Although Yuan Lu hadn't been Xu Gui's assistant for long, she considered herself to know Xu Gui fairly well.
While Xu Gui often acted unpredictably, leaving people baffled by her behavior, she wasn't actually the type to speak without reason or make a fuss.
Many things, later, proved that she had a reason for doing so.
So, was Xu Gui going down there for this inspection because she discovered something down there?
Thinking of this, Yuan Lu's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly gave up trying to persuade Xu Gui. Instead, she actively began searching with Xu Gui for a suitable place to go down.
Finally, after searching, the two found a suitable spot.
"Xu Gui, I'll go with you," Yuan Lu said immediately.
Xu Gui looked down and said, "No need, you stay up here. That way, if I accidentally fall down there, you can call for help."
Yuan Lu: "Then, then I'll go down, and you wait for me up here, Xu Gui?"—As her assistant, how could she let Xu Gui put herself in danger?
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui looked her up and down with surprise, then slowly shook her head and said, "I'll go down myself."
Although she didn't say much, Yuan Lu felt she understood her meaning; her eyes seemed to say, "You're useless."
Yuan Lu felt a little embarrassed.
After Xu Gui jumped down, she looked at her own thin arms and legs, which seemed to lack strength, and suddenly made a decision: she must exercise more in the future to increase her physical strength so that she could stand up next time something like this happened.
Yuan Lu exhaled and looked down, first seeing that Xu Gui's figure had already disappeared into the woods, her silhouette indistinct.
She turned her head and saw the girl in the black dress they had seen earlier, who was standing a few steps away, watching them.
Yuan Lu wondered, "...What is this child trying to do?"
She followed them but didn't get close, just kept a strange distance, watching them with an odd expression.
...
At this moment, Xu Gui had already entered the woods below. Finding her direction, she headed towards the lowest part of the large platform.
The "Golden Summit" side was densely wooded with trees and rocks. The canopies of the trees overhead stretched out, blocking out the sun and creating a chilly atmosphere.
Because this area was rarely visited, it was overgrown with weeds and vines, making movement quite difficult. Occasionally, rustling sounds could be heard around her, indicating the presence of some unknown animal.
Fortunately, Xu Gui was agile. While her movements appeared dangerous to outsiders, she walked steadily and firmly.
*Flutter!
* A small bird with a pale yellow crest, reddish cheeks below its eyes, and white feathers fluttered its wings and landed on a tree in front of Xu Gui.
It tilted its head slightly, looking at Xu Gui with curiosity.
Xu Gui looked up at it and stretched out her arm: "Come here."
The little bird tilted its head again, its small, beady eyes revealing a hint of innocent foolishness.
A few seconds later, "Chirp, chirp..."
With a chirp, the little bird flapped its wings and flew up, as if drawing a smooth, steady line, gently landing on Xu Gui's arm.
Xu Gui gently stroked its feathers and asked, "Have you seen any humans like me down here?"
The little bird hopped on her arm, calling out, "Human! Human!!"
"That's right, humans, humans like me," Xu Gui said. "Have you seen one? If you have, can you take me to her?"
The little bird stared at Xu Gui for a few seconds, then suddenly flapped its wings and flew in one direction, calling out, "Human, looking for someone... Mom, Mom is the prettiest!"
Xu Gui looked up at the white figure and quickly followed.
...
Yuan Lu returned to the large platform at the top of the mountain.
Standing here, the view was not only clearer but also covered a wider area.
The dense foliage below obscured her view, so even though she squinted and looked carefully down, she still couldn't see Xu Gui.
Unable to see him and unsure of his condition, Yuan Lu couldn't help but worry and called him.
Thankfully, the call connected quickly. As soon as she heard the call, she eagerly asked, "Teacher Xu, are you alright? Is everything alright?"
Xu Gui's voice was slightly breathless as he replied, "Of course I'm fine."
[Someone...someone...looking for someone!] A strange sound came from the phone. Yuan Lu listened for a moment and couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Xu, is there anyone else with you?" She thought she heard another person speaking.
"Is there someone else down there?" she wondered.
Someone else down there?
Hearing this, the girl in the black dress standing a few steps away suddenly looked up, her gaze fixed on Yuan Lu.
Yuan Lu didn't notice the other person's gaze, nor did she see the girl's seemingly flustered eyes. She was still talking to Xu Gui: "...So it was a bird talking?"
—Xu Gui explained to her that it was a bird.
After Xu Gui described the bird's appearance, she suddenly realized, "It should be a parrot..." She remembered that many parrots could talk.
The parrot Xu Gui encountered might belong to someone on this mountain?
Yuan Lu wondered.
"...Don't worry, I'm fine. If anything happens, I'll contact me." Xu Gui's reassuring voice came from the phone. She said, "I might need your help later."
The call ended.
Yuan Lu stared at the disconnected phone, pondering Xu Gui's last words: What did she mean by "I might need her help later"?
Yuan Lu leaned over the railing, peering down, trying again to find Xu Gui.
Time passed silently, the blazing sun growing hotter, making exposed skin feel burning hot.
After waiting for about half an hour, just as Yuan Lu was wondering whether to call Xu Gui again, her phone finally rang again.
"Hello, Teacher Xu..." she called out anxiously, "Are you alright?"
"Yuan Lu," Xu Gui's somewhat cold voice came through the phone, "Could you please contact the security guards at the Golden Summit... tell them I encountered someone down here, who seems to have fallen from the mountain, and looks to be in bad shape, needing help."
Hearing this, Yuan Lu was stunned: ?!
A person?!
There was someone down here? And someone who had fallen?
In that instant, several thoughts flashed through Yuan Lu's mind, her thoughts a jumbled mess. Fortunately, she remained calm and instinctively replied, "Okay, I'll go find the security guards at the Golden Summit to help right now!"
As she spoke, she turned to find the security guards at the Golden Summit. The girl in the black dress, who had been standing silently to the side and whom she had almost ignored, suddenly rushed forward and blocked Yuan Lu's path.
"What happened?" the girl asked anxiously, looking at Yuan Lu. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Seeing Yuan Lu's hesitation, she quickly said, "Sister, my home is at the Golden Summit. I know this place very well. If there's anything, I can definitely help!"
Her attitude was very proactive. Yuan Lu thought that having an acquaintance would indeed make things easier, so she said, "My friend encountered someone down there, someone who seems to have fallen down the mountain. She asked me to find the security guards at the Golden Summit to help..."
The girl in the black dress froze, her face blank. The next second, she suddenly grabbed Yuan Lu's shoulder and excitedly asked, "What kind of person was it? Was it a man or a woman? Did she say who she was?"
Yuan Lu: "Ah..."
"Yuan Lu!" Xu Gui's voice came from the still-connected phone. Yuan Lu quickly held the phone to her ear. "Hello, Teacher Xu!"
Xu Gui squatted down, looking down at the figure lying on the ground, and said coldly, "Tell that girl that the person who had the accident was a girl about her age, with two braids, wearing a blue dress..."
Yuan Lu had already turned on the speakerphone halfway through, so the girl in the black dress heard Xu Gui's words. At this moment, her expression was blank, as if her soul had floated out of her body.
Several seconds later, she came back to her senses and asked softly, "She, she... is she still alive?"
Still alive?
Xu Gui looked down at the disheveled girl and said, "Although she looks very miserable, she is indeed still alive."
Hearing this, the girl in the black dress showed a very strange expression, as if she was afraid, yet also relieved... Finally, she covered her face and began to sob.
"Thank goodness, Meimei is okay, Meimei is okay..." she said, wiping away her tears.
Yuan Lu looked at her cautiously and asked, "Are you alright?"
The girl wiped away her tears and said, "I'm fine... Oh, right,"
she looked up at Yuan Lu and said, "Didn't you want to find security? I know where the security office is, I'll take you there!"
With the girl leading the way, Yuan Lu easily found the security guards at the Golden Summit.
The security guards at the Golden Summit were all hired at high prices, not the pretentious showboats of ordinary residential areas. They were all genuinely skilled, and some were even retired soldiers—very capable.
When they heard Yuan Lu say that someone had fallen from the large platform, the security guards' first reaction was disbelief, and then they quickly took action.
There was also a medical room on the Golden Summit, and because they heard that the person who had fallen seemed to be in serious condition, the security guards called the doctors and nurses from the medical room, and the group hurriedly rushed to the back of the Golden Summit.
The commotion also alerted many people living on the Golden Summit—Xu Gui and his group were currently on a small island in H Province, and the Golden Summit was actually a resort villa area, with few permanent residents, mostly people who came here occasionally for vacation.
Now, many people, seeing the security guards' actions, came over to join the commotion.
"What happened?"
"I know, I heard a little girl fell from the big platform at the top of the mountain..."
"Wow! That's really high up there, is she dead after falling?"
"I don't know, but it seems they said she's still alive, and the medical staff went down to rescue her!"
Everyone crowded onto the platform to look down, trying to see where she had fallen, but the island was full of trees, blocking the view of the ground below. The
security guards acted quickly and efficiently, and with Xu Gui's location guidance, they soon found him. Suddenly, a cockatiel, startled, took flight from the side. It circled once in the air before slowly landing, its small body settling on someone's shoulder below. Once steady, it made a cooing sound and turned to preen its slightly ruffled feathers. The security guards' eyes followed the parrot, and as it landed, their gaze naturally shifted from the parrot to the figure beneath it. "...You must be Miss Xu?" The security captain strode over. "Where is the injured person?" Xu Gui nodded to them. "Follow me, the person is over there." To prevent the guards from getting lost, Xu Gui deliberately walked a few steps in their direction, leading them towards the injured person. After walking for about two minutes, the guards finally saw the injured person. Upon seeing the person's condition, their hearts sank, and their faces showed extreme shock. They only knew that someone had fallen from Jinding Mountain, but they had no idea how badly the person had fallen. They only guessed it might be serious, given the height and steepness of the terrain. However, seeing the person's condition now was beyond their expectations.
The person standing before them was in a terrible state.
She was filthy, covered in mud and weeds, and extremely thin. Her exposed fingers were so emaciated they looked like skin and bones.
She was completely unrecognizable.
She lay there, almost blending into her surroundings. This didn't look like someone who had just fallen from above…
The security captain didn't dare think too much and immediately called to the doctors and nurses following behind them, "Doctor, quick, check on her!" Without a word, the doctors and nurses rushed over and knelt down to examine her. While the doctors were working, the security captain went to Xu Gui's side and spoke to her.
"How did Miss Xu find this person?" he asked tentatively.
"Does Miss Xu know who she is?" Xu Gui shook her head. "I don't know her..." "Then how did Miss Xu know there was someone down here?" The security captain looked up.
"From here, looking down, it seems like you can't see anything." Xu Gui suddenly looked at him and asked, "Are you suspecting that I'm the one who harmed her?" The security captain's expression was frank.
"I just find this very strange, and I'm also very curious why Miss Xu would suddenly come here." He looked around. "Ordinary people wouldn't come to a place like this, would they? Miss Xu, your actions seem like you knew there was someone here from the beginning, so you went straight to your destination as soon as you came down... Isn't that strange?" The security captain felt that the whole thing was strange from the beginning, and he couldn't believe Xu Gui even if he wanted to.
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui smiled and said,
"Don't worry, this really has nothing to do with me. This is my first time in H Province..." "However, if you're going to ask me how I knew there were people down there, I can tell you, I predicted it." She looked at the security captain, and amidst his shocked yet "Are you crazy?" expression,
said, "My main profession is fortune telling. You can call me the Fortune Teller!" Security Captain: ? What? The security captain was dumbfounded.
"Captain!" The doctor, having finished examining the injured person, immediately stood up and reported to the security captain, "The patient's condition is not good. Her leg is broken, she seems to have not eaten for a long time, her body is extremely weak, and she also has a fever!"
The doctor's expression was grave—in all her years, this was the first time she had encountered a patient in such dire condition; "riddled with wounds" wouldn't be an exaggeration. Moreover,
her breathing was very weak, clearly on the verge of death.
"Therefore, we must get her to the hospital as soon as possible for a thorough medical examination!"
The captain nodded, not bothering to ask Xu Gui anything further, and hurriedly instructed his men to place the person on a stretcher and carry her up the mountain.
When they lifted the person onto the stretcher, the security guards, feeling her thin, bony hands, handled her with extreme care, afraid of causing further injury with even a slight exertion.
The group quickly made their way up, and when they emerged, they saw a large crowd gathered along the way.
"They're coming up!"
"My God, look at their stretcher! There's actually someone underneath? Whose child is this?"
"What happened to this person? How long has it been since they fell? Did it rain today?" It looked like they'd rolled around in mud.
The girl in the black dress, upon seeing the person on the stretcher, widened her eyes and her lips trembled slightly.
Xu Gui appeared behind the security guards. As soon as she came up, Yuan Lu rushed towards her: "Teacher Xu!"
—She had originally wanted to go down with the security guards, but they said they were going down to rescue someone and didn't want Yuan Lu to cause them trouble, so they refused her entry.
"Teacher Xu, are you alright?" She looked at Xu Gui with concern, then her gaze fell on the little bird on her shoulder: "Is this the parrot you mentioned on the phone?"
Xu Gui nodded, reaching out to naturally pat the bird's head, saying, "Quickly say hello to your sister..."
"Sister," the little bird hopped on Xu Gui's shoulder and called out, "Hello, sister."
Yuan Lu's eyes widened, and she stammered, "It, it talked..."
Xu Gui looked at her strangely and said, "Didn't you say that parrots can talk?" Why are you so surprised?
Yuan Lu: "...But this is the first time I've ever seen a parrot talk in real life!"
She cupped her face, somewhat excitedly saying, "And it even called me sister!"
The little bird continued to shout at the top of its lungs, "...Hello, sister! Hello, sister!"
Xu Gui smiled, turned her head, and saw a young woman not far away looking at them with a shocked expression.
Xu Gui: ?
The next second, the young woman suddenly rushed over, her eyes fixed on Xu Gui...the parrot on Xu Gui's shoulder.
"Caiyun, you can actually talk?" The young woman exclaimed excitedly, reaching out to hold the little bird in her hands. "Aren't you a mute parrot?"
The parrot, held in her hands, didn't struggle, only tilting its head slightly.
Xu Gui looked at the woman and asked, "Is this your parrot?"
The woman was trying to get the parrot to say a few more words, but the parrot kept its mouth tightly shut, not opening it at all.
Hearing Xu Gui's words, she looked up, nodded, and said, "It's mine. Its name is Caiyun, it's a cockatiel… The aunt who feeds it today accidentally frightened it, and it flew away. I looked for it for ages, thinking I'd never find it again."
The woman's eyes were practically brimming with tears as she spoke.
Looking at her attire—slippers, a simple dress, and no makeup—she really did look like she had rushed out of the house in a hurry.
It seemed that what she said might actually be true. Of course, most importantly, the parrot hadn't struggled violently after she held it, indicating that the woman and the bird indeed knew each other.
"Did my Caiyun just talk?" she asked Xu Gui and the others, her face full of anticipation.
Xu Gui nodded, "Yes, she talked."
"Right?" The woman's face lit up with excitement as she called out to the little bird, "Caiyun, tell Mommy: Mommy's beautiful!" Her
voice was thick with her old-fashioned accent.
Unfortunately, Caiyun completely ignored her, tilting her head and preening her feathers.
The young woman was a little confused. She asked, "Didn't you just talk? Why aren't you talking now?"
The little bird ignored her.
The woman looked flustered, and for some reason, she looked pitifully at Xu Gui, asking, "Why did you ask my Caiyun to talk? Why won't she talk when I tell her to?"
She couldn't help but feel wronged—it was bad enough that her pet bird didn't listen to her at all, but also acted like she couldn't be bothered to talk to her.
The young woman: Waaah, that's too much.
Xu Gui glanced at the person and the pet, and said, "Oh, it's just too lazy to pay attention to you."
As she spoke, she held out her hand, and the little bird immediately seemed to see a relative, eagerly spreading its wings and flying to her hand, even rubbing its beak against Xu Gui's fingers.
Watching this scene, Yuan Lu could hardly bear to look at the woman's expression. Anyone who didn't know better would probably think that their teacher, Xu, was the parrot's owner.
She glanced at the woman, and sure enough, the woman's face was filled with heartbreak.
"You, how did you do that?" the woman looked at Xu Gui with indignation. "Did you bewitch my Caiyun? It's such a high-and-mighty bird!"
But now? It was acting like a complete sycophant… Her Caiyun had never rubbed its beak against her like that before.
The woman was indignant; in other words, she was completely overwhelmed by the scene before her.
"Pretty sister, pretty sister, hello!" Caiyun added fuel to the fire, its behavior on Xu Gui's fingers becoming even more obsequious.
Seeing the young woman on the verge of tears, Xu Gui spoke up, "It's not that it doesn't like you; in fact, it likes you very much. Think about it, among everyone in your family, isn't it the one who likes you the most?"
The young woman calmed down a bit and had to admit that Xu Gui was right.
She had found Caiyun in a trash can. The little bird was initially listless and sickly—perhaps that was why its previous owner had abandoned it.
The woman spent a long time curing its illnesses, making it a healthy little bird. Therefore, in their family, the bird was the closest to her.
You see, Caiyun was a very proud parrot. It wouldn't even let anyone touch it, including the aunt who occasionally fed it. It would only obediently lower its proud head and let her preen its feathers when facing its young owner.
Thinking of this, the woman's heart softened again.
"But…" She looked at the little bird that was so affectionate towards Xu Gui, her expression turning mournful again, "It's never been this affectionate towards me."
"Idiot! Idiot!" The little bird hopped around on Xu Gui's finger, looking quite agitated.
Woman: ?
Why is it swearing, bird?
Xu Gui smiled and said, "It's just a little unhappy with you, so it sometimes doesn't like the look of you and wants to peck you…"
She looked at the woman intently and said, "Believe me, the fact that it didn't peck you or slap you with its wings is entirely because it really likes you."
The woman: ?
"What could it possibly be unhappy about with me?" She couldn't think of anything she could do to make her little bird so unhappy; she was completely devoted to it.
Xu Gui began, "Well, it's because..."
"Miss Xu!"
a voice suddenly interrupted.