This sparsely populated, undeveloped mountain region was utterly free of the clamorous noise of the city. There were no chaotic, lingering odors, no forests of steel and concrete, no towering buildings to block the view.
Ken felt that his ability to lock onto and distinguish scents, to identify sounds, had all improved markedly— even his eyesight seemed sharper to some degree.
One could easily imagine that, at night, these abilities would be enhanced even further.
Could it be…
That the place truly suited to him was not the city at all, but the wilderness—these mountains?
"Looks like you don't come to the mountains very often, do you? Don't get too carried away—let's go. The air gets even better higher up!" Zhu Ke'er laughed, urging him on as she saw Ken standing there with his eyes closed, savoring the fresh air.
Though they appeared to be at the foot of the mountain, there was still quite a distance to go before the actual climb began.
Moreover, according to their planned route, they weren't taking any established paths, but sticking strictly to narrow trails. The terrain was poor, and their pace naturally couldn't be fast.
That said, they weren't trying to cover distance for its own sake. They walked casually—if someone felt tired, they stopped to rest; if they came across a nice view, they stopped to take photos.
Along the way, Zhu Ke'er and Yang Rui also learned from the others about how the Sanda coach had said Ken was even better at fighting than he was.
So the two of them flanked Ken, one on each side.
Zhu Ke'er suddenly said, "Chang Wei! And you still say you don't know martial arts!"
From the other side, Yang Rui chimed in, "Confess! Are you a warrior monk from Shaolin Temple?"
Before Ken could respond, the two of them doubled over laughing.
Ken was speechless. He simply accelerated forward. Naturally, the two women refused to let him off and hurried after him.
They were already climbing now, on a very narrow dirt path riddled with pits and uneven ground. It was difficult to walk. They had been on the trail for over two hours, and it was the hottest part of the day. Zhu Ke'er and Yang Rui were both visibly exhausted, drenched in sweat. Ken didn't seem to be walking particularly fast, yet no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't catch up.
"Hey… do you think he practices some kind of internal cultivation?" Yang Rui whispered to her friend. "It's this hot, and he doesn't even seem to be sweating."
Zhu Ke'er shot her a look. "Your imagination is getting worse by the day. You really think he's some hidden master, a Shaolin monk or something?"
But after Yang Rui pointed it out, she couldn't help noticing it herself. Ken did look far too relaxed. No matter how good his physical condition was, after two hours on rugged mountain trails in this heat, he shouldn't look like he'd barely broken a sweat.
As she was thinking this, Zhu Ke'er suddenly felt the ground give way beneath her foot. She cried out and fell to the side.
It wasn't some sheer cliff—just a shallow pit a little over twenty centimeters deep—but it was enough to twist her ankle badly.
Ken, who was ahead, turned around the instant she stepped into empty space. But he was too far away to reach her in time.
Everyone gathered around. The yoga instructor removed Zhu Ke'er's shoe and sock; her ankle was already swelling visibly. When she tried to move it slightly, she let out a pained gasp—she couldn't bear it.
"Nana, does it hurt badly? Can you stand?" Yang Rui asked anxiously.
Zhu Ke'er clutched her ankle and shook her head, unable to speak.
The yoga instructor frowned. "She can't walk." Then she looked up at the men. "We need to head back. One of you will have to carry Nana." Cars couldn't reach this area; they could only walk back.
In the past, this would have been the moment when everyone rushed to volunteer. But this time, almost instinctively, all eyes turned to Ken.
Ken knew there was no graceful way to refuse. Judging by Zhu Ke'er's ankle, the injury did look fairly serious. He walked over, squatted down, and with the help of the yoga instructor and Yang Rui, let Zhu Ke'er climb onto his back.
After resting for a bit, Zhu Ke'er suggested that the others continue as planned, while Yang Rui and Ken escorted her back.
No one agreed. They also felt that Ken alone wouldn't be able to carry her all the way back to where the cars were parked—it had taken them over two hours to get here.
Coach Shen stepped forward. "We'll switch when someone gets tired. Take turns carrying her."
Ken said nothing. But once he started back, the others quickly realized that even with a person on his back, they were struggling to keep up with his pace.
The return trip, which had taken over two hours on the way in, was cut to nearly half the time—even though part of that was due to not stopping to rest or take photos, his speed was undeniably much faster.
Coach Shen and the others, trailing behind, naturally couldn't bring themselves to suggest taking over for a while—Ken looked as though he was far more relaxed than any of them.
The pain in Zhu Ke'er's ankle had eased somewhat. At first, she'd worried that carrying her on such difficult terrain would exhaust him, and had planned to ask him to rest after a while.
But she soon realized that even with her ninety-plus pounds on his back, Ken's steps were steady, unstrained, without any sense of heaviness.
His breathing was calm—one could even say unhurried—and there was hardly any sweat on him.
What was stranger still was that despite walking for so long, now even carrying her, Ken's body felt cool—almost cold. Lying against him was like leaning on a chilled ice pack, surprisingly comfortable.
"Why are you so cool? Don't tell me Rui was right and you really practice some kind of internal cultivation?" Zhu Ke'er asked softly near his ear, curiosity getting the better of her.
Feeling the warm breath at his ear, Ken instinctively shrank his neck.
This was, by far, the closest physical contact he'd had with a woman in years. But unlike before, his sensory abilities were now extraordinarily acute.
He could hear Zhu Ke'er's breathing and heartbeat clearly. He could distinctly smell every scent on her—perfume, the faint fragrance of her clothes, the hormonal undertone in her sweat—each one entering his brain with startling clarity.
To be honest, he found the natural scent she gave off more pleasant than her perfume.
"Maybe my constitution is just strange," Ken replied casually, making it up on the spot. "I'm afraid of the cold but not the heat. I don't sweat much, even in autumn. And, well—I don't have hair. Better heat dissipation."
Zhu Ke'er's comment, however, had caught his attention. Was his body temperature really lower than that of an ordinary person?
When they reached the parking area, Ken carefully helped Zhu Ke'er into the back seat of the car, then bid farewell to the others who arrived moments later, panting heavily.
Yang Rui wiped sweat from her face with tissues from the car, cranked the air conditioning to full blast, and immediately drove them back.
At the hospital, after X-rays and treatment, Zhu Ke'er's ankle was bandaged. Luckily, only the ligament was injured—no bones were broken.
Ken declined Yang Rui's invitation to stay for dinner. On his way home, he stopped and bought a digital thermometer.
As soon as he got back, he measured his temperature.
When he looked at the display, it was exactly as he had expected.
28°C.