The Summit Promise

Gu Linyuan was a solitary mountaineer. To him, the mountains were both a refuge and his only faith. That evening, on a wild trail, he came across a woman with a sprained ankle. Her name was Shen Xiyao. She had come into the mountains alone but had fallen halfway. Her lips were pale from the pain, yet she was still trying to tough it out. Gu Linyuan crouched down to examine her injury. The moment his fingers touched her ankle, he felt her whole body tense up. He carried her on his back down the mountain. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and her breath brushed the back of his neck—light as a mountain breeze, yet so hot it sent a tingling numbness down his spine. He suddenly felt that this wild mountain he had walked countless times had become somehow different today.