MLV Ch 19

“Brother, is something on your mind?” Li Miaomiao leaned in to observe Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye turned his face away and said flatly, “No.”

“You definitely do,” Li Miaomiao sensed acutely that something was wrong. 

“Did you get bad news from the police? Are you going to look for Mom?”

Jiang Ye frowned. 

“Li Miaomiao…”

She cut him off. 

“Don’t worry, I absolutely won’t hold you back. Besides, I’ve practiced kendo.” She picked up the broom. 

“I might even be a better fighter than you.”

Jiang Ye shook his head. 

“But you’re afraid.”

“I won’t be afraid anymore!” Li Miaomiao’s eyes suddenly reddened. 

“Dad is gone, Mom is gone too. You can’t just suddenly disappear like they did. You have to take me with you.”

That night, after Li Miaomiao fell asleep, Jiang Ye crept into the bedroom and secretly took a few changes of underwear and clothes from the closet. She slept like a log; even a clap of thunder wouldn’t wake her. Jiang Ye stood by her bed and bent down to tuck her in. That place was far too dangerous; he couldn’t bring her along. He set off that very night, loitering at the airport for most of the night and brushing his teeth in the airport restroom the next morning. It was empty inside. He washed his face and saw Liu Bei’s ghostly figure reflected in the mirror. She stood silently in the corner, her white eyes seemingly watching him. He ignored her, lowered his head, and unlocked his phone. Li Miaomiao had sent him a stream of messages asking where he was.

Argos: [Playing games at a friend’s house.]

Li Meow Meow: [What friend? You don’t have any. Tell the truth, where did you go?]

He stopped replying to Li Miaomiao. He sent a message to his guitar teacher asking for a few days off, then picked up his bag, went through security, and boarded the plane. Once seated with his seatbelt fastened, he sent one last message to Li Miaomiao.

Argos: [I’ll be back when this is over. Don’t worry.]

Just as he was about to turn off his phone, it buzzed violently. The caller ID showed Jin Feize.

He blocked Jin Feize’s number and shut the phone off directly.

Jiang Ye first went to the provincial capital, then, following the route Xiao Liu had mentioned, took a train to Yuxi. He rested in Yuxi for a night, changed his SIM card, and then took a long-distance bus to a small town called Gasa. After arriving in Gasa, Jiang Ye asked around for Taisui Village. To his surprise, none of the locals had ever heard of the place. The location Xiao Liu had mentioned ended at Gasa. Nearby, there was only one large mountain, the Xinu Mountain Range to the southwest. The case file for the 2005 Taisui Village incident mentioned that it was a sparsely populated settlement deep in the mountains, almost completely cut off from the outside world. In that case, Taisui Village was very likely in the mountains. However, the Xinu Mountain Range was mostly undeveloped, primeval, uninhabited forest. Without a local guide, it would be difficult for Jiang Ye to enter the mountains alone. He’d probably get lost in the dense forest long before he could find Taisui Village.

Jiang Ye returned to his hotel room, spread out his saucer spirit character sheet, and planned to ask Liu Bei how to get to Taisui Village.

“Saucer Spirit, Saucer Spirit, please appear.”

Liu Bei materialized across from him and shook her head.

She didn’t know how to get there either.

He thought for a moment, put away the sheet, and went to the highest-rated hotel in town, the Wanfang Hotel, to ask if any out-of-towners had checked in recently.

“Sir, would you like to book a room?” the receptionist smiled. 

“I’m very sorry, but we cannot disclose our guests’ information.”

Jiang Ye paused, then said, “My brother-in-law eloped with his mistress and took all of our family’s money. My sister is in the hospital giving birth right now, and the whole family is looking for him. I heard he was hiding out here. Miss, I’m begging you, please help me.” He showed her a picture of Shen Duo he had saved from the Capital University website. 

“Have you seen him?”

The receptionist gasped.

“Something like that happened? He’s so handsome, I can’t believe he’s that kind of person.”

“You’ve seen him?”

“Yes,” the receptionist instantly became very enthusiastic. 

“He stayed here a week ago. See, room 302, that’s the one.”

“Do you know where he went?”

The receptionist shook her head. 

“That I don’t know. He didn’t come alone; there were five or six other people with him. They had all sorts of bags. Was your sister’s money in them? Oh, right,” she suddenly remembered something. 

“He asked me if there were any old hunters still alive in Gasa.”

“Are there?”

“I told him there might be some in Mojiang Village.” The receptionist asked, “Your brother-in-law really knows how to pick a spot. Hiding out here is so remote. Hey… that’s not right. I remember there were no women in his group. Where’s his mistress?”

“Thank you for your help, Miss.” Jiang Ye shouldered his bag and turned to leave.

Jiang Ye went to the supermarket to buy some dry rations. The climbing axe, windbreaker, compass, satellite phone, and other gear he had ordered online two days ago had also arrived. In addition, he had also managed to get a nail gun. His backpack was now many times heavier. At three in the afternoon, he boarded a minibus bound for Mojiang Village. The vehicle carried him away from civilization. The road was narrow and dilapidated, the buildings on either side grew sparser, and the forests gradually thickened. The mountain wind swept by, stirring up a turbulent sea of green with rolling crests. The bus was constantly jolting. The person in front of Jiang Ye got carsick and threw up, and an indescribable sour stench filled the bus. Jiang Ye opened the window and gazed at the colossal mountain range in the distance, soaring into the sky.

He couldn’t help but wonder, all those years ago, had his mother also traveled this very road?

They arrived at Mojiang Village shortly after seven in the evening. The people getting off were all locals, carrying hoes and shovels on their way home. He was the only outsider standing at the village entrance. He randomly stopped a man, handed him a cigarette and a twenty-yuan bill. 

“Uncle, did a group of outsiders come to Mojiang Village about a week ago? They probably dressed like me.”

The man’s face was dark and swarthy, like a dried sweet potato slice. He looked Jiang Ye up and down and pointed to a stilt house on the hillside. The house stood at the very edge of the slope, some distance from the other concrete buildings clustered together in the village. Its raised stilts were silhouetted against the setting sun, completely black, almost blending into the dense mountain forest.

“Jiji Wa’er,” he said, seemingly not very fluent in Mandarin. 

“Find him.”

“You’re saying those outsiders came looking for Jiji Wa’er?”

The man nodded.

Jiang Ye confirmed again, “Is Jiji Wa’er the oldest hunter here?”

The man nodded again, pulled two more cigarettes from the pack in Jiang Ye’s hand, shouldered his hoe, and left.

Jiang Ye headed up the slope with his bag. After a ten-minute walk, he arrived in front of the gloomy stilt house. It was a rustic bamboo structure. Two pitch-black, filthy pigs were kept underneath, stinking to high heaven. The side of the house was covered in lush green vines. If it weren’t for a few gleaming iron basins and three sets of greasy bowls and chopsticks by the well, Jiang Ye would have thought the house had long been abandoned.

He walked to the main entrance and saw three people dressed as mountaineers sitting by the fire pit. It turned out others had arrived here before him. Jiang Ye stood in the doorway, and they stared at each other. The one closest to the door was the most striking, with a high-bridged nose, deep-set eyes, and irises the color of amber. For some reason, Jiang Ye found him strangely familiar, as if he looked a lot like a certain male celebrity.

He nodded a greeting to Jiang Ye. 

“Jiji Wa’er isn’t home. He went out to pick someone up.”

“You are…” One of the men raised an oil lamp, moving closer to see Jiang Ye’s face. 

“Little Ye?”

The man before him looked to be in his forties, wearing black-framed glasses, with a scholarly air about him. Jiang Ye was stunned for a moment, then recognized him. 

“Uncle Bai.”

He was Jiang Ruochu’s former colleague at South China University, Professor Bai Nianci from the History Research Institute.

“Little Ye, what are you doing here?” Bai Nianci asked.

“I…” If he told the truth, the man probably wouldn’t believe him, and besides, those things weren’t easy to tell outsiders. Jiang Ye paused, then said, “My mom came here before. She’s missing, so I thought I’d come to a place she’s been to see if I can find any clues.”

Bai Nianci sighed. 

“You, you, running so far all by yourself. You’ll make people worry. Does your family know?”

Jiang Ye lied without batting an eye. 

“Yes.”

Bai Nianci introduced the other two to Jiang Ye. 

“These two are professors from the Western Yunnan Geological Research Institute. This is Teacher Huo Ang, and this is Teacher Yilale. They’re here to conduct a geological survey. I’m on vacation recently, and when I heard they were coming here, I tagged along to have a look.” He adjusted his glasses. 

“Your mother showed me her thesis and research notes. The last place she came to was Taisui Village, which is near here. She’s been researching Western Yunnan for the last few years. Although my field doesn’t touch upon this, I’ve always been curious why she was so persistent.”

Jiang Ye’s expression sharpened. 

“You’ve read my mother’s thesis?”

Bai Nianci nodded with a grave expression. 

“Your mother mentioned a mysterious faith in Western Yunnan and firmly believed that its actual time of origin was far earlier than civilizations elsewhere, but that it had merged and assimilated with the mainstream regional culture over thousands of years of evolution, changing its appearance. Little Ye, you should know that your mother was dismissed by the university, right? Don’t blame the school. What your mother was discussing was simply unimaginable; the academic community’s criticism of her was understandable. But I had to come see for myself. I’ve known your mother for many years. She was a rigorous scholar and an upright person, definitely not the kind of charlatan who makes things up.”

Jiang Ye was silent for a moment, then said, “Thank you, sir.”

Bai Nianci could be considered his mother’s backup suitor, having stayed by her side for decades. Whenever his mom was unhappy at work or in life, she would use him as a sounding board, dragging him home to drink with her late into the night. They might have even slept together while Jiang Ye was sound asleep. When he was little, Jiang Ye once thought Bai Nianci would become his stepfather, and perhaps Bai Nianci thought so too.

But then Li Yi’an had appeared out of nowhere and won the beauty’s heart. After that, Bai Nianci had rarely appeared in Jiang Ye’s life. It had been several years since they had last seen each other. Unexpectedly, Bai Nianci was still keeping track of his mother’s activities.

He was a good man. Jiang Ye didn’t want him to end up like Shen Duo.

Jiang Ye said solemnly, “Uncle Bai, you should stop thinking about my mom. Please go back.”

Bai Nianci suddenly became very awkward, his pale face flushing red, his hands fidgeting. 

“What are you talking about, child?”

Huo Ang, who was smoking on the side, laughed heartily. 

“You’re still young, you don’t understand. Let him be. As for you, the Xinu Mountains are different from other scenic spots. This area is undeveloped. You came here all alone—that’s really brave. Don’t you have classes?”

“I’ve finished my college entrance exams,” Jiang Ye said.

“Kid, I advise you to go home. This isn’t a playground,” said Yilale, who was nearby.

Jiang Ye shook his head. 

“Sorry, I have to go into the mountains.”

Bai Nianci said to Huo Ang, “Let’s take him with us. I’m worried something might happen to him on his own.”

Jiang Ye was very hesitant. Even Shen Duo had perished in there. could these people handle it? Perhaps he should warn them.

Huo Ang was even more hesitant. 

“Bringing a kid along is so much trouble. This isn’t a picnic…”

Yilale’s expression was serious. 

“Teacher Bai, if what you told us before is true, it really isn’t appropriate to bring this child into the mountains.”

Bai Nianci made a gesture at them. Jiang Ye didn’t see clearly what it meant, but Huo Ang’s attitude changed immediately.

Huo Ang walked over and extended a hand to Jiang Ye. 

“Kid, this isn’t the first time Teacher Yilale and I have been in the mountains, but the place we’re going this time is extremely complicated. Let me tell you straight up, it’s not for fun. If you want to come with us, you have to listen to us.”

He shook Jiang Ye’s hand. The skin on his thumb and the side of his index finger was rough, scraping against the flesh of Jiang Ye’s hand.

They were calluses, and the kind formed only from long-term handling of a gun.

Jiang Ye’s expression didn’t change as his gaze drifted to the area behind Yilale and Huo Ang. Their backpacks were even larger than his, though he didn’t know what was inside. Both men had well-proportioned, powerful builds. The one called Yilale had the features of an ethnic minority, while the one called Huo Ang was at least 190cm tall, with a buzz cut and a chiseled profile. He was like a wild leopard in the jungle, his eyes carrying a naturally intimidating, fierce air.

Jiang Ye would have believed they were fitness coaches, but he found it hard to believe they were geology scholars. Bai Nianci had read his mother’s thesis and likely knew some of Taisui Village’s secrets. He had probably hired two mercenaries to protect him on his way into the mountains. The gesture Bai Nianci had just made probably meant “more money.” If that was the case, traveling with them was indeed safer than going it alone.

Jiang Ye nodded. 

“Okay.”

Huo Ang patted his shoulder and went back to the door to smoke. Jiang Ye sat down by the fire pit to warm himself, quietly waiting for Jiji Wa’er to return. Huo Ang was on his third cigarette, complaining at the night sky, “Why isn’t that old man back yet? We paid him so much money, and there’s not even a late-night snack.”

Yilale soothed him, “Forget it, just bear with it. Let’s get to sleep early.”

Just as he finished speaking, footsteps sounded outside the stilt house. Jiang Ye stood by the window and looked out. Two figures, one tall and one short, appeared in the forest. The taller one was slender, his silhouette incredibly familiar. At that moment, Jiang Ye’s phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. He answered the call and heard light breathing on the other end.

In the pitch-black night, the tall figure walked closer and closer. The lantern of the stilt house illuminated his handsome face.

Jiang Ye felt as if he were seeing a devil, and he could barely breathe.

“This young man is really good-looking,” Huo Ang remarked. 

“What did he eat growing up?”

Jin Feize stopped under the lantern, looked up to meet Jiang Ye’s eyes in the house, and held the phone to his ear.

His smile was warm and gentle as he said, “Little Ye, you broke your promise again. How should I punish you this time?”