Chapter 125: Ginger Brown Sugar, Seven-Degree Space

Perhaps, in the early days, to withstand the onslaught of typhoons, the local fishermen built stone houses along the coast, using rocks as their building material.

The houses were built against the mountains, layered and interlocked, helping the fishermen survive one typhoon season after another.

Of course, hardly anyone lived in them anymore. As the economy developed and the fishermen moved away, the stone houses fell into disuse. Some had already collapsed, their windows shattered, leaving behind only traces of the lives once lived there.

The view was striking. Red stone houses covered the mountainside in overlapping tiers.

Huge, smooth boulders were piled across the slopes above and below. Some were even larger than the houses themselves, lending the scene an eerie, almost unbelievable quality.

Hundreds of rounded stones surrounded the rows of stone houses on either side, creating the illusion of a dreamscape.

And after years without inhabitants, green vines had long since climbed over the houses.

From a distance, the vines wrapping around the walls of several stone houses gave them an especially picturesque charm.

After leaving the Dashing Bay Stone Houses, Lin Shenlu took a look at the signpost.

The next attraction, Elephant Trunk Peak, was still three thousand meters away.

If Lin Shenlu had not exercised regularly, there was no way his stamina would have kept up.

Along the road, he saw many small stones stacked atop large boulders.

They reminded him of the little stone figures Su Bao'er had built earlier.

Seven or eight stones were piled one on top of another, silently facing the ocean.

They brought to mind the stone piles he had seen in the Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii's Big Island. Perhaps they marked the way; perhaps they carried some religious significance.

Before long, Lin Shenlu reached the easternmost shore of Dongfu Island, where the view opened up considerably.

That was when he noticed several enormous caves along the mountainside. Their rounded ceilings and vertically lined entrances gave them a rather unusual appearance.

The auntie who had been gathering conch shells earlier had also caught up with him.

“Sweetie, you can't go in there. Those caves were built during the war. You could pass through the mountain from one side to the other, but they're sealed off inside now, and it would be dangerous!” the kind, simple-hearted conch-shell auntie warned him.

Lin Shenlu had never imagined that even such a remote island had once seen war.

When he reached Elephant Trunk Peak, Lin Shenlu let out a sigh.

The path ahead was no longer merely uneven. It had become a long flight of stone steps.

In other words, it was time to climb.

Lin Shenlu suddenly thought how fortunate it was that An Muxi and Su Bao'er had stayed behind at the guesthouse, sleeping late.

If An Muxi had walked several thousand meters only to climb a mountain, wouldn't she have been gasping for breath, her heart pounding wildly, while crawling onward on both hands and feet?

Even Lin Shenlu had to stop and rest many times before finally reaching the summit.

There, he found a large rock.

He looked at it from every angle, but still could not see how it resembled an elephant's trunk.

The Easternmost Archipelago, Dongfu Island, Elephant Trunk Peak... strongly not recommended!

Still, after taking a photograph, Lin Shenlu felt he had fulfilled his obligation and began making his way back down.

Judging from his physical condition, he felt this must be the end of the island.

But after descending, Lin Shenlu discovered that he had been naïve.

He had assumed that once he reached the bottom, he could simply walk back and complete the circuit around the island. Instead, several more mountains waited beyond this one.

After crossing one, there was another.

Once he had finally struggled up a second mountain, yet another stood ahead of him.

The path rose and fell over several peaks. Combined with the powerful howling sea wind, strong enough to knock a person over, it pushed Lin Shenlu's stamina to its limit. The wind chilled him to the bone.

For the first time, Lin Shenlu began to consider giving up.

Just moments earlier, as he climbed uphill, his calves had been trembling uncontrollably. Whenever he tried to stop for a rest, the sea wind shoved him sideways, making him stagger. To be honest, Lin Shenlu was beginning to lose heart.

The water he had bought after leaving the First Ray of Dawn Viewing Platform for breakfast was nearly gone. The road ahead stretched endlessly. When would it finally end?

Lin Shenlu looked both ahead and behind him. He wanted to give up, but...

He had already completed half the island loop. Whether he turned back or continued forward, the distance was the same—and there was no vehicle that could take him back to the starting point.

So he decided to keep going.

The most awkward moment came when Lin Shenlu reached the summit of another mountain and stopped to rest beside a little pavilion.

A wooden sign stood nearby.

Three words were written on it:

Elephant Trunk Peak?

Had he climbed the wrong mountain just now?

Lin Shenlu drew a deep breath, then, taking advantage of a gust of wind, walked toward the direction of the real Elephant Trunk Peak.

This time, he had not made a mistake.

But no matter which angle he viewed it from, Lin Shenlu still could not see anything that resembled an elephant's trunk.

Uh...

The Easternmost Archipelago, Dongfu Island, Elephant Trunk Peak—what a rip-off.

...

Perhaps the only thing Lin Shenlu could be grateful for was that he found a small wooden hut.

The hut stood on the mountaintop, with a white board pasted to its door.

It read:

Elephant Trunk Peak Rest Shop.

Tea eggs: five yuan.
Corn: ten yuan.

Lin Shenlu felt as though he had discovered an oasis.

He urgently needed water, so he bought some.

The bottled mineral water cost ten yuan apiece. The owner had carried every bottle to the mountaintop by hand, one load at a time.

It was practically a conscience price.

After resting at the little shop for a while, Lin Shenlu continued on his way.

Ahead lay a fork in the road.

The path on the left followed the island circuit, while the one on the right led to White Cloud Palace.

Looking toward White Cloud Palace, he saw that the climb continued.

Lin Shenlu lost his nerve and chose the island route.

Although the path ahead was still mountainous, it was fairly level, with little rise and fall.

After resting and drinking some water, Lin Shenlu no longer felt quite so exhausted.

His attention shifted to the scenery along the way.

Whenever he encountered unfamiliar flowers or birds, he would stop and admire them for a while.

The most striking sight was the Meteorite Waterfall.

At first, Lin Shenlu thought it was an actual waterfall. Only after looking more closely did he realize that it was simply a mass of rocks sloping downward like a cascade. It merely resembled a waterfall; no water was flowing at all.

Continuing onward, Lin Shenlu eventually reached the main road. He then turned onto a small path on the right and followed it into the woods, which brought him back to the village.

At last, it was almost over.

As for hiking around the entire island, people with ordinary stamina were better off not attempting it.

By then, the sun had risen fully above the sea.

Golden light enveloped the village, while the distant ocean shimmered peacefully.

Lin Shenlu swore that he never wanted to hike again.

On the way back, he stopped at a supermarket and bought a packet of ginger and brown-sugar drink mix...

Along with two packs of Seven Space sanitary pads.

He wondered whether An Muxi would blush when he handed them to her later.

Good grief, his feet hurt. He had walked far too much.

Lin Shenlu took two of the pads from the package and placed them inside his shoes as insoles.

Ah. Much better...

But could a Seven Space pad that had been used as an insole still absorb blood?

A counter-question: can a walnut that has been caught in a door still nourish the brain?