The Mountain Climbing Trip

A group of college students decided to go mountain climbing, and among them was a couple named Tan Li and Zhou Tian.

The night before their departure, Tan Li did some online research about mountain climbing to learn about safety precautions. She came across a mountain-climbing ghost story that left her deeply disturbed.

The story went like this:

A group of students went to climb a snowy mountain, and there was only one female among them, who was dating one of the male students. As they approached the summit, the weather suddenly turned bad. However, these students were determined to reach the top. In the end, the female student remained at the base camp while the others continued their ascent.

As darkness fell, the group failed to return. The female student was left alone in the tent, listening to the howling wind and feeling overwhelmed by fear and loneliness. She waited for three days.

On the third evening, they finally returned, but her boyfriend was not with them. The returning students appeared to have narrowly escaped a grave danger, with pale faces and terrified expressions. They informed her that her boyfriend had tragically died three days ago.

The female student burst into tears at the news. As the night deepened, the others formed a circle around her, assuring her that her boyfriend was unlikely to want to be left alone in the mountains and might return to claim her soul. They promised to protect her.

She stopped crying but continued to shiver. By looking into the eyes of these young men, she realized they were just as frightened as she was. They all sat there in silence.

At midnight, the female student's boyfriend suddenly burst into the tent. His face was pale, and he moved rigidly. He grabbed the female student's hand and tried to pull her outside. The other students watched without reacting.

Terrified, the female student screamed and struggled. They ran out of the tent, and her boyfriend explained that they had died when attempting to reach the summit three days ago. He was the sole survivor.

The next day, when they started their mountain climb, only Tan Li was the female student among the group. She hesitated and contemplated giving up. She found Zhou Tian and told him she didn't want to continue climbing.

Zhou Tian was surprised and asked her for the reason. She hesitated before finally telling him the ghost story she had read.

Zhou Tian laughed, saying, "I never expected you to be so superstitious. Yesterday, I did some research online too, and I came across a story about some climbers who found a travel bag filled with US dollars on the mountainside. So which story should we believe?"

The following day, Tan Li joined the group of male students on their mountain-climbing expedition. The sky was a brilliant blue, the snow-capped mountain pristine, the air crisp, and there were no other hikers in sight.

They didn't find a bag filled with US dollars on the way, but they did discover a lone boot, possibly a relic of another climber who had met an unfortunate end.

As they approached the summit, the weather took a turn for the worse. Terrified, Tan Li exclaimed, "We need to descend quickly!"

The male students, however, remained undeterred. They said, "We can't give up now; we're so close!"

Zhou Tian, with a serious expression, gazed at the mountainside. He told Tan Li, "Stay in the tent; don't come up."

It seemed like the terrifying mountain story was becoming a reality. Panicked, Tan Li replied, "No, I want to go with you."

The other male students said, "You might not have enough stamina. It's better to stay behind. You might end up slowing us down."

With no other choice, Tan Li kept silent.

And so, the group of male students ascended the mountain, leaving her in the tent. Zhou Tian turned around, smiled warmly at her, and that look would remain etched in her memory forever.

Tan Li retreated into the tent and waited from morning to afternoon. The weather grew progressively worse, and eventually, a blizzard set in. She became increasingly uneasy.

She peered outside the tent several times, hoping to see her companions return. Finally, she spotted some heavy figures stumbling down the mountainside. It was them!

By then, the sky had darkened. She fixed her gaze on them, searching nervously for Zhou Tian.

As they drew near, she realized with shock that Zhou Tian was not among them! The other students, dazed and pale, paid her no heed.

She finally gathered the courage to ask, "Where's Zhou Tian?" One of the students spoke, "When we were nearing the summit, we got caught in an avalanche, and he didn't make it back."

Terrified, Tan Li studied the faces of the survivors, which appeared frozen and lifeless. She slowly backed away towards the tent's entrance. Then, she suddenly turned and fled into the raging snowstorm.

She kept moving through the night, and eventually, the snowstorm began to subside. Lost in the wilderness, she had no other choice but to continue walking forward.

Suddenly, she froze; there was a dark figure blocking her path. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. Gradually, she could see it was Zhou Tian, standing motionless with a frozen expression, staring intently at her.

This time, she was completely sober, and she was certain it wasn't an illusion. Terrified, she turned to run, but his voice called out, "Stop!"

A voice emerged from the howling wind, coming closer and closer. She had encountered an avalanche, and there was no way anyone could have survived. She realized that apart from her, the others were no longer human.

She never stopped running. By midnight, the snowstorm began to subside, but she had lost her way.

With no other option, she kept moving forward. Suddenly, she stopped; there was a dark figure ahead. She blinked and realized it was Zhou Tian, standing frozen, a dark expression on his face, staring directly at her.

At that moment, she was fully alert and knew this wasn't a hallucination. Terrified, she turned and fled.

"Stop!" the voice cried, getting closer in the midst of the howling wind.

This time, their mountain climb claimed two lives: Tan Li and Zhou Tian. The school searched three times before eventually finding their bodies, located about three miles apart from each other. The rest of the group managed to survive by taking shelter in their tent during the snowstorm and descended two days later.