The old man was very thin, and compared to the large lynx on his shoulder, he appeared even more emaciated. However, upon closer inspection, one could see that his already atrophied muscles were still as solid as iron bars, leading one to imagine how magnificent he must have been in his prime. Under the moonlight, the old man’s eyes were bright and piercing, evoking an indescribable feeling.

He sheathed his hunting knife behind his waist, glanced at me again, switched the lynx to his other shoulder, and then urged me to follow him in the local dialect.

The grass around us continued to rustle, but the old man seemed oblivious, carrying the lynx onward. Soon, the sounds around us faded away, and from deep within the forest came the mournful cries of the lynxes. These lynxes formed a temporary hunting group, and this one was likely the strongest among them, responsible for the final kill. Once it died, the hunting group would fall apart; lynxes are naturally very cautious and would never take a second risk.

As the old man called out and walked toward the ancient tomb, the flashlight flickered erratically but remained fixed on the mountain. Clearly, that guy A Gui was not being considerate and hadn’t come down to help me.

Only one flashlight was coming our way, and as we approached it, we saw that the usually calm En Youping seemed somewhat anxious. He appeared relieved when he saw I was okay, but then he noticed the old man.

En Youping’s hands were covered in blood, and A Gui’s hunting knife was held in reverse grip. The two exchanged glances. When En Youping saw the old man’s tattoos, he was instantly taken aback, but the old man seemed to pay him no mind and walked right past him.

I thought to myself, “Wow, what a cool old man! He has the aura of En Youping. Could this guy be the father of the bottle?”

En Youping wanted to ask him something, but I stopped him, saying that this old man was no ordinary person and that there was clearly a language barrier, so it wouldn’t be useful to ask him anything. We should head back first.

As we passed the spot where I had fallen, I noticed a lynx carcass on the ground, its neck twisted, clearly the work of En Youping. The old man signaled for us to lift it up, and En Youping hoisted the body onto his shoulder as we climbed up the slope. The people above immediately rushed over, looking quite surprised upon seeing the old man.

The old man chattered away with them in the local dialect, which I couldn’t understand at all. I secretly asked Yun Cai, “Who is this old man?”

Yun Cai replied, “Who else could it be? He is the Panma Old Man you’ve been looking for.”

“Is he really Panma?” I couldn’t help but be astonished, although I had suspected this earlier. They say Panma Old Man is the most formidable hunter; who else could kill such a large lynx with their bare hands at such an old age? It’s worth noting that a single lynx can take down a solitary Tibetan wolf. As apex predators, felids have evolved to be the top mammalian hunters, and it’s impossible to achieve this without being extremely familiar with their habits.

Just now, Panma Old Man must have been attacked by the lynx and had been maneuvering with it until he got here, then lying in wait for the right moment. Damn, that final kill was so decisive that even En Youping might not have been able to execute it as cleanly; if he had been just a second late, one of us would surely have died.

A Gui glanced at my injuries and introduced us to each other. The old man seemed uninterested in us, merely greeting us briefly before starting to clean the dirt off himself.

Wiping the blood off my body, I noticed that his tattoo looked quite horrifying in the bloodstains, and its design was almost identical to that of the oil bottle. Old Dad had a new wound on his spine, deep enough to be a bit terrifying, likely caused by a lynx’s ambush.

A few people were murmuring, recounting their experience of entering the mountains. I half guessed and half pondered, and with the help of Yun Cai’s translation, I understood the gist of it. It was indeed related to his son’s situation that they had ventured into the mountains; they never expected to encounter a lynx. Fortunately, Old Dad had a habit of carrying a branch on his back when entering the mountains. It served as a walking stick and could also protect him from surprise attacks from behind when on flat ground. This was a rule left over from ancient times when wild beasts roamed freely, and it had never come in handy until now; unexpectedly, it saved his life. His clothes were torn away, but his neck was not bitten through, which was truly a narrow escape.

It had been years since a lynx had appeared in this area, and its sudden emergence might be due to the heavy rains in the past few days, forcing it out of the deep mountains due to some unusual changes. Where there are many people, there are many mice, so they were likely attracted to the village by the food.

Old Dad seemed very excited, as if he had regained the feeling of his peak years. I thought it was not the right time to ask many questions, and Ah Gui was calling for us to head back, saying the villagers must be anxious. Both Old Dad and I had somewhat deep wounds that needed to be treated as soon as possible.

A few people burned the two lynx corpses; by this time, the sky was starting to brighten, so we quickly extinguished the fire and set off. The fur of the lynx was worth a fortune, and it was truly a pity to burn it like that. However, Ah Gui said we couldn’t let others know that a lynx had appeared here; otherwise, within a week, poachers would swarm in. These greedy people would surely try to hunt other things even if they couldn’t catch a lynx, and this place would definitely be stripped bare.

We traveled in silence, and by the time we returned to the village, it was already bright. Several village officials had stayed up all night, preparing to enter the mountains with a few people when they ran into us at the mountain pass.

We had breakfast at the village office—flatbreads with egg porridge. I was so hungry that I ate two large bowls. The village felt festive, with people constantly coming to ask questions.

My shoulder had almost been bitten through; after disinfecting it, I received a tetanus shot and had herbal medicine applied. Old Dad’s back was stitched up with over a dozen stitches; that barefoot doctor was really skilled, sewing it up as if he were mending a quilt at home, finishing it quickly. During this time, Old Dad remained silent, only listening to the village officials chatter incessantly.

Setting aside these tedious matters, after everything was dealt with, we wanted to return home to rest and visit Old Dad later when we felt better. Unexpectedly, just as Old Dad was about to leave, he made a gesture for us to follow him home.

I exchanged a glance with the oil bottle, thinking that this old man really had a peculiar temperament. The two of us stood up quickly and followed him. After walking just a couple of steps, Old Dad shook his head again and suddenly pointed at the oil bottle, saying something.

We couldn’t understand, and we looked at Ah Gui, who also showed a strange expression. He spoke a few words with Old Dad, who replied to him with a very firm tone. After he finished speaking, he walked straight ahead.

I didn’t know what was going on and looked at A Gui in confusion. A Gui seemed a bit awkward, so I asked him what his father had said. A Gui replied, “He said that if you want to know what happened, you have to come alone; this one can’t go.”

I frowned, wondering what that meant, and glanced at the dull oil bottle. A Gui continued, “He also said…”

“Said what?”

“He said that if you two are together, sooner or later one of you will end up harming the other.”