng Wenzhou thought for a moment. "This trip’s different from our last camping trip. We’ll still need tents, but we should pack more gear this time."

"Like what?"

"Like self-defense tools."

Hearing this, Liu Bo grinned. "Oh yeah! Last time, we almost got into trouble because we didn’t bring anything for protection. This time, we’re packing some knives, batons, stuff like that."

He then leaned closer to Meng Wenzhou and lowered his voice with a sly smirk. "Hey, Meng, think you can get us some pepper spray?"

Meng Wenzhou froze, then rolled his eyes. "What, you think I’m some kind of gangster? Where the hell would I get that?"

Even though Liu Bo had spoken quietly, everyone nearby heard him.

Chu Qiunan chuckled. "Come on, big guy, that’s not something to mess around with."

"Heh, just kidding. Forget I said anything."

Su Yang smiled. "Even if we could get pepper spray, we shouldn’t. We’re not going to war. But yeah, some proper knives for self-defense would be smart."

"Got it. I’ll handle the self-defense gear. I’ll pick some up tomorrow."

"Good. Make sure they’re quality stuff, though. Don’t come back with a bunch of kitchen knives," Meng Wenzhou joked.

Liu Bo shot him a look. "Seriously, bro? You think I’d grab something that useless?"

"Just making sure you don’t suddenly lose your mind and bring a fruit knife to a bear fight."

"Pfft. Trust me, when it comes to self-defense gear, I know what I’m doing."

As the guys bantered, Tang Ziyun and Su Qingci exchanged glances.

Su Qingci hesitated before asking, "Do we really need self-defense stuff?"

"Absolutely. We’re heading into Gun Barrel’s no-man’s-land at the end of this trip. We can’t go unprepared."

"Oh, right… Gun Barrel’s no-man’s-land. That does sound kinda scary. Do you think there’ll be wolves?"

"Relax, Su. With us tough guys around, even if we run into wolves—or even a bear—we’ll handle it!"

Zhang Ziming immediately cut in. "Ugh, dude, shut up! Last time you jinxed us by talking about bears and wolves, and guess what? We actually ran into a bear!"

"Hey, don’t blame me! I was just saying we should be prepared for anything."

"Wait, when did you guys see a bear?" Su Qingci’s eyes widened with curiosity.

Chu Qiunan perked up too, eagerly waiting for Liu Bo’s story.

Liu Bo waved it off with a casual grin. "Ah, it’s nothing worth mentioning. Ancient history."

"Come on, big bro! Tell us!" Chu Qiunan pressed.

"Tch. ‘Big bro’? Just ‘bro’ is fine. Why the extra word?"

"I’m just curious! When did you meet a bear?"

Seeing their excitement, Liu Bo cleared his throat and launched into a slightly embellished retelling of their camping trip—where they’d encountered a bear in the mountains.

When he got to the part where Su Yang and he had fought the beast, Su Qingci gasped. "Wait—you two actually fought a bear?!"

"Heh, you bet! The situation was dire! That bear weighed at least 800 or 900 pounds, standing three or four meters tall on its hind legs. My man Su Yang went toe-to-toe with it for eighty rounds. When I saw he couldn’t finish it off, I jumped in."

"Everything happened so fast! You can imagine the raw power of a beast that size—800, 900 pounds!"

"Even after eighty rounds, Su Yang still had enough strength to grab the bear’s massive hind leg. That’s when I took over—grabbed a log as thick as my calf and leapt in, smashing it right over the head!"

"That little bear was seeing stars after my earth-shattering strike..."

Liu Bo gestured wildly as he narrated, while Chu Qiunan and Su Qingci listened, enthralled.

Chu Qiunan swallowed hard. "And then?"

"And then? I told Su Yang to let go, and I fought the bear solo for another thirty rounds. Once he caught his breath, he rejoined the fight, and together, we wore it down until it ran off!"

"Wow!!! Su Yang, you're amazing!!!" Su Qingci turned to Su Yang with sparkling eyes.

"Huh? What about me? Why only praise Su Yang? I played a huge part too!"

"Liu Bo, you're awesome too!!" Su Qingci promptly shot Liu Bo an admiring look.

Only after seeing that expression did Liu Bo wave his hand smugly and chuckle, "Heh, ancient history, just a bit of hardship~ no need to dwell on it~~"

While Liu Bo was telling his story, apart from Chu Qiunan and Su Qingci, the others mostly wore expressions of exasperation.

Especially Pan Ning and Meng Qianyu, who had been eyewitnesses at the time.

Once Liu Bo finished, Meng Qianyu remarked flatly, "And this is how rumors get started~~"

......