Of course, the blinding pain in my forehead wouldn't subside anytime soon; it still felt like an invisible iron chain was cinching tighter and tighter, with throbbing pulses hammering at my temples—it felt like two bowls of porridge were gurgling and bubbling inside my skull. Thankfully, my chest adapted a bit better; with a few deep inhalations of the air thick with coal smoke, the suffocating feeling finally began to ease.

My limbs regained some strength, and I struggled to stand, noticing that the ground beneath my feet was no longer soft and yielding. Although there was still damp, fine sand covering the tops of my feet, it no longer felt like sinking into a bog.

It was only then, aided by the fluctuating white light emanating from the sheer cliff face to my left, that I realized I was in a narrow, elongated canyon. One end of this canyon housed that colossal Leizi (arena/grinding stone), and behind the Leizi was a steep wall from which a large section had been excavated, sloping inwards from top to bottom. I was all too familiar with this sight; back when I and Old Master Ji went quarrying stone, we’d turned perfectly good mountains into pockmarked messes, leaving behind terrain just like this. Down below, the only thing left to do was pray: Buddha protect us, may nothing collapse from above, or not even my dust would remain.

The other end of the canyon stretched forward, its terminus unknown. The two sheer cliffs framed the canyon in an inverted 'eight' shape—wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, with the upper rim far higher than the massive Leizi. Both cliffs were dotted with piles of burning coal here and there.

To call the Leizi huge was no exaggeration. I hadn't realized its scale when I was inside it, but now, looking from the outside, I felt even thirty or forty men couldn't wrap their arms around it. It was only then that I was horrified to see that the grinding plate of the Leizi wasn't made of two sections, but seven or eight overlapping pieces; the central stone beam of the plate didn't extend outward—I couldn't tell if it was never there or had broken off later. On one side of the Leizi stood a decrepit scaffolding, half-encircling the structure like a withered tree, its roots and branches tangled everywhere. At the base of the Leizi was a wide, high ring of fine sand shaped like a ridge.

My current position was on a slanted earthen step near the grinding plate, below the Leizi. The step wasn't long, and it was over two meters away from the round, rough grinding plate. It didn't look intentionally built, but rather haphazardly piled up from various large and small clumps of earth.

Of course, this observation didn't take long, and my mind wasn't focused on meticulously scanning the surroundings; I was worried about two beings, or rather, one person and one dog: Hua'er and Qin Bing'er. Judging by Qin Bing'er's repeated cries from overhead, she was still standing on that crescent-shaped area where the grinding plate sections met, having merely shifted position when the grinding plate rotated. For the moment, she wasn't in immediate peril.

Despite this, I was deeply concerned. I spat twice, looked up, and shouted, "Bing'er, are you alright?" With my breathing clear, my voice carried much further, and the space wasn't entirely empty, so Qin Bing'er’s relieved voice quickly echoed down, "Ying... Are you guys okay? You scared me to death!"

"We're not dead yet. Jump down!" Man Niao Niao, sprawled on the ground, answered first.

"I... I don't dare jump!" Qin Bing'er's voice held a trace of panic.

"It's fine, you won't die from the fall!" Man Niao Niao continued to encourage her.

"I... I..." Qin Bing'er stuttered through several "I"s but couldn't gather the courage to jump. Logically, Man Niao Niao's suggestion was sound; leaping down boldly would mean sinking into quicksand, but it shouldn't be fatal. However, Qin Bing'er was a slight woman, with little experience climbing slopes and ridges, and in this chaotic environment, she couldn't just jump on command. I soothed her, "Wait a moment, I'll figure out a way to get you down." As I spoke, I searched around for Hua'er.

The dim, unclear environment wasn't much of a hindrance to my eyes, but the intermittent coal smoke choked my throat until it felt bitter and astringent, and it stung my eyes so badly I could barely keep them open.

My eyes squinted open and shut as I searched for a long time before finally spotting Hua'er lying on the pile of fine sand not far from the earthen step. I could only make out a dark shape, with all four legs already deeply buried in the quicksand. Seeing Hua'er motionless and hearing no bark from the fellow, I was startled. I quickly signaled Man Niao Niao to stand on the step and hold my ankles while I bent down, reaching for Hua'er's short tail as if fishing in water. I strained with all my might, stretching my arm to its absolute limit until I could barely grip it. With a tug, I pulled the dog closer, then threaded both my hands under Hua'er’s belly and lifted it into my embrace.

Hua'er looked terrifying: eyes wide open, mouth agape, its long tongue lolling out in a half-circle, making weak, intermittent gurgling sounds—its breathing was clearly just a biological reflex. The ambient temperature was quite high, so I couldn't gauge whether Hua'er’s body temperature was normal.

I placed Hua'er on the earthen step and used my meager first-aid knowledge to press down hard on its chest with both hands. After struggling for a long while, Hua'er's breathing remained intermittent, its four legs stiff and pointed skyward, the tufts of white fur on its lower legs swaying like small white banners with every press. Filth began to ooze from its mouth.

I panicked. Covering Hua'er's mouth with the hem of my shirt, I sucked in a breath, puffed out my cheeks, leaned close, and forcefully blew air into its mouth, then forcefully sucked out again. I repeated this so-called artificial respiration over and over. I could clearly feel Hua'er’s sharp teeth scraping painfully against my skin... Years later, when I told this story, people would laugh, saying I deserved to be nominated for World Intangible Cultural Heritage protection—how many people in this world have kissed a dog mouth-to-mouth?

My efforts were not in vain. After half a day of blowing and sucking, combined with the chest compressions, Hua'er finally managed a weak, voluntary breath. It looked like the little life had been snatched back from the brink. Overcome with emotion, tears welled up in my eyes. I hugged Hua'er tightly and planted a kiss on its head. Daring not to linger, I stood up and scanned the area, preparing to get Qin Bing'er down.

After studying the scene for a while, I realized the only sliver of hope lay in the ruined scaffolding behind the Leizi. However, that scaffolding was far from the grinding plate, and the nearest ladder to the plate was half-collapsed and dangling in mid-air. Secondly, I couldn't ascertain the scaffolding's stability. Thirdly, Qin Bing'er's vision was obscured, and she was in a state of panic. If I told her to jump recklessly toward the scaffolding, who knew if she could make it? Even if she managed to leap onto the rickety structure, who could guarantee the dilapidated scaffolding wouldn't collapse? If Qin Bing'er were skewered by that scaffolding, I figured my own tears would drown me.

Obviously, climbing up from somewhere else was impossible. Since I couldn't trust the scaffolding's sturdiness, I certainly wouldn't risk my own life. I wasn't Spider-Man, much less the Flash. Moreover, this hill-like sand dune looked deceptively gentle but was more terrifying than a bone-devouring demon. Man Niao Niao and I were already utterly exhausted; if we acted rashly out of adrenaline, being swallowed by the quicksand again would definitely be a case of losing the goose while trying to catch the eggs.

The only viable option now was to get Qin Bing'er to brave the jump down and then figure out how to pull her out of the sand.

With this realization, I looked up and shouted loudly, "Bing'er, jump! Don't worry, I'm here below!"

Qin Bing'er's voice was almost a sob, "Ying Ying... I dare not..." Man Niao Niao heard this and grumbled low, "If I were up there, I'd kick her down! What's there to be scared of?"

Nonsense! I shot him a fierce glare, thinking, If it were you, you gutless wonder, would you dare jump without a second thought? You wouldn't even open your eyes to look down earlier. Jump? Jump my foot! I shoved him, saying irritably, "Cows fly in the sky!"

Man Niao Niao shamelessly snatched the retort, "People brag on the ground!"

I was so angry I nearly spat blood, ignoring him. I had no mood for verbal sparring now. "Bing'er, jump down, I'll catch you!" Man Niao Niao snorted with laughter, "Cows fly in the sky!"

"I... can I climb down slowly? I can't see very clearly down there!"

"..." I was speechless. Climb down? If she could climb down, why would I be worried about a thing? It seemed I needed to find a way to provoke her into action. We couldn't linger here; there was no time for drawing up detailed, feasible plans.

But how? A thought struck me. I let out a piercing, shrill howl—"Ah—!"—and then dramatically fell head-first onto the ground...