So Ella followed after Maria. She is afraid of getting lost. If you get lost in the middle of the city, you can still find your way back, but if you get lost in the deep forest, you can only rely on luck.
"Rest for a while." Ella leaned her back against a tree.
Maria stopped walking, reproachfully. "You've only been going for twenty minutes and you're tired, this is your first time climbing, isn't it?"
"Yes," Ella admitted.
Maria shook her head mockingly. "When I was studying abroad, I climbed mountains almost every day."
Ella is shocked. "Do you climb mountains every day?"
"Yes, climbing is my hobby and forte."
"Did you have any problems climbing on the first day?" Ella asked, hoping to gain some experience from Maria.
"No." Maria shrugged.
"I don't believe."
"Because before I started, I was equipped with a good amount of knowledge and skills about climbing."
They continued to go.
"Are you sure this is the way?" Ella used the small stick in her hand to wave it back and forth.
"If you don't believe me, you can go back," Maria said, her feet still walking.
Ella turned her head to look behind, the distance she and Maria had just passed was quite far. If you go back, you might get lost even more.
'I shouldn't have accepted the climbing competition with Maria in the first place.' Ella thought to herself.
"If you are afraid of getting lost, keep this." Maria turned around and threw the compass at Ella.
Ella held it back and forth, faltering. "This is..."
"Don't tell me you don't even know how to use a compass."
"Of course, it's good to know," Ella said, shoving the compass into her coat pocket. But actually, she doesn't know how to use a compass.
The sun began to dance on the cliffs. The mountain wind blows cool.
Maria deliberately fell behind. She watched Ella and when she saw that Ella wasn't paying attention, she reached out and gently pushed Ella's back. Although it was only a slight bump to the back, Ella was suddenly pushed and slipped and she rolled down the mountain. Maria stood watching Ella fall down the mountain, a sinister smile on her lips. She quickly left where she was standing.
Fortunately, Ella's shirt got caught in a tree branch so she survived but her elbow was injured.
"Maria, save me..." Ella shouted but she didn't hear Maria's response.
"Can anyone... save me... David... save me..." Ella continued to scream but to no avail.
Ella looked around her, it was a desolate, deserted place, only to hear the wind whistling through the cliffs. Only now did she realize that she had been tricked by Maria. She is stupid, and Maria is too sharp.
Ella called out each employee's name in the company, but the response to her call was a chilling silence. Exhausted, she sat down on a rock, gasping for breath. Surrounded by trees, above is the vast sky. The further you go, the more there is no way out. She doesn't know how to use a compass. 'Can I stay here forever?' She thought and burst into tears.
Fatigue made her fall asleep. In her dream, she faintly heard someone calling her name.
Ella, where are you?
She woke up startled, rolling her eyes to look around, there were still long rows of trees. Unable to sit here forever, with no one around, she had to think of a way to get out of this place. Ella got up and walked on. She kept her eyes on the direction, so she tripped over a rock and fell on the ground, and yet she rolled a total of seven times. Her clothes were stained with dirt, her legs twisted, her knees were scratched, and blood oozed from her ankles. The phone in the pocket fell out, hit the rock, and the screen shattered. The bonus is no longer available and must be spent to buy a new phone.
Ella dejectedly sighed.
At the end of the day, David didn't see Ella return to the hotel, so he rushed to look. He thought that she must be lost in the forest.
"Ella."
She startled. This time she confirmed that someone was calling her. Loud, clear, closer, and closer. She guessed that person was around here. And that voice was none other than David.
Ella was overjoyed and shouted with all her might. "David, is that you? I am here." She waved both hands.
In the distance, she saw David running towards her. At that moment, her heart was very happy that she was saved.
David knelt, his voice worried. "Are you okay, have you hurt anywhere? Where's your phone, I said you have to come with our group, why did you split up and go alone, what if something happens?" He lifted her chin and touched her feet. His eyes were filled with concern.
Seeing David's appearance, she let out a laugh.
"I'm so worried about you, and you're still smiling?" David grimaced.
"Now, you've found me and I'm fine," Ella replied seriously.
"OK. Now let's go."
Ella, who had just stood up, sat down immediately, grimacing. "My legs can't walk."
David lifted her leg and placed it on his lap, then he took off her socks and her shoes. As she looked at a large patch of peeled skin on her knee, blood pooling and bruising, she almost wanted to scream.
After straightening her leg, he said. "You have to go to the hospital, you're badly injured."
"But how do we get out of this forest?" Ella looked around her, her voice panicking.
"Do not worry. I will think of a way." David said, and he carried Ella on his back. Her hands wrapped around his neck, she believed that with him by her side, she would be safe.
They walked for a while and then returned to the same place.
"We're back where we were." Ella looked at where they had just left, her heart fluttering.
Contrary to Ella's nervous look, David was quite calm, he asked. "Did you bring a compass?"
"Yes. Maria gave it to me but I don't know how to use it." Ella took the compass from her pocket and handed it to David.
Thinking of this woman, Ella tried to control her anger. Maria lured her into a mountain climbing contest, leading her around so she could get lost. That Ella felt she was stupid to be tricked by Maria.
David uses the compass to find his way out of the woods. He looked at the turn in front of him, then aimed for the right path. After a while, they left the forest. But to get back to the hotel, took them three hours. It was dark and rainy, Ella was dislocated again, and David was a little tired from carrying her all this time. He thinks that he should find somewhere to rest, and will return to the hotel tomorrow morning.
David and Ella went to a house to ask for shelter from the rain and spent the night there.
Ella raised her hand and knocked on the wooden door. "Is there anybody there?"