I don’t know how long it has been. I repeatedly had all sorts of chaotic dreams. In a haze, I seemed to see a woman in white facing away from me. I wanted to see her face, so I ran in front of her, but I still saw only her back. I kept running, but no matter how hard I tried, I could only see her back. Just as I was wondering what was going on, I suddenly realized that she had two backs. I shouted and woke up. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw the blood-red sunset and the sky!

“Awake?” Panzi’s big face was grinning at me.

I squinted to adjust to the light, and Panzi pointed at the sky: “Did you see that? Damn it, we finally made it out!”

I touched the back of my head: “You little rascal, did you hit me?”

“How could I not? I told you not to look back, and you almost got us killed.”

My memory came rushing back, and I quickly touched my back to see if that thing was still there. Panzi burst into laughter: “Don’t worry, it’s already gone.”

“What was that thing?” I asked, still feeling uneasy.

“The guy said that thing is called a ‘kui.’ It’s actually the soul of that woman in white, a sort of ghost that borrowed your yang energy just to escape from that corpse hole. But he didn’t tell us the specifics; he fainted after just a few words,” Uncle San said while paddling. “But it seems that guy is quite impressive; even a thousand-year-old ghost like that bowed to him. I wonder what kind of skills he has!”

I sat up and saw that the dull oil bottle and Fat Kui were snuggled up together, sleeping soundly. I smiled; I hadn’t felt much on the way here, but now that I saw the sky, I felt particularly comfortable. I asked, “Who exactly is he?”

Uncle San shook his head: “I really don’t know. I asked a friend in Changsha to recommend an experienced helper, and they introduced him. All I know is that his last name is Zhang. I’ve tried to gauge him several times on the way; he either sleeps or stares blankly. I have no idea about his background, but the person who introduced him has a good reputation in this field, so he should be reliable.”

Hearing this, I felt even more that this person was mysterious. But since Uncle San had said so, there was no point in asking further. I glanced ahead and asked Panzi, “Can you see the village?”

“It seems to be just ahead.”

Uncle San pointed to the scattered lights in front: “It looks like that village isn’t as shabby as we thought; it seems to have electric lights.”

Thinking of a village, I immediately imagined hot showers, stir-fried wild game, and the long braids of the village girls, which made me even more excited. At that moment, taking advantage of the sunset, I saw a group of shadows on the mountain tops to our left and right. They were riding mules and seemed to be heading to the village as well. The mountain wasn’t very high, and I could vaguely tell that these people didn’t look like locals.

We reached the ferry, and a little kid from the village saw us and suddenly shouted, “There’s a ghost!”

We were puzzled, but the child ran away quickly, and we couldn’t do anything about it. The cow stayed obediently on the boat behind us, showing no signs of temper. It was really a good cow. Panzi had raised cows back home, so he took on the role of herding the cow. As we landed, Da Kui woke up, still thinking he had just been dreaming, first getting beaten by Uncle San and then receiving a few kicks from Panzi.

The dull oil bottle seemed to have lost too much blood and had not woken up. I helped him onto the ox cart; the man was really something, his body was as limp as a woman’s, as if he had no bones at all. I settled him down, and my third uncle grabbed a passerby to ask where there was an inn. The person looked at us as if we were crazy: “What do you think this place is? Our village has only about thirty households, and you want an inn? If you want a place to stay, go to the guesthouse in the village.”

We had no choice but to find that guesthouse that looked like a haunted house, but to our surprise, it was not bad inside. At least there was a phone and electricity, and it was a concrete building. The most valuable thing was that there was hot water, and the bedding was very clean. In this village, it should be considered five-star standard.

We each took a shower; it felt great to wash off the stench of death. Then we went to the hall to eat stir-fried dishes. The dull oil bottle finally woke up, looking very unwell. We ordered a plate of pig liver for him to replenish his blood but didn’t ask him anything. After all, he was a lifesaver; some things were better left unsaid until he recovered.

We ordered beer, knowing we had to work tomorrow, so we couldn’t drink too much. While eating, I flirted with the waitress: “Hey, little sister, this place is not bad. Look at the concrete floor and the concrete road outside. How did you guys get all this concrete? Did those mules carry it up from the mountain one load at a time?”

“Of course not! How long would that take? We have had a road here for a long time. Those liberation trucks can come here. But two years ago, a landslide buried that road. A big tripod came out of the mountain, and many people from the province came to see it. They said it was from the Warring States period and a national treasure, so they took it away without caring about the road. Isn’t that infuriating? Later, the village said they would repair it, but what can they repair? They have no money. They started and stopped, and a year later, they are still repairing it.”

“What about the waterway? Don’t you have a ferry here?”

“That’s all from before the liberation. It hasn’t carried a boat in years. If anyone tells you to take the water route now, they are definitely trying to rob you. You outsiders have to be careful. This waterway is very sinister; over the years, a few people have drowned, and not a single body has been recovered. Our elders secretly say that they were swallowed by the mountain god.”

I glanced at my third uncle and thought, what kind of guide did you find? It looks like we’ve just found a thief. My third uncle felt embarrassed, unable to save face, and hurriedly took a sip of beer. He asked, “By the way, are there many outsiders here?”

“Don’t be fooled by the size of my guesthouse. I can tell you, anyone from outside stays here. Ever since that tripod was dug up, more and more outsiders have come here. There are even people planning to build villas on the other side of the mountain.”

My third uncle stood up and shouted, “Damn, it can’t be that bad!” Building villas in this desolate mountain area means they are either overseas Chinese or tomb raiders.

The young lady was startled, and Panzi quickly pulled my third uncle back: “Third Uncle, you’re old enough; don’t be so shocked.” Then he turned to the girl and said, “It’s nothing; Third Uncle probably finds it hard to believe.”

I heard my third uncle mutter a curse under his breath, then awkwardly smiled and asked, “Hey, do you have any famous scenic spots or places that are fun to visit?”

The waitress, smiling brightly, suddenly said in a low voice, “You guys don’t seem like you’re here for fun. I guess you’re here for treasure hunting, right?”

Seeing that we were all silent, she sat down next to us. “To be honest, most outsiders who come here are treasure hunters. If you were really here for sightseeing, wouldn’t all this gear just be a burden?”

My uncle glanced at me and poured a drink for the young woman. “So, does that mean you’re an expert?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that. I’ve just heard my grandfather and the others talk about it. Over the years, quite a few treasure hunters have come here and found some good stuff, but my grandfather said the really valuable things are deeper inside. There’s a celestial tomb there. Forget about gold and silver; those things are nothing compared to the treasures of the immortals.”

“Oh,” my uncle said with great interest, “so your grandfather has been inside?”

The young woman smiled slightly. “You make it sound like that. My grandfather heard it from his grandfather. I don’t even know when this legend started. It’s said that the immortal was sent down by the Jade Emperor, transformed into a great general to help the emperor of the time fight wars. After achieving success, he ascended to heaven, and his physical body was buried along with the treasures he used in battle. That tomb is even better than an emperor’s; otherwise, how could it be called an immortal’s tomb?”

“Since that’s the case, there must have been many people looking for this tomb, right?” My uncle asked nervously. “Has anyone found it?”

“Ah, you don’t know. That place is basically inaccessible now. The year before last, when the mountainsides collapsed, that area also fell apart. Guess what came out of the mountain?”

“What? Was it some kind of tripod or something?” Fat Kui said.

“What are you talking about? If it were a tripod, it would have been taken away long ago. Let me tell you, but you mustn’t tell anyone else,” the young woman said, taking a sip of her beer. “They dug up over 100 human heads from that place!”