With You Here, I'm Not Afraid

A little over ten minutes later, Su Yang and Meng Qianyu arrived at the parking lot diagonally opposite the north gate of the ancient city.

They quickly got into the car, and Su Yang started the engine.

"Brother Su Yang, I'll set up the navigation for you~"

"No need. I was just there during the day, I remember the way."

"The place we're going isn't the spot with the big stone tablet from this afternoon."

"It's not there?"

"Nope, but it's not far from there either. I'll still set the navigation just in case." Meng Qianyu said as she opened the navigation app.

After fastening his seatbelt, Su Yang stepped on the accelerator and slowly drove the car out of the parking lot.

Just like when they went to the escape room last night, shortly after leaving the urban area, the car entered a pitch-black, straight road.

However, unlike last night, the directions to the two places were opposite.

Along the way, Meng Qianyu kept looking up at the dark window.

Seeing this, Su Yang asked with a smile, "Why do you keep looking outside?"

"I'm afraid the meteor shower might start early."

"It usually doesn't. The info online says from 11 PM to 3 AM. I estimate we won't see anything until at least around midnight."

"As long as we can see it, that's fine. The weather tonight is really good. I could see a sky full of stars from my room's balcony earlier."

"That's good. I was just worried about thick clouds blocking the view."

"I checked the weather forecast. No rain for the next few days~"

"Good, then let's hurry over."

As he spoke, Su Yang increased the speed slightly. The Black Badge Rolls-Royce Cullinan sped through the dark night, its red taillights stretching into two trails of afterimages, like a profound and unfathomable assassin of the night.

There were very few vehicles on the county road at night, and the road here was much wider than the one they took to the escape room last night.

In about twenty minutes, Su Yang drove near Gan Haizi, but they hadn't yet reached the stone tablet from the daytime photos.

The navigation now showed the destination was only six or seven hundred meters away. After driving forward another five or six hundred meters, they needed to turn left into a side road.

There had been a few cars on the county road earlier, but after entering the area of Yulong Snow Mountain, not a single car was in sight.

Su Yang rolled down both side windows and looked out. The area on both sides of the empty road was pitch black, the only visible part being the stretch illuminated by the headlights.

Soon, the car turned into the side road. After entering, it was no longer a normal paved surface but a gravel road.

The tires made a rustling sound as they rolled over the ground.

Driving along the gravel road up a not-too-steep slope for about a hundred meters, they reached the navigation's endpoint. Su Yang stopped the car.

Looking through the headlights, this place was essentially a slightly elevated slope.

However, the top of the slope was extremely vast. The headlights couldn't reach the end, only an expansive, boundless stretch of gravel extending into the distance.

Looking up through the window, a sky full of twinkling stars gazed down like countless eyes overlooking this silent land.

Turning to look into the deep, bottomless darkness to the left, occasional green lights, like will-o'-the-wisps, flickered in the far distance. Perhaps they were the reflections from a lone wolf's eyes, or perhaps the ancient breath released by the earth itself.

The prayer flags were long soaked in the night, and tattered cloth strips by the roadside hung over the mani stone piles, like dying butterflies.

For who knows how far around their location, there wasn't a single person or car. If not for the music playing inside the car, in the silence, they could probably hear each other's heartbeat.

Su Yang glanced at the time displayed on the center console: 10:38 PM. There were still over twenty minutes until eleven.

"Maybe we came too early."

"Seems a bit early. It's mainly because you drove so fast, Brother Su Yang. I thought you'd drive slower at night, but I didn't expect you to get here in just over twenty minutes."

"It's fine. The place you picked is great for stargazing at night, just very desolate. Would you dare come here alone?"

"I definitely wouldn't dare alone! But with you beside me, Brother Su Yang, I'm not afraid~"

Su Yang looked at Meng Qianyu and smiled slightly: "Alright. Do you want to get out of the car now?"

"Let's sit for a while longer. We'll get out at eleven."

"Okay, then I'll go out for a smoke."

"Mm-hmm."

Su Yang picked up his cigarettes, opened the door, and got out. He tilted his head to light a cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke. The thick smoke, illuminated by the headlights, quickly dissipated into the air.

The howling wind echoed in his ears. The altitude of around three thousand meters was quite chilly.

But he didn't feel it at all.

Watching the green lights that flashed from time to time in the distance about a hundred or two hundred meters to his left, Su Yang curiously walked forward.

Seeing this from the car, Meng Qianyu hurriedly shouted, "Brother Su Yang, where are you going!"

Su Yang turned his head and smiled, "Just taking a walk."

"Don't go far! I'll be scared if you leave."

"It's okay, I won't go far. Roll up the windows."

"No way! I won't feel safe if I can't see you!" Meng Qianyu said, quickly pulling the car door open and getting out. She jogged to Su Yang's side and pressed herself close against him.

Su Yang smiled helplessly, "What are you afraid of in the car?"

"I just am! I don't feel safe alone. What if someone suddenly appeared in front of the windshield? I'd probably die of fright."

Su Yang couldn't help but touch Meng Qianyu's fair cheek. "Alright then, you can follow me."

"Where are you going?"

"To check out what's ahead. There are these green lights flashing from time to time. I want to see what they are."

"Ah? Green lights? Don't scare me!" Hearing this, Meng Qianyu immediately became nervous. She reached out and linked her arm with Su Yang's, pressing her body tightly against his, wishing she could burrow right into his embrace.

"Don't worry, I'm here."

As they talked, they walked towards the area of the green lights. However, after walking several dozen meters, they didn't see any more green flashes.

"Huh, where'd the lights go?"

Su Yang took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it around. However, the phone's flash seemed exceptionally weak here, unable to illuminate much distance at all.

"Let's not go any further, Brother Su Yang. There's no more light ahead."

Su Yang nodded: "Alright, let's head back."

"Okay!"

As they spoke, they turned to return. But after walking only twenty or thirty meters, Su Yang heard faint footsteps crunching on the ground behind him.

He quickly turned to look, but there was still nothing there.

'Why do I keep feeling like something is following me?'

'Huh, let's see if you dare show yourself. I was just looking for someone to practice on.'

Su Yang stopped looking and led Meng Qianyu back to the car.

At exactly eleven o'clock, they got out of the car again and looked up at the night sky. Although they could see a sky full of stars, no meteors had streaked across yet.

"Probably still a while longer. No rush."

"Mm-hmm, we'll definitely see it."

"You're sure it's tonight, right? Don't tell me we remembered wrong and came all this way for nothing."

Meng Qianyu took out her phone, opened it, and checked again: "No mistake, it's definitely tonight."

"That's good then." Su Yang said as he walked to the rear of the car and opened the trunk. He pulled out the Cullinan's Viewing Seats and said with a smile, "We'll sit here later to enjoy the meteor shower."

"Great~" Meng Qianyu said with a happy smile, sitting down first on the Viewing Seat to check the perspective.

Su Yang went back into the car and brought out two bottles of cola. "Here, we can sip on some cola while watching the meteor shower later."

"Sounds perfect~"

The two of them sat together on the scenic-view seat, Meng Qianyu's smooth, fair calves swinging back and forth.

Su Yang took a sip of his cola and looked up at the star-filled sky. "Oh right, didn't you want to photograph the Milky Way? Where's your tripod?"

"It's in the car."

"I'll get it." He put down his cola, went to the passenger seat, found Meng Qianyu's tripod, and took the chance to turn off the car lights temporarily.

He then walked to the rear of the car and set up the tripod on the ground.

"Pass me the camera."

"Okay~" Meng Qianyu agreed cheerfully, taking the camera from around her neck and handing it to Su Yang.

Su Yang mounted the camera on the tripod, adjusted the angle, then tweaked the shooting mode before pressing the shutter.

"A thirty-second delay should be enough, right?"

Meng Qianyu nodded: "I'm not sure either~"

"Then let's wait and see."

The thirty seconds passed quickly. Hearing the prompt sound from the camera, Su Yang took it down to check the photo.

Looking at the clear Milky Way in the photo, he nodded with satisfaction. "Qianyu, come take a look."

"Coming." Meng Qianyu quickly stepped forward, tilting her head to look, and immediately broke into a wide grin.

"Wow!! It's so beautiful!!" She took the camera, zoomed in on the photo, and examined it carefully.

"Su Yang, you're amazing! This photo looks like it's been post-processed; the effect is fantastic!"

"It's mainly because your camera is good. A regular camera couldn't capture this effect."

"Can a phone take a picture like this?"

"A phone can take one, but the effect definitely won't be as good as a camera."

"Then I won't use my phone. It's too beautiful! I'm going to post this on my social feed later~"

"Sure, remember to send me the photo."

As they were talking, suddenly, a brilliant meteor with a long tail streaked swiftly across the night sky.

Su Yang quickly looked up. "Qianyu, a meteor!!"

......