What a faithful guard! Xiao Shu and I exchanged glances, unsure how to deal with this contingent of imperial guards stationed outside the cave.

"Ah Li, will these monkeys hurt you and Xing'er?" Xiao Shu knelt down, her gaze, just like mine moments before, fixed kindly on Ah Li's small face.

"No," Ah Li shook her head and replied.

"How do we get inside the cave to find Xing...?" Xiao Shu rested a hand on Ah Li's small shoulder, intending to ask how they could find Xing'er, but worried she might become jealous again, she swallowed the word "Xing" halfway through.

Ah Li, however, was quite clever. She pointed toward the cave entrance and said, "If Xing'er lets us in, we can go in." Then, cupping her hands around her mouth to form a makeshift megaphone, she called into the cave, "Xing'er, it's me! Let us in!"

The moment the words left her lips, a childish voice echoed back from within, sounding as imperious as if the Red Boy had crowned himself king: "Let them enter."

True to form, the monkey immediately obeyed the command, bowing its head and clearing the path.

Ah Li skipped across the small bushes first, leaping into the cave. Xiao Shu squatted down, gently rubbing her injured knee, and hobbled in after her. I stepped forward, intending to offer her a steadying hand, but she abruptly pushed away the arm I offered under her elbow, instead breaking off a thick branch from a nearby sapling to use as a crutch. I wondered what sort of politeness this was—weren't we just brothers-in-arms, leaning on each other moments ago? Then, it struck me that this sudden change in demeanor probably had everything to do with the person we were about to see inside the cave, so I said nothing more and let him be.

The cave was not small, yet it was profoundly damp. The moment we stepped inside, a moist atmosphere mingled with the scent of moss rushed out to meet us. I suffer from trypophobia; inhaling the scent of that moss, and picturing the dense carpets of lichen growing along riverbanks and in wetlands, made my stomach turn, and I couldn't help but clutch the cave wall and retch. The wall itself was slick with moisture; touching it left a slimy residue. It was highly likely there was a water source deep within.

"Xing'er, look who's here!"

Before Xiao Shu and I could fully adjust to the gloomy darkness inside, Ah Li had already bounced over to Xing'er's side, pointing us out to him. I widened my eyes toward where she stood, peering closely until I made out a half-grown child sitting on a large rock, hand raised above his brow to shield his eyes from the glare of the entrance, also sizing us up.

"Uncle Li..." He didn't recognize me at first and instead held out a small hand toward Xiao Shu, asking to be held.

Xiao Shu tiptoed forward quickly, embracing Xing'er and becoming so overjoyed she couldn't speak.

By then, my eyes had slowly adjusted to the interior light, and I scanned the space from top to bottom. It was a true cavern—the entrance was narrow, barely wide enough for three people to pass abreast, but the interior was vast, like an airport hangar. Dozens of conical stalactites stood in formation around the walls, and hundreds more hung like massive pendants from the ceiling. A timid person would need to borrow fifty times their courage just to venture into that deep forest of stone.

Xing'er was seated on a large boulder not far from the entrance, where Xiao Shu now held him. Several bunches of bananas and other unfamiliar fruits were piled next to the rock—likely Xing'er's provisions.

Having only eaten a piece of compressed biscuit since last night, I had been starving all day. Gazing at those fresh fruits made my mouth water uncontrollably. However, maintaining some semblance of dignity in front of a child was essential. Thus, I forcefully suppressed the urge to pounce, pretending to be composed, and pulled Ah Li to sit near the entrance, waiting for the two people whose fate was still intertwined to finish their reunion before moving on to the main business.