A Not-So-Scientific Story (2)

The Turtleback Mountain behind Water Frog Village isn't actually that high; it only takes about twenty minutes to walk there from the village entrance. The summit is round, really looking like a resting turtle from afar. The evening breeze carried the scent of rice paddies and mango trees, and the cicadas in the grass chirped incredibly loudly, as if providing a soundtrack for us. The sun was setting, casting a golden-red light on us, stretching our shadows long. Six of us lined up, looking like a string of barbecue skewers. "Alright, everyone!" Ah Fei, leading the way, held up a packet of instant noodles towards the sky. "Target – Turtleback Mountain! Forward! If we find wild berries, glory shall be ours tonight!" Then he tripped on a rock and face-planted, scattering the instant noodles everywhere. "My glory..." he choked out, his voice trembling as he lay on the ground. We laughed for a good five minutes. Chapter Two When we reached the summit, the sky had already turned orange-red, and the grass on the peak was bathed in the sunset, looking as if it were sprinkled with honey. We found a clearing and sat down. Ah Fei finally opened his 'emergency rations,' only to find it was full of snacks. Tie Tou and Dr. were fighting over the last bag of cola-flavored chips, while Ah Gui squatted nearby, fiddling with a compass. "That's weird, why is the needle spinning erratically... Could there be some kind of magnetic anomaly here?" "Simple," said Xiao Mei, "you put it next to your phone." Just as we were about to start eating—suddenly, Tie Tou stood by the grass on the other side of the slope, his face pale. He pointed ahead, shouting in a voice that sounded like he'd seen a ghost, "Quick... quick, come look! What is that thing!?" (To be continued)