Crossing the Clouds and Sky to Fall in Love with You - Chapter 36

“Mhm! Then did you delete it?” “Not yet, I’ll give it to you to delete.” I handed the camera to her. “If it were me, I wouldn’t delete it!” She smiled with satisfaction, was it because I ultimately didn’t act on my own? “Silly Xiaoning, I gave everything to you, why don’t you know how to use it?”

“But what’s yours is yours.” “Do you believe that besides you, I wouldn’t let a second person touch it like this?” She rolled her eyes at me, but her expression and this sentence made my heart beat faster…

“Okay, delete it, we’ll take another one later.” She took the camera and glanced at the backpack. “You haven’t moved at all? Hurry up and pack, it’s almost seven-thirty, we’re going to sleep soon!” “Oh, oh!” Mountain friends who make it here have at least undergone the baptism of the previous

8.5 kilometers. Also, because the goal of everyone in our dormitory was to reach the summit to see the sunrise, everyone implicitly agreed to turn off the lights to sleep even though it was only 8 PM;

those who hadn’t packed their gear used their headlamps, and even conversations became extremely quiet. We ultimately took out our sleeping bags, as lying down directly, even with coats on, was still too cold. The wind grew stronger as night fell, and the chill seemed to penetrate directly through the walls into our clothes. Even inside the sleeping bag, the exposed head was so cold it almost hurt!

I felt a little dizzy, dizzy to the point of discomfort. “Sizhi…” “Hmm?” “It’s so cold.” Even speaking those two simple words made my teeth chatter. She opened her eyes, and we were snuggled close together, the warmth of her breath directly hitting my face. “How about this?” She was still wearing a scarf. I buried my face directly into her scarf and finally felt a little better. “Mhm… you smell so nice.”

Shoot! I blurted it out without realizing. “If you keep talking like that, people will misunderstand.” Especially since there was someone sleeping on the top bunk. I lifted my head, and she happened to reach out and pull my woolen hat down. “It feels like… I won’t be able to sleep.” It was too cold. Even though my body was tired and my head was uncomfortably dizzy. Will I be unable to move a step later?

Or will I be unable to open my eyes while lying in my sleeping bag at 2 AM? She hooked an arm around me, hugging me tightly until there was no gap between us. This way she would be cold.

Although we were both wearing at least four layers of clothing, to hug me, half of her upper body was outside the sleeping bag. Realizing this, she grabbed her windbreaker and covered herself. “How about this? Does it feel a little more comfortable?” “Mhm, it’s very comfortable.”

I was too embarrassed to say that my head still hurt a lot. I couldn’t help but lean closer to her. She turned her face slightly, and our lips touched inadvertently. “Oops!” She ignored my whimper, aimed this time, and firmly pressed a kiss onto my lips… As if that weren’t enough, she tentatively extended her tongue and gave a solid French kiss. I heard the girl next to her emit a slight snore, and the two boys on the top bunk were talking about their time in the military. People were still awake, yet we were kissing,

hiding in the corner bed… Her kiss was passionately suffocating, yet also sweet enough to make me unconsciously intoxicated. “How about this?” She even asked on purpose! “Mhm, that’s enough…” Maybe no one knew, but when her hand was pressed tightly against my hip, I genuinely felt that if we kept igniting the fire like this, someone would eventually discover our intimate moment in the corner.

“Then you can sleep well.” She licked her lips contentedly, her expression sensual and a bit… flirtatious. I pouted and punched her lightly through the sleeping bag. She smiled even more triumphantly. I closed my eyes, and she maintained this position, allowing me to lean half-way into her embrace. I listened to her heartbeat, her breathing, until I gradually ignored the discomfort in my head and began to slightly relax my limbs… When I opened my eyes again, she had turned on her headlamp; I adjusted to the light and realized that everyone, both beside her and on the top bunk, was awake.

The sound of sleeping bags rubbing against each other filled the entire dormitory. “Xiaoning?

Are you awake?” She used one hand to block most of the light. “It’s time to get up and prepare.

It’s 1:40 AM.” 1:40 AM? “We can walk with them. It’s safer to have more people accompanying us in the middle of the night.” “Oh, oh…” It felt like I had just rested a short while ago…

After the relaxation of sleep, my hands and feet started to feel sore. I struggled to crawl out of the sleeping bag. The warmth inside the sleeping bag was a sharp contrast to the biting cold air outside. I quickly put on my windbreaker, took off the warm bear mittens, put on the anti-slip gloves she had prepared for mountain climbing, and then put on my rain jacket and rain pants. While she waited for me, several people in the same dormitory had already walked out of the room with their backpacks and trekking poles. I felt a bit rushed, but in my haste, I couldn’t find my shoes!

I used the headlamp and found they had been kicked under the bed. I reached out to grab them, quickly put on my backpack, and by the time we walked out of the mountain hut, it was already 1:55 AM! As soon as the wind outside blew, even with the windbreaker and rain jacket on,

I still felt the chill penetrating my clothes! So cold! Oh my god… My fingers were starting to feel numb. I could only keep grasping and releasing them to maintain blood circulation! The thermometer hanging outside showed a number I had never seen before—minus one degree Celsius!

The altitude here isn’t even the highest, and it’s already minus one degree! How cold will it be if we climb further up to the summit? Minus two degrees? More and more people were emerging from the mountain hut. Although the wind outside was cold, almost everyone gathered was in high spirits. Sizhi came over and held my hand. “Don’t be scared! Dressed like this, as long as we move a little, we’ll start sweating quickly.” “Does that mean it will be colder?” Sweating and then being exposed to the wind is truly cold. I had already experienced this on the walk here today. ”

Your body will get used to this cold. Haven’t you noticed that I’m shivering too? When I went to Tibet, my eyelashes would freeze over. If I could move in that situation, this is minor.” Perhaps hearing that she had been to Tibet attracted some admiring glances. “We’ll walk slowly, following behind them.”

Again, I would lead, and she would take the rear; meaning no matter what, I had her company, and she would never leave me behind. As she said, after walking a short distance, my body became active and gradually resisted the minus one-degree cold. There was still 1.9 kilometers from Paiyun to the summit,

which was less than a quarter of the distance from the trailhead to Paiyun. But I was about to witness what she called the “scree slope.” This section of the terrain was, as the name implied, a steep slope formed by loose rocks. My headlamp shone on the path, reflecting the appearance of the black scree.

The route was a slow, zigzag ascent. I touched the first section of the iron chain. The coldness radiating from my palm sobered me up considerably. If I hadn’t worn gloves, my hands might have gotten frostbite after just a few grips. “Be careful, walk slowly. As long as you hold onto the chain, it won’t be too difficult…” She was following behind me, but her sentence stopped midway.

The silver-white headlamp that enveloped me suddenly shone towards the sky, and a small cluster of ice struck my nose unexpectedly. Is this… “Rain?” No! Large flakes of debris suddenly appeared flying in the air ahead, illuminated by the headlamp. When they touched my face, they were slightly damp and cold. Mountain friends beside me shouted, “It’s snowing!” It was indeed snow.

There was plenty of moisture on the mountain, and coupled with the low temperature, the rain had turned into snow, flying towards us under the headlamp’s illumination. Was it beautiful? Besides the area lit by the headlamp, everything else was a void of pitch black.

The snow danced in the cold wind, presenting a continuous and irritating coldness. I lowered my head, relying on the iron chain and the light of the headlamp to barely move forward. Sizhi suddenly quickened her pace and overtook me. “Xiaoning! Stay behind me.” I hesitated for a moment, and she walked a little further, positioning herself amidst the large flakes of ice and snow flying towards her.

“Follow closely!” I understood immediately—she wanted to walk ahead and block the snow for me? At 180 centimeters tall, she was willing to become my shield, walking ahead to block… “Mhm!” I blinked. The warm tears leaving my eyes instantly turned cold. I gritted my teeth, held my trekking pole tight, and followed. To match my pace, she deliberately slowed down a little. I didn’t disappoint her, nor did I disappoint myself. Unfamiliar mountain friends behind us followed closely.

Seeing us walking tightly side-by-side, one laughed and said, “Is the little sister following right behind her older sister?” I really wanted an older sister I could rely on like this, but unfortunately, we weren’t sisters. We were far closer than sisters. Sizhi must have heard, but she didn’t react. When she occasionally saw a wider gap, she would cross it and remind me to be careful.

With her walking ahead to block the wind and snow, climbing the slope felt much easier. She occasionally looked back to check on me. Her scarf and woolen hat were covered in snow, some of which seemed to be forming ice. To be fair, the snow came suddenly but wasn’t too heavy, and I didn’t hear too many people exclaiming along the way. As the altitude continued to rise, my breathing became slightly more rapid. My athletic shoes didn’t seem to completely block the cold and were already slightly damp, as were my gloves. This slow-rising scree slope felt endless.

Every time I felt like I had climbed high enough, the mountain friends who had started later were already a distance below me, but the people walking ahead were still pushing forward. We were just stuck in the middle. Not at the summit yet, not yet! “Sizhi!” I opened my mouth and let out a small puff of white mist. “Are you tired?” “Not at all, is it easier to walk like this?”

She turned her head, a relaxed and carefree smile on her face. Even though I knew that she, who had traveled many places, was far stronger both physically and mentally than me, she always managed to pull the distance I thought I had clearly assessed between us even further after I believed I understood it.

‘The process is important.’ If the snow continues to fall like this, perhaps a grey, overcast sky awaits us, and we won’t see the sunrise, but I have to complete this journey. This is the test she carefully crafted for me. To find myself, and to prove that I can do it. And even more… to find my own passion for life! To be like her, to be like her! “Can I walk in front?”

I looked up and took a deep breath. “I can’t… I can’t always rely on you and hide behind you for an easy time.” Her eyes widened slightly, and I walked towards her, overtaking her. “Let me walk in front… I can do it!” Under the alternating light of our headlamps, I pursed my lips and made the request to her. “Mhm.” She gave a knowing smile and seemingly agreed easily. I gripped my trekking pole and stepped forward again.