We were in the middle of the night interrogation of the "Yellow Immortal Aunt" when a sharp knocking sounded at the door. I sprang up to open it, only to find the clearing outside the small wooden shack utterly empty. A mournful wind howled, like the lament of a soul cast into the netherworld, weeping and sobbing. Blown by the gale, the sound drifted intermittently, lingering in the air, refusing to dissipate. Yet, I could clearly sense this was no mere trick of the wind; the sky was transmitting an ominous signal—a cry emanating from the vicinity of the Yellow Weasel Grave, situated upwind. In the deep darkness, there was undoubtedly something akin to a weasel crying out.

A fierce resolution hardened in my heart. This "Yellow Immortal Aunt" was clearly no simple catch. This night was unlikely to be peaceful; the yellow weasels were surely coming to cause trouble. It saved me the trouble of setting traps on the mountain tomorrow; I could just wipe them all out right here in the logging area, skin every last one, and trade the pelts for the finest tobacco and strongest liquor.

Yanzi followed me out to look. As she lowered her gaze, she spotted something on the snow. I turned back to see that by the door, a chipped porcelain bowl had appeared sometime in the dark. Inside sat a few yellow beans, which shone unnaturally bright. Greatly puzzled, we brought the broken bowl inside. Under the lamplight, the few "yellow beans" gleamed with a brilliance that hurt the eyes. Only then did we realize they weren't beans at all, but five nuggets of pure gold.

The three of us stared at each other, speechless for a long time. Could the yellow weasels be trying to ransom the captured "Yellow Immortal Aunt" with gold? Fatty, whose eyes immediately glazed over at the sight of wealth, quickly slammed the door shut and snatched up the gold nuggets, immediately trying to bite them. At that moment, he had no clue how to verify gold, but the dazzling, real metal before him left him utterly flustered, unsure what to do next.

I quickly restrained his hand. These gold pieces looked suspicious; I feared the yellow weasels might have poisoned them. Examining them more closely, I counted six gold nuggets in the bowl, roughly the same size but irregularly shaped, suggesting they had been violently pried from something. The chipped porcelain bowl holding the gold also looked ancient, with a faint bluish pattern of half a ghostly face visible around the broken edges. Bringing the bowl close to my nose, I inhaled a faint, nauseating smell of decay.

The gold and the broken bowl were almost certainly burial goods from an ancient tomb. Although we saw no sign of the yellow weasels after opening the door, the message was clear: those little creatures wanted to trade the gold to reclaim the "Yellow Immortal Aunt" we had caught. The thought sent a chill down my spine. Had the yellow weasels of the deep mountains truly become spirits? They even understood bargaining lives for gold.

Yanzi grew afraid. "Perhaps we should take the gold and release the 'Yellow Immortal Aunt'," she suggested. "If the yellow weasels plague us, none of us will know a moment's peace." Fatty, however, scoffed. "In this era, even the yellow weasels have learned these tricks, trying to corrupt our iron will with sugar-coated bullets. They dream in vain. I say we confiscate the gold and still keep the mother weasel. I was planning on raiding the yellow weasel grave tomorrow anyway, wiping out the whole nest to prevent future trouble. We might even find more gold."

I nodded in agreement. Having caught one weasel wasn't enough; we had to keep going tomorrow. As the three of us were plotting, a rapid series of loud bangs hit the door from outside. Our scalps prickled, but we were too stubborn to yield. Each of us grabbed our weapons, ready to fight the weasels. But when I flung the door open, it wasn't the expected intruders; it was the three other educated youths stationed here with me—two men and one woman: Feng Jianshe, Chen Kangmei, and Wang Juan.

These three were supposed to be staying back in the village to watch things, so their arrival at the logging camp in the middle of the night meant something serious had happened. I quickly pulled them inside, urging them onto the heated brick kangs to warm up. Fatty, ever vigilant, reached out to feel Wang Juan’s backside. Startled, Wang Juan leaped straight off the kang onto the ground. I quickly covered for Fatty. "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! He was worried you might be yellow weasels in disguise, checking to see if you grew tails."

Feng Jianshe, Wang Juan, and the others didn't grasp the meaning, and I didn't have time to explain. I urgently asked why they had rushed to the logging camp overnight. Had trouble erupted in the village? Or had the hunters who went into the mountains run into danger? Feng Jianshe wasted no time and immediately recounted the cause. It turned out that Old Man Qiaoshan, the caretaker of the logging area, had a granddaughter afflicted with petit mal epilepsy since childhood, and her condition had recently worsened. To cure her, Qiaoshan intended to venture into the mountains to hunt a Man-Bear for its gall bladder, which was said to be miraculous for treating seizures. This old man was usually stubborn and fixed in his ways. He quietly prepared everything without telling anyone and set off alone with his granddaughter to capture a Man-Bear. However, he was too old to keep up his former pace. Before he could even find a Man-Bear, he fell into a snowdrift himself. By the time his granddaughter returned for help and brought everyone back, they found Old Man Qiaoshan was already gone.

The Old Brigade Secretary feared that the relief team coming to the logging camp might not find Qiaoshan and would wander into the mountains, encountering danger. There were no able-bodied young men left in the village who could make the journey overnight. Fortunately, the path between the village and the camp was relatively safe and familiar. Thus, he dispatched the three educated youths under cover of darkness with a hunting dog to notify us of the situation and warn us sternly never to enter the mountains. Old Man Qiaoshan had died an unnatural death, and the village hunters were still deep in the mountains "winter foraging." The village was chaotic enough; disaster could not be allowed to strike the logging area as well.

Old Man Qiaoshan was a respected elder in the village, having hunted in the deep mountains since his youth. I had been doing my temporary assignment in the mountains for several months, and he often looked out for me. Hearing the terrible news, I felt profoundly unsettled. After chatting briefly with Feng Jianshe and the others, and noting the changing weather indicated a heavy snowfall might be imminent, they didn't linger. Having delivered their message, the three immediately departed back to the village.

After sending off our three companions, I began to calculate in my mind. The gall bladder of a Northeast Bear is known as the "Eastern Gall," considered equal to the "Cloud Gall." Furthermore, only the gall of a Man-Bear—the "Eastern Gall"—could cure seizures; the gall of a Black Bear was inferior and useless. Old Man Qiaoshan lost his life trying to find the Eastern Gall. Without it, his granddaughter Huamei’s seizures might be incurable. Since I was poor and could offer no other help, the only thing I could do for them was to go to Tuanshanzi to capture a Man-Bear and retrieve the gall. It wasn't just me who was moved; Fatty and Yanzi were also eager. The three of us instantly agreed. At eighteen or nineteen, we feared nothing and had few scruples. We immediately began planning our course of action. (Apologies; the previously uploaded volume was incorrect. This is the actual first volume. We ask for your understanding and continued support for Baching's new book. Please cast more votes. Thank you all!)