The ground started to shake again. But this time the muds and debris flowed backwards returning the place the way it was. None of them could believe their own eyes. It was more shocking to them than the previous mudslide.
"I...Ahh... I am not the only one who saw that, right?" asked Abbey.
"This solves the landslide mystery," said Jason.
"What do you mean, Jason? What is it that you know that we don't?" asked Yosef.
"Right now, I know as much as you all know. And for how and why something like this happened, I am as clueless as any one of you. But let's all stay calm for the time being. Panicking won't do us any good."
"Hey, Fred. Is everything alright now?" asked Jason.
"It seems so," replied Fredrick.
"Then don't waste anymore time here and start rowing and take us to the dock."
While they all had a lot of questions on their minds, they were too busy trying to remain calm after what they just saw. Even though it was dark all around, it was certain to all that what they just saw wasn't any illusion.
After they reached the dock, they got off the boat.
"Are we safe now?" asked Ashton.
"We should be," replied Jason.
"How are you so calm after all of these?" asked Yosef.
"I would be lying if I said I am calm. I am as shocked as you guys. Let's sit on that bench there for now."
They all sat on the bench that was beside the deck while Jason sat on the other one facing towards them.
"Remember what Thomas told us when we were at the first checkpoint?"
"About some rumours he heard?" asked Ashton.
"Yes, what he said about the landslides happening from the third checkpoint to the second was the part that didn't fit right, to me at least.."
"How so?" asked Damian.
"Don't you find it strange? It's a landslide but it's within a specific range while this whole place is a mountain itself and if there's a landslide then why would it start from the third checkpoint while not from the fourth which is at the top of the mountain?"
"Even though the whole place is a mountain but the checkpoints are comparatively plain lands. So it's not unusual if a slide happened from one to the other leaving the top ones intact." said Thomas.
"You are not wrong about that. But judging by how much ground the mountain holds, how many landslides can there actually happen?"
"Not much. The debris would eventually remain on the lower points while reducing the volume of the ground on the upper points," replied Thomas.
"Exactly. So did we see any debris when we reached the second checkpoint?"
"No, we didn't," said Damian.
"Still it was mentioned that the landslides were continuously happening between the third and the second checkpoints. But as Damian just said, we didn't see any debris. Because of that, at first anyone would think that the landslides were nothing but rumours."
"Then what made you sure that the landslides were actually happening?" asked Yosef.
"I don't think Thomas had mentioned it to you all but when you guys were fishing he asked me to go with him to see a certain shrine."
"What kind of shrine? Why didn't you tell us Thomas?" asked Damian.
"It's just something I heard from that shopkeeper when he was telling me about the rumours. He said that a shrine was found around here and it was something a native like him wasn't aware of before the slides," said Thomas.
"So what did you find at that shrine, Jason?" asked Yosef.
"The shrine was relatively small in size. But if the shrine was previously buried in the ground and if a landslide removes the ground around it then it would explain the sudden appearance of the shrine. The appearance of the shrine confirmed the landslides."
"But what about the debris?" asked Damian.
"Didn't you just see that with your own eyes?"
"Then how do you explain what just happened?" asked Yosef.
"About that, just as I said, I am as clueless as any of you. All I guessed beforehand was, something must be removing the debris. That's all. What we just saw, even I couldn't imagine such a sight. But instead of panicking to know how something like that happened, to me, it was the answer to what happened to the debris."
"Then what about Fred's recent behaviors?" asked Ashton.
"Ohh... About that. All I can say is, I had nothing to do with that."
"But didn't you believe in me?" asked Fredrick.
"Who in their right minds would believe something like that. You didn't even mention that a landslide might happen. You were just screaming do this or die without even saying what 'this' was. If you had said so then it would have been a bit believable."
"Then why did you go along with what he said?" asked Yosef.
"Because it didn't hurt to try. Moreover it even confirmed my speculations. Aren't you glad that we listened to him? Maybe somehow he was sensitive to the incident like how some animals can feel the change in the surroundings before the change happens not that I know how."
"Then why didn't you tell us about these in the first place?" asked Ashton.
"Would you have believed me if I had done so?"
They remained silent, while Fredrick felt a bit betrayed.
"Then how did Fred know that we will be safe once we're in the middle of the lake? You were the one who told Fred to stop the boat once we were in the middle of the lake," said Yosef.
"Like I said, I don't know why Fred did what he did. But I guessed something when Fred told us to get on the boat. Remember when you guys tried fishing. Even though there were a lot of fish in the lake, none were caught."
"Yeah, so?" asked Damian.
"From the dock we clearly saw fish swimming in the middle of the lake. But there were none near the deck. I didn't give it much thought until Fred mentioned getting on the boat. It seems the recent landslides like this one we just witnessed reached the dock, covering the area around it as well. As the landslides were frequently happening, the fish in the lake also saw what happened. To them the place around the dock became a danger zone. They may be fish but as living beings, they are not fools."
"Then what should we do now?" asked Ashton.
"Let's go back to the campsite and check the condition of our stuff. We will leave this place before evening."
"We are going back?" said Abbey.
"Why? You still wanna stay here after what you have seen?" said Damian.
Their conversation ended and they started walking towards the campsite. While they were returning to the campsite, Fredrick suddenly stopped midway.
"Hey, why did you stop all of a sudden, Fred?" asked Ashton who was at the front.
"I feel like there's something over there," said Fredrick.
"What are you talking about?" said Abbey.
"The sun hasn't risen yet. We can't even see anything in this dark without the lights. How do you know if there's something over where you are pointing?" asked Yosef.
'That direction? isn't that where...*sigh*, So he is at the early stage. Guess I have to speed up my plans,' thought Jason.
"Let's first get back to the camp, we will check it later, Fred," said Jason.