Throughout this journey, we have encountered quite a few dangerous situations. These guys are really impressive, and I trust them a lot. So when Panzi said that, I had a good idea of what was going on. The tall guy, Aki, also gave me a look, signaling me to stay back and not to peek at any commotion. I couldn’t help but smile wryly. Why should I peek? Aki could knock a cow out with one punch, and as for Panzi, he was a retired soldier with scars all over his body. My uncle had always been a reckless fighter since childhood, and then there was that silent guy, the oil drum, who didn’t seem like a good person at all. And me? Historically, scholars have been the most useless; I felt the military knife my uncle forced on me was too heavy, and I struggled to use it comfortably.

Just as I was thinking about what I should carry for self-defense, the old man came back with a splash, slapping his smoke pipe against his pants. “Let’s go! The boat’s here.”

Sure enough, two flat boats emerged from behind the mountain, one after the other. On the front boat stood a middle-aged man, who was rowing while shouting at us. The boat was quite large, seeming more than enough to accommodate us along with our gear. The old man patted the cow’s neck and said, “Everyone, there’s no need to take down the luggage. I’ll pull the cow and cart onto the second boat, and we’ll sit in the first one. It saves some effort.”

Panzi laughed, “Some things can’t get wet, so it’s better to keep them with us. If that cow jumps into the water later, won’t we be in trouble?”

The old man nodded with a smile, “What you say makes sense, but this cow isn’t a water buffalo; it definitely won’t jump into the water. If it does, I’ll help you all fish it out; not a single item will be lost.”

Saying that, he led the cow to the ferry dock while we each carried our personal belongings and followed behind. The middle-aged man was quite skilled at rowing, and in just a few strokes, he reached the shore.

While the old man was getting the cow onto the second boat, I took a good look at the middle-aged man. His skin was very dark and quite ordinary, but for some reason, I felt he looked a bit sinister. I recalled my uncle mentioning stories about eating human flesh, and suddenly, that man seemed increasingly terrifying.

“Everyone, when you get to the cave, please speak quietly and don’t disturb the river god,” the man said. “Especially don’t say anything bad about the river god.”

My uncle asked him how long it would take to pass through that cave.

“If it’s fast, it’ll take about 5 minutes. The water inside is very swift, quite urgent.”

“Is there a slower time?”

“Yes, sometimes the water flows upstream. You saw me come out with the current just now, but now we’ll definitely be going against the current, so it’ll take longer, probably around 15 minutes. There are a few bends that are quite dangerous.”

“Is it bright inside?”

The man chuckled, “It’s pitch black; how could it be bright? You could say it’s completely dark.” However, he pointed to his ears, “I’ve been rowing boats for over a decade; I can manage just by listening.”

“Can we use a flashlight?” Panzi raised the mining lamp in his hand. “It shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“It’s no problem,” the man said, “but whatever you do, don’t shine it into the water; it’ll scare you to death!”

“Why?” My uncle laughed. “Are there water ghosts?”

“What’s a water ghost? I can’t even say what’s in this water. If you really have the guts, take a look for yourselves later, but remember, just a glance is enough. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a mass of black water; if you’re not, what you see might scare you to death.”

As he spoke, we could already see the cave. It was hidden behind the mountain wall, and we couldn’t see it from the shore. We always imagined it to be a big cave, but upon closer inspection, I couldn’t help but exclaim in dismay. I didn’t expect the cave to be so small—just slightly larger than the boat by about ten centimeters. The most terrifying part was its height; a person sitting couldn’t even enter without bending down. In such a small space, if someone inside wanted to ambush us, we wouldn’t be able to move at all. Panzi let out a strange cry, “Damn, this cave is a bit too shabby, isn’t it?”

“This is still considered big; there’s a section inside that is even lower,” the old man behind us said.

Uncle Three glanced at Panzi, who forced a smile, “Ah, with such a small cave, if someone inside tries to rob us, we wouldn’t even be able to escape!”

As soon as he said this, I noticed the middle-aged boatman made a very subtle gesture, and the old man’s expression changed. I thought to myself, there must be a problem. Just then, we heard a whistling sound—the boat had already entered the cave.

Panzi turned on the miner’s lamp. The entrance of the cave was bright at first, but soon all the light except for the miner’s lamp disappeared.

“Third Master, this cave is not simple,” A Kui said. “This is a theft tunnel!”

“A water theft tunnel, ancient and round. Look at these marks; this cave has been here for years. It seems there is something else in this cave.”

“Oh, this guy seems to know a thing or two; he’s not wrong,” the middle-aged man said, crouching down on one knee at the bow of the boat, using one hand to push the pole. Strangely, his pole didn’t touch the water at all, and he didn’t even seem to be breathing heavily. He continued, “I’ve heard that this entire mountain is an ancient tomb. There are quite a few water theft tunnels of various sizes nearby, but this one is the biggest and the deepest. You can see for yourself; back then, the water probably wasn’t this high. It must have been a dry tunnel then.”

“Oh, looks like you’re quite the expert,” Uncle Three politely offered him a cigarette. He shook his head and said, “What expert? I just heard about it from those who came here before. After hearing it enough times, I can say a few things, and I know this little bit. Don’t ever call me an expert.”

Panzi and A Kui had their hands on their knives, joking with those few people, and the atmosphere seemed very harmonious. In reality, everyone was quite tense, not knowing how nervous they really were. I thought to myself, there are five of us, and only two of them. If it came to a fight, we might not necessarily lose, but since they dared to act, they must have some thorough preparations.

Just then, the muffled oil bottle suddenly raised his hand, “Shh, listen! Someone’s talking!” We immediately held our breath, and sure enough, we heard rustling sounds coming from deep within the cave. I tried to discern what they were saying, but it felt like I could understand yet couldn’t. After a while, I turned back to ask the middle-aged boatman if such sounds were common in this cave, only to find he was already gone! When I turned around again, damn, the old man was missing too.

“Panzi, where did they go?” Uncle San shouted anxiously.
“I don’t know, I didn’t hear any splashing sounds,” Panzi was also flustered. “As soon as I heard the noise, my mind just went blank.”
“Oh no, we don’t have any corpse energy on us, we don’t know what might happen!” Uncle San became frustrated. “Panzi, you’ve fought in Vietnam, have you ever eaten human flesh?”
“Are you kidding, Third Uncle? Back then, I was in the cooking team washing dishes every day!” Panzi pointed at A Kui. “Fat Kui, didn’t you say your family used to sell meat buns? You must have eaten quite a bit when you were a kid.”
“Bullshit, I was just messing around! Besides, those meat buns were sold to others. Have you ever seen anyone selling human meat buns and eating them themselves?”
I quickly made a gesture to pause the conversation: “The three of you combined are over 150 years old, how embarrassing!”
As soon as I finished speaking, the boat suddenly shook. Panzi hurriedly picked up the miner’s lamp and shone it into the water. With the light, we saw a huge shadow swimming by in the water.
Fat Kui was so scared his face turned pale. He pointed at the water, his jaw dropped for a long time, but he couldn’t utter a word. Uncle San was afraid he’d faint, so he slapped him hard and scolded, “What a useless fool! What are you stuttering about? Those two little ghosts didn’t even make a sound, and you’ve been here for so many years, have you gone mad?”
“Oh my god—Third Uncle, that thing is way too big! We might not even be enough for a meal,” Fat Kui nervously stared at the water. He had originally been sitting at the edge of the boat, but now he had scooted to the middle, as if he was afraid something in the water would suddenly jump out and grab him.
“Bah!” Uncle San glared at him fiercely. “We have weapons if we need them, and we have people if we need them. I, Wu’s Third, have been digging sand for so long; what kind of monsters haven’t I seen? Stop talking nonsense.”
Panzi was also quite scared, but for him, it was more of a shock than fear. In such a narrow space, with something so huge passing through the water, it was no wonder everyone’s mind went blank. Panzi looked around and said, “Third Uncle, this cave is strange and eerie. I’m feeling really uneasy. Let’s talk about things after we get out, okay?”
Fat Kui immediately agreed. In fact, I also wished to get out, but since I was Uncle San’s relative, I felt I should wait for him to express his opinion before speaking.
At that moment, Uncle San surprisingly looked at the muffled oil bottle, as if seeking his opinion. Given Uncle San’s personality, he wouldn’t care about anyone, but now he seemed particularly cautious about this young man. I couldn’t help but wonder. I turned to see how he would respond, only to find that he wasn’t even listening to us. The expression that had previously been as wooden as a stone sculpture was gone; his eyes were fixed on the water, as if he was intently searching for something.
I wanted to ask Uncle San what this person was about, but it wasn’t the right occasion, so I could only discreetly ask Panzi. Panzi shook his head and said he didn’t know, only that this person had some skills. He pointed with his chin at the man’s hands and said, “Look at those hands; how many years would it take to train them like that?”
I hadn’t really noticed the man’s hands before, but now that I looked, I found they were indeed unusual.

His hands, with particularly long middle and index fingers, immediately reminded me of the ancient technique of the “Duo Zhi” (double-finger) used by the legendary tomb raider, Fa Qiu Zhong Lang Jiang. I had seen related notes in my grandfather’s diary. The masters in that field possessed fingers as steady as Mount Tai, with immense strength, able to easily dismantle the intricate mechanisms found in tombs. To master such a skill, one must start practicing from a young age, and the process must be incredibly arduous.

As I pondered what abilities his hands possessed, I saw him raise his right hand and, like a flash of lightning, plunge it into the water. The movement was so swift that it was almost like a white light flickering; his hand was already back, with a dark, slimy bug pinched between his unusually long fingers. He tossed the bug onto the deck and said, “That was the thing just now.”

I looked down and couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “Isn’t this a dragon louse? So, that large shadow we saw earlier was just a bunch of water lice swimming by?”

“Yes,” he said, wiping his hands on his clothes.

Although I was still somewhat skeptical, we had relaxed a bit. Suddenly, Fat Kui stomped on the bug, squashing it. “Damn, that scared me half to death.”

But then I thought about it and realized something was off. How could so many dragon lice be active at the same time? Besides, these water lice were too large! The “dumb oil bottle” (a nickname for one of the characters) also seemed unsettled, as if he was contemplating the same issue.

Fat Kui continued to stomp on the corpse of the bug, which was now a mushy mess, probably hoping to salvage some dignity after his earlier fright. Third Uncle picked up a severed leg and sniffed it, horrified. “This isn’t a dragon louse; it’s a corpse bug.” We were all stunned, feeling that things were not looking good. The name sounded ominous.

“My grandmother, this thing feeds on decaying flesh. It thrives in places where there are dead bodies, growing large if it finds plenty to eat. It seems there must be a place upstream that’s a mass grave. And it must be quite significant,” Third Uncle said, gazing at the dark hole.

“Does this thing bite living people?” Da Kui asked timidly.

“If it’s of normal size, it definitely won’t bite humans, but looking at the size of this one, I’m not so sure,” Third Uncle replied, puzzled. “This creature usually stays in places with many dead bodies and doesn’t swim around frequently. Why are there so many migrating together now?”

The “dumb oil bottle” suddenly turned his head towards the depths of the cave. “I have a feeling they were just trying to escape.”

“What? Escape?” Fat Kui jolted. “Then what’s inside this cave…”

The “dumb oil bottle” nodded. “I have a strong feeling that something is coming towards us from inside, and it’s not small.”