We were all feeling quite upset. Suddenly being scolded like that made us even more frustrated. The fat guy spat and cursed loudly, “Old man, you’re wrong! This has nothing to do with us! It’s that Third Master who’s got the problem with his eyes! Damn it, can we be blamed for this? I’ve been in this business for so long, and this is the first time I’ve been chased around by Lei Zi like this. It’s really infuriating.”

Seeing that he was going too far, I quickly stopped him and gave him a look. Panzi can’t stand anyone speaking ill of Third Uncle. He can tolerate one or two comments, but it’s best not to say too much at this moment; otherwise, things might escalate into a fight.

The fat guy, still somewhat respecting me, shut his mouth and lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag. Panzi turned to Chen Pi and Ah Si and said, “Old man Chen, we’ve had dealings before, and this is not the time for criticism. You are the highest-ranking here. Now that the Lama’s chopsticks are broken, what do you think we should do? We’ll follow your lead.”

The fat guy widened his eyes, looking like he wanted to shout, “Why should we listen to him?” I pressed him down, knowing Panzi must have a plan. I quickly held onto the fat guy and patted his back to calm him down.

Chen Pi and Ah Si squinted at Panzi, remained silent for a long time, and then said, “At least you understand some rules. I’ll give you a few pointers. This train can’t be taken anymore; I’ve arranged for other vehicles. Those who want to come along can wait a moment and get on with me. For those who are not satisfied, go back where you came from! But I’ll tell you in advance, the place we’re going to is not that simple. Wu Sanxing came to me back then specifically to have this old man give you some advice. That place, in today’s world, besides me, I’m afraid no one else can enter.”

The fat guy sneered, “Pah! Old man, don’t try to scare us. What haven’t I seen? I’ll tell you, we’ve plucked the moon from the sky and caught turtles from the sea. We’ve even turned over the Jade Emperor’s urinal! It’s just a coffin carried by nine dragons. How impressive can that be? I could slap it so hard that the zongzi inside would jump out. And this guy here, do you know who he is? He’s the grandson of the Dog King from Changsha. Back in Shandong, he…”

I quickly pinched the fat guy and laughed, “Old man, don’t listen to his nonsense. Whatever he says, you have to throw half of it into the latrine.”

Chen Pi and Ah Si looked at me and said, “Don’t deny it; I know you’re Wu Laogou’s grandson. I attended your father’s full moon banquet, so you still need to call me ‘Ah Gong.’”

Wu Laogou is how my grandfather referred to a few close associates in the business. My grandfather said he had dealings with this person, and indeed it was true.

I quickly nodded, knowing that flattery is always welcome, and called out, “Ah Gong Si.”

Chen Pi and Ah Si smiled oddly, and I couldn’t tell what it meant. Panzi asked, “Old man Chen, what should we do now? Should we find a place to settle down first, or…”

Before he could finish, a long and two short honks of a car horn sounded from a distance. Chen Pi and Ah Si said, “My car has arrived. Whether you come or go is up to you to decide. Those who want to go up the mountain, just follow me.” With that, he straightened up and walked towards the sound of the horn.

None of us managed to catch up right away. After he walked far away, a few of us exchanged glances. Panzi whispered, “This old guy was prepared all along, as if he knew something would happen to us here. I’m sure he sold out the bald guy. Now the contacts over in Dunhua must be gone too, and we shouldn’t expect any equipment. To figure out what’s going on, damn it, we have to follow him. This move is really ruthless. In any case, I must carry out what Third Master entrusted to me. Whether you want to come or not, think for yourselves.” With that, he stood up and chased after Chen Pi and A Si.

The mute oil bottle glanced at me and the fatty, then stood up to follow.

Soon, it was just the fatty and me left. I looked at the fatty, and he looked back at me. The fatty asked, “By the way, what was that thing he mentioned about the Nine Dragons coffin of the Eastern Xia Emperor?”

I shook my head and said, “I don’t know either.”

The fatty crushed his cigarette, thought for a moment, and said, “Then, how about we catch up and ask him?”

I couldn’t help but laugh, nodded, and the two of us stood up to chase after them.

At the bus station, we encountered a middle-aged man following Chen Pi and A Si, who was indeed someone A Si had arranged to be nearby. They were the ones who arranged for the vehicle. We were picked up by a Liberation truck. After we got into the truck bed, goods were piled on top of us from the outside, and the vehicle drove all the way to Shanhaiguan, then onto the provincial road, heading straight for Erdao Baihe.

I slept soundly during the journey, and when I woke up, it was already noon the next day. A truck is not as convenient as a train, and we still had more than half a day of travel left. The temperature here was already much lower than in Hangzhou. Although the truck bed had a tarp, the wind still seeped in, making me shiver with cold.

Chen Pi and A Si was wrapped in a military coat, and a few times, he inadvertently showed signs of fatigue typical of an old man, but that expression disappeared in an instant. I sighed inwardly; age really does take a toll. I wondered what this elderly man, who had already come to terms with his fate, was still scheming for.

We discussed the progress of our entry into the mountains. According to the information Chen Pi and A Si obtained from the bald guy, after arriving in Dunhua, we would also enter Erdao Baihe by car, where local guides and equipment would be waiting for us. From there, we would proceed to a small village called Lizigou, where he would reveal information about our destination, and the guide would take us there. Once we found the place and dealt with the situation, it would be up to us.

We definitely couldn’t go to Lizigou; Leizi might already be waiting there, and that place is too close to Erdao Baihe. After considering it, we decided not to enter Lizigou, but to go further in, where there are several other villages, and drive until we reach a dead end.

We didn’t know how much the bald guy actually knew about the location of the Heavenly Palace. Now that he was gone, things would naturally be much more difficult. Changbai Mountain is vast, with part of it in North Korea, and searching inch by inch probably isn’t realistic. However, we speculated that since we were heading to Lizigou, the location must be nearby. We decided to stick to our old methods and first check out the nearby mountain villages to gather information; we should be able to yield some results.

Everything went according to plan. We arrived at Erdao Baihe. Chen Pi Ah Si’s team brought the equipment, and I was thinking that with the nationwide inspections being so strict, how could these people be so resourceful? When I opened the equipment, I was stunned. I thought, what kind of gear is this? There were no shovels or firearms; the most abundant item was actually sanitary pads from Hushubao. There were also ropes, ordinary tools, chocolate, a large bag of chili peppers, basins, and other daily necessities.

The fat guy asked what was going on, whether we were going to distribute women’s protective supplies or what. Chen Pi Ah Si said, “You’ll understand once we put it to use.”

Four days later, we arrived at Ying Shan Village, located deeper in the Hengshan Forest Region. It was a miracle that a truck could reach this place; some sections of the road had a sheer drop of thirty centimeters to an abyss. If the driver was even slightly careless, we would have been turned into mush. Once we got there, we asked the locals and learned that there used to be a border outpost here, but it was later dismantled, which is why the road was built to this point. Otherwise, we would have needed a snow sled to get through. However, because there was a road now, some tourists occasionally came here for self-driving trips, and the villagers had become accustomed to outsiders.

Along with us, Chen Pi Ah Si had three companions: one named Guo Feng, who was the driver and a tall guy; another named Hua Heshang, who wore glasses but had scars all over his body; and a younger man in his thirties named Ye Cheng. They talked non-stop throughout the journey.

After we got out of the car, I looked around at the snow-capped mountains, trying to find a landscape that resembled the shadowy images from the underwater tomb in my memory, but clearly, I was in the wrong spot; the snow-capped mountains all seemed quite similar.

Chen Pi Ah Si said, “Finding the dragon is easy, but locating the burial site is difficult. The ‘Book of Burial’ states that it takes three years to find a dragon and ten years to locate a burial site. Establishing a dragon vein takes at least three years, but finding the ‘treasure eye’ requires ten years. This process is very strict. Since we know the dragon’s head is in Hengshan, as long as we get into the mountains, we can naturally find the location of the treasure eye. The problem is how to get into the mountains. This area is different from others; the snow mountains are too high, and ordinary hunters wouldn’t go there. Even ginseng gatherers can’t reach the snow peaks, so finding a guide would probably be quite difficult.”

There were no guesthouses in the village, and we couldn’t find a place to stay, so we had to knock on the village committee’s door. The village secretary was very hospitable and found us a temporary wooden house used by a forest ranger. We paid and settled in. After staying in the village for a few days, we rented horses and, after some effort, found a local Korean War veteran named Shun Zi who was willing to be our guide.

He told us that ordinary people wouldn’t go up the snow mountains because the weather changes with the wind and snow, making the road different every day. Moreover, there was nothing up there; only soldiers had to patrol and go up. He could climb several peaks in the area, so if we really wanted to go up, he could take us, but once we entered the snow area, we had to listen to him.

We negotiated the price, and the deal was settled. We organized our equipment and bought a lot of supplies as per Shun Zi’s requests. With nine people and fourteen horses, we set off grandly into the depths of the forest area.

The scenery of Changbai Mountain is beautiful; looking around, every section of the mountain displays different colors. The height of the mountain is daunting, and we didn’t pay much attention to the surrounding forest scenery, as all our energy was focused on ensuring we didn’t fall off the path. However, a fleeting glance at the vast sky and majestic peaks still stirred our emotions.

Changbai Mountain is a volcanic region, with numerous hot springs and small volcanic lakes. Entering the forest area from Ying Mountain Village, we followed the workers’ trail upward for four hours to reach “Agassi” Lake, known as “Goddess Lake” in Korean. The lake’s surface was like a mirror, completely still, reflecting the entire Changbai Mountain.

To make Shunzi think we were tourists, we took some photos by the lake and then continued our journey. The initial section we entered was at the base of the mountain, but as we went deeper, the incline became steeper. Eventually, we found ourselves on a slope of about 60 degrees. The trees here stood tall and straight, but the ground was slanted, making each step feel quite precarious. Shunzi informed us that further up there was an abandoned village, the location of a border outpost, which was now deserted. We planned to spend our first night there, and the next day we would cross the snow line.

At this point, “Agassi” Lake was below us, and from our vantage point, the once vast lake appeared to be the size of a small pond. It was at this moment that we all noticed another group of horses appearing by the lake, and their numbers far exceeded ours.

We felt a bit surprised. The chubby guy pulled out binoculars, looked down, and then handed them to me, saying, “We’re in trouble.”