What brought relief to Xiao Shu and me was how brightly the bonfire burned. The dead branches we’d collected were bone-dry, showing no sign of dampness; they caught fire instantly, proving to be excellent fuel. Using the firelight, I gathered an armful more deadwood from the thicket, piling it beside the flames, and gradually fed it to the blaze. This time, however, we saw no more monkeys. I suspected the scout had retreated to its lair.

Xiao Shu dug two packages of compressed biscuits from her backpack, tossing one to me. "Eat something, then you rest for a while. I’ll take the second half of the night shift. This isn't like ordinary wilderness; if both of us fall asleep and some spider shows up to cocoon us, we’ll end up spider food," she said.

Taking the biscuit, I devoured it in three quick bites. I used my backpack as a pillow, gazing up at the sky that had deepened to an inky black, counting the distant, red-glinting stars until I drifted off. In the dream, my older sister and I arrived at a house where, startlingly, a well stood in the courtyard, identical to the one shown on the Blood Kin Compass back then. An old woman, her face a roadmap of wrinkles, hurried out of the house to greet us, enveloping my sister in a fierce hug. “Mama…” I cried out, unable to hold back the word. Hearing my shout, the old woman turned, tears streaming down her face, to embrace me, but an invisible force dragged her back into the room. My sister frantically grabbed her hand, trying to stop her from being pulled away, only to be pushed toward the courtyard exit by another opposing force. They strained against each other, clinging tight, but could not withstand the inexplicable pull, finally letting go in agonizing defeat. The old woman was yanked back inside, and the door slammed shut with a violent bang. My sister and I were dragged outside the courtyard. When we tried to re-enter, the open gate seemed fortified by an unseen wall, refusing us even a single step further.

“Mama…” I stood outside the gate, weeping uncontrollably. I woke up crying, realizing I was still lying beside the bonfire. The courtyard, the well, Mother… all confined to the dream. But Xiao Shu was nowhere to be found, leaving only the solitary, fiercely burning fire behind.

Seeing no sign of Xiao Shu, a shock jolted through me. I sprang up, rubbed my eyes, and saw that the night was profoundly deep. Beyond the fierce light of the bonfire, the surroundings were absolute blackness; ten meters away from the fire was an abyss of impenetrable dark.

Where could Xiao Shu have gone on such a moonless night? I scrambled to my feet, cupped my hands around my mouth, and called out several times into the void: “Xiao Shu! Xiao Shu…”

The sound traveled outward, meeting neither echo nor response, dissolving alone into the boundless dark.

What on earth had happened? Why had Xiao Shu vanished so suddenly? I kept asking myself. I bent down to inspect the spot where she had been sitting and found her backpack, food, and lighter all accounted for. Peeking inside the pack, the rolled map was also safely tucked away. She wouldn't have gone far without these essentials.

Resolving to search for her, I pulled a stout branch from the thicket, then rummaged in the backpack for half a candle, fashioning a crude holder by sticking it onto the branch tip. I managed to light the candle from the bonfire. Holding the flickering light, I stepped beyond the reach of the main flames to see what had become of Xiao Shu.

About ten meters from the bonfire, the dense undergrowth swallowed the firelight, plunging the surroundings into darkness. The tiny candle illuminated barely a meter in radius. Like a near-sighted person, I held the flame carefully, straining to focus on that single meter-square patch, desperately searching for any trace of Xiao Shu.

Just as I was squinting, trying to pierce the gloom, a figure suddenly lunged out from behind me, knocking the candle away, clamping a hand over my mouth, and whispering urgently close to my ear, “It’s dangerous here.”