Jian Zhaoxing

Chapter 157 Disagreement
"Eat this, and then we'll continue on our way." Lin Zhiqing took out a pill.

"Qing'er, how much stuff did you bring?" Jiang Liuyun scratched his head and took the pill.

"These are pills made from Scutellaria baicalensis, Forsythia suspensa, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, and other ingredients. They have the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying. Regardless of whether they work or not, taking them will give you peace of mind." Lin Zhiqing was very well prepared.

She had the people at Jianxintang prepare these pills a long time ago.

This is to deal with special circumstances.

She had a hidden pocket sewn into her night clothes, which could hold quite a lot of things.

Judging from tonight's events, the earplugs, masks, pills, and other supplies she prepared were all used, which proved to be quite necessary.

After watching Jiang Liuyun swallow the pill, the three of them continued walking forward.

As the terrain became steeper, their right side gradually transformed from barren grassland into a small hillside.

It turned from a small hillside into a large hillside.

Lin Zhiqing didn't say much along the way, constantly looking around at her surroundings, afraid that something unexpected might happen again.

Jiang Liuyun and Lu Huai were focused on the route, or more accurately, Lu Huai.

"We should be in a mountain valley now, surrounded by mountains on both sides. If we follow the mountain path to the right, we will be able to return to the street we came from."

After walking for a while, Lu Huai paused to think for a moment before speaking.

It seems he already has their exact location in his mind.

Some people are like that; while others can't distinguish east from west, north from south, or large from small, square from round, these people have already formed complete three-dimensional geometric figures in their minds.

Just like a drawn model, it can be observed and explored from different positions.

Lin Zhiqing was never good at math. When the teacher asked her to imagine a cube or cuboid in class, she couldn't.

But she knew that there were some people in the class she could instantly picture in her mind.

However, they encountered a problem half an hour later.

Jiang Liuyun pointed to the two roads in front of him: "Brother Lu, which one are you referring to on the right?"

"A fork in the road?" Lu Huai frowned and walked to the side to observe carefully.

The three of them had indeed gone to the right, but now two paths appeared in front of them.

One road leads straight, the other leads to a right turn.

This is a fork in the road.

"How could it be such a fork in the road?" Lin Zhiqing frowned as well.

From the moment she stepped into the Liu residence, she focused her attention on psychology.

Indeed, the Liu family was a giant hypnotic trap.

She was highly vigilant about this and, after entering the mountains, she kept observing and looking for traces of psychological traps.

But now that he's come this far, Lin Zhiqing has discovered that there are indeed no traces of Liu Mang's arrangements on this mountain.

So now the question facing them is, which path should they take?
They are not safe right now.

If Liu Mang discovers that the warehouse has been robbed and that his incriminating evidence has been stolen, he will certainly not let it go.

It's possible that they could be trapped and die on the mountain.

At that moment, Lu Huai pointed to the path that led straight ahead and said confidently, "Go this way."

"Brother Lu, are you sure you're not mistaken?" Jiang Liuyun rubbed his eyes. "This road is steep and narrow, how can we go this way?"

"If it weren't for a side path, who would know this was a road?"

"If you ask me, the road on the right is flat, which means that many people usually walk on it, so we should take this road."

He pointed to the road on the right.

Lin Zhiqing observed carefully and, as Jiang Liuyun had said, the road on the right was wide and flat, indicating that many people had walked on it.

Moreover, the terrain is not very undulating, and although there are some large rocks on the left and right, they look quite old and very solid.

Moreover, it's a downhill road, so it's not too difficult to walk.

On the other hand, the straight path to the left is not only steep but also piled with loose rocks, making it look unsafe. Moreover, that straight mountain path is not really a path in the strict sense; it only exists in the gaps between the rocks and looks like it is only wide enough for one person to walk through.

Looking ahead, the end of the mountain road quickly disappears into the swirling clouds and mist, carrying a mysterious and uncertain air that inspires awe.

“No, go to the left.” Lu Huai pointed to the jagged, rocky path in front of him and looked at Lin Zhiqing:

"Trust me here." He pointed to his head.

"Trust your brain?" Jiang Liuyun looked at Lin Zhiqing and raised an eyebrow. "Qing'er?"

Hmm, where to go... Lin Zhiqing naturally didn't know which road to take either.

She had been focused on identifying any psychological traps along the way, as memorizing directions and routes was not her forte.

"Qing'er, what's there to hesitate about? Who would turn down a wide road?" Jiang Liuyun said, and then started to walk down the main road on the right.

"Wait!" Lu Huai suddenly exclaimed, "This road is not safe!"

Jiang Liuyun frowned: "Unsafe? How could it be unsafe?"

"Did you discover something?" Lin Zhiqing looked at Lu Huai with a face full of curiosity.

Lu Huai squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil from the roadside, and let it slip through his fingers into the wind.

“This is sandy soil. All I’ve seen on the right side of this road all the way here.”

“We’ve been walking uphill the whole time, and there are no rocks below, so we shouldn’t be encountering sandy soil like this.”

"Unless, the sand is being blown from above to below."

Lu Huai narrowed his eyes, a knowing glint in them:
“Sand... even with its triangular shape, this road is impassable.”

"Sand? What sand? Where did this sand come from?" Jiang Liuyun asked, puzzled. "What does the triangular shape have to do with this?"

Does it mean a triangle? Friction?
Lin Zhiqing glanced thoughtfully at the rocks on the right hilltop, and then answered:
"If the rocks on both sides of the mountain road are affected by wind or rain for a long time, they will become loose and easily collapse and roll down."

"These stones were further broken down by wind and rain, gradually turning into soft, silty soil, which is sandy soil."

“That’s right.” Lu Huai looked at Lin Zhiqing with approval in his eyes:

"Using this line of thinking, the presence of silty soil or sand indicates that the rock is prone to collapse."

"Secondly, it's a downhill road, and the loose soil, along with the gravel and silt, makes it difficult for us to go down the mountain. If we slip, we can easily roll from the top of the mountain to the bottom."

Lu Huai's reasoning was very clear.

"So that's how it is..." Lin Zhiqing understood the meaning behind his words.

But Jiang Liuyun still couldn't understand: "Brother Lu, how can you be so sure that this rock will definitely collapse?"

"Besides, even if the sand explanation is true, how do you explain why the road is so flat?"

He meant that the road on the right was so flat that many people must have walked through it.

A large number of people means safety, at least in Jiang Liuyun's view.

“No.” Lin Zhiqing shook his head: “The road with more people isn’t necessarily the one on the right.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Liuyun chuckled sheepishly: "Qing'er, look how wide and flat this road is. If it wasn't made by many people walking on it, how else can you explain it?"

"If you ask me, fortune favors the bold. Even if there's a risk of the rocks collapsing along this path, it's still more reliable than a road rarely traveled by."

"It's flat, of course, but we're not entirely sure whether this platform was created naturally by footsteps or by someone with ulterior motives." Lin Zhiqing rubbed his chin.
"Besides, quite a few people also use the road on the left."

"Huh?" Jiang Liuyun was completely confused.

Lu Huai's gaze fell on that narrow road.

What Lin Zhiqing wanted to say was exactly what he wanted to say.

“There was no path here originally.” Lin Zhiqing stepped forward and stepped on the narrow path. “This path only came into being because so many people walked on it.”

Furthermore, Lin Zhiqing also knew that someone as capable as Lu Huai could memorize the route map of Liu Mang's residence with just one glance...

His brain is probably filled with solid geometry.

In comparison, Jiang Liuyun only knew martial arts; he couldn't compare to Lu Huai in terms of intelligence.

"Let's go, trust Lu Huai."