It was a somewhat brownish black-and-white photo, very similar to the one that Chu Ge showed me, tucked away among many other pictures, making it hard to distinguish. It featured two people together, and to my surprise, one of them was actually Chen Wenjin!

This photo was much larger than the one Chu Ge had shown me, so it was quite clear. The other man in the photo was wearing traditional Yao ethnic clothing, looking tense, while Wenjin was smiling brightly. Besides these two, there was also a small child in the background.

What was going on? How could Wenjin’s photo appear here? I got goosebumps and immediately asked A Gui, “When was this photo taken?”

A Gui came over to take a look. “Decades ago,” he said, pointing at the man in traditional clothing. “This is my father, and this woman is from the research team.”

“Research team? Did a research team come here?” I almost jumped up. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure; it seems they found something in the mountains over there,” A Gui pointed in a direction. “They worked for several years, but then suddenly there was no more news.”

I thought to myself, what a stroke of luck! This trip turned out to be worthwhile! I immediately pulled A Gui to sit down and asked him to tell me about the research team.

A Gui seemed puzzled, probably wondering why I was so excited upon hearing about this.

The fat man said, “We’re just really interested in this. Don’t mind us; just tell me what you know. We’ll pay you for it, thirty yuan per thousand words.”

Upon hearing there was money involved, A Gui immediately perked up and called his daughter over to count the words, then recounted the whole story from the beginning.

At the time of the incident, A Gui was only in his teens. Ba Nai was very poor and almost isolated from the outside world, so the appearance of the research team left a deep impression on him.

He remembered there were about a dozen people in the team, led by a woman who came back to the village with people from the market. His father was the village liaison at that time, so he went to welcome them.

The woman told his father that they were archaeologists from the city and wanted to conduct archaeological research nearby, hoping his father would cooperate. They had government documents with red stamps, which was a big deal in the village, so A Gui’s father didn’t dare to neglect them and helped arrange accommodation and a guide.

The research team stayed there for about six or seven months, but during that time, they mostly spent their time in the mountains, and the villagers had little contact with them. The person who had the closest relationship with them was the guide arranged by A Gui’s father.

Later, when the research team left, they asked the guide what those people were doing in the mountains. The guide couldn’t explain it either. They had roamed around the nearby mountains for months and seemed to have finally found what they were looking for, so they no longer needed a guide and he didn’t go with them. The woman only asked him to report back every three days, specifically reminding him not to be early or late.

Then, something quite eerie happened.

The guide initially visited every three days, which wasn’t a big issue. One time, he had to help a relative with some grass-cutting and thought it wouldn’t matter if he went a day early. However, when he arrived, he found that there wasn’t a single person at the archaeological team’s camp and had no idea where they had gone. He was terrified, fearing something had happened, and didn’t dare to say anything. He went looking for them by himself and searched all the nearby mountains without finding anyone.

Frightened, he returned to the village and couldn’t sleep all night. The next day, when he went back, he found that the people had reappeared, and the camp was lively, as if nothing had ever happened. He felt something was off at that time and thought it might be the work of the mountain spirits, but he didn’t dare to mention it until the archaeological team left, at which point he shared the story with the villagers.

When the archaeological team left, they took away over a dozen boxes of items, reportedly all found in that area. No one knew what was inside. This photo was taken just before they left, showing the female team leader and his father, which was later developed in the city and sent back. Because of this incident, his father later became the village official, and he took it as a glorious part of his history, hanging it on the wall.

After Ah Gui finished speaking, the胖子 could hardly contain his excitement and asked Ah Gui, “What year was this? Do you remember?”

Ah Gui pointed to a child in the background of the photo with his smoking pipe: “That’s me. I was too young to know the year; I didn’t have any schooling back then. But I’m sure someone will remember. If you want to know more details, I can ask around tomorrow.”

I thanked him, feeling a surge of excitement. It seemed that things here were indeed not so simple. The archaeological team had been here, and the mysterious figure living here was not just a coincidence; there must be some deeper connections. Although Ah Gui didn’t have much information, it was already clear that they had indeed conducted a series of archaeological activities in the mountains, which was obviously related to their plans.

I looked towards the mountain and asked Ah Gui, “You’re a local. Is there any local saying about that mountain? What could be there?”

“That area is called Yangjiao Mountain. I really don’t know what could be there; I’m quite curious myself. Later, I asked some people, and according to some elders, there was once an old village in that valley, but I don’t know when. Then the emperor went to war, and there was a mountain fire that burned down most of it, killing many people, so it was abandoned. Maybe they are researching that.”

Ah Gui said, “What? Are you interested too?”

“Very interested,” the胖子 replied sincerely. “That mountain is a bit far and the path is hard to walk, and it’s strange that there are very few wild animals. We generally don’t go there, but there’s a river valley where you can catch fish. However, it rains a lot in this season, which can be dangerous. I suggest you don’t go there to play.”

“Have you been there?” the mysterious figure suddenly asked.

“I haven’t been there either. My grandfather went there and said the mountain fire was very severe; everything visible on the ground was gone, but maybe there are still some foundations left in the soil. It was many years ago,” Ah Gui said. “If you want to know about the archaeological team, I can take you to find that guide from back then tomorrow; he must know more than I do. It’s best not to go to the mountains.”

The mysterious figure ignored him and simply said, “If we must go, how should we get there?”

“Follow the creek, the path is difficult. If you want to go, I can help you find a guide for two hundred bucks. How about that? But you can’t go tomorrow; at least you have to wait two days. The hunters haven’t returned yet.”

Men Youping glanced at me, and I nodded. No matter what, we had to check it out. Two days was just right; we could first gather information about Men Youping in the village and then head into the mountains, so the timing wouldn’t conflict.

Ah Gui muttered, “The problem is, there’s nothing there but the forest. You won’t see anything if you go.”

The胖子 replied, “Even just to step around is fine.”

Ah Gui smiled wryly, shaking his head and sighing, “That path is really hard to walk. You city folks have no idea what’s going on; you like to spend money to suffer.”

Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and asked us, “By the way, why are you asking about this? You’re not trying to sell stolen cultural relics, are you?”

The胖子, having drunk too much, shouted, “What do you mean selling stolen cultural relics? That sounds so crude! Let me tell you, we are actually…”

I quickly poked him and continued, “We’re tour guides! A group is coming in, and there are no local guides here. We’re just here to gather information and find some attractions.”

Ah Gui seemed very interested when he heard this. “Alright, if you bring people, I can help you arrange things. There are plenty of fun places around here. The mountains aren’t that interesting; you might as well go alone; your guests definitely won’t like it.”

I nodded and smiled in agreement, secretly cursing the胖子.

The胖子 also realized he had misspoken and stopped rambling, going off to relieve himself.

I wanted to ask Ah Gui for more detailed information, but he said he really couldn’t remember. It was clear he might have been away for work for a long time and wasn’t too familiar with the village’s past, so I had to give up and wait to inquire with others tomorrow. The matter was settled, and we sat outside in the open air to cool off and continue discussing details.

Once Ah Gui left, the胖子 immediately lowered his voice and said, “Damn it, that archaeological team is elusive. They’re nowhere to be seen during the day, and when they leave, they take so many things with them. Clearly, there’s an ancient tomb around the Yangjiao Mountain area! This is a case of a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat. We came here for tourism, yet we got this news. So, what do you think? Should we go with the flow and take advantage of the situation?”

I replied to the胖子, “I knew you would definitely bring this up! There’s an ancient tomb in that mountain; right now, it’s just your speculation. We won’t know for sure until we see it in person. Moreover, the group that entered the tomb encountered bizarre circumstances; I really don’t want to go in.”

“This time, it’ll definitely be fine. Didn’t you see they all came out safely?” the胖子 said, “And they even brought back several boxes of Mingqi. Damn, how much could that be worth?”

“It’s strange, though. According to what Ah Gui said, this group clearly didn’t use the archaeological team’s typical excavation methods. It seems they also dug in through a hole, which is quite rare,” I said. If it weren’t for the confirmed government background of this group, I would absolutely think they were professional tomb raiders disguised as archaeologists.

“That’s just your ignorance. When conditions aren’t ripe, the archaeological team will also use looted holes to rescue some artifacts. I think this ancient tomb might be quite large, and given the conditions in Shangsi at that time, they wouldn’t have been able to excavate it,” the fat man said, saliva almost dripping from his mouth. “Didn’t that little girl say that the Vietnamese are still in the mountains? I suspect they’ve heard about this and are looking for the tomb as well. Even if we’re not doing it for money, we can’t let those Vietnamese who don’t even know how to use a Luoyang shovel take advantage of this.”

I sighed, thinking that I really didn’t want to go down there again. No matter what he said, I wouldn’t listen. However, if there really is an ancient tomb, it must be related to what the archaeological team is investigating, and not going in seemed unsatisfactory.

This was a bit tricky.

The fat man continued to chatter in my ear, so I decided to buy some time and told him not to get too excited. We could go check it out in two days. Even if there was an ancient tomb, the place was so vast that we might not even find it. But if we did find it, he would want to go down, and we would help him. That was the only way he would calm down. However, he was already restless, and as soon as Ah Gui returned, he immediately grabbed him and started asking all sorts of questions.

I was initially worried he might slip up, but my mind was in a mess, so I didn’t bother to manage it and let him go. I leaned against the pillar, trying to imitate the muted oil bottle while gazing at the moon, pondering what to do.

It was a bit humid and hot at night. We fanned ourselves, enjoying the cool breeze from the mountains that carried the refreshing scent of trees. Soon, the effects of the alcohol kicked in, and I felt a bit dizzy. The fat man was chatting with Ah Gui about something, but I couldn’t hear clearly, and my mind wasn’t functioning well. I felt as if I was looking at the stars in the sky, reminiscent of my childhood in the countryside, a very natural and fulfilling feeling.

In a daze, I suddenly noticed that on the other side, from the window of Ah Gui’s wooden house, there seemed to be a person watching us.

There were no lights on that side, so I could only see a vague, strange shadow. I rubbed my eyes and discovered that the shadow’s shoulders were completely slumped, just like the shadow behind the screen in the photo that Chu Ge had given me.