Chapter 4

After the simple funeral, it was already dusk. Everyone except for the elderly Fan, who wanted to stay a bit longer at his beloved wife's grave, and his friend You, who wanted to accompany him, had returned to the cliff. Wang Xiaojun gathered everyone in a circle and explained the content they had discussed in the car. He then presented the judgments and suggestions for everyone to discuss and vote on. In fact, not long after waking up, most people had already thought of the word "穿越" (time travel). After all, they were young and not unfamiliar with the term. However, when truly facing such a situation, the feelings in their hearts were indescribable. Everyone, including the elderly Fan, felt the same way. After all, all the people present might never see their loved ones again. The elderly Fan was devastated by the loss of his beloved wife, but at least he could bury her with his own hands, while the others didn't even have that opportunity. Although the young people today are open, independent, and well-informed, when faced with such a situation, they were all silent. Wang Xiaojun understood everyone's feelings, but what needed to be done now was not to sigh and lament, but to find a way to survive in this difficult situation. After a moment of silence, he clapped his hands and said, "Alright, everyone, cheer up. Let's solve the problems at hand first. Only by finding a way to survive can we consider other things. Besides, we are just making guesses based on the situation. Whether it's really time travel still needs further verification."

Since everyone was young, after a brief period of low spirits, they all regained their energy. Some even began to fantasize about becoming invincible protagonists in time travel novels and achieving great heroic deeds.

"Alright, let's stop fantasizing about 'great deeds' for now. Let's vote on the suggestions Xiaojun mentioned earlier," Zhang Weixin said with a smile, seeing that everyone had recovered.

Fortunately, the suggestions were all reasonable, and everyone had no objections, so they were unanimously passed. With the resolution passed and the sky getting dark, everyone began to organize all the usable items under the last rays of the sunset.

After a busy session, they finally had the inventory results before it got dark, and all the data was compiled by Wang Xiaojun. The largest but possibly the least useful items were the six off-road vehicles. First, these vehicles were on the cliff, and the possibility of driving them down was almost zero. Second, if they had indeed traveled back in time, even if they could get down the mountain, the gasoline in the vehicles would run out, and they would become useless. Therefore, after discussion, everyone decided to cover the vehicles with car covers and wait to make further plans after determining their actual situation. The other items were numerous, including:

For accommodation: twelve tents of various types—five double-person and seven single-person; eighteen lighters, and five boxes of matches.

For food: nine cases and ten bottles of bottled water (mainly mineral water, with two cases of iced green tea and iced black tea, and one case of cola); 102 packets of instant noodles; one box of compressed biscuits; 65 packets of various snacks. Additionally, there was a set of premium Wuliangye liquor (brought by Wang Xiaojun to visit relatives in Baotou, along with a set of exquisite glassware), but it didn't seem appropriate to use it as food.

For weapons: one crossbow with thirty arrows (brought by Zeng Zhilin, originally intended for hunting rabbits on the grassland, and currently the most powerful weapon in the group); one imitation Tang Dynasty saber (brought by Zeng Zhilin for self-defense); one pair of nunchucks (brought by Wang Feng to show off his Kung Fu skills); one baton (brought by Liang Ziyue); twelve Swiss Army knives (almost every male had one, but they were probably not suitable as weapons); two aluminum baseball bats (brought by Wang Feng to play baseball on the grassland).

For navigation: three compasses; three binoculars; four national traffic maps; two national administrative maps; two Inner Mongolia tourism maps; one damaged Beijing tourism map (kept in Wang Xiaojun's car, already somewhat worn out). There was also a world map in his car, which was also somewhat old, suggesting he had plans to travel the world. Three GPS receivers (now useless).

For medical supplies: five bottles of Huang Lian Su; four boxes of cold medicine; three bottles of red flower oil; two boxes of Yunnan Baiyao; two bottles of quick-acting heart-saving pills.

For communication: twenty mobile phones (now useless like the GPS); six walkie-talkies (one in the seventh car was broken, but Lu Yue said he could try to repair it using parts from the mobile phones, so it was counted as half a unit); one car-mounted shortwave radio and two handheld radios (one shortwave radio and one handheld radio in Lu Yue's car, and one handheld radio brought by Wang Xiaojun); five signal flares (with communication functions, counted as communication equipment).

Other personal items, such as clothing, shoes, hats, and cosmetics, were numerous and not detailed, as they were considered personal belongings. Fortunately, the season they were in was early summer, otherwise, the cold alone could have been fatal. Everything was organized, and the items that needed to be managed collectively—food, medicine, etc.—were entrusted to Zhang Weixin, Zeng Zhilin, and Hong Yan, who had an accounting background, for management and distribution. The items that required specialized management—weapons, communication equipment, compasses, maps, etc.—were assigned to designated personnel. The second agenda item was to select the team's decision-makers. Although everyone came from modern society and valued democratic practices, in this environment, to prevent everyone from acting independently and becoming a disorganized group, it was necessary to elect a few representatives to make collective decisions and unified commands under the leadership of one person.

This proposal was quickly agreed upon, and three representatives were quickly elected to form a three-person leadership group: Wang Xiaojun, Zhang Weixin, and Zeng Zhilin. As for who would lead, everyone favored Wang Xiaojun. First, Wang Xiaojun had always been the organizer of the car club, had a certain level of authority, and was familiar with everyone. Second, he had a good relationship with everyone in the team and was very popular. Third, he had management experience in his company. Wang Feng was the most enthusiastic, as he was a relative and naturally supported the idea. However, Wang Xiaojun himself disagreed, feeling that his behavior upon arriving here was immature and unsuitable for leadership. He suggested that Zhang Weixin take on this responsibility. Zhang Weixin firmly rejected Wang Xiaojun's suggestion, stating that everyone's behavior upon arrival was not good, and he was also quite nervous at the time. He just didn't show it because he was not good at expressing emotions. In such a situation, only great men or characters in novels could remain calm. Moreover, he had never led anyone before and lacked the skills. He could come up with ideas, but if he were to lead, he might mess up the team. Seeing that Wang Xiaojun was still hesitant, Zhang Weixin used the principle of "minority服从majority" to end the debate. Thus, Wang Xiaojun reluctantly became the leader of the leadership group.

After the discussion, it was already dark, and everyone began to divide tasks. Some started a fire and cooked—there wasn't much to do, just a pile of campfire and some instant noodles cooked in pots originally intended for a picnic. Others set up tents. Fan Wucheng also returned with You Yuan and participated in setting up the tents, indicating that his emotions had stabilized. Of course, only he knew what he was feeling, and others were powerless to help. After everyone was full and tired, they went to rest in the tents. Wang Xiaojun, however, could not go to sleep. He called Zhang Weixin, Zeng Zhilin, Zhou Lei, and Liang Ziyue into a car to discuss how to explore the surrounding area and determine their current location and time period. After discussion, it was decided that the next morning, Zhang Weixin, Zeng Zhilin, and Wang Feng would form a scouting team, take some supplies, and set out to explore, trying to understand the surrounding situation and, if possible, determine the time and location. Then, they would hold a meeting to decide on the next steps.

The first night in this unfamiliar place passed quietly as everyone slept. When they were awakened by the cheerful chirping of birds, it was already the next morning. Everyone got up, ready to welcome a new day. After breakfast, Zhang Weixin and the other two took the necessary supplies and hid modern items like watches close to their bodies to avoid any confusion if they had indeed traveled back in time and encountered ancient people. They adjusted their mental states and prepared to step into the unknown world, paving a path for the survival of the group. Although Zeng Zhilin had brought a saber and Wang Feng had brought nunchucks, exploring this unknown world was still fraught with danger. Everyone was concerned about their safety but had to let them go. Finally, under the worried and hopeful gazes of the group, the three descended the cliff and walked into the unknown world.

Upon reaching the river at the bottom of the cliff, they used the compass to determine their direction and decided to follow the river downstream, as this would typically lead them out of the mountains and into the plains. The mountain paths, though small, were difficult to navigate, even along the riverbank. Initially, they thought that with Zhang Weixin along, the three would not be able to move quickly and might have to camp halfway. However, he had to come along because the other two had no knowledge of history and would not be able to communicate effectively with ancient people if they encountered them. To help him move more easily, Zeng Zhilin even picked a branch for him to use as a walking stick. Surprisingly, after walking for a considerable distance, Zhang Weixin not only kept up but didn't even ask for a rest, and he even used the walking stick to playfully swat at snakes. Zeng Zhilin and Wang Feng, who regularly exercised and were in good physical condition, found the walk manageable, but Zhang Weixin, who rarely exercised, also felt no fatigue. Although his backpack was the lightest, he usually couldn't walk more than two miles on such rugged terrain without getting exhausted. Now, after nearly three hours, he was still maintaining a steady pace, which amazed him. The two martial artists felt even more refreshed and energetic, as Wang Feng put it, "I feel like I have endless energy." The three could only attribute this to the effects of their strange journey, which, for now, seemed to be positive.

Thus, the three walked briskly for six to seven hours, covering nearly ten kilometers. During this time, they only stopped to rest and eat a little at noon. Around three or four in the afternoon, they finally left the mountainous area and reached a relatively flat region. Zeng Zhilin raised the binoculars and looked ahead, excitedly saying, "Look, there seem to be people not far ahead!" Hearing this, the other two quickly joined him, and Zhang Weixin asked anxiously, "Are they modern people or ancient people?" After a moment, Zeng Zhilin, somewhat disappointed, said, "Although I don't know much about history, I can tell they are not modern people." He handed the binoculars to Zhang Weixin.