The preceding volumes and chapters were a bit disorganized, so this newly started Volume Three is specifically intended to tidy things up. Thanks again to Hu Chui for offering suggestions for revision o(^∩^)o... P.S.: Give me those red tickets... save the stories... click away... I'm begging for them all.

Although Old Li and I occasionally played chauffeur, Xu Zhiwu was still the primary driver. Thus, the first thing he did upon arriving in Kunming was hand the car over to a local friend in the tourism business and then sleep soundly for an entire day, ignoring everything else.

The next morning, a hotel staff member delivered an abundant breakfast early, specifically noting that all expenses had been covered and I shouldn't hold back. I had already anticipated this, knowing it was the doing of Zhuoma Yangjin. I felt a pang of gratitude, called Old Li and Xu Zhiwu over, and we ate every last crumb of the massive breakfast.

After breakfast, I started to fret about where would be a good place to visit. Lijiang was certainly famous, but the continuous fatigue from travel had sapped my desire to endure any more bumpy train or bus rides. Xu Zhiwu suggested we ask his friend in tourism for help and join a tour group. Unfortunately, I wasn't keen on group tours either. Finally, Old Li proposed that we all go together to visit his comrade-in-arms—in Yuxi. His reasoning was that he absolutely had to see his old friend anyway, and since none of us had settled on a destination, we might as well go with him. We could all return together afterward. With that, he highly praised how warm and hospitable his comrade was, insisting that if we refused to go, it would be a huge loss in life.

In my impression, the most famous thing about Yuxi was probably its cigarettes. Although I wasn't a heavy smoker, going there would at least allow me to buy a few cartons of good tobacco for my father, the smoker, which wouldn't be bad either. So, I agreed to Old Li's suggestion. Once I agreed, Xu Zhiwu naturally had no room to disagree and had to come along.

Without waiting for lunch, the three of us hired a car and departed Kunming for Yuxi via the Kunyu Expressway, arriving in just over an hour. Old Li had called his comrade beforehand, so someone came to meet us as soon as we reached the city. A tall, robust, dark-browed, big-eyed middle-aged man, upon seeing Old Li, was so excited he couldn't speak. He grabbed Old Li's shoulders, scrutinizing him up and down, left and right, before finally shouting loudly, "You really are Li Zeng! How did you think of coming to see me!" His excitement was palpable.

Old Li quickly introduced him, saying this was Tang Minghao, a veteran from the communications station. Then we exchanged introductions—no need to elaborate.

Tang Minghao took us to a very upscale Chinese restaurant for a welcoming feast. We ate and talked, learning that he was engaged in some small-scale business—that was his phrasing. However, judging by his lavish spending, it seemed far beyond what a typical small venture could afford. He also mentioned that he didn't often stay in Yuxi itself, spending more time in the counties under Yuxi, especially his hometown, Chengjiang County.

Since we knew nothing about Yuxi, we just offered agreeable nods to what he said. Old Li seized the opportunity to boast about the strange encounters I and he had at Qiangbake Mountain and in the village of Alizhabu. Tang Minghao was listening so intently that a piece of food he had picked up remained suspended halfway to his mouth for a long time. "Li Zeng, you’re not lying to me, are you? How is that possible! I spent several years in Tibet, stationed at our communications post at the foot of Qiangbake Mountain for three years, and I never heard of anything so miraculous!"

Old Li took a sip of wine and said smugly, "Then you must have heard the saying: 'At the foot of Qiangbake Mountain is a gate to hell, inhabited by faceless devils,' right?" Seeing his old friend, Old Li shed his usual quiet demeanor and became extremely lively.

Tang Minghao replied, "I know that, I've heard of it... but I never imagined there were actually faceless devils."

Old Li quickly scoffed at Tang Minghao’s ignorance, then continued boasting. Fearing Tang Minghao wouldn't believe him, he dragged Xu Zhiwu into it: "Look at this man, Xu Zhiwu. He's an expert—an expert fluent in Tibetan culture. See? Even he is convinced; what more doubt could you have!"

Xu Zhiwu quickly spoke humbly, "I am hardly an expert, but—the experiences of Li Zeng and Luo Lian are indeed true." He said this while looking very sincerely at Tang Minghao.

Tang Minghao stared at Old Li and me, dumbfounded, at a loss for words for a long time. Just then, his cell phone rang at a highly inconvenient moment. He glanced at the caller ID, his expression shifted slightly, and he excused himself to take the call away from the table. The three of us ignored him and continued eating and drinking.

About twenty minutes later, Tang Minghao rushed back, his face etched with worry. He didn't eat but poured a full glass of wine, downed it in one go, offering it as an apology. Old Li quickly said that among brothers, there was no need for such formalities.

Unexpectedly, Tang Minghao downed two more glasses. As he reached for the third, Old Li put a hand on his arm: "Minghao, what's wrong?" Tang Minghao looked deeply guilty. "I promised to spend time with you, but my family called—something happened back home, and I have to go back and check. I..."

Old Li asked, "What happened? Can we help?" I guessed it was probably some squabble involving his uncles, aunts, or nephews back home, requiring him to mediate, as was usually the case.

To our surprise, Tang Minghao sat down, sighed heavily, and said, "We've all been soldiers, and Brother Xu Zhiwu here is an expert, so everyone surely believes in science. But... but..." He stuttered twice, shaking his head and waving his hands, clearly reluctant to elaborate.

Old Li immediately became serious: "Minghao, have you forgotten what I just told you? We experienced it firsthand; how could science explain it? After years of being brothers, are you going to keep secrets from me about this?"

Perhaps because I hadn't spoken much, Tang Minghao seemed to find me unfathomable. He gave me a cautious look and said, "This isn't exactly my own problem... Ah, I'm confusing things. Let me put it this way." As he said this, he glanced at me again with a flattering smile, "I wonder if young Brother Luo minds if I talk too much."

I quickly replied, "Not at all. Brother Tang is Old Li's brother, so he's naturally my elder brother too. There's no such thing as a brother being annoyed with another." After more pleasantries, Tang Minghao hesitantly began to explain the root of the problem.

It turned out his hometown was on the shore of Fuxian Lake in Chengjiang. A few years ago, a local man known as the 'Water Ghost,' named Geng Wei, discovered a massive ancient city at the bottom of Fuxian Lake while diving. This discovery caused a huge sensation after being reported and was even featured on CCTV.

If things had simply proceeded as expected—archaeologists excavating, then announcing it was a certain ruin or that its era and kingdom were unidentifiable—it would have been fine. But the problem was, something happened in the lake.

After Geng Wei discovered the underwater city, one time, a fisherman was casting his net when a standing figure suddenly emerged straight up from the bottom of the lake. It was entirely covered in white calcified matter, with no discernible face, and it performed no strange actions—it just stood there on the water surface as a pale, humanoid figure. The fisherman was terrified and fell ill upon returning. No one dared to approach the white figure, and after some time, it vanished without a trace.

Since only that fisherman had witnessed the strange object, and as time passed, people relaxed their vigilance and slowly forgot about the incident. Fishing continued, ferries ran, and life went on as usual.

But about a week ago, strange things started happening in the lake again.

As Tang Minghao said this, I suddenly, inexplicably, thought of the fact that exactly one week ago, weren't we just entering the Seven-Story Pagoda from the Dry Corpse Cave? But the thought flickered and passed. I must be overthinking things; Yunnan's Yuxi is not just a short distance from Ngari in Tibet; such a coincidence was impossible.

Tang Minghao, of course, didn't notice my internal musings and continued his story:

About a week ago, first, all the Konlang fish (a unique fish in Fuxian Lake, with delicious flesh and soft bones) suddenly bolted out of their spawning holes as if spooked. Initially, people thought it was an unusual spawning season. Though surprised, they didn't think much of it. However, two days later, two or three upright, white humanoid objects suddenly surfaced from the water. They were completely rigid, unmoving, like Egyptian sarcophagi. When a slight breeze blew, they scattered outwards across the lake surface. Imagine several things, whether human or ghost, floating on the lake—who would dare go into the water after that!

When Tang Minghao reached this point, Xu Zhiwu interjected, "Why didn't you report it to the local government?"

Tang Minghao gave a wry smile: "We did report it. When something happens in Fuxian Lake, how could the government ignore it! But the problem is, by the time the water police showed up, those things had disappeared again."

I thought to myself: Even if these things really existed, they probably wouldn't warrant him being this upset.

Indeed, Tang Minghao continued: "If it had ended there, if they vanished and everything returned to peace, I wouldn't be worried. But a problem did arise. Not long after those monsters disappeared, everyone thought it was a false alarm like last time, and they went back to fishing and working. This included my two cousins. Both of my cousins were excellent swimmers and had never made a single mistake. Of course, like all fishermen, they had their own beliefs. Putting that aside, my point is that whether they believed in ghosts or science, they respected and followed both. Under normal circumstances, nothing should have happened."

"But..." Tang Minghao's face grew distinctly grave, "My elder cousin was fishing the day before yesterday, and his boat suddenly split open. Those on the shore and in the lake only saw a splash near the side of the boat, and then my elder cousin, along with the entire boat, vanished without a trace..."

"We haven't found any trace of my elder cousin's incident, and just now, the family called again to say my closest cousin took a boat out to try and recover the body, but as soon as the boat left the shore, a wave hit. He shifted to avoid the wave, but suddenly felt a chill around his calf, as if something had grabbed him. He was utterly terrified, and people on the shore quickly pulled the mooring rope to drag him back..."

As Tang Minghao spoke, a light sweat broke out on his face; he was clearly petrified. I, however, remained unconvinced, thinking his cousin was likely just scared and frightened himself without realizing it.