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

Chapter 141 Rock Climbing Master Li Younan (Part 1)

The climbing gym's lights shone on the artificial climbing wall, where several trainees were looking up and studying the newly set routes.

"This starting point is so difficult..." the girl in the red tracksuit muttered, this was her third time sliding down the rock face.

Ling Feng put down the kettle and walked over.

When his fingertips touched that smooth rock spot, Ling Feng's lips unconsciously curled up slightly.

As he jumped, his right foot landed precisely on a small protrusion on the wall, no bigger than a coin, and his body extended upwards.

Everyone looked at him with a mixture of surprise and admiration.

In the most difficult dynamic section, Ling Feng did something that no one else expected: he gently braced his knee against the rock wall to maintain his balance, and his right hand quickly bypassed the usual grab points to reach a higher support point.

The feeling of the resin material digging into his palm reassured him.

After landing, the girl in the red dress spoke first: "How did you come up with the idea of ​​using your knees to stabilize the injury?"

“I saw a similar route at last year’s national competition.” Ling Feng tore off a bag of chalk, the white mist dispersing between his fingers. “That’s how the champion did it.”

Luo Yong walked over with his notebook and tapped Ling Feng's shoulder with the tip of his pen: "Talent is the ability to quickly absorb experience." He turned to the other trainees, "But if you don't train like him until the climbing gym closes every day, even the best talent is wasted."

Luo Yong held the thermos, steam rising from its rim, "But don't be arrogant, you missed two points."

Ling Feng was slightly taken aback. Luo Yong pointed to the inconspicuous gray protrusion in the middle of the rock wall: "This transition point must be touched. It's written on the rule sign." He then pointed to the small anchor point hidden in the shadows at the top, "We need to shoot this at the end. You skipped it."

Everyone silently watched Coach Luo Yong.

Luo Yong put the thermos on the ground and suddenly jumped up.

He didn't climb very fast, but every movement was precisely on the course guidelines. When he touched that gray dot, he deliberately turned around and glanced at Ling Feng.

He landed without even losing his breath: "Next month's city competition will use international rules, and all transition points must be clearly touched." He picked up his thermos and took a sip. "The way you climbed just now... the judges will give you zero points."

The girl in the red tracksuit whispered to her companion, "So what we just did doesn't count as finished?"

Luo Yong walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "Talent is being able to easily grab the rock." He lowered his voice a little, "But remembering the rules is more important than showing talent."

"Watch closely." He walked toward the unused training wall next to him—the most difficult intersecting ramp in the gym, with some old, worn-out rock points hanging on its edges.

He didn't even use magnesium powder when he jumped.

When the toes hook onto the bowl-sized protrusion, the whole body swings out like a pendulum.

At the highest point, I suddenly let go and grabbed two smooth, round dots with my bare hands.

The scariest thing is that he climbed the whole way without taking a breath.

"The rules for the national competition twenty years ago," Luo Yong said, pointing to the crisscrossing slope after he came down. "Back then, the requirement was that rock climbing should be as natural as walking."

The girl in red suddenly spoke up: "Teacher Luo, I heard that you once climbed a real rock face in the wild without any protection?"

Someone immediately chimed in, "Climbing a rock face is nothing. You guys don't know, Coach Luo is a very famous mountaineering expert in Sichuan. Many very experienced mountaineering enthusiasts come to Coach Luo to be their leader."

However, these words did make Luo Yong's face darken slightly, and he remained silent.

The speaker, however, began to have some doubts, because he felt that his flattery should have made Coach Luo very happy.

Luo Yong picked up his thermos and said, "Everyone, rest for a while longer, then we'll train in groups again." After saying that, he went to the rest area next to him.

Watching Luo Yong's retreating figure, someone finally reminded the guy who had been flattering him earlier: "Why did you bring that up? Coach Luo had an accident last year, and he doesn't do mountaineering anymore. Why did you bring that up in front of him?"

The other person was clearly taken aback, and a look of panic appeared on their face: "Ah, I... I didn't know about this!"

At this moment, Luo Yong paid no attention to what the team members were discussing. He silently walked to the rest area, sat down in a chair, and sighed softly.

There's something really frustrating... things I used to be proud of, like how many trails I'd hiked or how many mountain peaks I'd climbed, suddenly became meaningless at some point.

You might feel that something you've fought for for a long time suddenly becomes meaningless.

This sense of disorientation is the most despairing.

As for the cause... he often thinks that if he had been more assertive back then, perhaps the outcome would have been different.

After that accident, he was determined to retire from the mountaineering world and just stay and keep this climbing club.

The mountains outside are too dangerous. He used to think that freedom was more important, but now he feels that what he can hold onto is the most important thing.

Other problems also exist.

He was terrified that the families of the two girls would come looking for him.

Despite having recounted the events in detail to numerous people, he still receives occasional inquiries from people seeking information about what happened back then over the past six months.

It wasn't because he didn't want to face the families that he wanted to "repeatedly reopen his wounds"; he simply didn't want the direct trigger of that accident to cause further harm to those who were already injured.

Ultimately, it comes down to this: if I had been more assertive back then, perhaps the outcome would have been better…

He took out his phone, and the most recent message was from a girl named Zhu Qingyue, who claimed to be Lin Zuofang's niece and wanted to come and find him to understand what had happened.

Just as he was thinking this, a young couple walked into the training hall together.

……

Li Younan watched with great interest the rock climbing enthusiasts training in the venue.

To Li Younan, everyone present, including the coaches, could be described as clumsy in terms of their movements and the choice of climbing routes.

Of course, this doesn't mean that these people are really bad; it's just that Li Younan's skill level is too high.

It's like when the piano maestro, Lister, suddenly wanders into a music training institution and sees every teacher playing the piano as if they were playing with toys—it's the same principle.

Li Younan's current rock climbing skill level is Level 2. In a sense, this level of rock climbing skill is among the world's top.

All the beginner and advanced routes in this venue were no different from ordinary terrain to Li Younan.

With these thoughts running wild, Zhu Qingyue had already started looking towards Coach Luo, whom she had compared several times.

Luo Yong was a team leader who had been in the same group as Zhu Qingyue's aunt when she had her accident.

Mountaineering clubs with extremely high difficulty levels like theirs would not invite complete novices with little to no experience to join their teams.

From this perspective, at least Zhu Qingyue's aunt has gained the other party's approval.

At this moment, Zhu Qingyue walked straight to Luo Yong and said the first thing she said: "You are Coach Luo Yong, right? We chatted online."

Luo Yong nodded, his tone calm: "You said Lin Zuofang is your aunt, right?"

Zhu Qingyue nodded, then got straight to the point: "I only have one thing I want to ask you for help with this time. I would like to know the details of when my aunt went missing."

Luo Yong sighed, and instead of answering Zhu Qingyue directly, he asked her, "I need to know, what is your purpose in knowing this?"

Upon hearing this, Li Younan couldn't help but frown slightly.

From any perspective, Zhu Qingyue, as a family member of the missing person, had a reasonable request to inquire about the situation at the time.

Could it be that there was another reason why he chose not to tell Zhu Qingyue the details?
Zhu Qingyue frowned and said, "Does my purpose matter?"

Luo Yong nodded seriously: "It's very important." He said earnestly, "This matter involves not only your aunt, but also another missing person. I have already told the police officers at the police station about the relevant situation. I have no obligation to tell you anything. If you want to know, you can go directly to the police station and ask the police officers."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Qingyue immediately understood what was going on.

Before coming here, the family had been in contact with the local police to learn more about what had happened.

Simply put, a major reason why her aunt went missing was that she had gone down to the beach early while taking care of an injured female hiker.

Zhu Qingyue looked at Luo Yong's somewhat solemn expression, as if he were about to take on some responsibility, and suddenly understood something.

Is she afraid of causing trouble for that female travel companion?

That's probably the reason.

To allay Luo Yong's concerns, Zhu Qingyue quickly said, "Coach Luo, I roughly know what you're worried about. I just want to know about my aunt's situation, and it has nothing to do with anyone else."

Zhu Qingyue's words struck a chord with Luo Yong. For him, the thing he regretted most that day was letting those two girls go down first.

They weren't a team in the strict sense; it was just a temporary group, so they weren't particularly familiar with each other.

That girl is injured; she sprained her ankle badly and has to leave early. She needs someone to accompany her.

But it doesn't necessarily have to be Lin Zuofang.

He knew that Lin Zuofang had been preparing for that hiking trip for a long time, and to be honest, a man should have accompanied the girl no matter what.

But Lin Zuofang volunteered, thinking that since they weren't very familiar with each other, it might be more convenient for the girls—it would take them a day and a night to get back from their current location.

His self-blame lies here: if he had been more assertive and had a man do the job, perhaps the outcome would have been different.

This is not sexism; women are inherently less capable than men of confronting nature.

If Zhu Qingyue's purpose in coming here was to pin all the blame on that girl and cause trouble... this was something he didn't want to see, and something he had been wary of before.

But now that Zhu Qingyue had said that, he began to waver again.

Luo Yong paused for a moment, then slowly stood up: "What do you want to know?" he asked.

Zhu Qingyue said, "I'd like to know your route into the mountains, and where you separated from each other..."

Luo Yong asked curiously, "Why do you need to know this?"

Zhu Qingyue hesitated for a moment, then her gaze hardened, and she said earnestly, "I...I want to see the places my aunt walked through...and the last scenery she saw."

Luo Yong's eyelids twitched, a fleeting expression that was more like a wry smile crossed his face, followed by a bitter smile, and he shook his head.

If that's the reason...

He glanced at Zhu Qingyue and said, "Give up. I can't tell you these details; that would harm you."

Zhu Qingyue stood up: "Why?"

Luo Yong said seriously, "You just graduated? I haven't heard Lin Zuofang mention that she has a niece your age. I have to tell you, hiking is not what you imagine."

He paused for a moment, his gaze lingering on the past.

"About ten or twenty years ago, when I first entered this circle, I had the same mindset as you, always feeling that life was poetic."

"Like what you just said, you said you wanted to see the scenery your aunt had seen and walk the paths your aunt had walked... Doesn't that sound really cool and inspiring?"

Zhu Qingyue was stunned for a moment.

Luo Yong's tone gradually turned cold: "Let me tell you what the cruel reality is, little girl. Life isn't all poetry. You can't see the scenery your aunt has seen, nor can you walk the path your aunt has walked, just like you can never step into the same river twice."

"This is just wishful thinking on your part. You think, 'Oh, I've been to the places my aunt went, and now I've been there too, and my inner conflict will be resolved.'"

"You feel like you have a knot in your heart."

"But in reality, your knot in your heart is just your knot in your heart."

"It has nothing to do with where you went. Even if you went there, the knot in your heart can be untied with just one thought, but that thought doesn't need to be based on where you went... If you insist on linking these two things together, in my opinion, it would be very... stupid."

He then looked Zhu Qingyue up and down, his tone filled with an indescribable pity: "Judging from your appearance, you've never climbed a mountain before, have you? Let me tell you, you'll be scared off as soon as you set off on our route. You'll barely get to the foot of the mountain; you won't even be able to reach our climbing point on your own... I don't want Lin Zuofang's family to become a tragedy because of such an absurd reason."

Faced with Luo Yong's earnest persuasion, Zhu Qingyue felt powerless.

She knew very well that what the other person said was actually true, and if the other person was determined not to tell her these details, there was nothing she could do.

Zhu Qingyue looked at Li Younan unwillingly, but to her disappointment, Li Younan remained silent throughout.

Luo Yong stood up and said, "I still have classes to teach. If there's nothing else, I won't keep you company any longer."

Li Younan and Zhu Qingyue gave him their seats, and Luo Yong went over to continue his class.

Zhu Qingyue sniffed, wiped away her tears, looked at Li Younan with a wronged expression, and said, "Aren't you going to say a few words for me?" She didn't have much confidence when she said this, and her tone was weak.

Li Younan paused for a moment. In a sense, he felt that Luo Yong had done the right thing.

Zhu Qingyue finally couldn't hold back her tears and cried out, "Am I...am I really that stupid? Are the things I did really so meaningless?"

Li Younan glanced at Zhu Qingyue silently and sighed softly, "I'll try again and see if I can persuade him."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Qingyue raised her head.

Li Younan then said somewhat seriously, "But let's make this clear first, I will arrange everything from now on, and you will listen to me unconditionally."

"Including, if I say we should return, then we should return."

Zhu Qingyue hurriedly wiped away her tears and nodded repeatedly.

Li Younan walked over gracefully.

At this moment, Luo Yong was demonstrating the movements to a student, saying, "Don't have too many of your own ideas before you master the basic movements. As the saying goes, you have to stand on the shoulders of giants. Having a guide is like standing on the shoulders of giants."

He came down from up there and saw that Li Younan and Zhu Qingyue were still there. He smiled, partly to change the subject and partly to ease the atmosphere, and said to Li Younan and Zhu Qingyue, "I've been watching you for a while. Are you interested in rock climbing too? This path is quite simple and is specially designed for beginners. You can give it a try."

Zhu Qingyue looked at Li Younan, but Li Younan shook his head and said, "Forget it, all the tracks here are...too easy."

"There's nothing challenging about it."

He means it.

He casually uttered those words, and all the students present turned their gazes in unison.

Luo Yong paused for a moment, his expression turning strange.

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P.S.: The following paragraphs are free.

Thank you all for your concern. Mother and baby are both safe. The baby just fell asleep under the care of the postpartum nanny, and my wife is also asleep, so I took out my laptop to type... I'll try to type as much as I can in the next few days if I have free time, but I can't guarantee the word count.

This chapter contains 4,600 characters.

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(End of this chapter)