[12/20, 09:36, Haijing City, Southern Cheng’an Mountain]
Having endured the torment of dizziness and internal turmoil, that hand finally pulled Yi Shi out of the small lake. Yi Shi crawled onto the shore, prostrating himself on the ground and coughing continuously. The young boy knelt beside him, flustered, “Hey, are you okay?”
Yi Shi shook his head. His blurry vision gradually focused on the boy’s anxious face. He slightly curled his lips; it had only been a few days, yet they had already met three times. What a strange fate.
“How are you?” The boy supported Yi Shi’s arm and noticed that his jacket was completely soaked. He asked, “Do you want to take it off?”
Yi Shi nodded, struggling to remove one sleeve with one hand. The boy helped him take off the other. Upon seeing the T-shirt stained with large patches of red in varying shades, centered around the spot on the side of his right arm that was still oozing blood, the boy exclaimed, “You’re injured?!”
The boy pulled out a handkerchief to cover the wound. Yi Shi, pale-faced, said it was nothing, casually tossing his jacket onto the grass pile by the lake. He whispered, “Do you have a coin?”
The boy took out a one-yuan coin, the pattern facing up. Yi Shi took the coin; the pattern hadn’t changed and was still the same as before.
In his original world.
Yi Shi sighed in relief; another hand stretched out from the lake, with half a head still visible, struggling and bobbing in the water, producing a terrifying effect comparable to a scene from a horror film. The boy, frightened, fell to the ground, then quickly returned to the water, pulling the hand toward the shore.
It must be said that Lin Erde was truly lucky; he wasn’t shot dead nor drowned and was now coughing up the water on the shore. He first saw Yi Shi, whose black mask was missing, revealing delicate facial features that resembled a girl’s; then he turned to see the boy, who stared blankly for several seconds, his eyes widening in shock, and he waved away the boy’s hand, retreating continuously.
“Ghost! Ghost!”
Ghost?
Yi Shi remembered that, in front of that dilapidated temple, the boy had appeared out of nowhere, scaring everyone.
Among them, Lin Erde was the most frightened; he had grown up steeped in the superstitions of the older generation. He believed even the normal geological activities of Nancheng Mountain were signs of the mountain god’s wrath, let alone someone appearing out of thin air. Surely, that was the soul of someone who died wrongfully, seeking a replacement.
That day it had poured heavily, and the footsteps of the dead were concealed by the rain as they approached, looking for suitable targets. The boy had materialized in front of everyone, frightening them half to death and manipulating that beautiful woman, nearly taking the life of the bald man.
“I beg you, don’t come looking for me!” Lin Erde continuously bowed to the boy, “Just let me go; I’ll burn paper money for you every 1st and 15th of the month!”
The boy stared at him in confusion, while Yi Shi covered his wound, feeling it was laughable. They clearly feared ghosts and deities, yet they committed heinous acts; they dared to recklessly shoot at the police, yet were cowardly enough to kneel and plead for mercy. This person was truly contradictory and extreme.
“What are you doing? Bowing to whom?” Yi Shi asked knowingly.
Upon hearing this, Lin Erde turned pale, “Can’t you see there’s a boy by the lakeside?”
“There isn’t one.”
Lin Erde was terrified; he hadn’t been this scared even during the hail of bullets, “He’s right next to you! A kid around ten years old!”
The boy was about to speak when he was silenced by Yi Shi’s light glance. He seemed to understand Yi Shi’s intent and stared at Lin Erde with hollow eyes.
Lin Erde’s scalp tingled, his adrenaline surged, and he temporarily ignored the pain in his waist. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward the direction of the low peak. In times of crisis, a person could indeed unleash extraordinary potential; he looked as lively as if he hadn’t been injured at all.
Yi Shi hadn’t expected him to be so cowardly. After taking a breath, he intended to chase after him, but the boy supported him, “I’ll go.”
“Just block him; I’ll catch up as quickly as I can.”
The elevation of the low peak wasn’t high, but climbing up from the small lake was still a form of mountain climbing, which consumed more stamina. Lin Erde’s energy wouldn’t last long. Yi Shi didn’t understand why he was running up there when the path he had pointed out before coming through was a narrow passage. Had he lost his mind from fear?
He slowly followed the scattered bloodstains on the ground; the handkerchief blocking the wound gradually turned red, but the situation was much better than expected. Perhaps it was because he had soaked in the water, or perhaps because he hadn’t hit an artery, the bleeding had slowed considerably. However, the intense heat and stabbing pain grew increasingly evident; each movement made him gasp in discomfort.
Above the low peak was a large bamboo grove. The northern climate wasn’t suitable for bamboo growth, so only cold-resistant species like Mao bamboo and Qing bamboo could thrive here. Now, in the deep winter, the bamboo forest wasn’t as lush as it was in spring and summer; the bamboo leaves were tinged with a withered olive green, and as the wind rustled, the fallen leaves made a rustling sound, mingling with the mud.
Yi Shi relied on one hand to pull on the bamboo for support while climbing, tortured by the pain of the wound. He couldn’t stop. He didn’t worry much about the boy’s safety; that child looked quite capable of self-preservation. He was more concerned about Lin Erde getting scared to death; keeping this rogue around still had its uses.
As he climbed higher, entering the mixed areas of purple shrubs and oak trees, he hadn’t seen them yet. The altitude increased, nearly reaching the peak of the low hill. Yi Shi’s expression changed; Lin Erde wouldn’t have fallen down, would he?!
In the case files, he was recorded as having died from a fall, with the point of descent right at the peak of the low hill. If he fell now, the time of death would nearly match the time of the incident. With this thought, Yi Shi had to quicken his pace, walking for another five minutes along the mountain path before finally hearing faint pleading voices in the forest.
“…Please… I don’t want to die; I have family above and below…”
“I’ll grant you any wish you have, even make a memorial tablet for you. Just leave me alone…”
Through the layers of branches and leaves, he saw Lin Erde kneeling on the ground, repeatedly bowing, while the boy stood silently in front, with a small building about half a person high hidden in the weeds. It was a small square mud house with flying eaves, containing a clay statue that resembled a village shrine.
Yi Shi was speechless, finally understanding why this guy had kept running up the mountain.
“I beg you; I’ve never killed anyone. If you have grievances, avenge them on others. Don’t cling to me!”
“Ha, how did the hostage die? You’ve committed no sins?”
Yi Shi suddenly spoke up, causing Lin Erde to look up immediately, seeing someone emerging from the forest. Upon closer inspection, it was the man who had been shot alongside him, and he angrily shouted, “What the hell do you know?! I haven’t killed anyone!”
“But you’re an accomplice; every child they killed has a part of you in it. Do you still want to deny it?”
“I—I didn’t do anything! I just… I just…” Lin Erde felt guilty, his eyes darting around, and he pretended to be fierce. “What does this have to do with you? Who are you, anyway? How do you know so much?!”
“Ha, can’t you recognize me yet?” Yi Shi grabbed his straw-like hair with one hand, forcing him to look up. “Take a closer look. Who am I?”
He deliberately softened and elongated his voice. Lin Erde found it somewhat familiar, so he carefully examined Yi Shi’s features. After a few seconds, his expression gradually twisted: “It’s you?!”
That attractive female teacher, the woman coveted by several brothers, was actually a man?!
Yi Shi was quite pleased with the reaction and asked, “Where is the bald man?”
Lin Erde held his breath, the bloody hand of the bald man flashing repeatedly in his mind. He had initially thought the boy behind him was possessed, making a woman incredibly strong and skilled. Who would have thought it was actually a man dressed as a woman who had snuck in?!
“Not going to say, huh?” Yi Shi chuckled, “You probably still don’t understand your situation.”
He pulled out a one-yuan coin, waved it in front of Lin Erde, letting him see the pattern, then handed it over.
Lin Erde didn’t understand what he was trying to do. He cautiously took it. The moment his fingers touched the coin, the pattern flipped from one side to the other, turning into a misprinted coin in his hand.
The whole process occurred in an instant. Lin Erde rubbed his eyes, looking confused: “Is it… is it magic?”
Yi Shi told him to feel around for other objects and use his brain to determine if it was “magic.” Lin Erde pushed aside the grass and touched the clay statue of the Earth God. Reciting a prayer in his mind, he unexpectedly found that the Earth God, with a golden ingot in his left hand and a dragon staff in his right, changed shape in his hands as if he were looking into a mirror.
That was enough to scare Lin Erde into a stupor. Yi Shi quickly covered his mouth, suppressing the shout that threatened to echo in the sky.
Lin Erde, heavily impacted, slumped down, asking in a teary voice, “Am I… am I dreaming? Or have I turned into a ghost too?”
He pulled open his military jacket and glanced at the wound on his side. No wonder it bled so little and didn’t hurt much; he must have already crossed over to the Yellow Springs!
“You’re not dead. If you obey and behave, there’s still a chance to go back,” Yi Shi took a deep breath, swaying slightly, and the boy immediately supported him from behind, silently providing a steadying presence.
Lin Erde sat there in a daze, surrounded by the familiar Cheng’an Mountain he had run on since childhood, yet for the first time felt an eerie, ghostly atmosphere all around. The suddenly appearing boy ghost, the inexplicably missing people on the mountain, and his own strange hands made it feel as if he had stepped into a modern version of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
The man had just said he was not dead and could still go back. Back where? Was he bleeding too much, or had he drowned in the lake, causing his soul to leave his body?
“Where are the rest of the hostages?”
Lin Erde weakly replied, “I don’t know… The bald man took the map I drew and left with the third guy, taking several children away. I’m not the old ghost’s confidant; he only assigned me to watch over the rest here…”
Yi Shi mentioned several locations, all of which Lin Erde had provided during the previous interrogation. It was as if he hadn’t heard anything and was entirely focused on whether he was dead or alive, acting almost like he was scared silly.
“How’s your wound?” the young man behind him asked softly.
“It’s okay.”
“What hurt you? A knife?”
If it were just a knife wound, that would be fine; as long as it was bandaged to prevent infection, it would heal on its own. But it was a gunshot wound. If the bullet stayed in his body too long, it could cause an infection, and he had to find a way to remove it.
Yi Shi pressed on the wound, enduring the pain. The bullet hadn’t penetrated deeply, and he could feel its shape with his fingers. If he had a knife, he could probably remove it himself. But that was extremely risky. In the wild, with no bleeding control supplies, any mishap during the bullet removal would mean waiting for death.
He still had to go down the mountain. It was best to find Yu Xue; under these circumstances, he was the only one who could help.
Seeing that Yi Shi didn’t respond, the boy pulled out a handful of spiky leaves from his pocket: “I picked these on the way; they can stop the bleeding when applied to the wound.”
What he held was thistle. If crushed and applied externally, it did have a hemostatic effect, but there was too little to make any real difference. Yi Shi smiled without speaking, not wanting to hurt the boy’s feelings. The young man seemed to realize his mistake, hurriedly turned, and ran back: “I know the way; I’ll go pick more.”
“Hey, you don’t need to—”
The boy’s footsteps were too quick, and Yi Shi couldn’t stop him. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared. He shook his head helplessly; the boy’s meticulous nature was indeed reminiscent of Lin Heyu.
“Are you sure I’m not dead?” Lin Erde, who had been silent for a while, suddenly looked at Yi Shi.
“I’m sure.”
An unexpected turn of events occurred again—Lin Erde gathered all his strength, got up, and ran, aiming for the peak of the low hill.
