Chapter 3: The Curse

  She shook her head, maybe she was just thinking too much!

  It wasn't until they got off the car that they realized they had just arrived at the foot of the mountain and hadn't entered the mountain yet. The trees at the foot of the mountain were already astonishing enough, let alone the scenery on the mountain.

  "How scary is this place? I should have taken a leave of absence." Lin Yuan said timidly, shrinking his neck.

  Su Jiner comfortingly patted her shoulder and said: "Can't be helped, we're already here."

  "But the air is still very good." Du Xiaonan closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

  Su Jiner turned her head to look at Li Yiqian, but found that she was just standing quietly, looking at the top of the mountain, and didn't know what she was thinking.

  "Now, let me talk about the personnel arrangement, and then everyone will take a rest before starting our training today."

  "Will we be separated from each other?!" Lin Yuan said in a low voice, as if she had become especially timid since arriving here.

  "You seem so timid today! How can you be a forensic doctor like this?!"

  It seems that Su Jin'er has touched her sore spot, she stomped her foot and said: "Not at all! I just feel a bit unaccustomed to it." The latter words were obviously lacking in confidence.

  "Alright, everyone quiet down," the team leader teacher said suddenly. "Today's training is a bit special, so everyone needs to be mentally prepared and must follow instructions, no running around."

  Next is the grouping of all people, with each group consisting of ten people, and there are three groups in total.

  Su Jiner, Lin Yuan, Du Xiaonan, Li Yiqian, Chu Feifan, Zuo Yi, Zhang Junsheng, Xu Mengguang, Xu Lingling and Zhang Yang were in a group. After everyone found their teammates, they began to prepare for entering the mountain. However, when they were ready to enter the mountain, they found that the coaches and teachers had set up tents in a clean area.

  "Coach, aren't you going with us?" a classmate asked loudly, and all the classmates looked at the coach and teacher with puzzled eyes.

  "We are staying here without a team, waiting for you to come back. You must remember that there is only one way down the mountain, so you must be back before dark."

  The content of this military training is actually not difficult, the school just puts the three flags in a certain place in the mountain ahead of time and lets the students find them and bring them back to complete the task. Although it doesn't sound difficult, but in such a big mountain, it's inevitable that people feel too difficult.

  "What's the task? Such a big mountain, how can we find such a small flag?! The school is really abnormal!" Du Xiaonan complained.

  "The school gave us a map! Actually, the school did this to train us too!" A boy's voice suddenly came over.

  The rest of them looked at him in unison, and he smiled and said: "Hello everyone, my name is Chu Feifan. Please introduce your names as well! That way we can take care of each other!"

  Everyone thought it made sense and they all reported their names one after another. By the time everyone had introduced themselves, they had already left the main road and started climbing up the mountain.

  Chu Fei Fan is a very handsome boy, with fair skin that doesn't give off an unhealthy impression. His deep eyes shine brightly, his long eyelashes make girls jealous, and his high nose bridge and thin lips make for a face that's impossible to forget at first glance.

  Perhaps it was because of Chu Fei's extraordinary appearance that everyone unanimously followed his opinion.

  Su Jiner looked at the dense forest, feeling uneasy again. She glanced around and couldn't see the other two teams' figures anymore, which surprised her how quickly they had disappeared from sight. Due to the numerous trees, the surroundings seemed somewhat dim, and everyone carefully tread on the fallen leaves step by step as they moved forward. Chu Feifan held onto the map, leading the way, and the red mark on it indicated the location of the flag they were searching for, which still seemed quite far from their current position.

  "Chu Fei Fan, may I take a look at the map?" a girl suddenly said.

  Su Jiner took a look at her, she should be Xu Lingling! Each team has five boys and five girls. She knew the other four girls, so it was Xu Lingling.

  Xu Lingling looks like a very delicate girl, with a pale face and a pair of shallow dimples, although not very beautiful, but when she smiles, there is a kind of feeling that makes people feel distressed.

  "Good." Chu Fei Fan handed the map to her, his eyes inadvertently glancing at Su Jin Er.

  Su Jiner walked to the back of Xu Lingling, she took a look at the map and started walking forward. Lin Yuan caught up with her from behind and said: "Don't you think Chu Feifan is very handsome?"

  "It's really cool! What's wrong?" She replied casually, but her eyes were constantly searching around.

  "Do you like him?"

  When she said that, Su Jin'er helplessly withdrew her gaze and said: "Please, our current task is to find the flag, okay? Don't be so infatuated."

  Lin Yuan stuck out his tongue and said, "Alright, got it."

  "Ah!"

  Suddenly a sharp cry pierced the quiet sky.

  "What's wrong?" Chu Feifan quickly walked to Xu Lingling's side and asked with concern.

  "I don't know, I feel like something bit me on the leg." Xu Lingling said with tears in her eyes.

  Xu Lingling was wearing a skirt. Chu Feifan carefully squatted down to check her legs: "Oh! Nothing's wrong, it seems like she was scratched by a tree branch."

  "It's just a scratch from the branch, do you have to make such a big fuss?" Lin Yuan couldn't stand weak girls, she glanced at Xu Lingling and hummed as she continued walking forward.

  "Are people supposed to be scared in a place like this?" Xu Lingling continued to say weakly, completely not detecting the sarcasm in Lin Yuan's words.

  "Disgusting." Du Xiaonan also couldn't bear to look at it anymore.

  Xu Lingling glared at her, slowly leaning her body against Chu Feifan's, looking at them with a triumphant gaze. Chu Feifan reached out to straighten her body and said, "Let's continue walking! Otherwise, it will be dark and we won't be able to return."

  Xu Lingling nodded and carefully followed behind Chu Feifan.

  "Hey, Jin'er, go and let Chu Feifan take care of you! If you go, he will definitely not bother with that Xu Lingling again." Lin Yuan said, pulling on Su Jin'er's arm.

  "I don't need anyone to take care of me."

  They heard what they said, and when Su Jin'er said she didn't need anyone to take care of her, a hint of disappointment flashed in Chu Fei's eyes.

  "You're always so stubborn."

  "Do you smell something strange?" Zuo Yi said suddenly.

  When they heard his words, everyone sniffed their noses hard, but all shook their heads, indicating that they didn't smell anything.

  "It smells like something is burning." Su Jiner said.

  "The smell is coming from over there." Chu Fei Fan continued.

  "Let's go take a look!" Li Yiqian, who had been silent all along, also smelled it and lifted her foot to walk forward.

  Su Jiner looked in the direction she was walking and said with some concern: "But this seems to have left the direction we are heading."

  "It doesn't matter, let's take this opportunity to go on an adventure!" Chu Fei Fan gazed at Su Jin Er with a serious expression.

  "Really!"

  Everyone expressed their unanimous agreement, and she couldn't say anything else, so she had no choice but to follow everyone together.

  The fallen leaves underfoot grew thicker, rotting leaves, combined with an unknown smell in the air, made people feel a bit pungent, and the farther they walked, the stronger the smell became. Finally, flames were seen ahead.

  "It really smells like something's burning! Jin'er, your nose is so sharp!" Lin Yuan exclaimed excitedly as he saw the flames.

  "But what are they burning? It smells terrible!"

  A group of people walked forward while talking, and in front of them a woman knelt beside the bonfire, slowly throwing something into the fire, with faint sobbing sounds still audible.

  "She seems to be crying." Du Xiaonan whispered in Lin Yuan's ear.

  It seemed that she had heard the footsteps, and the woman raised her head to see them. A look of terror appeared on her face as she trembled and said: "Who are you? Why have you come here?"

  Xu Lingling was immediately frightened and hid behind Chu Feifan.

  "Sister, we are students from the Medical College, here for military training." Su Jiner said as she stepped forward.

  "Leave here immediately, this is not a place you should come." The woman said sternly, her face showing even more terror.

  "Why?" Chu Fei Fan walked up to Su Jin Er and asked.

  "Leave when you're told to leave! Be careful or you'll be cursed."

  When they heard the word "curse", everyone took a cold breath, and Su Jin'er was even more puzzled. Isn't this place uninhabited? How could there be a woman burning something here? Thinking of burning things, she leaned in to take a closer look at the fire, and couldn't help but take a step back in fright.

  The woman seemed to sense something and quickly gathered her belongings and left, as if this group of people had the plague.

  "Don't listen to her nonsense, let's continue on our way!" Chu Fei Fan seemed to have sensed Su Jin Er's abnormality, thinking she was afraid, and comforted her.

  "Look, what was she burning just now?" Su Jiner squatted down and picked up a branch to stir the fire that had not yet gone out.

  When she said this, Chu Fei Fan also squatted down and carefully examined it: "It seems to be the bones of some animal."

  "Bones? No wonder it smells so bad. But why is she burning these bones?" Lin Yuan was also standing beside Jin'er.

  "Probably she is mourning for someone!" Li Yiqian's voice came faintly.

  When they heard Li Yi Qian's words, the crowd, who were already somewhat fearful, now stood in place trembling. The surroundings seemed to have darkened even more, and the sun that should have appeared still did not show up.

  It's probably blocked by the trees! Jing'er thought, gazing up at the sky.

  "Don't be afraid, everyone! Let's find the flag as soon as possible and leave this place!" Chu Feifan said to the crowd.

  Just as everyone was about to leave, another scream came from the crowd, this time it was a boy who shouted, he looked at Jin'er's back in horror, as if something terrifying was happening there.

  "What's your name?" Zhang Junsheng said with some anger, originally hearing such a curse was already frightening enough.

  "I just saw a figure flashing over there, moving as fast as the wind." Xu Mengguang pointed behind Jin'er with a trembling finger, his teeth chattering "ga ga".

  "Is it that woman who came back again?" Du Xiaonan said.

  "No, it's not that, the woman was wearing black clothes, but I saw a white shadow."

  "Let's go back! This place is too scary!" Xu Lingling said, tugging on Chu Feifan's clothes.

  "Alright, let's stop speculating and go back to searching for the flag!" Su Jiner said somewhat impatiently. She really didn't want to stay here any longer; the stifling air was suffocating her.