By linking my account to the check-in system, I became a leisurely traveler.

Chapter 139 The Deceased [6.2 thousand words]

(P.S.: Whew, I finally got around to writing it!)
After returning home, Li Younan actually did some serious research on agoraphobia.

Yes, such mental illnesses do exist. The causes of psychological problems are very complex, and some are congenital or hereditary.

However, judging from Liu Yu's behavior, JK Long's agoraphobia is definitely not caused by genetics.

Liu Yu recounted that disastrous experience, and without a doubt, it was that trauma that caused JK Long a huge psychological wound, which gradually evolved into his current state.

Li Younan didn't go home. Instead, he booked a room near the hospital and lay on the hotel bed in a daze, his mind filled with thoughts of JK Dragon—the girl named Liu Li, and what kind of environment she grew up in.
He sighed softly and sent a message to JK Long: "I went to the hospital as you instructed."

In the message, Li Younan still referred to JK Long as Brother Long, and did not mention that Liu Yu had told him all his information.

JK Long on the other side asked a few probing questions and, upon confirming that Li Younan still didn't know his condition, became somewhat pleased.

Li Younan teased her again, saying, "He didn't tell me, and neither did you... so why don't you go and take care of him yourself?"

JK Long was a bit flustered by the question. She stammered and dodged the question, finally saying in an annoyed tone, "Just go over there, why all the nonsense..."

Fortunately, Li Younan seemed to see the girl's embarrassed expression through the screen, so he stopped dwelling on the topic. He found it somewhat amusing, but also let out a deep sigh.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "To be honest, the way you talk is exactly like your brother's."

JK Long paused for a moment, then sent a message: "My brother is very outstanding."

She didn't say half a sentence.

Everything I see about you, from your persona to the way you speak, is an unconscious, clumsy imitation of my brother.

After finishing his chat with JK Long, Li Younan began searching for places in Sichuan that were suitable for hiking.

While doing this, he couldn't help but think of what Liu Yu had said again: that seeing himself challenge nature from JK Long's perspective could help improve her condition.

To be honest, Li Younan couldn't help but find it somewhat amazing that these two events could generate such a complex causal mechanism.

He had indeed wanted to go on an adventure before, but now it had taken on a deeper meaning for him.

However, there is still one thing that Li Younan can't understand: why does JK Dragon hide his gender?

Do you think that men are safer on the internet?

Or perhaps she feels that revealing her gender and age would make her seem unreliable and raise questions about her professional competence?
Both explanations seem plausible.

Since JK Dragon showed no intention of being honest with him, Li Younan decided to continue pretending not to know.

He searched for several places but was not entirely satisfied with any of them, so he decided to stop doing this on the map and instead opened the system to check out the checkpoints scattered in the wild.

Just as Li Younan was pondering this matter, suddenly, someone he hadn't contacted in a long time sent him a message.

Li Younan was stunned for a moment when he saw who sent the message.

I wish Qingyue.

The last time we parted ways was when I went to Jingdezhen. Since then, we haven't been in touch for a long time.

Li Younan was somewhat surprised that she would send him a message today.

Zhu Qingyue sent a message, starting with the standard, forced conversation: "Are you there?"

Li Younan found the two words amusing, but didn't intend to tease Zhu Qingyue, and simply replied, "Okay."

The two then started chatting casually.

Zhu Qingyue asked Li Younan about his recent situation, but Li Younan didn't go into much detail. He simply mentioned the places he had been to in the past six months.

Zhu Qingyue then sent a message with a hint of envy in her voice: "You've been to so many places."

Li Younan's heart stirred slightly.

To be honest, he and Zhu Qingyue didn't have much interaction. Apart from a chance encounter at the beginning, it was Zhu Qingyue who took the initiative to come to him after that.

Without common ground, any friendship will eventually fade away.

However, thinking of this, Li Younan thought of Huang Xiaoyang again.

Of course, that guy will definitely refuse to admit it, and even if he feels things have cooled down on his own, he won't agree.

Li Younan chatted casually with Zhu Qingyue, but he guessed that Zhu Qingyue would not chat with him for no reason.

In the past, Lan Yiyi was the only one who would force a conversation when there was nothing to say. Zhu Qingyue was not that kind of person at all, so there must be some reason why she was chatting with me this time.

as predicted.

After chatting for a while, Zhu Qingyue suddenly asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

Li Younan didn't answer, but instead asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhu Qingyue paused for a moment, then said, "I'll call you. It's not clear enough to explain in a few words via text message."

Li Younan thought about it and agreed.

A moment later, Zhu Qingyue called, and Li Younan answered.

Zhu Qingyue's breathing was a little heavy on the other end of the phone. She seemed to be carefully considering her words before tentatively speaking, "There's something... I want to talk to you about..."

Li Younan thought for a moment and said, "What is it?"

Zhu Qingyue's tone carried a hint of weariness after hitting walls everywhere: "I've thought of many people before, but the closer they are to me, the less I can tell them what I want to do. I can guess their reactions... And for strangers, I can't tell them my secret... I can only think of you."

Li Younan raised an eyebrow slightly: "Mm."

After a brief silence, Zhu Qingyue said, "I'm going to Mount Gongga to do something very important."

Li Younan fell silent.

Zhu Qingyue suddenly laughed: "I'm so glad I still know you. I can finally pour out what's been bottled up inside me for so long. Can you listen to me patiently?"

Li Younan paused for a moment, then said, "Mm."

“I have been preparing for this for quite a long time, about three or four months. I have been to several mountains and have been exercising every day to make sure I have enough energy and strength to do this.”

Li Younan turned his phone to speakerphone while opening a webpage to read about Mount Gongga.

I already know a little about Mount Gongga, but looking at the information now will make things clearer.

In short, Mount Gongga is known as the "King of Sichuan Mountains".

The difficulty of climbing it is even greater than climbing Mount Everest!
Although its altitude is only over 7,500 meters, which is more than 1,000 meters lower than Mount Everest, the distance from the peak to the foot of Mount Gongga is more than 6,000 meters, a figure that far exceeds the distance from the summit to the foot of Mount Everest!
In some ways, Mount Gongga is even higher than Mount Everest.

The mortality rate for climbing this mountain is extremely high.

To be honest, he was quite startled when he heard the name Gongga Mountain from Zhu Qingyue.

Mount Gongga is a mountain that even with his current high-altitude heritage and mountaineering skills, he wouldn't dare to challenge easily. In fact, in a sense, even if he dared to climb Mount Everest, he wouldn't dare to climb Mount Gongga.

Of course, Mount Gongga has always been a landmark place that mountaineers are willing to try to conquer.

In Gongga Mountain, there are more than just ways to climb to the summit, and there are more than just the main peak to challenge.

Regardless, hearing about this place from Zhu Qingyue, and that she even mentioned going to Mount Gongga... naturally made Li Younan's imagination run wild.

Li Younan said, "That place is extremely difficult to navigate. If you're just looking for a spot to take photos and check off your list where you can see Mount Gongga..."

“No,” Zhu Qingyue interrupted Li Younan.

Zhu Qingyue continued, "In the past, I was... looking for something."

At this point, Zhu Qingyue hesitated for a moment and did not continue.

Li Younan couldn't help but tease, "Are you going to find freedom? Courage?"

"Ugh, it's not that kind of fancy stuff." Zhu Qingyue sighed helplessly.

The serious atmosphere that had just been built up was ruined by Li Younan's two sentences. She said with some dissatisfaction, "You always think I'm a literary young woman... that I'm always pursuing unrealistic things. Is that what you think of me?"

Li Younan suddenly became serious: "I'm sorry! Go ahead and say it, I'm listening."

"Hey, don't be so serious..."

"Ah."

Zhu Qingyue was no longer so hesitant at this moment. She took a deep breath and slowly said, "I need to go find someone, but... um, don't be afraid when I tell you."

"Heh," Li Younan said dismissively, "Who is it? Is it scary?"

Zhu Qingyue said calmly and earnestly, "A deceased person."

Li Younan's expression stiffened slightly, but after a brief moment of surprise, he sensed the sadness hidden beneath Zhu Qingyue's calm words.

"Want to hear a story?"

……

“I’ve told you before that I didn’t have many friends growing up. That’s true, but for me, the person who accompanied me as I grew up is my aunt.”

"Even my love of travel stems from my aunt."

“I grew up in a courtyard house. I’ve been running around there since I was a child, and every corner of that place holds traces of my aunt.”

“She’s only twelve years older than me. She doesn’t seem like an elder, but more like my wild older sister.”

“My parents are busy, so I spent almost all my winter and summer vacations with her.”

“When I was six years old, she took me to climb Fragrant Hills. Instead of climbing the steps, she would choose wild slopes with no path and teach me where to put my feet and how to find handholds.”

"I was halfway down and I was too scared to go down, so I cried up there, and she stood below laughing mischievously..." "She always made me feel safe, but when she was around, she was my biggest insecurity..."

“When I was ten years old, I was blocked at the entrance of the alley by a group of boys who wanted to rob me of my pocket money. She appeared out of nowhere, without shouting or yelling, just walked over, holding half a brick in her hand, and the boys scattered.”

"That's just the kind of person she is. She's not a stable person at heart, and a stable life can't keep her."

"After graduating from university, I got a job at a foreign company, which everyone envied. After working there for three years, I quit."

She said, "Going to work is really boring."

Li Younan nodded in deep agreement.

"So she went to the Amazon rainforest, got a deep tan, and came back to show me photos. Pointing to a colorful worm, she said, 'You can eat it!' I almost threw up. She went to the Sahara Desert, wearing a headscarf, and also went to Mexico, saying the chili peppers there were really spicy..."

"My family says she's not doing anything productive, that she's crazy. Only I understand her, or rather, I admire her."

"It was because of my aunt that when I started traveling later, everyone was relieved to find out that I was just going to tourist attractions, and they thought I was pretty normal..."

“She brought me a lot of gifts, never babydoll dresses, but a strangely shaped stone, a bottle of exotic sand, or a rusty ancient coin… She pressed me down on the stone bench in the yard and forced me to listen to her stories.”

Li Younan, who was listening, actually began to admire the aunt Zhu Qingyue was talking about. Looking at it this way, Zhu Qingyue seemed to be too reserved.

Zhu Qingyue spoke with great enthusiasm, and her tone became increasingly proud.

"Later, she became fascinated with mountain climbing."

Just then, Zhu Qingyue's tone changed, becoming somewhat deep.

"As she climbed higher and higher, from Mount Siguniang to Mount Muztagh Ata, her family's worries grew heavier and heavier. It was no use trying to persuade her."

Last autumn, she packed her backpack and said she was going to Mount Gongga.

"Gongga, the King of Sichuan Mountains".

"I only realized how dangerous that mountain was after I searched it on Baidu."

"She left and never came back. The news came back that she was missing."

"Blizzard, descent route, lost contact. Search and rescue teams searched for a long time, but found nothing. No remains, no belongings, as if gently swallowed by that white sacred mountain, erasing all traces."

"Everyone accepted it."

"There was no body at the funeral, only a cenotaph."

Even as she said this, Zhu Qingyue's tone remained calm.

But Li Younan sighed slightly.

"Later, life seemed to slowly return to its original track."

"But... I can't imagine her lying in the cold snow crevice, or frozen by a millennia-old glacier."

"That shouldn't be her fate."

"She should be found, brought back, or at least... said goodbye properly."

After a long silence, Li Younan finally spoke, his tone somewhat grave, "You... plan to go to Mount Gongga to look for it?"

Zhu Qingyue said seriously, "I know what you want to say... I'm not going to climb mountains, I don't have that ability, and I'm not going on an adventure, I'm just going to find her."

Li Younan hesitated for a moment, wanting to say something but unable to.

"I know the chances of success are slim. Finding someone on such a huge mountain is like finding a needle in a haystack. I might not find anything and just stare at that snow-capped mountain for a while."

"But that's not important."

“I have to go. I have to get to where she can see me and tell her that I’ve come to take you home.”

"If I can't bring her back, I'll just see the last scenery she saw."

Zhu Qingyue paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you for listening to me."

Li Younan sighed softly: "Are you finished? Then... I'll say a few words."

"To be honest, after hearing your story, I felt a little sad. Your aunt is indeed an admirable woman, and I can empathize with your sadness. However, I have a few questions..."

Zhu Qingyue hummed in agreement.

Li Younan continued, "My first question is, do you know anything about Mount Gongga?"

Zhu Qingyue blurted out, "The King of Shu Mountain, I've done a lot of research on him."

Li Younan calmly said, "That's not what I mean. What I mean is, if you want to go to Mount Gongga, how do you get there? Which peak did your aunt climb? Mount Gongga is so big, based on your description, your aunt probably didn't climb the main peak..."

"Throughout history, fewer than thirty people have been able to summit the main peak, while more than seven thousand have climbed Mount Everest. You can see the difference. Your aunt probably wouldn't have challenged the main peak from the start. So which peak did she climb? And if she did, which route did she take?"

Zhu Qingyue was stunned for a moment, and then said in a muffled voice, "I need to confirm this."

Li Younan sighed slightly. It was indeed much as he had imagined. Although Zhu Qingyue had told a moving story and described a touching aunt, befitting a literary girl, there was still a very long distance between the literary and the realistic.

Li Younan then asked, "My second question is, what are your plans after you get there?"

Zhu Qingyue paused for a moment, then said frankly, "I... I plan to take it one step at a time, and get to Kangding first..."

Li Younan was at a loss for words and said, "That means there are no plans at all."

Li Younan gathered his thoughts briefly and said, "First, take a look at your aunt's belongings, such as her diary or message records, and see if you can confirm which peak she went to."

"Then... since a search and rescue team has gone into the mountains, there must be people accompanying them. We must find these people and get the details from them. It would be best to find the first group of people who went in to search and rescue and get the details from them. That way, we won't be like a headless fly searching for a needle in a haystack."

Zhu Qingyue was stunned for a long time before she finally reacted: "You...you're right."

Li Younan nodded in satisfaction and continued, "The challenge of Mount Gongga is extremely difficult. I don't recommend that a complete novice like you go directly. However, you can first find someone who is in the same team as your aunt to get some information."

"If you're lucky, it might be somewhere not too difficult to reach along the way... If it is, then you'll need to find a reliable and suitable guide."

"Actually, the best option would be to find a mountaineering club and pay them to take you, but those clubs probably won't take a complete novice like you, which would be a bit troublesome. So, you'd probably have to find a local guide... but the locals..."

Li Younan suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Zhu Qingyue, who was listening intently, asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Li Younan's tone became serious: "I'll say it again, I really don't recommend that you do this alone. The guides are mostly men, and you're in the middle of nowhere, a lone girl... it's not safe."

Zhu Qingyue fell silent.

Li Younan asked again seriously, "Are you really not able to find any travel companions?"

Zhu Qingyue suddenly took two deep sniffs, and then burst into tears without warning.

Li Younan blinked: "That..."

Zhu Qingyue was overwhelmed with emotion and couldn't pull herself out of it: "I...Is it possible that I'll never see my aunt again?"

Li Younan thought to himself, "Hasn't your aunt been missing for so long? It's a bit cruel, but we can't see her now! It would be a little scary if we did see her."

But I still comforted you, saying, "Perhaps you can reconsider. At least you have a stable partner."

Zhu Qingyue said sadly, "I...I'm not from that circle...Can I find those kinds of travel buddies online?"

Li Younan did not answer Zhu Qingyue, but asked instead, "When do you plan to go to Kangding?"

Zhu Qingyue said, "I plan to wait until after the New Year, when the weather gets a little warmer."

Li Younan thought for a moment: "Kangding is at a high altitude, so spring comes late. It's still quite cold in February, right after the New Year."

"Let's wait a little longer, until April. April is still a bit cold, but I guess you don't want to wait that long."

"But it can't be any earlier, at least not after April. How about you call me in April?"

Zhu Qingyue was taken aback for a moment, then asked, "You? You... what do you mean?"

Li Younan calmly said, "I can accompany you on this trip, but I can't guarantee that you will achieve your goal."

“If any uncertainties arise along the way, especially in terms of safety, including but not limited to environmental hazards or your own physical dangers... I will stop you from continuing.”

Zhu Qingyue's head was buzzing, and she didn't react for a moment: "You...you have to stay with me, but...but..."

Li Younan said, "There are still a few months until April. During this time, you can learn about hiking and mountaineering, and buy some professional equipment, including down jackets, sleeping bags, tents, trekking poles, and the like."

"Oh, right, and most importantly, you need to stay physically fit. Going to those kinds of places requires heavy gear; your backpack will weigh dozens of kilograms."

Zhu Qingyue suddenly felt like crying: "Li Younan, you...you did this for me..."

Li Younan interrupted Zhu Qingyue: "Actually, it's not for you. I already had plans to hike across the area, and it just so happens that your situation coincided with this. Adjusting it at the last minute... makes no difference to me."

Zhu Qingyue sniffed, hummed twice, and said softly, "Really?"

A sense of disappointment welled up inside her for no apparent reason.

Li Younan smiled and said, "If this matter is settled, let's arrange it this way for now. But I still hope you can seriously consider it again during this period. Like I said, I really don't recommend you take this risk."

Zhu Qingyue said earnestly, "My mind is made up!"

Li Younan said, "Let's settle on this for now, and see you after the New Year."

After hanging up the phone, Zhu Qingyue sat on the bed, still somewhat dazed.

A moment later, she lay down and gripped her phone tightly.

(End of this chapter)