♪ Wilderness ♪
Lu Jia leaned weakly on Phoenix's thigh, holding the kettle with difficulty. She didn't care if he had drunk it or not. Anyway, things were already like this, so she continued to drink silently.
The clear and warm liquid quickly flowed through her dry and itchy throat. She swallowed in large mouthfuls, and the uncomfortable throat was thus calmed down by the smoke that was about to occur. Only then did Lu Jia gradually recover from the stifling suffocation.
Phoenix probably saw that she was feeling better, so he put his hand through Lu Jia's leg socket. After checking around, he carried Lu Jia, who was still weak, and walked to a huge shadow that formed a wedge depression with the ground.
It was a beautiful place, and it was a wonderful place to be.
Phoenix let go of Lu Jia's hand. She couldn't help but raise her head to look at him, but Phoenix didn't seem to notice. She turned her back to Lu Jia and walked back while dealing with their footsteps and traces.
When Lu Jia looked down from above, she didn't notice that there was a platform here. They were in a dead corner.
And the valley floor is right at the corner of the Colorado River, and even if a small number of cruise ship tourists happen to look up right here, as long as they don't stand at the edge, it's hard for anyone else to see them hiding here.
After sitting for a while, Lu Jia, who was sitting in the shadows, felt much better. Therefore, she suddenly noticed that her chest was slightly cold. She lowered her head and saw her open collar, revealing the edge of her underwear's milky white fabric and…
She widened her eyes and immediately covered her chest. She looked at Phoenix, who was not far away. Her eyes met Phoenix's, who had just finished dealing with the footprints.
Phoenix didn't seem to care about Lu Jia's current situation at all. He walked to her side and sat down expressionlessly. His tall body occupied most of the territory at once, and Lu Jia was forced to squeeze to the side.
He casually picked up the military kettle that Lu Jia had placed on the ground and stared at the still wet bottle for a while. After pausing for two to three seconds, he raised his head and took a sip of water. Then, he turned his head to look at Lu Jia beside him.
Lu Jiaren was a little weak, but she still couldn't help but frown." You…"
Before she could finish her sentence, Phoenix interrupted her." Lu, don't be so clever next time. Otherwise, you'll be the only one who gets hurt in the end."
“--!？”
Lu Jia widened her eyes in surprise and looked at him in shock.
She opened her mouth, but finally stammered a denial."What are you talking about? I don't understand."
Phoenix raised his eyebrows at her, but he did not question her. Instead, he turned to look at the Colorado Canyon in the distance.
Lu Jia immediately felt very embarrassed. She could only turn around and enjoy the scenery together. At the same time, she quietly zipped up her coat bit by bit without leaving any trace.
The terrain they were in was relatively low. From afar, the entire area was red and almost covered the sky. The rocks were neatly arranged. It was obviously so barren, but there was no place that was not filled with the divine workmanship of nature. It seemed that even the mind was much broader.
It is said that the scenery of the West Gorge is not as good as that of the South Gorge. Lu Jia can't help but wonder how magnificent the scenery of the real Grand Canyon National Park is.
Phoenix didn't say anything either. She enjoyed the scenery in the distance with Lu Jia. At the same time, she raised her kettle and took another sip of water." This place is indeed too steep. It might be dangerous to go down. Let's rest here tonight and leave immediately tomorrow morning."
Lu Jia lowered her eyes. She didn't have the right to refuse at this moment. She could only gently "hmm" for the rest of her life.
"It's already so late. You must be hungry. Eat something."
Phoenix glanced at the time on her watch and took out a can of chickpeas and tuna from her bag. She then stood up and picked up a pile of withered grass and branches around the flat, surrounding them with a few stones.
He took out a long flint from his bag and scraped off a layer of dark magnesium oxide with a matching scraper. After scraping a few times, the flint quickly emitted fine sparks. After a few times, the top withered grass was on fire.
The heat quickly distorts the air above the flames, fueling the heat.
He poked the mini fire with a tree branch skillfully, then took out the lid on the top of the military kettle, which was also a deep-mouthed handle cup-about 500 to 600 milliliters, usually used to heat raw water.
After placing it upside down, Phoenix slowly opened the two cans that she had placed beside her legs and poured the sticky stuff inside. Then, she added half a bottle of water.
“……”
Lu Jia's expression was already a little bad. After seeing Phoenix's operation, she was first shocked, and then she felt more and more upset.
"... you, have you never cooked?"
Phoenix paused and looked at her suspiciously. Then, he followed Lu Jia's gaze and looked at the deep-mouthed handle cup before he understood. He frowned and explained," The can body is too narrow. There's no way to put it on the stone. We can only pour it in together."
Seeing that Lu Jia still looked disgusted, he added, emphasizing.
"-I'm good at making sandwiches."
Lu Jia tried her best to keep her lips pursed so that she wouldn't laugh out loud.
"Alright…alright."
But in the end, she couldn't help it. After all, Lu Jia didn't expect Phoenix, who made her afraid, to act so funny in this matter. The contrast between the two was too great, so she burst out laughing.
" Next time, I'll take you to try Chinese cuisine. It's not fake Chinese food like Zuo Zongtang's chicken. I think you'll sigh that you've lived for nothing in the past few decades."
Lu Jia said with regret.
However, as soon as she finished speaking, she realized that they would part ways in ten days at most. Lu Jia suddenly felt that she was too soft-hearted.
He did such a thing to her. Why did he say that he wanted to eat Chinese food with this dog man?
Phoenix could probably see the vexation on Lu Jia's face, but he didn't say anything. He didn't seem to care about it. He held the handle of the cup and gently shook the contents. He said casually," If there's a chance, I'll try it."
“……”
The weather was already hot, and the sticky food inside the lid quickly bubbled with sparkling fish eyes. The air gradually filled with a fresh smell.
Phoenix quickly saw the handle cup move to the side. After adding some more water into it, she immediately stood up and stepped on the small fire. Then, she returned to Lu Jia's side and handed the food in her hand to her.
Lu Jia glanced at him, but she didn't say anything in the end. She suspected that Phoenix was even the kind of person who could wash cooked white rice with a sieve.
" There are a lot of helicopters coming and going here. The bonfire might attract the managers here. We have to destroy it as soon as possible."
Lu Jia took the cup after a few mental preparations. However, she still understood Phoenix's opinion about the fire. After all, it was really hot now, and it was more comfortable without the fire.
She was really too hungry, and her stomach began to rumble. Otherwise, Lu Jia would never eat this even if she died.
However, the handle was very hot, and there was no tableware. Obviously, there was no way to find tableware in this godforsaken place. Lu Jia could only swallow with her head raised by the edge of the cup.
The food inside was emitting heat. Lu Jia's tongue tip was accidentally scalded and numb, so she lost consciousness. Even after drying it for a while, she was still sweating all over.
Perhaps she was hungry, but other than the soft taste and the heavy seasoning, the food wasn't too bad. Her empty stomach was quickly satisfied. Lu Jia ate 70% full and handed the remaining half back to Phoenix.
Phoenix finished the rest of the food in two or three bites, diluted it with water, and drank it. After stuffing everything back into her backpack, it was only two o'clock in the afternoon.
This was the first time Lu Jia felt that time was so long.
"Why don't we…set up the tent first and take a nap?"
Phoenix shook her head." No, the tent is too obvious. We have to wait until dark."
Lu Jia shrugged." Alright."
“……”
Silence again.
Perhaps it was because of the food that caused her blood sugar to rise, and no one else spoke to break the silence, Lu Jia, who was already weak, felt drowsy in such hot weather. The red rocks behind her formed an angle of less than 90 degrees, and Lu Jia could only bend her spine, feeling very uncomfortable.
Very soon, Lu Jia's body slowly slid down while she was half-asleep. After falling for a short time, she rested comfortably on a warm " platform " that was slightly hard.
Phoenix couldn't help but stiffen. She turned around and looked at Lu Jia, who seemed to be completely unaware of this.
At this moment, her eyes were closed. Her red lips, which were still somewhat dry, were slightly pouted because they were pressing against his shoulder. Her lips were like a plump bead, emitting a slight breathing sound.
Phoenix tried to push her hand away and stayed halfway, but eventually withdrew it and continued to look at the flowing Colorado River and the vast landscape it had carved hundreds of millions of years later.
*
Dominica Skye had already arrived in Las Vegas and was standing by near the BRICS Hotel where this important surveillance was obtained.
For some reason, the System had yet to match the Asian woman's identity from the huge database, so they could only sift through the hotel's registration information.
Of course, they didn't get permission from each other. Everything was done in secret, and Dominica was used to it.
There were five eligible Asian women who checked in that night. After comparing their face information, they quickly identified their target.
Jia Lu is 21 years old.
He was an ordinary tourist from China on a short-term trip to the United States. As far as the description above was concerned, he was just a college student. Before that, he had no interaction with Caspar Phoenix.
No wonder the System couldn't find this Asian woman in such a short period of time, because the information it collected was too little.
However, it didn't matter. Since he had already confirmed the other party's information, it was only a matter of time before he found Phoenix.
So Dominica immediately called the intelligence service to pull up every payment made by the other party in the United States. It took almost a few minutes to get the next travel route of the other party immediately.
According to the plan, she should be near Grand Canyon National Park by now, and she would stay at a hotel booked in a nearby town at night.
But Dominica was certainly not that stupid. Caspar Phoenix was a very intelligent and experienced man. Did he still walk with the Asian woman until now, or did he actually expect this and separate from her?
So the young CIA agent immediately found the local US mobile phone number she bought through Lujia's purchase record and notified the intelligence service to locate the signal again.
" Sir, the signal is in a disabled state. It is not installed in the equipment or is in shutdown or flight mode."
"…What? Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir! Because all she had to do was insert her phone card into her phone and the signal would relay the information to us."
Dominica Skye was immediately excited by the information provided by the members of the group, because he was sure that once the girl got rid of Phoenix, she would connect to the Internet and leave a trail.
How could a visitor to the United States normally isolate himself from the Internet and signals?
He must still be with that girl.
"Caspar Phoenix…"
Dominica whispered his name, thinking of the failure last time. This time, he must avenge himself.
" Let's head to Grand Canyon National Park immediately!"
……
On the other hand, Agent Mahoney was already extremely irritable after failing to find anything.
He always felt that he might have unknowingly learned the clues and accidentally missed them.
Now Mahoney can only continue to look for a needle in a haystack according to the profile description.
But intuition and experience told him that Quantico's profile was likely to be counterproductive. The profile was based largely on statistical features and behavioral analysis. How could a well-informed and eloquent Caspar Phoenix be so easily guessed?
But what exactly did he miss?
Driving on the road to Virginia, Mahoney smoked one cigarette after another with a sad face. Under the influence of the smoky Ni/Gu Ding, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration, as if he had thought of something.
After a long history of American individualism, everyone assumed Phoenix would storm the CIA headquarters at Langley, single-handedly, to avenge her mother's death.
But what if…what if he didn't intend to do so?
*
In the crimson afterglow, the Colorado West Gorge attraction closes at 5:30 p.m. Daylight Saving Time.
After confirming that there would be no more sightseeing helicopters flying back and forth between the canyons, Phoenix leisurely pushed his head away from his shoulders and rubbed his aching shoulders with a wrinkled face.
However, while he was rubbing, Phoenix's palm happened to touch a small piece of wet liquid. He immediately frowned and turned to look at Lu Jia behind him.
Lu Jia, who was sleeping soundly, knocked her head gently on the boulder above her head for some reason. She felt a little dizzy for a moment, and finally opened her sleepy eyes. In the end, she saw Phoenix looking at her with an ugly expression.
"…Wh-what happened?"
She rubbed her eyes and yawned sleepily.
A valley breeze blew past, and it was extremely cool compared to the scorching heat of the noon sun.
Phoenix took a deep breath." Nothing."
After saying that, he took out the folded tent bag from his backpack and unzipped it. He was ready to install the place where they would rest tonight.
The soil here was rough and loose, so it was much more difficult to set up tents here than on normal grass. Lu Jia knew that they would have to sleep in it tonight, so she didn't care about the animosity between them and took the initiative to go up and help.
Half an hour later, the tent was successfully erected with the edge of the boulder as a cover.
Lu Jia was extremely tired. She had walked for an hour on the mountain road and suffered heatstroke once. Although she had just fallen asleep, she felt that her body was aching more and more because she was sitting.
She sat down eagerly, intending to lie down and rest.
The tent was not big, but it could barely sleep two people.
Phoenix, who was standing outside the tent, frowned slightly. She looked at the sleeping bag she took out of her bag in confusion and asked,"…Did you buy a sleeping bag for two?"
Lu Jia's action of lying down froze. Then, as if she remembered something, she popped her head out of the tent.
She looked at Phoenix and then at the sleeping bag that he had compressed. She opened her mouth but could not say anything.
Lu Jia knew what was going on.
Before she realized she had been cheated, she swore that Phoenix's female friend was his girlfriend.
At that time, seeing that Phoenix was willing to let her go, she decided to assist him and create…conditions for him and his girlfriend who had come to help him despite danger and danger.
Therefore, Lu Jia specially put back the two single sleeping bags that she had already chosen, and then went back and chose a double sleeping bag.
Phoenix had probably been too hasty when she packed her backpack and hadn't noticed it. Lu Jia had also completely forgotten about this matter because of the sudden turn of events.
As a result, the " conditions " were created for her and Phoenix.
"Is this, is this double sleeping bag separated?"
Lu Jia didn't give up. She raised her head and looked at him expectantly.
The puzzled expression on Phoenix's face gradually dissipated. In front of Lu Jia, she expressionlessly opened the bag and unfolded it, revealing the inside that was completely unobstructed.
She froze on the spot and looked at Phoenix in horror.
Lu Jia could be considered a geography major. At this moment, a lot of relevant climate knowledge flashed through her mind.
The temperature difference between day and night here is very large. During the day, it can be as hot as Lujia heatstroke, but at night, the temperature can even reach zero degrees Celsius in extreme cases.
The sun had just set, and the temperature had already become very cool.
At the very least, Lu Jia, who was weak, couldn't possibly not sleep in a sleeping bag.
As for Phoenix…as someone who needed to save energy and escape, he naturally wouldn't choose to give up sleeping in a more comfortable place.
Lu Jia could barely understand what had happened earlier and pretended that she had only been bitten by mosquitoes.
But now…
She wouldn't sleep in a sleeping bag with Phoenix at night, would she?
The author says:
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. QAQ.
Colleagues Yang led to my workload increased, today is really unbearable, tomorrow to see if I can write more, to point more exciting!
Mwah!
No comments:
Post a Comment