The troop of monkeys saw us through to the depths of the forest, never leaving our side. During the trek, a few younger monkeys couldn't contain their impatience; they scrambled up the trees and swung away. The leader, concerned about the compressed biscuits in the packs and mindful of Xiao Shu's injured leg, insisted on moving slowly along the ground, forcing the larger monkeys to keep pace on foot.

Every thirty to fifty meters, Xiao Shu would toss one or two small pebbles in a conspicuous spot. After dropping about forty or fifty stones, his pockets finally felt empty.

“I wonder how much further it is. I’m running out of stones,” Xiao Shu murmured, gazing ahead at the dense woods, a flicker of apprehension crossing his face.

I wasn't focused on the stones so much as the scene I'd witnessed on the cliff face: Who had placed the Phantom Stone there? Who wanted us to know the Ghost Infant’s origins? Xiao Shu had said the girl's name was Yingzi, but was the man who looked seven- or eight-tenths like Xiao Shu truly Li Xiaohao? If so, how did Yingzi end up in Li Xiaohao’s arms after she vanished? Regardless of whether the Ghost Infant was born alive or not, it was a child. If Li Xiaohao had no life force, how could he father a child with Yingzi? Countless questions intertwined, impossible to unravel or cut through; only by finding the person who planted the Phantom Stone could I hope to make sense of things.

“Hey, did you hear me?” Xiao Shu elbowed my ribs and called out loudly, “I’m almost out of stones!”

“Huh?” I snapped back to attention, glancing at him as if waking from a deep sleep. I managed a faint “Oh,” before my mind drifted back to the two children riding the monkeys, wondering if I would see them again soon.

“Sigh,” Xiao Shu sighed, shaking his head in exasperation, then suddenly tapped my head lightly with his fist.

“What was that for?” I was baffled, wondering why he'd hit me out of the blue.

“I mean, can’t we figure out a way to leave markers along the path? Since the stones are gone, if we abandon the trail markers, we might never find our way back,” Xiao Shu patiently explained his intentions, articulating every word clearly.

“Oh,” I replied again.

“What is wrong with you today? Don’t make me lose my temper!” Seeing I remained unresponsive, Xiao Shu began to get agitated.

“I know, we’ll try to walk close to the trees. I’ll help you lean against one, and you pretend to rest while using a sharp object to mark the bark. That way we won't need stones anymore,” realizing my daydreaming had annoyed Xiao Shu, I quickly improvised a solution for the lack of stones.

“Mm,” Xiao Shu finally sounded satisfied, nodding with relief. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. I actually just wanted you to help me walk over to the trees.”

Sigh, I sighed inwardly, realizing Xiao Shu’s nature meant he would never say what he truly meant directly. Earlier, on the summit, he had been sobbing uncontrollably, yet he didn't mention his first love had left him for someone else; instead, he asked if that man looked like him. Now, he wouldn’t directly ask me to help him lean against a tree, but first complained about running out of stones. Pondering this, I found his personality quite interesting upon closer examination.

So, I helped Xiao Shu to the edge of a tree. He took a small, sharp stone and deeply gouged a horizontal mark into the trunk. He stepped back to look at it, decided the mark wasn't conspicuous enough, and added another deeper groove with more force. Only then did he nod in satisfaction, leave that tree, and signal me to help him move to the next one.

My pace was already slow, supporting Xiao Shu’s lame leg, but carving marks into the trees slowed us down even more. The leader turned to look at us several times, its expression etched with impatience, as if our dawdling would ruin its grand plans. Yet, Xiao Shu cared more about our safe return and paid no mind to the slight anxiety visible in the monkey’s eyes. He continued at his own slow pace, stopping to carve markers into the trees one by one.

This repeated delay finally provoked the leader. Just as I was helping Xiao Shu lean against another tree to make a mark, it let out a sharp, piercing call to the troop. Forty or fifty golden-furred great apes immediately surged towards us from all directions, seemingly preparing to take action against us.