“How about we press on and try to circle around this cliff via the mountain path before dark, getting us back near the Sea of the Undead?” I suggested.

Xiao Shu scrutinized the map again, pointing to the place marked with a skull. “The map isn't precisely detailed. After this mountain range, it should be the territory of the Monkey Tribe, but whether that area borders the Sea of the Undead is still an unknown; the map doesn't show it.”

Thinking it over, abandoning the waterway for the mountain path toward the Monkey Tribe’s territory seemed an unavoidable choice. I sighed, pulling out my canteen from my pack and filling it one last time with the sanguine water of the Sea of the Undead. Standing by the shore, gazing into the distance, I bid a reluctant farewell to that crimson lake. The churning waves still pooled near the bank, suggesting those fish were set on waiting for an easy catch.

“Let’s go.” Xiao Shu also filled his canteen, called out to me from the shore, and then turned toward the path leading around the cliff, hoisting his pack onto his back.

Mr. Lu Xun once said, “Where there was originally no road, once many people travel it, a road is formed.” Now, we were treading a road that was no road at all. It was ‘no road’ because this world was sparsely populated; perhaps no one had ever set foot on this particular cliff before. It was a road, however, because two people were painfully making their way across it, hoping to find a shortcut to their destination.

This stretch of the journey was destined to be fraught with danger. Passing a small tree at the base of the mountain, Xiao Shu and I improvised, snapping off two sturdy branches to use as walking sticks—one each. We used them both to clear the weeds and thickets ahead and to steady our weary bodies when fatigue set in. A double benefit, they proved quite handy.

Stumbling and bumping along, it was around noon when we finally reached the cliff we had spotted earlier from the lake embankment, having traversed the overgrown slope. Behind the cliff lay desolate wilderness, while before us stretched a calm and peaceful expanse of water. Xiao Shu and I had ascended from that barren slope, our progress significantly slower than anticipated.

“Half a day, and all we’ve done is wander in circles. The only accomplishment is moving from the foot of the mountain to the top,” Xiao Shu remarked, carefully peering down from a rock at the edge of the precipice.

“Be careful you don’t fall and break an arm or a leg; you’ll be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life,” I called out to Xiao Shu from amidst the tangled weeds.

“I’m not afraid of broken limbs, just that if I fall, there won’t be a complete body left. Look at those fish; they look like they haven't eaten in ages,” Xiao Shu said, pointing toward the spot where we had been bitten earlier.

I walked up beside Xiao Shu and followed his gaze. The school of fish still hovered in the same spot, the ripples catching the sunlight and flashing a vermilion glow. Occasionally, one or two fish would leap from the surface, as if scouting the area.

Seeing me approach, Xiao Shu deliberately cracked a joke: “I hear the flesh of carnivorous fish is quite delicious and has a delicate texture.”

“Too bad we didn’t bring any fishing rods; otherwise, we could feast tonight,” I rejoined the banter.

We exchanged a look, and then both burst out laughing.

Just as we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves, a man’s voice drifted from the distance, “Yin Yin…” as if calling someone’s name.

To run into someone in this godforsaken place? Xiao Shu and I were utterly stunned, struggling to believe our ears.