“I said, can’t you lend a hand?” the boy shouted. “Hold the light steady.”
“What are you shouting for? I’ve never seen anyone as clumsy as you!” the girl’s voice shot back, equally sharp.
A woman, daring to speak to a man like that… So, this is how women are here… After spending half the day bickering, the pair finally managed to erect the tent. They crawled inside, and though it swayed in the wind and rain, at least it offered shelter.
The bright lamp cast their two figures onto the tent fabric. With light, shadow, and the small stove burning, it felt as safe as being back in the most bustling, vibrant part of the city.
The storm outside was left behind them, and they paid no mind to the pair of eyes watching them through the deluge.
As dawn broke, the two, who had eventually fallen asleep nestled together, awoke.
“The rain has stopped!” the boy announced, zipping open the tent flap and shouting at the view outside.
He scrambled out first, and the girl followed, rubbing her eyes.
The mountain forest, washed clean by the rain, was breathtakingly lucid. The first light of morning illuminated twinkling dewdrops, and the birds sang with a mournful sweetness, utterly devoid of the night's menace.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” the girl exclaimed, spinning around with her arms outstretched.
“See? I told you this place was gorgeous,” the boy said with a hint of pride, then ducked back into the tent to pull out his camera and start snapping photos rapidly.
The girl was not to be outdone; she took out her phone, snapping selfies from every angle, then tapped furiously on the screen.
“…Let you all see how much the Lady envies me,” she declared.
After taking her photos and posting them to Weibo, having basked in the various gasps of admiration and praise online, the girl shook her hands dismissively.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough. We’ve done what we came for. Let’s go,” she said, gesturing to the boy, who was still jumping up and down, lying down and standing up repeatedly to take more pictures.
The boy finally packed away his camera with lingering reluctance.
“Is there any food left?” the girl asked, pulling out a small pouch and a makeup case to quickly tidy herself up.
“Let me check,” the boy replied, entering the tent and rummaging through a backpack, finally producing several bags. “Just some jerky…”
“Never mind then, I don’t want it,” the girl said. She put away her case. “Let’s hurry. We can find a hotel down the mountain and get some hot food.”
The boy nodded in agreement. They began dismantling the tent.
“Hey, handsome. We still haven't exchanged numbers,” the girl said.
“Sure thing, beautiful,” the boy laughed, reciting a number. “Beautiful, how about giving me your real name?”
The girl snorted and shot him a sidelong glance.
“A name is just a code. What does it matter if it’s real or fake? The fate that brought us to travel together once is enough for this lifetime,” she stated.
The boy laughed merrily.
Were they truly strangers? Behind the thicket, the man who had blended seamlessly into the undergrowth frowned.
Were they a couple coupling in the wilderness? So, the people here… they were all like this… He did not shift his gaze, staring fixedly at every movement of the pair.
In the daylight, he could finally see their attire clearly—strange clothing… but if this was the custom here, he needed to learn it quickly.
“Hey. Have you figured out the direction?” the girl asked impatiently.
The boy had been squatting on the ground fiddling with something for ages.
“Did the compass get soaked? Why isn’t it responding?” he complained.
“Oh, I knew you were dense. Experience. Experience—was all that past experience you bragged about just hot air? You don’t even know how to tell east from north,” the girl snapped back impatiently.
The boy muttered something inaudible, while the girl pulled out her phone.
“Let’s just call the police. We’re not walking anywhere; I’m exhausted. Let the search and rescue team carry us down,” she said. “I’m posting this on Weibo.”
At the front desk of a small inn, a young man was tinkering with a computer.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” he exclaimed. “Another idiot mule is stuck.”
The main door swung open, and two policemen walked in.
“Director Zhou,” the young man quickly stood up to greet them.
“What are you up to?” Old Zhou asked, glancing at the desk.
“Just surfing the web. Hey, hey, Director Zhou, look, someone else is trapped and calling for help.” The young man hurriedly turned the computer screen to show the officer.
Old Zhou glanced at it casually.
“These incidents are becoming more and more frequent,” he commented.
“They don’t consider the strain on local police resources. Our station only has two or three officers; we can’t rescue everyone,” another officer leaned over to look.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s a hundred thousand miles from here,” the young man said with a smile, then turned back to Old Zhou. “Director Zhou, what brings you here on official business?”
“Oh, the person who stayed here yesterday, are they alright?” Old Zhou inquired.
The young man snapped his fingers.
“They’re fine. My mother checked on them every hour last night, and they left early this morning,” he reported.
The first officer nodded with relief, but the second one jumped in surprise.
“Went where?” he asked.
“How should I know?” the young man replied, startled himself.
“Go, go find them quickly. Don’t let them do anything drastic,” Old Zhou hurried toward the door. “This is such a poor, desolate area; we can’t have these kinds of incidents piling up. I need to file a report with the precinct and ask for a few more people…”
The group rushed out, already agonizing over how to begin the search, when Old Zhou’s phone rang.
“Director Zhou, that crazy woman is back!” the voice of a young woman from the scenic area management shrieked over the phone.
Qi Yue grabbed the arm of a management staffer.
“I’ll give you money, I’ll give you money! Please, just let me take this skeleton away, okay?” she pleaded, thrusting her wallet from her backpack forward. “If this isn't enough, I can get more. How much do you want? Tell me how much, and I’ll give it to you!” Tears spilled down her face as she spoke.
The scenic management personnel stood gathered around, afraid to approach or leave, effectively guarding the tomb chamber to prevent the woman from re-entering.
“Miss, please don’t cause a scene. You need to calm down…” they murmured worriedly.
“I beg you, I beg you,” Qi Yue cried, wildly waving the hand holding the wallet. Someone take my money, take my money. Someone give me hope, give me hope.
The roar of an engine echoed up from the base of the mountain.
The car hadn’t even fully stopped before Huang Ying burst out of the opening door, followed closely by Peng Jiahai.
“Qi Yue!” she shouted, running toward her.
Qi Yue had already sunk to the ground, clutching her head and weeping, the wallet still trembling in her hand.
“I’ll give you money, I’ll give you money, just let me take him away, let me take him away,” she repeated in a dull monotone.
“Qi Yue,” Huang Ying crouched down to steady her. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Sister Huang, Sister Huang,” Qi Yue reached out and grabbed her upon hearing a familiar voice. “Did you bring money? Did you bring money?”
“I did, I did,” Huang Ying confirmed.
Qi Yue clung to her. “Give it to me, give it to me. We’ll buy it all. Whatever they ask, we’ll pay,” she mumbled, then stood up again, extending her hand toward the management staff.
The management staff had already briefed the people who arrived with Huang Ying.
“She insists on buying,” they pointed toward the tomb chamber. “The skeleton inside.”
Peng Jiahai looked toward the tomb chamber with a bewildered expression. Huang Ying also glanced at Qi Yue, who, though quiet now, was still hugging her knees and weeping silently.
What in the world is happening? “Alright, alright. Perhaps their department is desperately short on anatomical models. This one inside must be too perfect for them…” she forced a strained laugh. Explaining to the bystanders, “You know how obsessive researchers and doctors can be when they are passionate about their work…” The surrounding people nodded, a flicker of understanding dawning on their faces. They looked at Qi Yue with a degree of sympathy.
“Qi Yue,” Peng Jiahai squatted down and reached out to take her hand. Qi Yue flinched violently, pulling back. Peng Jiahai sighed and retracted his hand.
“That skeleton… is it very important?” he asked.
Mentioning the skeleton finally made Qi Yue look up at him.
“Very important, very important, very important,” she repeated breathlessly in quick succession.
Meanwhile, Huang Ying had finished negotiating with the local staff. “Qi Yue, let’s go down the mountain first. Whatever the issue is, whatever you need, we can discuss it properly, alright?” she said, also bending down.
Qi Yue shook her head, turning to stare fixedly at the tomb chamber.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered, tears blurring her vision. I’m not going anywhere, Chang Yuncheng. I will stay with you… I’m not going anywhere, Chang Yuncheng, I will only stay with you…
A strange roaring sound echoed from overhead. What is that? The man hidden in the bushes peered up through the gaps in the foliage, but the dense canopy blocked his view.
“Here, here!” The man and woman standing in the clearing were waving their clothes and shouting excitedly.
“I’m going up!” the boy yelled. “A helicopter ride! It’s my first time, no kidding.”
Helicopter? Chicken? Was that the source of the sound? The man subtly shifted, then suddenly tensed, cocking his ear toward one direction before turning and slipping out of the thicket.
The shouting man and woman hadn’t noticed the movement behind them. Soon, the sound of barking approached.
“They’re here, they’re here!” the girl shouted.
“Ah, people are here. Darn, why did the helicopter fly away?” the boy complained with slight annoyance.
As they spoke, a dozen soldiers in military uniforms rushed out of the woods, accompanied by three military dogs leaping between them. These men… they clearly possessed an aura of deliberate training. Though not exactly fierce… despite still wearing strange clothes, they were uniform. People wearing unified attire were unlikely to be ordinary civilians.
“What’s going on with you people? Why didn’t you stick to the designated route?”
“Is it any of your business?”
“We haven’t even asked why you’re so late…”
“…We are taxpayers… you have an obligation…”
The area dissolved into chaotic shouting, and soon the civilians began to withdraw. The military dogs, however, continued to bark furiously, straining against their leads.
“What’s wrong?” a soldier asked.
“I don’t know, it seems like there’s someone else here?” the soldier holding the lead said. He released the dog, which barked wildly and charged off in one direction.
Someone else is here? Someone shouted back to the pair. “No one.”
At that moment, three military dogs dragged a piece of clothing from behind the bushes.
“Oh, that’s my pants!” the boy exclaimed. “Damn, when did they get loose!”
“Probably washed away by the rain last night,” the girl suggested.
The soldier retrieved the trousers from the dog’s mouth and tossed them to the boy. The military dogs were still barking, clearly wanting to move toward another area. The soldiers quickly restrained them.
“Go, go, go,” the captain called out, waving them over. “Fall back, fall back.”
The soldiers pulled the still-barking dogs away and turned to leave.
The sun climbed toward its zenith, and the woods settled back into complete quiet. From a large tree not far away, a naked man slid down swiftly. In the daylight, his strong physique shimmered with a sheen that might have been sweat or leftover rain. In three quick motions, he was on the ground, his half-dry long hair obscuring his face. He swept his hands through the hair, gradually revealing a broad forehead, thick brows over deep-set eyes, a high-bridged nose, and thin lips over a blunt jaw. He reached for nearby branches and swiftly wove them together; soon, a short skirt for modesty encircled his waist. His gaze was sharp, fixed on the direction where the others had just departed.
This bizarre, grotesque, strange world—I have arrived.