517. No, You Don’t Want to
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Camping in the wild under a tent, even though most of my friends are around, we rarely sleep together.
Many of us didn’t sleep well; Lin Kexin, next to Lin Nan, woke up around midnight and spent an hour playing with her phone before dozing off again.
Meanwhile, Lin Nan was tossing and turning, worried about otherworldly pursuers and figuring out how to unlock more aggressive magic. The struggle was real until he finally succumbed to sleep just before dawn.
By around 8 AM, the student camp started to buzz with life.
“Chen Yao! Chen Yao!”
Chen Yao was called awake by the shouts outside. He unzipped the tent, poked his head out, and noticed that many classmates were already up.
“Up so early?” he asked as he stepped out of the tent, looking at Big Dog, who had called him. “Is there a morning activity?”
“We’re going bungee jumping!”
“Bungee jumping?” Chen Yao looked utterly confused. “You can do that here?”
“You didn’t know? Last night, Tu Junhui roped us into waking up early to go check out the bungee jump.” Big Dog was practically vibrating with excitement, pointing towards Zheng Qian’s tent. “While he’s still asleep, we’re waking everyone up. Those who want to join better gather fast!”
Chen Yao nodded; he was keen to see what bungee jumping was all about.
Even if he didn’t jump himself, watching someone scream and plummet was bound to be refreshing! After all, most of the joy in life comes from the suffering of others.
Now fully awake at the thought, he turned back to Xiong Da, who’d also been roused by the commotion and shot him a questioning look.
Xiong Da nodded that he’d go too.
So, Chen Yao sprang to his feet and scampered towards Lin Nan’s tent.
Lin Kexin had also woken up and was lying in the tent, playing on her phone. As soon as Chen Yao made a little noise, her head popped out, eyes wide with curiosity.
“Bungee jumping?!” Lin Kexin exclaimed, her excitement skyrocketing after hearing Chen Yao’s explanation. “I wanna go too!”
“They’re gathering in about half an hour, but we have to cover our own costs this time.”
Up until now, no matter what they did, unless they sprinted to the convenience store for snacks, Zheng Qian had always footed the bill.
Lin Nan, who’d been sleeping in late but lightly, was jolted awake by the chatter outside. Rubbing her eyes, she was still somewhat clueless about what was happening.
“Lin Nan, do you want to check out the bungee jump?” Chen Yao peeked in, only to see his girlfriend with her shirt hiked up, exposing her belly, and her shorts rolled up to her thighs. A large expanse of her fair skin was greeting the air, and she still had tears in her eyes, looking adorably dazed. It was hard not to think…
“What bungee jump?” Lin Nan yawned, struggling to prop herself up.
“Big Dog says we’re gathering in half an hour. We’re dragging Zheng Qian along to see the bungee jump.”
She started piecing it together, knowing she was the mastermind behind this idea: “How many people are going?”
“About a dozen or so, I think.”
Suddenly more awake, she declared, “Then I’m going! I wanna jump too!”
Seeing her still half-asleep look, Chen Yao couldn’t help but tease, “You’re really out of it, aren’t you? Aren’t you afraid of heights?”
He certainly knew how severe her fear of heights was. “You’ll probably be scared out of your mind!”
And that’s exactly the point! Otherwise, how would she unlock magic!
Despite feeling a bit uneasy, Lin Nan figured that bungee jumping was probably just a blink-and-you-miss-it type of deal and wouldn’t be that scary. Plus, unlocking a flying spell wouldn’t hurt!
She rubbed her face, shaking off her sleepiness, and then grabbed her bedhead hair, looking up at Chen Yao. “Where’s my comb?”
“I’ll go get it for you.”
Not wanting to appear like a crazy person with a bird’s nest on her head, Lin Nan stayed in the tent, fiddling with her phone to check the class group chat.
The chat was dead silent, just some scenic photos from yesterday.
Looks like Tu Junhui actually went through everyone individually?
Before long, Chen Yao returned with the comb. Lin Nan tidied up her hair a bit and took a quick selfie to check her look. Content with what she saw, she grabbed the compressed towel and disposable toothbrush that Lin Kexin had prepared for her and headed to the restroom to freshen up.
The facilities were surprisingly clean, possibly considering the needs of campers; outside were several sinks. A few male classmates were sharing shampoo and washing their hair.
Who knows why some people prefer to wash their hair in the morning?
It seemed like Tu Junhui and Xiong Da were in on this secret too.
With no hairdryer in sight, if Lin Nan were still a guy, she’d definitely be the type to avoid washing her hair or showering all day, waiting until she got home to deal with it.
Finding an empty spot, she washed up while keeping an eye on her classmates, noticing many were discussing the bungee jump.
The main topic was betting on who dared to jump.
While Lin Nan was thinking about unlocking magic through bungee jumping, her fear of heights still left her hesitant.
She specifically looked up the bungee jumping fees for the site: 150 bucks—not unmanageable, but they also require height, weight, and bl**d pressure checks. Guess they don’t want anyone keeling over mid-jump.
But bungee jumping is relatively safe compared to other extreme sports…
After browsing, Lin Nan only found a handful of accident reports online: one was due to faulty straps, leading to a break, and another involved a tourist abroad who jumped without being securely harnessed yet.
Safety regulations in China are definitely stricter for these activities, and pay attention to the second incident, and you should be fine. In short, nobody had died from bungee jumping!
Now, Lin Nan felt reassured.
After washing up, it was already 9 AM.
Last night, due to Tu Junhui snoring, Zheng Qian hadn’t fallen asleep until late, and even now, with the students in a ruckus, he remained blissfully unaware, still snoring away.
Meanwhile, the students who intended to watch or jump had gathered. Lin Nan scanned the group and estimated about 17 or 18 people—almost half the class!
With this many people, there’s safety in numbers; it wasn’t just her concern anymore.
But if something did happen…
Lin Nan squatted down, looking at her own shadow and whispered, “Can you ensure their safety?”
Her shadow gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
That settled it; she was completely at ease.
“If we’re bungee jumping, we need to take the cable car there; it’ll take half an hour.” Tu Junhui, ever the organizer, took charge. “Let’s get moving before Zheng Qian wakes up!”
With that, he led the charge toward the cable car, and Lin Nan proudly wrapped her arm around Chen Yao’s, feeling especially clever and quick on her feet.
Now she could unlock new magic! Sure, it might not be enough to face her pursuers, but it was a start.
“I’ll have to give it a try too,” Chen Yao said, practically bouncing with anticipation; he had been looking forward to bungee jumping.
“I want to go as well!”
Chen Yao looked down at Lin Nan, gently pushing her head down. “No, you don’t.”
