"AAAAAAH—"

"AAAAH—"

Even though Chen Yuan had clamped his hands over his ears, the piercing screams still made his face scrunch up. The sound was just that penetrating.

He looked utterly bewildered.

"The cable car has already slowed down... Yaoyao, what are you yelling about?"

The cable car had only been going extremely fast while descending past a short, steep cliff. Now its speed had dropped considerably. As long as they stayed still, the car barely swayed at all.

And yet, Jiangg Yao was still clutching her sister’s hand and screaming her head off.

"AAAAH, it’s so beautiful! It’s like a wonderland! Look at the view over there, Young Master."

Biting her lip, Jiangg Yao pointed toward a nearby mountain forest shrouded in mist. Through the vapor, emerald leaves were faintly visible. A sliver of light, like a false dawn, broke through in the distance, while the sprawling dark clouds looked like sliced pastries on a cutting board, thick and soft.

The ground, of course, was impossible to make out.

But it was precisely because the world was hazy and indistinct in the mist that it felt like they were in a wonderland.

And as their cable car passed through it all, it felt as if they had broken through the barrier of reality and arrived in another dimension.

"Where’s your phone? Take some pictures." Jiangg Ning’s eyes were also sparkling with wonder. She sat up straight to get a better look at the scenery outside.

It took her a moment to remember to take a picture to capture the marvelous scene for posterity.

"Didn’t you put it in your bag earlier?"

"Right, I’ll look for it."

Jiangg Ning rummaged for her phone and took it out. She turned to find a good angle for a picture, but Yaoyao pouted and jumped into the frame, striking a cute pose.

"Lean to the left. You’re blocking the view."

"Is this okay?"

"A little more to the left."

"How about now?"

"Wait, let me adjust it again."

The back-and-forth between the two sisters created a rather harmonious scene.

A woman is never more patient than when she’s trying to find the perfect angle for a photo. They spent a good seven or eight minutes at it, snapping countless pictures. In the process, they completely ignored Chen Yuan, single-mindedly focused on their photoshoot.

Chen Yuan just sat there, a gentle smile on his lips, quietly watching the two boisterous sisters.

He loved this kind of quiet moment. No matter what lavish life others might covet—be it wealth and glory or a high-ranking position—none of it could compare to the scene before him in Chen Yuan’s eyes.

For this was what he truly loved.

...

The sky had darkened so quickly. Night seeped from every corner of the heavens like thick ink, staining the entire world black. The process felt instantaneous, as if daylight had vanished in the time it took to turn one’s head.

In its place came the chirping of countless insects after the rain, an unending chorus of frogs, the faint glow of streetlights, and the swarms of bugs fluttering beneath them.

Stepping out of the cable car, the three of them still faced a long walk on foot to the parking lot.

But for them, this long and arduous journey was just one step from its end.

As they walked, the two sisters and Chen Yuan cheered each other on, quickening their pace and urging their aching feet forward.

When they reached the downhill section of the road, Jiangg Ning, who was leading the way, suddenly froze. Her steps faltered, and Chen Yuan and Yaoyao, who were behind her, stopped as well.

Jiangg Yao even bumped right into Chen Yuan’s shoulder.

"What... why did you stop?"

Rubbing her slightly sore nose, Yaoyao asked in a stuffy voice.

"What... are these things?"

Jiangg Ning stared in disbelief at the scene before them. Countless frogs covered the path, their bellies pressed against the wet, rugged mountain road. The unending chorus of croaks they’d heard earlier was coming from right here. In the dark, their eyes reflected the streetlights, and their bodies were covered in slime.

This was the frogs’ domain.

On the dew-covered grass beside the road, other frogs were still hopping onto the path.

As their powerful hind legs propelled them forward, a RUSTLE RUSTLE sound came from all over the grass, and the leaves trembled incessantly.

"So disgusting!"

Jiangg Yao peeked out, then quickly pulled her head back. Her brow furrowed in an instant, her reaction a carbon copy of her sister’s.

Without a doubt, both sisters disliked these slimy creatures.

The "RIBBIT RIBBIT" sound filled their ears, grating on their nerves. Most importantly, these frogs had brazenly taken over the entire road, leaving them not only unable to move forward but with nowhere to even place their feet.

All they could do was stand there, rooted to the spot.

Chen Yuan, on the other hand, was not afraid.

He wasn’t scared of them at all; he’d even dare to kick one away. But as he raised his foot to do just that to a frog that had hopped in front of him, Jiangg Ning frantically grabbed him and shook her head.

"Don’t touch them! They’re so filthy, Chen."

"Alright."

"Are there any other roads here? Let’s take another path."

What girls feared most were things like roaches, bugs, rats, and ants. The sight of them triggered a visceral, physiological disgust in most women, prompting endless screaming.

It had nothing to do with bravery.

Just like how many guys are afraid of snakes.

The aversion to these creepy, crawling things that emerge from unknown corners might as well be encoded in their DNA.

A woman who could smack a cockroach with her bare hand or see a centipede without jumping three feet in the air was a heroine of the highest order.

Jiangg Yao was terrified of these creatures. Having a nightmare about them would take her three days to get over.

Jiangg Ning was also afraid.

Frogs were slightly more tolerable, but not by much. What Jiangg Ning hated was how dirty they were. For someone like her, who was a bit of a neat freak, the slime on their bodies was heinous and unbearable.

"What other road would there be?" Chen Yuan said, looking at the rugged mountain path under the streetlights. It was dotted with puddles, deep and shallow. "You can tell it took a massive effort for the park to even build this one. I’m guessing this is it."

"Then what do we do? We can’t get through." Jiangg Yao’s face was a mask of reluctance as she stared pleadingly at Chen Yuan.

"They’re just frogs... We can just kick them aside. Or, if we want to be kind to animals, we don’t have to hurt them. We can just use a stick to shoo them away. They’re timid. Just a light sweep with a branch and they’ll hop far away."

The parking lot wasn’t far, and it was already so dark.

Chen Yuan had no desire to be stuck here.

Besides, it wasn’t like the path was blocked by ferocious beasts. Calling them slimes from a video game would be an overstatement. Getting past them would be a piece of cake.

When Chen Yuan was a kid, he used to spend his school holidays in the countryside. Forget frogs—during spring and summer thunderstorms, poisonous toads would crawl out of the ponds and roadside ditches. They had bumpy, pus-filled sacs on their backs, and plenty of them were bigger than a man’s fist.

His friends in the countryside would just kick them aside without a second thought.

"No way!" To his surprise, Jiangg Yao refused outright.

"You’re scared to even touch them with a stick? Don’t be so dramatic. Here, I’ll show you."

Speechless, Chen Yuan started looking around.

He grabbed a nearby dry branch and swept it casually across the path. At once, the frogs near his feet scattered, hopping chaotically into the grass. A ticklish RUSTLE filled the air, and in an instant, the path before him was clear.

Seeing this, the two sisters’ tense shoulders relaxed.

The eager expressions with which they stared at him were completely identical, a perfect twin copy, right down to the curve of their arched eyebrows.

"I’ll clear the way. You two follow me. Once we’re past this grassy area, we’ll be fine."

Chen Yuan looked toward the two sisters, his eyes twinkling with encouragement.

He held out his hand, intending to take Jiangg Ning’s, so they could follow him one after the other.

Jiangg Ning hesitated. It was getting very late, and even though she felt repulsed, they had to get home. They couldn’t just stay here forever.