This time the shaking was unusually violent; the pile of blue stones seemed to "quake with laughter," a cacophony of rumbles, cracks, and rustling sounds assaulting the ears, lending a powerful sensation that Death himself was grinning nearby, a mere breath from the scalp.

Mang Niao Niao and I scrambled out of the rock crevice, and in a blink, saw Old Ji already fumbling to sling his carrying basket onto his back, taking the lead in a frantic dash forward.

We dared not linger, heedless of whether the objects on us might scrape against the blue stones and intensify the trembling of the pile; we crawled and tumbled desperately toward the exit, even though we hadn't yet glimpsed where this supposed "exit" lay.

In a moment of life or death, instinct takes over; at a time like this, who has the luxury of worrying about others? All three of us ran as if our lives depended on it. Even though the previous strong tremors hadn't caused the blue stone pile to collapse, in this scene, who could guarantee it wouldn't fall now? After all, the bizarre notion of "stones being ticklish" was something never seen or heard of.

Old Ji sprinted ahead with the flashlight, the beam wildly scattering as he ran. Wherever the light fell, I could vaguely make out blue stones hanging overhead like massive hornet nests, swaying up, down, left, and right with the shuddering of the pile—a sight that chilled the blood, making it feel as if the stones would drop the very next second, crushing us into a mess of scrambled eggs.

This desperate flight had the immediate consequence of leaving us battered and bruised by the sharp points of the stone teeth, seeing stars dance before our eyes. At this moment, we paid no mind to where we were bleeding or where our skin was torn; we just pushed relentlessly forward.

We had expected this strongest vibration to finally bring the blue stone pile down, yet after we had run a distance, the shaking slowly subsided. The stones still supported each other in a chaotic mess, refusing to topple despite the violent tremors.

The three men let out a small sigh of relief and slowed their pace. Though no stones fell from above, the gravel underfoot was incredibly sharp and jagged. If one were clumsy enough to cut a foot and get injured, what chance would there be of escape if the boulders really did come crashing down?

Only now did I find a moment to catch my breath, stretching my neck like a giraffe and widening my eyes like ox testicles as I searched for the exit—the symbol of renewed life.

After scanning wildly for a while, I finally spotted what Old Ji called the "exit"—a patch of egg-sized white light peeking out from far ahead. Although I couldn't yet confirm if the light marked the true exit, after rushing through this sunless place for so long, even this small sliver of natural light filled me with inexpressible excitement, urging Mang Niao Niao and Old Ji to run faster.

Mang Niao Niao naturally saw the white light too, and without needing a command, he bolted forward with a low grunt.

The white light widened, apparently sunlight slanting against the rock face. A secret joy bloomed in my heart—we were finally about to escape!

But then, just as suddenly, another unexpected event occurred—Old Ji, right in front of us, vanished before our eyes!!

Because we were nearing the exit, visibility in the crevice had greatly improved. I had just seen Old Ji's flashlight beam wobbling ahead, and then, suddenly, the light was gone. At first, I assumed Old Ji had seen the exit and turned it off, silently chiding him for being too hasty. Then I heard Mang Niao Niao call out anxiously, "Where's An Ge?"

I gasped in shock, fighting to squeeze up beside Mang Niao Niao. Blinking hard through the gloom, I searched around and finally saw Old Ji’s carrying basket lodged diagonally in a fissure, the gap below it dark and unfathomably deep—and Old Ji was gone.

I nearly cried out in distress, and Mang Niao Niao began spitting out panicked sounds. I bent down and shouted into the fissure, "Old Ji!"

"I'm down here! Don't panic!" Old Ji's voice answered from beneath the basket. I quickly fumbled in my pack for another flashlight, aimed it into the gap, and saw that Old Ji's legs were braced apart at an angle against the rock wall; his upper body was obscured by the basket, and I couldn't make out his situation.

"I'm okay for now, I'm still wearing the basket, but I can't move. You two figure out how to pull me up!" Old Ji’s voice came from under the basket.

After some hurried contemplation, an idea formed. I told Mang Niao Niao to brace himself carefully against the wall, step over the basket, then turn and firmly plant both feet on the rock face, waiting for my instruction before taking the next step. Mang Niao Niao complied.

I untied the hemp rope from my waist and fashioned a slipknot. Bending over, I told Old Ji to try lifting one foot so I could secure his foot with the loop, preventing him from sliding further down. Old Ji couldn't see my rope, but he lifted a foot following my command. Fortunately, Old Ji hadn't slipped far. Sweating profusely, after several attempts, I finally managed to loop the rope securely around Old Ji’s left foot.

I let out a small breath of relief but didn't dare dawdle. I looked up and told Mang Niao Niao to try grabbing the edge of the basket and slowly pulling upward.

The straps of the basket were woven from bamboo strips, normally capable of supporting a hundred pounds without issue. But Old Ji's basket was quite old, and no one could guarantee the straps wouldn't suddenly snap. If that happened, rescuing Old Ji would become exponentially harder, and I might even end up dropping into the bottomless fissure myself, like a skewer of ingredients.

Mang Niao Niao grabbed the edge of the basket with both hands and pulled slowly, finally hoisting Old Ji up enough to reveal a face pale with fright. Old Ji used the opportunity to brace himself against the rock wall. "Yingying, let go of my foot, man!" Startled, I realized I was still gripping the rope, and Old Ji’s left leg hung in the air like a dry twig. I quickly loosened the rope. Old Ji used all four limbs to stand against the rock face, spread out like a character for 'eight' (Da).

"Damn it all," Old Ji wheezed, taking deep breaths. "I was only watching ahead and didn't realize there was such a huge gash underfoot. If I hadn't been carrying this basket, I’d have been dismembered to get me out, just like that ox back then."

Mang Niao Niao and I both knew the story of the ox Old Ji mentioned. I had often said that the sinkholes and fissures of Xiama Kou Village were dense. Back then, a water buffalo somehow fell into a very deep fissure; unable to climb up or down, it got firmly wedged. Despite many attempts by a crowd of people, they couldn't retrieve the animal. Perhaps realizing its end was near, the ox wept for a moment, then slammed its head violently against the rock wall and passed out. Seeing this, the crowd hardened their hearts and called for the butcher. He carefully descended along the wall toward the ox's head. The butcher shut his eyes, plunged his sharp slaughter knife into the ox's neck, and was splattered with blood until his face was unrecognizable. That butcher was skilled; he butchered the ox right there on the wall, severing the head and legs, eviscerating the carcass, and hoisting the hacked pieces up on pre-hung ropes to be buried.

Hearing Old Ji mention the ox now, and looking at the deep gash below, I saw it bore a striking resemblance—nine-tenths similarity—to the fissure the ox had fallen into. It was narrower than the original gash, but deep enough for a person of medium build to fall through entirely. Luckily, Old Ji’s basket was wide, and the straps caught him when he fell, preventing him from dropping into the inscrutable depth.

At that moment, the three of us were posed quite dramatically, like three characters for 'eight' suspended between the rock walls. Looking back in the faint daylight, we saw we had run out of the "ticklish" blue stone pile. The rock face consisted of two massive slabs that seemed to have neither top nor bottom. I tentatively used my finger to scratch the rock face, finding it apparently immune to tickling; it didn't shake.

I secretly felt fortunate; if this rock face had wobbled like those blue stones, we would either have been crushed in the middle or plummeted into the deep gash like dumplings dropping into water.

Mang Niao Niao seemed resentful. Seeing that scratching the wall didn't cause a tremor, he walked to the edge of the blue stone pile and stuck out his index finger to prod a stone. "You claim to be ticklish, eh? Let me give you a real tickle!" His nail scraped against the blue stone with a loud gezhi sound, causing the entire pile to shake violently. Startled, we jumped several steps back, moving away from the stones before daring to catch our breath...

We didn't wait for the sweat to dry before resting. We roughly organized our gear, carefully braced our hands and feet, and moved like people on stilts toward the exit. Now Mang Niao Niao led, Old Ji was in the middle, and I remained at the rear. Seeing the exit ahead, Mang Niao Niao no longer feared the 'half-wraiths' and strode along with robust noise, relying on his strength.

"Wait!" I suddenly shouted, "Listen! Is that Hua'er calling?"

The two men ahead stopped and listened intently. "It really does sound like Hua'er calling!" Old Ji remarked after a moment.

Mang Niao Niao was now about twenty meters ahead of Old Ji and me. He turned back, looking puzzled. "I don't hear any flowers calling?"

"Are your ears malfunctioning?" I asked Mang Niao Niao suspiciously. Logically, since Mang Niao Niao was close to the exit, he should hear the flower calling more clearly if it were outside; why couldn't he hear it?

"Your ears need the major overhaul, I hear you barking, how could my ears have a problem?" Mang Niao Niao bristled. This was odd. If Mang Niao Niao said that, then Hua'er certainly wasn't near the exit. Where was it calling from? And why was the sound so faint?

"Woof~" Another weak dog bark sounded, and this time I pinpointed it—the sound came from the dark, abyssal crevice behind me.

I quickly shone the flashlight there, and my heart lurched; a faint ache radiated through me.

Where the light fell, I vaguely saw Hua'er's backside and its short, slightly wagging tail. I couldn't see its body or head at all; it looked as if it were stuck headfirst in the fissure. Shifting the light slightly, I saw Hua'er’s legs bent against the rock wall, supporting its body to keep it from sliding further down. Even so, the dog had already slid about ten meters from where we stood—its situation was a hundred times more tragic and a hundred times more dangerous than that water buffalo of years past.

I urgently called Mang Niao Niao back to help, determined to rescue Hua'er. Hearing me, Mang Niao Niao turned back, grumbling, and returned to our side.

I handed the flashlight to Old Ji and frantically prepared to descend like the butcher of old to save Hua'er. Old Ji stopped me just in time, pointing at the rock gash below. "Look, it's so narrow down there; how can you get down? Don't end up stuck in there yourself and unable to get out!"

It turned out the rock gash was wide at the top and narrowed funnel-like toward the bottom. Hua'er was likely stuck in a space only thirty centimeters wide. Forget stepping down the wall; even trying to squeeze sideways down would be like ascending heaven. "What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?" My mind was a mess, burning with anxiety as I looked expectantly at Old Ji.

Mang Niao Niao took the flashlight, shone it on Hua'er, shook his head repeatedly, and sighed, "Hard! Hard! Hard!" Old Ji also kept his head down, silent.

"Yingying, Hua'er is in this state; maybe we should just forget it. It is, after all, a beast that cannot speak!" Mang Niao Niao started to reach out to pat my shoulder in comfort, then suddenly realized he couldn't let go of the wall and couldn't reach me, so he retracted his hand.

I understood his implication immediately, and anger flared. "So what if it's a beast? Isn't it a life?"

Mang Niao Niao grew angry too. "Who is more important, a person or a beast? Qin Ping'er’s fate is unknown right now, and you have time to save a dog? There’s only one Qin Ping'er; if the dog dies, where can you find another? Do you need your brain overhauled too?"

My mouth opened, leaving me speechless. Mang Niao Niao's words gave me pause; he had a point. The entire purpose of our desperate run was to find Qin Ping'er. Although there was no trace of her yet, the exit was ahead, and with the help of natural light, the difficulty of the search would be significantly reduced, and the chance of success much higher. Now, however, Hua'er's life was holding us up.

Hua'er seemed to hear Mang Niao Niao’s words and let out a mournful cry from below. That cry pierced my core, burning my nerves. I remembered how it fearlessly saved me in the Earth Bull Cave, how it followed me closely through the Thistle Forest, never abandoning me. Tears welled up. Acting on impulse, I shouted down, "Hua'er! Wait for me, I will definitely save you!"

Hua'er cried out again from below, a sound that held a note of joy, which only solidified my resolve to save it. It wasn't that I considered Hua'er more important than Qin Ping'er; it was that strange feeling in my heart, which had mysteriously surfaced since I left the Water Bamboo Forest, that told me Qin Ping'er was safe. Furthermore, according to search and rescue principles, saving what is closest and what is visible is a scientific and rational approach. Besides, I didn't consider Hua'er merely a beast that couldn't speak; it was my friend! My friend through hardship!!

Having made up my mind, my mind cleared considerably. The critical thing now was to devise a feasible method to rescue Hua'er; there was no time to consider anything else.

I carefully assessed the situation, my eyes drifting to Old Ji's carrying basket, and an idea took shape.

"Here's the plan, Old Ji. You empty the miscellaneous iron goods from your basket and lay it flat here. I want you to squat inside it, holding me, to see if we can loop a rope around Hua'er’s leg and pull it up," I said, deliberately avoiding looking at Mang Niao Niao as I instructed Old Ji.

"No way!" Unexpectedly, Old Ji flatly refused.

"Hmm?" I thought Old Ji hadn't understood my rescue plan, so I explained again, "If I were close enough, I could try to loop the rope around Hua'er’s leg, but look how far away Hua'er is; just dropping a slipknot with the hemp rope won't work, and we're out of time. What I mean is, you squat in the basket, then tie the hemp rope around my ankles, and lower me upside down as close to Hua'er as possible, then try to loop the rope around its leg and drag it up!"

"I didn't say your method was impossible, I said you can't dump the contents of my basket!" Old Ji stated firmly.

I froze, staring at Old Ji in confusion. What was in his basket that was more important than Hua'er’s life? Did he, like Mang Niao Niao, intend to abandon Hua'er?

Mang Niao Niao sighed, said nothing, climbed up a short distance past Old Ji’s head, came over to stand before me, took the hemp rope I had untied, wrapped it a few times around his waist, pulled it tight, and stared at me. "Let's go! Do you need me to tie your feet for you?" I shot him a look of gratitude, left about ten meters of the rope free, and tied the other end securely around my ankles like someone bungee jumping. Old Ji wedged the basket between the rocks and came over to help Mang Niao Niao hold the rope.

I carefully bent over, using my hands as feet, my head pointed downward, preparing to approach Hua'er. When my body was almost completely inverted, I felt my hands trembling violently, and I feared getting suddenly jammed in the narrow rock fissure, so I dared not release my feet until I felt my shoulders wedge against the rock wall. Only then did I relax and let go of my feet. I heard the hemp rope emit a terrifying karala sound as it stretched taut.

My shoulders ached from being jammed between the rocks, but I was still five or six meters from Hua'er. I took a breath and fashioned a slipknot with the remaining rope, lowering it down.

At this moment, I suddenly realized I had overlooked a crucial issue—where was I supposed to loop the rope?

The only parts of Hua'er I could see were its short tail and its rear end, plus its rear legs, which were jammed tight. The tail certainly couldn't be looped, and the legs certainly wouldn't allow a rope through.

Mang Niao Niao, using the light from Old Ji's flashlight, also saw the situation below and shouted up to me, "Yingying, did you see Hua'er's dangly bits or its little stick? Can you try to loop it over that?"

I stiffened. I hadn't expected Mang Niao Niao to suggest that particular part of the dog. While a loop could fit there, pulling upward on that part—would Hua'er even survive? Even if, by some miracle, it lived, would it be castrated and thus deprived of a lifetime of pleasure?

I mentally cursed Mang Niao Niao, resolving to let him conduct an experiment there if I ever found time or opportunity!

However, Mang Niao Niao's suggestion reminded me of something: didn't Hua'er have a large swelling on its leg? I could loop it there! That thing was superfluous anyway; even if it were pulled off, it wouldn't affect Hua'er in any way, and it would save the trouble of having surgery later. Watering the radish—killing two birds with one stone!

I told Old Ji to shine the flashlight beam onto Hua'er’s rear end, and sure enough, I saw the large swelling dangling between the dog’s legs. Great joy surged through me. I took a deep breath and aimed the rope loop toward the swelling, slowly lowering it.

At this point, all my blood rushed to my head; I felt flushed and saw stars. A foul, fishy stench billowed up from the fissure below, blurring my vision. I tried several times, but each time the loop only brushed against the swelling without catching it. I was drenched in sweat, and the sweat ran back into my eyes, stinging fiercely, making my vision grow increasingly hazy.

No, I had to get closer to Hua'er. Making up my mind, I painfully turned my body sideways and signaled for them to slacken the rope. I slid down a few more meters until I was only about two meters from Hua'er. The rock walls squeezed me until my bones creaked, and my chest felt too constricted to breathe. The sweat flowing into my eyes was more intense now, stinging so badly I could barely keep them open. I wiped my face with my sleeve; once my vision cleared slightly, I signaled them to slacken the rope again, then, like a diver, I kicked my legs into the void and squeezed down a little further...