Man Niao Niao must have been stirred by the ferryman's mention of being "bewitched," and upon hearing our incessant questions about the hanging coffins, he impatiently cut us off. "What a gorgeous view, completely ruined by you fellows! What did we come here for? To find Brother Ji, not to research ancient burial practices! Besides, look, the sky is about to darken, and we're still talking nonsense!"

I let out a sinister smile. This guy, having been afflicted with "flames" by Ji Ye, had been behaving quite well recently. How come the mere mention of "being haunted" made him so weak and hesitant now? It seems the unshakeable truth of "once bitten by a snake, one fears a well rope for ten years" applies perfectly to Man Niao Niao, which is why he was so desperate to find Ji Ye. I despised him. Where was his thought of Ji Ye when he was fully engaged in flirting with the village girls down by the Suobuya?

However, what Man Niao Niao said was true. Although our main task here was to find the Suoluo Divine Tree, finding Ji Ye came first. Firstly, this old fellow was the main pillar of security for our group (this thought formed at some unknown point)—whenever we encountered anything inexplicable or unsolvable, Ji Ye was the first person we thought of. Of course, we also depended on him to find the Suoluo Divine Tree. Secondly, Hua'er's prior strange behavior made me vaguely suspect that the old man might have run into some danger; this was currently my biggest worry. As for that foreign old man with the high nose bridge, I didn't feel he was that important—this feeling was utterly peculiar!

Just then, the rubber dinghy finally drifted slowly to its destination. We paid the ferryman, bid him farewell, and were about to disembark when a stout-looking man on the shore shouted to the ferryman, "Old Third, someone's taking the 'Great Night' vigil!"

"Who died?" the ferryman straightened up and asked.

"You still don't know?" the man called out loudly. "The old hermit monk at Nanliu Temple has passed away [zuò huà]! The village has organized people to handle the funeral rites, and they've assigned me to perform the Sa'erhe! The village chief sent me to fetch you to help!"

The ferryman paused for a moment, then turned to us and said, "Brothers, you all go find lodging yourselves. There’s a hotel up ahead. I have to go help, so I won't be able to chat [ribai] with you anymore!" With that, he tied up the rubber dinghy and walked off with the man from the shore.

"What is 'Great Night Vigil' and what is Sa'erhe?" Tan Ping'er asked, completely bewildered.

"The 'Great Night Vigil' [zuò dà yè] is keeping vigil for the deceased after they pass away; they are buried on the mountain the morning after that night. Didn't you witness this yourself the day after Old Man Xiang died? As for Sa'erhe, it’s essentially drumming for the funeral, which differs slightly from the ritualistic circling of the coffin we saw at Young Brother Xiang’s house. Usually, there's no proper Daoist master presiding over the rites; it's entirely local folk artists performing unique dances in front of the coffin, dancing and moving as they go. The meaning expressed is essentially the same: a joyful funeral procession, sending off the deceased with happiness!" Man Niao Niao explained the meanings of "Great Night Vigil" and "Sa'erhe" thoroughly in one breath.

I stared at Man Niao Niao, dumbfounded. How could this fellow, who hadn't even finished middle school, speak with such fluency and literary grace? Was this really the dense, meat-and-muscle Man Niao Niao I knew?

Seeing my astonished gaze, Man Niao Niao became even quicker-witted, smiling shyly (note: I used the word "shy"). "Heh heh, they say one gets tainted by one's company. After following you, a college student, for a while, surely I shouldn't be incapable of uttering a proper sentence?" Little did he know, this statement shocked me even more. He could use idiomatic phrases fluently now? This was truly like a lazy wife letting out ducks—not collecting eggs (easy)!

Tan Ping'er didn't notice Man Niao Niao's change and exclaimed with sudden understanding, "Oh, I get it—but it still feels strange. Why is it that every time we arrive at a slightly peculiar place, someone dies? This... this..." I hadn't noticed until she mentioned it, but now I was genuinely puzzled. Damn it all, right after arriving at Tangya Tusi City, Old Man Xiang, who had been perfectly healthy, died mysteriously without apparent illness. Now, arriving at Hanging Coffin Cliff, not only haven't we found Ji Ye, but we hear news of another death. Bad luck, bad luck! And the deceased was a monk, a hermit monk at that!

A monk? I vaguely felt that something was amiss, but when I tried to think it through, I couldn't pinpoint it. In the end, I gave up my rambling thoughts. A hermit monk, growing old, naturally had to die. We weren't related to him, so naturally, we didn't need to attend the "Great Night Vigil." The most important thing right now was to find the great Tujia Tima we relied upon—Ji Ye!

But where should we look for Ji Ye?

While I was at a loss, I noticed Hua'er down by where we disembarked, sniffing around intently, looking very agitated. I slapped my forehead. Damn it, why didn't I think of Hua'er? This dog's nose was our natural guiding light; finding Ji Ye would likely depend entirely on him.

I patted Hua'er. "Buddy, find anything?"

Hua'er completely ignored my affectionate gesture, instead appearing extremely restless. He sniffed furiously around the boat dock, occasionally letting out a few low, fierce growls. I couldn't help but wonder if too many people had passed through the dock, making the scents too complex for Hua'er's nose to catch Ji Ye's specific scent?

Just as I was about to comfort Hua'er to be patient, Hua'er suddenly let out a sky-shattering, frantic bark and bolted toward the ferryman and the man heading to perform the Sa'erhe who had just left. I was startled. Could those two fellows be suspicious? My Hua'er, though just a dog, would never chase someone without reason.

Man Niao Niao, Tan Ping'er, and I had no choice but to follow. When the ferryman and the other man saw Hua'er chasing after them with his tongue hanging out bright red, they panicked. According to the textbook saying, they grabbed something off the ground—this is how the saying "No trick works against a dog, just grab a handful from the ground" came about. However, Hua'er completely ignored the two men, flashing past them with a swoosh, barking wildly and charging ahead.

While the ferryman and the man froze in surprise, the three of us stumbled after them.

The ferryman wiped the cold sweat from his brow. "What in the world was that about? I thought that fellow was coming after us; I was just thinking, I didn't do anything to offend that dog..."

I cut short the ferryman's rambling and anxiously asked, "Where are we going ahead?"

"Ahead? That's Nanliu Temple, where we're heading!"

I had no idea what kind of sacred place Nanliu Temple was. I only knew my Hua'er was running wildly forward, and as I wiped the sweat from my brow, I faintly heard the sounds of gongs and drums echoing from the direction Hua'er was heading, along with sporadic bursts of firecrackers, confirming the ferryman's words—a funeral was indeed taking place ahead.

This was baffling. Hua'er should only be familiar with the scents of the four of us in this area, and the three of us were all here. Therefore, what he smelled must have been Ji Ye's scent. Could Ji Ye, out of professional something, have gone to Nanliu Temple to join the excitement? This was truly... We were chasing after him to resolve the issue of the Suoluo Divine Tree quickly, only to find the old man had the leisure for this kind of excitement!

Thinking this, I became somewhat irritated. I stopped caring about Man Niao Niao and the other two men, dragging Tan Ping'er along, taking two steps for every three, rushing to follow Hua'er’s retreating tail. Hua'er was now barking continuously, running faster than the wind, and soon disappeared from our sight.

I became even more exasperated, ignoring my pounding heart, and hurried forward. The reason for my haste was that I became increasingly convinced Ji Ye was in danger. Hua'er’s desperate run meant he must be trying to save Ji Ye.

That's what I thought. But upon turning a corner, I was aghast to see a dilapidated building appear before my eyes. The style of the architecture and the clamor of gongs and drums told me this was Nanliu Temple, as the ferryman had said. Who knows why this broken temple had such a strange name? Perhaps the monks weren't content with discipline either, constantly longing for the worldly pleasures outside, hence naming it "Hard to Keep" (Nanliu)?

This thought flashed by. Tan Ping'er and I quickly reached the memorial hall inside the ruined temple. There weren't many people, but their organization was orderly, clearly a scene of funeral rites. A hermit monk had died, yet the locals rushed over to handle the affairs—this showed the simplicity and loyalty of the local people.

As I was sighing in admiration, I was horrified to see Hua'er flash like lightning, squeezing through the sparse crowd, pounce onto the pitch-black coffin in the center of the hall, and begin repeatedly banging his head against the coffin lid, letting out heart-wrenching, hoarse cries as he did so.

I stood there, stunned. What was Hua'er doing now? What connection did a dead hermit monk have with him? My heart jolted. Could the person lying in this coffin be someone he knew, or even someone dear to him? I glanced around quickly; Ji Ye was nowhere in sight. Cold sweat broke out on my forehead. It should be said that among the four of us, except for Man Niao Niao who never got along with Hua'er, the other three had deep affection for him, with myself and Tan Ping'er ranking first and second. Now, Hua'er's grief far exceeded the instinct expected of an animal. Who exactly was lying in that coffin? Could it be Ji Ye?

My eyes turned red. I roared at the stunned bystanders, "Open the coffin!" No one moved or spoke. If the person inside was truly just some hermit monk, there would naturally be no descendants to speak up, so no one said anything. Clearly, these funeral arrangements were somewhat haphazard, lacking even a person in charge.

Hua'er kept hitting the coffin lid, the thud-thud sound seeming to strike my heart. Hua'er cried while futilely trying to pry at the lid with his mouth, but he simply had no place to grip, and his strength was nowhere near enough to contend with the heavy lid. In his desperation, a glimmer of tears shone in his eyes.

Torn between the pain of Hua'er’s expression and the anxiety for Ji Ye’s safety, I ignored the gaping, dumbfounded onlookers and violently kicked the unresponsive Man Niao Niao. "Damn it, why are you still standing there like an idiot? Help me lift this coffin lid!" Man Niao Niao snapped out of his daze, shoved aside several men who tried to intervene, gripped the coffin lid with both hands, and roared with a sound like tearing silk, "Heave!"

Wherever brute force was applied, the lid flew open. Before I could even see the face of the person lying in the coffin, I heard Tan Ping'er, standing behind me, let out a piercing scream that echoed off the walls, followed by her body collapsing softly to the ground, unconscious. Anxious, I braced one hand against the half-opened lid and snatched up the limp Tan Ping'er with the other... This sequence was incredibly brief, so short it could almost be ignored—because in that short span, by the time I clearly saw the shriveled, motionless figure lying in the coffin, all scenery and sound faded away from my body. The world became pitch black and utterly silent, and then I simply slumped to the ground.