Chapter 051 Mouth-to-Mouth

There were two helicopters. Adelina thought they would board based on their previous vehicle grouping, so when she saw Langston step into one of them, she headed towards the other.

Langston must have said something to the pilot because, in the next second, the pilot spoke into the intercom, "Miss Howard, please board helicopter one; Mr. Watson, helicopter two. Over."

Adelina and Waite exchanged a glance. Waite, still reeling from some unexpected personal revelations, had no objections and began walking toward helicopter two, the one Adelina was meant to board.

Realizing this, Adelina reluctantly made her way to helicopter one.

Katherine noticed her reluctance but still smiled warmly, even making excuses for Langston. "My apologies for not considering earlier that Miss Howard, being a lady, should be with me. That's why I had Langston call you over. You don't mind, do you?"

Langston didn't react, but Adelina didn't quite trust Katherine's words.

Politely, she replied, "Thank you, Miss Watson, and thank you, Mr. Moore..."

Then, she surveyed the remaining seats—one beside the pilot and one next to Langston. After a few seconds of hesitation, she decided not to be a third wheel and chose the seat next to the pilot.

Once everyone was settled, the two helicopters took off one after the other.

Harano City was a municipal city, not very large, and soon enough, they were flying over the mountainous region. The locals referred to that mountain as Mount El. It was located in a remote area, so few had ventured there.

Once, the place was used by the nearby villagers for burials, so it was only during Memorial Day and other special days that people would hike up to pay their respects to their ancestors.

Subsequently, when rumors circulated about land development, many graves were relocated, leaving only the unclaimed ones.

On her previous helicopter ride back, Adelina, due to physical discomfort, hadn't thoroughly observed the topography of the area.

Now with a rare opportunity, she captured the landscape with her phone camera, which inevitably included those remaining solitary graves.

Twenty minutes later, their helicopter touched down on the flattest piece of land closest to the target point.

Adelina was the first to disembark, yet as soon as her feet hit the ground, she felt a weakness in her knees and a dizziness, as if she couldn't find her center of gravity.

She instinctively leaned back and found herself against Langston, who had followed her out.

The man's hands gently steadied her waist, and it took her a moment to recover and realize that she was leaning on him. She immediately stood up straight.

"Sorry Mr. Moore, I... I think I just felt a little faint..." she mumbled, not daring to look into his eyes.

Langston withdrew his hand and took a couple of steps forward, appearing unconcerned and even offered some comforting advice, "Next time, don't eat such a heavy breakfast. You might be a little airsick."

Adelina pressed her lips together in a nod, turned around, and went back into the cabin to grab the luggage.

By this time, Katherine had also disembarked. Her red dress fluttered upwards in the draft from the helicopter's rotary blades.

To avoid a wardrobe malfunction, she had to hold down the hem of her dress with both hands, then turned back to Adelina and said, "Could you please help me grab some things too, Miss Howard? Thanks!"

Adelina glanced at the spot where Katherine had been sitting; there was a red carry-on bag, and a suitcase of the same color.

She collected them all diligently, along with her own and Langston's luggage.

Waite came down from the second helicopter to help, and despite his earlier dismay and surprise, seemed to have returned to his usual cheerful self, saying to Adelina, "Let me take those! I've brought a dolly to make it easier!"

Seeing the amount of luggage, Adelina didn't refuse the help.

However, she insisted on carrying her own essentials, particularly a backpack full of emergency supplies.

The group of six then proceeded to walk from their landing spot to the center area about 2 miles away.

Dense vegetation in the area had made helicopter landing challenging, which was why they had to settle on this location.

Katherine, in her 2-inch heels, navigated the gravel-laced trail, occasionally asking Waite to take her picture.

Langston let her be, sometimes even intentionally slowing down to wait for her.

Only Alan and Ward were focused on getting to the destination quickly, so they took the lead.

Adelina didn't want to linger on the road for too long, especially since the temperature would rise sharply after noon. Even under the shade of trees, dangers could still lurk unseen—like snakes, poisonous insects, or something else. But burdened by too much luggage, she was slowed down.

By one o'clock in the afternoon, they had covered less than half the distance they intended to travel, and the path only got rougher the further they went.

Langston suggested they stop and rest for a bit. By this time, Alan and Ward were way ahead, out of sight. Just like the place where they had been stuck before, there was no cell signal here, making it impossible to pinpoint their location with GPS navigation.

Adelina started to get worried. She turned to Langston and said, "Mr. Moore, I'm concerned about Uncle Moore and the others…"

"Don't worry." Langston laid out a water-resistant mat on the ground. "Ward is a retired special forces soldier. With him there, my uncle won't run into trouble."

Reassured, Adelina also took a water-resistant mat from her backpack, set it up, and laid out what they had for lunch.

Before long, Katherine and her brother arrived. Katherine, at some point, had taken off her sky-high heels and was being carried on Waite's back, looking utterly exhausted. It seemed she had got a bit of heatstroke, and her heels and toes were red and blistered from wearing inappropriate shoes.

"Langston, my feet are killing me!" Katherine complained when she saw him.

Before Langston could reply, Waite, who had been carrying her, started to grumble, "I told you not to wear high heels, and even skip the dress! Especially not red—instead of just tiring yourself out, you might bring misfortune upon us!"

Katherine was defiant. "What do you mean 'misfortune'? What's wrong with wearing a dress or red? Isn't that how they color coordinate in fashion shoots? The forest is green, red stands out! Just take a good picture of me, post it online, and once it goes viral, everyone will know this place. It could even become a must-visit spot for social media fans!"

After listening to her lengthy rationale, Adelina found it made some sense. No wonder Langston, despite looking annoyed, didn't go out of his way to stop her.

Waite was about to retort when suddenly, a thin green streak flashed before their eyes! The next second, Katherine screamed and fell from Waite's back! At the same time, the green streak darted out from beneath Katherine's red dress and disappeared into the fallen leaves without a trace.

"This is bad, Miss Watson's been bitten by a snake!"

Adelina let out a sharp cry, and without waiting for a reaction from the group, she ripped a piece of her red dress and quickly tied it around Katherine's leg, near the bite. Then, she bent her head down and started to suck...