Take It Easy Tonight

It was half past eight in the morning when the tourists on the mountain peak gradually began emerging from their tents.

Pan Ning, Meng Qianyu, and the rest of the group were already awake and packing up their belongings.

The great thing about renting a tent was that there was no need to take it down. Once awake, they could simply grab their things and leave.

Because it had been too early earlier, Su Yang and Meng Wenzhou hadn't managed to find anything to eat.

Now, the two of them were sitting on the viewing platform, chatting idly as they waited for everyone else to gather.

Not far away, Jiang Yuxin and Mao Xiaorong finished packing their bags and walked over.

Last night, the two girls had agreed to travel alongside Su Yang's group for the upcoming stretch of the journey to the Holy City.

However, they would only be going as far as the Holy City. After that, they didn't have enough time to join the group on their expedition into the no-man's land.

"Morning, Brother Su, Brother Meng!" Jiang Yuxin and Mao Xiaorong greeted them with bright smiles as they approached.

"Morning!"

"Come have a seat for a bit. Once the others are up, we'll hit the road. We can stop by Xinduqiao for breakfast on the way."

"Sounds good!"

After they chatted for a while, the rest of the group finally emerged.

"Su Yang, where's our next stop?" Zhong Qing walked up and asked.

"Litang."

"How far is that from here?"

"A little over two hundred kilometers. It should take about four or five hours."

"Got it."

Once all fourteen people were present, the group headed to the parking lot.

Since Jiang Yuxin and Mao Xiaorong had their own car, Zhong Qing and Gao Yue, who were originally in Meng Wenzhou's vehicle, switched over to ride with them.

Everyone piled into their vehicles and drove out of the Yuzixi Starry Sky Camp one after another.

However, there were many other travelers setting off at the same time. Coupled with the rugged terrain, a mix of dirt trails, winding mountain roads, and gravel paths, the complex road conditions meant that the descent alone took over an hour before they finally reached National Highway 328.

There was actually another route down the mountain, but it was quite a detour, so they had opted against it.

By almost eleven in the morning, the four cars finally arrived at the town of Xinduqiao.

It was a small town nestled among the mountains, sitting at an average altitude of 3,460 meters.

With a permanent population of only six to seven thousand, the entire town felt incredibly peaceful and cozy.

Standing on the streets, one could see towering mountains in every direction. Paired with the mist and clouds lingering among the peaks, it felt as though they had stepped into an earthly paradise.

The town was also widely known as a photographer's paradise, attracting countless photography enthusiasts who flocked there to capture stunning landscape shots.

Su Yang's group found a spacious, empty area and parked their cars.

The group of over ten people strolled down the street and randomly picked a restaurant. After enjoying a meal of yak beef, milk curd pastries, and soup dumplings, they hit the road again.

Heading west from Xinduqiao and passing through the Gao'ersi Tunnel, the traffic on the road gradually began to pick up.

Along the way, they spotted several broken-down vehicles pulled over on the shoulder. Fortunately, none of their own cars were having any issues so far. Besides, as long as it wasn't a major mechanical failure, Su Yang could generally fix it.

Before long, the four cars reached Yajiang County, but the group didn't stop, continuing their journey westward instead.

After navigating a winding stretch of mountain road, they arrived at an even more serpentine section: the Eighteen Bends of the Heavenly Road.

This road spiraled its way up the mountainside. From a distance, it looked like a massive dragon preparing to take flight.

In Su Yang's car, Meng Qianyu pointed at the winding road ahead and exclaimed, "Brother Su Yang, is this the famous 72 Bends?"

"Yeah, that's right. Wait, no, this is the Eighteen Bends of the Heavenly Road, not the 72 Bends."

"The Eighteen Bends of the Heavenly Road?"

"Yeah. There are two famous 72 Bends. One is in Qian Province, and the other is further along the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, but neither of them is the one we're looking at right now."

"Oh, I see!"

As they spoke, they had already driven onto the winding highway. The four cars navigated seven or eight sharp hairpin turns in succession before pulling into the viewing platform for the Eighteen Bends.

There were quite a few vehicles parked along the side of the road, and tourists were pouring out to take commemorative photos on the viewing platform.

Su Yang and the others followed suit, pulling over to the side. The fourteen of them gathered on the platform for a large group photo before hitting the road once again.

After winding through several more massive curves, they finally cleared the dizzying stretch of mountain road.

They continued along the mountain highway, passing through the Jianziwan Tunnel, only to be met with another continuous uphill climb.

The rest of the drive consisted of endlessly scaling one steep, treacherous mountain peak after another.

It wasn't until around three-thirty in the afternoon that the group finally arrived in Litang County.

With an average altitude exceeding 4,000 meters, it was widely known as the City in the Sky.

Standing on the streets of the county town, one could see the towering Mount Gelie piercing the clouds in the distance. But then again, ever since they had entered western Sichuan and the Tibetan regions, majestic peaks and snow-capped mountains were basically an everyday sight.

They drove down the town's main road and pulled over to park.

There were plenty of other road-trippers arriving in Litang at the same time, to the point where the sheer volume of vehicles was causing a slight traffic jam.

The sidewalks, too, were bustling with pedestrians.

Having driven for nearly five hours straight, everyone was feeling a bit fatigued, so they all stepped out of their cars to stretch their legs.

Pan Ning pulled out her phone and looked at the rest of the group. "I'll handle booking the rooms today."

"Okay."

The original group members didn't think much of it, but the two girls who had just joined them naturally felt a little bashful about the offer.

Jiang Yuxin stepped forward with a smile. "Sister Pan, you don't need to worry about the two of us. We can book our own room!"

Pan Ning replied casually, "Since we're traveling together, we might as well book together."

"Yeah, don't feel bad about it. This is how we all do things; we just take turns," Liu Bo added with a smile, looking at the two girls.

Meng Wenzhou chimed in as well. "Just like Pan Pan said, since we're all traveling together now, we'll just handle things like booking rooms together. It's no big deal!"

Hearing Meng Wenzhou's reassurance, the two girls finally nodded in agreement. "Alright, then we'll treat everyone to the rooms at the next stop!"

"Haha, deal!"

Pan Ning was quick and efficient. She swiftly selected a hotel in the county town that boasted a great environment.

Sticking to their usual rooming arrangements, she booked a total of seven rooms: one luxury suite, one king-size room, and five twin rooms.

It wasn't that Pan Ning specifically wanted to book a nicer room just for herself and Su Yang. The main issue was that it was currently peak season for traveling to Tibet.

Hotels at every major rest stop were practically fully booked.

She considered herself lucky today that this particular hotel happened to have exactly seven rooms left, so she booked them all without a second thought.

Because of Litang's high altitude and thin air, most of the rooms in the hotel she chose featured whole-room oxygen enrichment and underfloor heating.

Once the rooms were secured, the group wandered around the streets for a little while before driving over to the hotel.

They weren't far from their destination. A few minutes later, the four cars pulled up to the hotel Pan Ning had booked, the Litang Songhe Grand Hotel.

The hotel featured a blend of modern and traditional Tibetan architectural styles, giving it a very unique and chic exterior.

After parking their vehicles, the group walked into the lobby to check in.

There was no hassle of figuring out room assignments this time. Sticking to their established pairings, everyone grabbed their room keys and took the elevator upstairs.

All of their rooms were located on the seventh floor, though they weren't right next to each other.

Su Yang and Pan Ning arrived at their door, swiped their key card, and stepped inside.

The suite was quite spacious, eighty-three square meters, featuring a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout.

The room had excellent natural lighting. The decor leaned toward a Tibetan style, but not completely. The living room walls were hung with many modern paintings, yet the patterns on the curtains and other accents were distinctly Tibetan.

"This interior design is quite unique, an East-meets-West kind of vibe..." Su Yang chuckled after looking around the place.

Pan Ning, however, paid no attention to any of that. The moment she entered the room, she made a beeline for the sofa and collapsed onto it.

Seeing this, Su Yang asked, "Tired?"

"A little. Sitting in the car for so long made my back ache."

"How about I help loosen you up?" Su Yang offered with a grin and a wink.

Pan Ning rolled her eyes at him. "Don't think I don't know what you're really thinking. Save it for tonight!"

......