Hearing that, I was momentarily stunned. Out of nowhere, the old man Panma suddenly said something like that, and I couldn’t react right away. At the same time, a jolt ran through my mind, and I felt that his words were somewhat eerie.

Before I could think it through, the bottle cap (Deng Youping) had already caught up and pulled the old man to a stop. “So you know me?” he asked.

Panma looked up at him, his face expressionless, and didn’t answer. The bottle cap quickly took off his jacket, revealing his upper body. “Look at this. Do you recognize me?”

The two of them had striking black tattoos that seemed to depict two qilins clashing against each other, and they stared at one another in a very peculiar way.

After a brief standoff, Panma still said nothing and indifferently walked past the bottle cap, completely ignoring him, with no change in his facial expression.

I can’t describe the feeling at that moment; it was strange. If I had to put it into words, I would say it felt like I was seeing two different versions of the bottle cap from different timelines, merging for an instant and then separating again.

“A bottle cap has finally met a rival,” a strange thought crossed my mind. If the timing had been right, I might have even felt a bit of schadenfreude. All along, I had thought that no one in the world could be more difficult to deal with than the bottle cap, but it turned out I was wrong. Sometimes, one needs to fight fire with fire.

The bottle cap didn’t chase after him again. He quietly watched Panma walk away, and in just a few seconds, that feeling of temporal dislocation dissipated.

Agui was at a loss, looking at me, then at the departing Panma, then at the bottle cap, his expression somewhat frustrated, clearly not understanding what this cryptic display was all about. I was worried he might get annoyed, so I patted him and went over to the bottle cap, telling him to go back and not rush. Since Panma wanted me to go, I would do so and come back to tell him everything right after.

The bottle cap didn’t respond, just nodded slightly while still gazing at the retreating Panma, seemingly lost in thought.

For some reason, at that moment, I felt his gaze suddenly change, as if something was missing. At the same time, I felt that I had seen that gaze somewhere before.

When they exchanged glances just now, something must have happened. Panma’s behavior was a strong hint; he definitely knew something, and he surely knew who the bottle cap was, perhaps even had a deeper connection with him. But judging by his attitude, it seemed that connection was anything but pleasant.

I couldn’t wait to chase after him.

After returning to Panma’s dining hall with Aguai, I sat down on the floor, my mind still trying to figure out what Panma’s words meant and how to effectively communicate with someone like him.

“You two together, one of you will eventually end up harming the other,” Panma suddenly said, leaving everyone puzzled. If he didn’t know something, a hunter from the mountains wouldn’t engage in such cryptic talk for no reason. Yet his attitude was strange, and it was clear he didn’t particularly like the bottle cap.

I really can’t figure out the relationship in this. This might be a very ordinary statement, or it might carry some metaphor. I keep telling myself not to overthink it. Perhaps what Old Man Panma means is that my skills are too poor, while the skills of the Silent Oil Bottle are too good, so someday I will drag him down. But my intuition tells me that, looking at the context, the one being warned seems to be me; I am the one who will eventually be killed.

But could the Silent Oil Bottle really harm me? If it weren’t for him, I would have long been a dumpling in and out of the palace. Even if he wanted to kill me, I could only accept my fate, which seems completely illogical.

Old Man Panma’s son brought water for us to wash our faces and bodies. Because Panma had a wound on his back, his son did it for him. He lit a water pipe and smoked the yellow tobacco of their Yao ethnic group.

As I smelled the smoke, I found that its scent was somewhat similar to the herbal smell of the Silent Oil Bottle, indicating that those herbs also contained this component. I thought about whether I could use this as an entry point to ease the atmosphere, but I couldn’t find a way to start the conversation at all.

The sky suddenly darkened, and it seemed like it was going to rain again. Guangxi really loves to rain. After Panma’s daughter-in-law closed the window, she sat down on the floor. The wind blew in through the cracks, and the temperature became much cooler. Only then did the old man perform a local etiquette gesture for me, and I mimicked it in return.

At this moment, I could carefully observe Old Man Panma’s appearance. He had distinct facial features, and his face was full of dark wrinkles like those of a mountain dweller, an extremely ordinary appearance. It was hard to imagine his former imposing presence as a celestial figure. Truly, one cannot judge a book by its cover. His features were definitely not related to those of the Silent Oil Bottle, which made me feel a little relieved.

A Gui reiterated my intentions and mentioned that I was a person of authority. Old Man Panma looked at me and said something, which A Gui translated as: “Old man says he can probably guess who you are, and he has long anticipated that someone would ask about this matter one day. You can ask whatever you want, but hurry up and leave after that; don’t disturb him.”

I was taken aback again, feeling that the old man’s words carried some meaning, as if he misunderstood who I was.

However, I couldn’t clearly grasp the reason for his misunderstanding. As I pondered, I quickly realized that I shouldn’t dwell on it now; it would be most appropriate to treat it as if I hadn’t noticed. When there are more signs, it would not be too late to clarify.

I composed myself and organized my thoughts, then said to the old man: “I just want to inquire about the archaeological team from before. I was hoping you could tell me about the situation back then. However, before that, I want to know what you meant by your earlier statement. What do you mean by saying that one of us will definitely be harmed by the other?”

Old Man Panma took a deep puff of smoke, then showed a strange expression, shaking his head and saying a few words. A Gui translated: “Old man says the meaning of his earlier statement is very clear. You completely don’t understand what kind of person your friend is, and being with him, you will definitely not have a good ending.”

“Do you know him?” I immediately asked. “Why do you say that?”

Old Man Panma looked at me, paused for a moment, and after a long time said: “I don’t recognize his face, but I recognize the smell of death that comes from him.”