Sleepless Mountain (17)

"Also, what does she mean by calling you Taji?" Upon hearing this, Mita's pupils rapidly constricted, and his breathing became extremely rapid. I knew he was in a state of extreme fear. Even a single second on a high mountain can lead to a great crisis if one falls into panic. No matter what, he couldn't lose his reason. So I hurriedly jumped out of my sleeping bag and sat directly on Mita's chest to hold him down. Slap, slap, slap, I gave him several hard slaps. As expected, Mita's breathing began to slow down, and he slowly regained his reason. The two of us probably stared at each other like this for a good five minutes. Mita finally spoke slowly. "I'm sorry. There's something I should have told you before we came up the mountain. Among this rescue party, Kiyoko is also here. She... is also on this mountain." Hearing Mita say this, I felt extremely surprised. Because I didn't see Kiyoko's name on the list of the first expedition team. Unless she anonymously disguised herself as a man and went up the mountain. But why would she do that? "Was that her voice just now?" Mita nodded. "Kiyoko wanted the child, but I thought both she and I were still too young and had too many things left undone. I was the one who made her get rid of it. And Taji is the nickname she called me only when it was just the two of us. She said a man should stand tall and upright, so she gave me the nickname Taji, which sounds similar." But... Kiyoko should already be dead.... Both Mita and I fell into silent speechlessness. Because both he and I knew very well that this was not an auditory hallucination.