Qin Bing'er timidly asked, "Yingying, what is this thing? It looks like a lizard." "Don't be afraid, this thing won't hurt anyone. It’s not a lizard, and certainly not a Ban Kui [Half-Puppet]. It’s a second-class national protected animal—the Chinese giant salamander!" I said.

"You mean... Dà Ní [Giant Salamander]?" "Exactly!" I nodded. The Dà Ní, also called the 'baby fish' because its cry sounds exactly like a baby crying, resembles a lizard but is rounder and flatter. They typically live in caves with little sand content and fast-flowing, swirling water.

Xi Se is one of the few protected areas for the Chinese giant salamander in the entire country, so we weren't unfamiliar with them. I should have realized what the crying sound was long ago, but in this environment, one involuntarily leans toward the mysterious. Furthermore, Jiyé’s mention of the "Ghost Mother and Child" had created a strong preconception, leading to this rather absurd encounter. The giant salamander was about a meter and a half long.

Seeing us staring, its back, a mottled mix of black and brown, flashed in the water before it sank to the bottom. Ripples spread across the surface, and the small waves hitting the many tiny holes in the well’s stone walls created a sound like "dé er dé er." Wait! Dé er dé er? Horse hooves?

The sound of hooves I heard in Hanyun Cave? Holding the flashlight, I bent down to examine the well. It was constructed of irregularly shaped square-cut stones. When the flashlight beam pierced the water within, I couldn't see the bottom—the water was a deep, clear blue, with a thin layer of mist floating on the surface.

The well was surrounded by several stalagmites, emitting wisps of chilling air. Near the water level on the well walls, there wasn't a single plant, but rather countless small holes, each as thick as a bowl. When the water stirred, waves rushed back into these holes and immediately retreated, causing the continuous "dé er dé er" sound. Haha, so that was the reason.

It’s essentially the same principle as the sea hitting the shore. Perhaps the holes are very deep, which is why the "horse hoof sound" was so sharp, crisp, and mellow; after reflecting several times within the Anle Cave, it coincidentally reached the outside. I speculated that shouting in Hanyun Cave might have been audible here, startling the giant salamander into agitating the water, causing the impact against the small holes and producing the sound of hooves. When I explained this hypothesis, everyone nodded in sudden understanding.

Having figured out the causes of the baby’s cry and the sound of hooves, everyone let out a long sigh of relief and began discussing the giant salamander animatedly. Hua'er was restless by the well’s edge, clearly intending to jump in and tease the salamander out again. Thinking of Hua'er made me even gloomier. That fellow had run ahead on the stone trough path, and there had been no sound from him for ages.

If there really were Ban Kui around, there would have been a major commotion by now. My grandfather once told me that dogs' eyes can see things humans cannot. When I asked him the basis for this, he said, "Don't you often hear the dogs in Xia Ma Kou Village barking wildly in the middle of the night? That's when the underworld is 'passing the ghost soldiers,' or when the souls of the dying are having their 'foot soles collected.'" I had never heard anyone claim to have seen 'passing ghost soldiers,' and I was skeptical about the 'collecting foot soles' notion, but the fact that dogs frequently bark together for no apparent reason in the dead of night was undeniable.

"Yingying, such a huge salamander—why don't we catch it and trade it for some cigarette money?" Man Niaoniao said to me, looking relaxed and animated. "No!" Before I could speak, Jiyé cut in sharply, "Catching a giant salamander without permission is illegal, besides, that salamander is so massive, who knows how long it's been there. I feel..." Great, he’s getting mysterious again! I interrupted Jiyé.

"Jiyé, what do we do now? Where do we go? Don't tell me the path is in the well?" Jiyé froze, wildly swinging his flashlight around, then suddenly cried out, "Good heavens! The path is here!

What the old gang said is true..." I looked up and was utterly stunned by the bizarre scene before me. Stuck between several stalagmites were wooden planks, about fifteen centimeters thick, spaced about two feet apart. They extended upward, piece by piece, forming a crude wooden ladder. The planks seemed to have been coated in black lacquer, but much of it had peeled away, revealing advanced decay, making them look exactly like coffin boards dug up from an old grave mound.

I noticed the wooden ladder formed by the planks had no visible end; it seemed to stretch behind the stalagmites. I squeezed through the gap between two stalagmites, shone my flashlight, and—oh my god—what an immense undertaking this was! Before me lay a cavernous hall with no discernible edges. The surroundings were pitch black, bottomless, and immeasurably high.

Faintly, I heard the rumbling sound of rushing floodwaters beneath my feet, and gusts of icy, biting moisture surged upward, freezing my teeth until they chattered uncontrollably. The flashlight beam, in this vast space, was swallowed by the boundless darkness like a firefly. I picked up a stone the size of a bowl and hurled it hard toward the center of the hall. I heard a loud, clanging sound that traveled downward, gradually fading away—I never even heard the echo of the stone hitting the bottom.

This was clearly an enormous sinkhole, and the bottom was certainly not flat; it was most likely strewn with jagged rocks everywhere. The strange environment was one thing, but the most shocking sight was the countless, longer, and thicker wooden planks suspended from above. Both ends of these planks were fastened by ropes, as thick as a child's arm, made of some unknown material, sloping away into the endless dark. On this side, the end of the rope was tied to a huge log wedged between several stalagmites, seemingly for stabilization.

The planks weren't far apart, forming a suspended bridge, but unlike a normal suspension bridge, these planks lay flat and ascended stepwise, creating an inclined "suspension ladder" at about a forty-five-degree angle. Many planks in the middle of this ladder were missing, leaving only thick ropes dangling, swaying slightly. Some ropes securing planks were only broken on one side, while the other side still held the massive plank steady and unmoving. I shone the flashlight along the suspension ladder; I couldn't see where it ended at all.

Jiyé and the others squeezed through to see the scene, their mouths agape, unable to believe their eyes. "We finally see what the old gang described!" Jiyé exclaimed. "If I'm not mistaken, there are likely many massive stones placed atop this wooden ladder..." "How did you know that, Jiyé?" I asked doubtfully. "This is the legendary 'Sky Ladder' built by our Tujia ancestors..." "Sky Ladder?

A ladder to heaven?" "Where are your thoughts leading? This Sky Ladder had two purposes: one, it served as a passage in and out of the saltpeter cave, and two, it was used to deal with the Chang Mao Zi [Long Hairs]..." "Long Hairs? What are Chang Mao Zi?" Man Niaoniao interjected. "This requires starting with the environment our ancestors lived in.

Legend says this area was originally the land of the ancient Ba Kingdom, and we Tujia people are descendants of the Ba people. Since ancient times, our ancestors lived in this place, almost completely isolated from the outside world, which is why our clothing, hairstyles, customs, and habits differed from the Han people. Later, as history progressed, the Tujia people began interacting with the outside world, gradually forming a situation of mixed Tujia and Han habitation. Our ancestors saw that the Han people had longer hair, so they called them 'Long Hairs'!" "Why did our ancestors hide from them?" I asked, puzzled.

"That... I'm not entirely sure! It's probably related to the ethnic disputes of that time!" "You just mentioned there were many huge stones on top of the Sky Ladder?" "That's what the old gang said—many huge stones. If invaders attacked, the locals would hide inside Anle Cave, and those stones above were used as weapons.

Just imagine, if the enemy reached this spot, and the people above rolled those stones down, what a horrific scene that would be? It is said that at the end of the Sky Ladder, the cave on the left is the saltpeter cave, and the cave on the right—I don't know its name—has a huge granary built inside using these wooden planks. There’s enough grain to feed several thousand people for months, no problem." My heart stirred. Looking at the Sky Ladder before me, my mind raced, imagining the lives of my ancestors in this place of unparalleled danger and majesty.

I couldn't help but sigh deeply: my knowledge of Tujia history is pitifully lacking. "An Ge, how do you think this Sky Ladder was built?" Man Niaoniao, who had been silent for a long time, asked a question I also wanted answered. "That... I don't know either.

I suspect very few people now know the principles behind the Sky Ladder." It took me a while to snap out of the deep historical reverie and address a practical matter. "Jiyé, we cross using the Sky Ladder?" Jiyé was silent for a long moment, then instructed Man Niaoniao, "Go try that wooden plank wedged in the stalagmite, see if it can still hold weight?" Man Niaoniao agreed, put his strength into it, used the protruding parts of the stalagmites for leverage, and managed to grip the edge of a plank, only to hear a "crack!" The plank broke in two and tumbled with a clatter into the crevice between the stalagmites. Man Niaoniao couldn't stop his momentum, flipped twice, and jumped down from where he stood. We all turned pale.

This Sky Ladder was so rotten; how could any person possibly walk on it? "Jiyé, let's go back outside and figure something else out. It’s too cold here to bear," I said, noticing Qin Bing'er huddled tightly against me, shivering uncontrollably, her teeth chattering. "Fine!" Jiyé sighed helplessly.

"We'll go out first, eat some dry rations, and have some water." We walked out past the well and found a relatively dry spot to sit on the ground, sighing heavily, our moods deeply somber. Clearly, we couldn't reach the saltpeter cave. Never mind failing to complete the objective of entering the cave; we couldn't even find our way out! Could it be that we had to return the way we came?

Honestly, the other parts were manageable; not finding the jammed door wouldn't be the end of the world. What terrified me most was crossing that Dragon Bridge; if we ran into the old creature on our way back... I couldn't bear to think about it! "An Ge, what dry rations did you bring?" Man Niaoniao, always most eager when food was mentioned, reached into Jiyé’s carrying basket to rummage through the food.

As soon as he lifted the lid, he exclaimed with surprise, "Yoho, Bao Gu Ba [Corn Cakes]? Heh heh, haven't eaten this stuff in years! Huh? An Ge, why do you have fresh pork?

Are we having a picnic?" Jiyé snatched the black cloth back over the basket, saying angrily, "Picnic? Picnic your chăn chăn [ass]! I have my uses for it! You just worry about your own stinking carcass..." As he spoke, he pulled out several Bao Gu Ba and handed them to me and Qin Bing'er.

Man Niaoniao had already grabbed two, quickly stripped off the Tung tree leaves, and in three or two gulps, the cakes vanished into his deep "sweet potato hole" of a mouth. I was highly curious after hearing Man Niao mention the fresh pork in Jiyé's basket. Why was Jiyé carrying fresh pork? Just as I was about to lift the black cloth to look, I saw Man Niaoniao covered in dust, and Jiyé looked fierce and intimidating.

I didn't dare try to open his basket, much less ask Jiyé about it—I wasn't about to walk right into his line of fire. Alas, man cannot live on air alone; if you don't eat, you get weak. Better to suppress the revolution rumbling in my stomach first. Qin Bing'er had never seen Bao Gu Ba before.

She turned the one in her hand over and over, examining it for a long time. She carefully peeled back the wrapping. "Yingying, why is this... purplish-black?

What is it made of?" I had been pondering how to proceed when Qin Bing'er interrupted my thoughts. Seeing her hesitant to eat it, and wanting to ease my own stress, I began to explain the Bao Gu Ba, one of the local Tujia specialties. "What are you asking? Bao Gu Ba is, of course, made from corn.

It’s the fifth and sixth months now; it's when the corn kernels are dripping with moisture. We pick the cobs, shell the kernels, grind them into a paste using a stone mill, wrap the paste in Tung tree leaves or banana leaves from the mountain, and boil it in a pot. Out come the fragrant and sweet Bao Gu Ba. That purplish-black color you see is the juice from the Tung leaves; it’s nothing." Qin Bing'er took a small bite of the Bao Gu Ba in her hand, her eyes lighting up.

"It really is fragrant and sweet!" I said with slight pride, "Of course it is. This specialty is now sold in many large and medium-sized cities. Besides being fragrant and sweet, its biggest advantage is that it keeps you full for a long time." Qin Bing'er nodded repeatedly, taking small bites of the tender yellow cake. "An Ge, where's the wine you brought?" Man Niaoniao asked Jiyé for a drink.

Jiyé laughed and scolded, "You timid little coward, does drinking wine bolster courage?" Then he casually handed the flask to Man Niaoniao. Speaking of wine, it reminded me of what Qin Bing'er said—that her back pain hadn't bothered her since she entered Anle Cave. I was quite puzzled. Based on her usual condition, after all this exertion and running around, she should have been suffering terribly from back pain by now.

Yet, Qin Bing'er looked listless, but showed no signs of pain whatsoever. This inevitably sparked serious curiosity in me: had that green-haired painting really vanished? If so, what Qinghe Master had said couldn't be entirely dismissed. "Bing'er, has your back truly not hurt at all since you entered Anle Cave?

Has the painting... disappeared?" I still couldn't quite believe it was true, and I sought confirmation from Qin Bing'er again. "It's true. Or else..." Qin Bing'er stopped speaking, as if she wanted to say more.

"Huh? What about me?" Qin Bing'er’s flushed face stunned me; I failed to grasp the meaning of her words. Qin Bing'er bit her lip slightly and whispered, "Or else... you reach out...

and touch... to see if that hair is still there?" After managing to say these words with great effort, Qin Bing'er shyly lowered her head, her face blushing all the way down to the base of her neck. I was momentarily stunned. I never expected Qin Bing'er to suggest this.

After hesitating for a long time, I finally said sheepishly, "Forget it. As long as your back doesn't hurt, it's fine. We can save the touching for next time!" Man Niaoniao, with his sharp ears, somehow overheard my conversation with Qin Bing'er. Hearing my serious tone, yet one carrying a hidden meaning, he spat out the Bao Gu Ba he was chewing with a "Pfft!" and started chuckling sinisterly.

My face burned crimson. I said to Man Niaoniao with false bravado, "What are you laughing at? Did you laugh like that when you saw the old white-bearded man?" Man Niaoniao’s face darkened. He glanced around furtively, craned his neck, and fell silent.

"Yingying, didn't you say you brought wine? Where did you put it?" Jiyé, seeing the three young people looking awkward, quickly changed the subject. Hearing this, I seized the opportunity to exit gracefully. "It's here," I said, pointing to my waist.

Jiyé shone his flashlight and saw a loop of plastic tubing, as thick as a middle finger, wrapped around my waist. He understood immediately. "You little devil, your head must be hollow to come up with this idea! It doesn't take up space, and when you want a drink, just suck on the tube.

Heh heh, not bad!" Indeed, the wine was stored in the tube around my waist. The word "ghost" scared Man Niaoniao half to death. He lunged forward, wrapped his arms around my neck, choking me until I couldn't breathe. With his mouth full of Bao Gu Ba, he whispered near my ear, "Yingying, An Ge doesn't avoid taboos; could he...

be possessed?" I was both angry and anxious. If a Ban Kui had come, would choking me help ward off disaster? I shoved him away, struggling to free my head from his arms, grabbed his ear, and said fiercely, "The next time you're so scared your two little pebbles are knocking together and you hug me like that, I'll rip that thing off you and throw it on the roof!" Man Niaoniao quickly grinned in pain and nodded repeatedly. "Enough!

Stop messing around. Let's think about what to do next," Jiyé said, his old face grim after hearing Man Niaoniao mention not avoiding taboos. He stopped me and Man Niaoniao from continuing our antics. "We've reached a dead end.

Even with the Sky Ladder there, I wouldn't dare let you risk your necks playing around. It seems we have no choice but to return the way we came. I'm afraid... this trip in will end up being drawing water with a bamboo basket—all for nothing." I was extremely frustrated by Jiyé's attitude now.

He was the one who brought us to catch ghosts, and he was the one to abandon the plan. Because of a strange dream, he threw caution to the wind and came to this perilous place searching for a command tablet—it was inherently absurd enough to make people laugh out loud. Now look: we couldn't even find a way out. We couldn't go forward, and we couldn't retreat.

We might even lose our lives here. "Didn't you say with absolute certainty that we could find another way out?" I was unwilling to give up, yet terrified of running into that 'giant dragon' on the way back, so I complained to Jiyé. Jiyé paused. "Did I say that?

Ah—I remember! Ten years ago, a tunnel was built at the foot of Tianjiao Mountain. Could this water passage lead there?" "Why don't we find someone to look down into the well?" Jiyé asked tentatively when he saw me gaping dumbly. I gave a wry smile, my eyes shifting to Man Niaoniao, signaling that this was his moment to shine.

Man Niaoniao saw my ill-intentioned gaze and hastily shook his hands. "No way. My 'dog paddle' skills are terrible; if I go down, the wood will surely turn to pulp in the water. Let's think of another way—Oh!

We can ask Hua'er to try!" "Can Hua'er swim?" Qin Bing'er recovered from her shyness, hearing Man Niaoniao suggest letting Hua'er go into the well, and quickly asked. "That's irrelevant. Pigs paddle in the three rivers, dogs paddle in the four seas; its swimming ability is much better than mine," Man Niaoniao replied dismissively. I realized this was indeed a viable option.

Man Niaoniao had backed down, Jiyé was afraid of deep water, and Qin Bing'er absolutely couldn't be put in danger. That left only Hua'er and me to try. However, my stamina might be a huge problem, whereas Hua'er is a natural-born swimming champion. It seemed this heavy responsibility could only be entrusted to him.

But there were two practical issues to consider: how could Hua'er understand our intentions? And even if he found a passage, how would we get in? "Monkey... Yingying...

Monkey!" Man Niaoniao suddenly shouted, pointing at me.