Stopping and starting, it took Du Ruo about forty minutes to finally reach the summit of a small hill.
This small hill had no name. There was no help for it; at the foot of Mount Huang, there were simply too many slopes like this. If one were to name them all, it would be impossible to keep up.
Du Ruo stood on the summit of this small hill and turned around to see the Du Family Village and Yangjia Village not far away. By this time, many villagers had already gotten up to work or had left to work in the town.
Du Ruo enjoyed the scenery for a while, which counted as a bit of a rest, and did not continue moving toward Mount Huang.
He was currently right on the edge of the inner and outer areas of Mount Huang. If he went any further in, there would be no proper path, and another reason was that there would be extreme danger further inside.
Given Du Ruo's current situation, he really wasn't confident that he could move through it as he pleased without getting hurt.
So, Du Ruo just took a look, then turned around and prepared to head back down the mountain.
"Mount Huang... wait for me a little longer. When the time comes, I will definitely climb up to Tiandu Peak from here and watch the sunrise there once more."
Du Ruo cheered himself on in his heart.
There are three paths up the Mount Huang scenic area, and these three paths, combined with the cable car, make the difficulty of climbing vary. However, generally speaking, those known routes were carefully selected and constructed by humans. Tourists are constantly around these routes, and even wild animals avoid them.
There seems to be a formless tacit understanding between humans and animals, with both sides not interfering with each other.
In reality, besides these three paths, if one wanted to forge a fourth path to the Mount Huang Summit, it would be nothing but a pipe dream for the current Du Ruo.
Not to mention the poisonous insects and venomous snakes of Mount Huang, there are also wild beasts. Although there have been no reports of tigers or bears in recent years, wild boars and the Cloud Leopard can still pose a great threat to humans. Furthermore, Mount Huang is famous for its strange rocks; many mountains have no trees and are as steep as cliffs, making it impossible for human power alone to climb them.
Shaking his head, Du Ruo stopped thinking about climbing Mount Huang. He had a major challenge in front of him right now.
The difficulty of climbing up lies in the steepness of the mountain path, which makes it hard to run quickly and consumes a great deal of physical strength.
Going down the mountain is different; it doesn't require as much physical strength, but the difficulty is several times higher.
First, walking down is fine, but Du Ruo intended to run down. Friends who often run down mountains know that if you don't stand firmly or lack sufficient body balance, one misstep and the village at the foot of the mountain can start preparing for your funeral.
Second, running down the mountain is too fast. Compared to climbing up, it is equivalent to his opponent's attack speed increasing several times over, which leaves Du Ruo with much less reaction time.
In short, running up the mountain tests physical strength and physical fitness.
Running down the mountain tests focus, footwork, and body reaction speed.
Du Ruo waited until his body was fully rested, then gritted his teeth and began to set off along the small path he had come up on.
……
In less than fifteen minutes, Du Ruo had already arrived at the foot of the mountain where he started.
At this moment, apart from his face being fine, and the collar and back of his shirt being relatively intact, his chest and pants were already in tatters.
"Pah, I overestimated myself. I didn't expect the difficulty to be this high."
Du Ruo spat out a leaf from his mouth, cursing as he did so.
He knew from the start that the difficulty would be high, but thinking that he had handled the climb up quite easily, he felt that his current level should be fine.
As a result, after running just a few steps down the mountain, he couldn't stop his feet. The surrounding branches and thorns whipped against his body unexpectedly, and there were all kinds of loose rocks and blocking branches under his feet.
Du Ruo soon couldn't look after his head and his feet at the same time and was overwhelmed. Finally, fearing that he might accidentally slip, Du Ruo could only focus most of his energy on his feet, while using his hands to protect his eyes and face, forcing his way down the mountain. In the end, his clothes were completely shredded, and he was bleeding in many places.
Especially on his limbs, where the cloth strips were soaked with blood in the worst areas.
"Oh my, young man, did you get lost on the mountain? How did you end up like this? Don't move, I'll call an ambulance for you."
Just as Du Ruo reached the foot of the mountain and was sitting on the ground, lowering his head to pull out the thorns stuck in the flesh of his arm, a voice rang out not far away. The voice was very loud and gave Du Ruo a start.
"Uncle Yang, it's me, Du Ruo. Don't call; I'm fine, just some superficial wounds."
Du Ruo looked up and saw it was Yang Chenguang's father. He hurriedly replied to stop him from calling for an ambulance.
If Uncle Yang called an ambulance, he would probably have to leave his hometown. As a local, coming down from the mountain in such a state, it wouldn't take two days for the news to spread through the surrounding villages. He couldn't afford to lose face like that.
"Little Du? How did you end up like this? Did you roll down the mountain?"
Uncle Yang walked closer and realized it was Du Ruo. He looked him up and down and saw that he wasn't actually lost on the mountain and that there were no other injuries besides scratches, so he felt relieved and helped Du Ruo remove the thorns stuck to his body.
"Something like that. Uncle Yang, why are you here?"
Du Ruo hurriedly changed the subject, curiously inquiring why Uncle Yang was here so early.
"This is my family's tea garden and vegetable plot; I just came to check on it today. Can you still walk? Do you want your uncle to carry you down?"
Uncle Yang was still a bit worried about Du Ruo's condition and asked with concern.
"No need, no need, I can go back by myself. Uncle Yang, you go ahead with your work. Uncle Yang, please don't tell anyone, okay? I'll head back first."
Du Ruo took a look and saw that it really was a tea garden. He hadn't noticed when he first arrived, and he didn't know that Yang Chenguang's family had a tea garden at the foot of this mountain.
Refusing Uncle Yang's kindness, Du Ruo began to walk toward the Bed and Breakfast.
"Next time, I'll have to leave a set of clothes in the bushes at the foot of the mountain. This time was embarrassing. Fortunately, Uncle Yang is tight-lipped."
Du Ruo returned to the Bed and Breakfast in a miserable state. Along the way, he didn't even dare to walk on the main road, choosing only empty paths, and he didn't go through the front desk of the Bed and Breakfast, going straight to the building where he was staying.
It was also a good time, as the tourists in the village had either already set off to climb the mountain or had started working, so no one saw Du Ruo's disheveled appearance.
Arriving at his room, Du Ruo first went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror to clean himself up, and then took a shower.
Only then did he put on shorts and take the iodine to treat his wounds.
"I was still too careless. All in all, I've only been practicing martial arts for about ten days. I'll have to make more preparations next time."
Du Ruo didn't plan to practice this kind of mountain running every day. Today was actually just to scout the path and test if it was feasible.
Now it was confirmed that this kind of exercise was completely fine. After all, the Panel had already given the answer. This trip of Du Ruo's, all in all, took less than two hours and had already yielded the results of a full day's work in the past.
18 points of Xing Yi Quan experience, 18 points of Natural Gate Cultivation Method experience, and 0.18 Attribute Points had already been credited. Yes, that's right, the Attribute Points for the Natural Gate Cultivation Method had actually increased by the same amount as the Xing Yi Quan skill today. Thinking about it, it was understandable; after all, whether climbing up or running down, the exercise for the legs and balance was the greatest.
"Du Ruo, I couldn't tell, but your physique is actually quite good."
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