MLV Ch 24

When morning came, the group set out again. Jin Feize led Jiang Ye by the rope the entire way, and Jiang Ye could inexplicably sense that he was extremely pleased.

Jin Feize turned his head and said, “It’s like I’m walking a little kitten.”

Jiang Ye: “…”

He didn’t want to talk to him.

The deeper they ventured into the mountains, the more the dark forests felt silent and eerie. The branches of the cyathea trees were twisted and strange, and Jiang Ye often mistook them for human arms.

During a break, Yilale came to check Jiang Ye’s mouth; everything was normal.

“Aren’t you going to ask us anything?” Yilale asked with a smile.

Last night, both he and Huo Ang had brandished guns. No geologist from a research institute would carry a gun.

Jiang Ye tactfully shook his head. 

“Sorry, I’m not interested in geology.”

Yilale smiled. Both sides understood the meaning behind Jiang Ye’s words.

Yilale asked, “Why aren’t you curious?”

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Jiang Ye said honestly.

Yilale gave a helpless smile. 

“In a situation like this, we have to trust each other. Hiding our identities isn’t a good option. It’s no big deal to tell you. We’re bodyguards hired by Professor Bai. We used to work in Southeast Asia and were involved with some local private armed forces.”

Jiang Ye asked, “Do you know what’s inside Taisui Village?”

Yilale glanced over at Bai Nianci. 

“Professor Bai told us there’s something supernatural in there.”

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“To be honest, yes. But not to the point of running for our lives. The price Professor Bai offered is very attractive,” Yilale said, a reminiscent look in his eyes. 

“Besides, I’ve had some strange experiences while working in the rainforest. We once stumbled into an abandoned wooden cabin. There was nothing inside except a headless wooden puppet. That puppet was extremely bizarre, its whole body covered in patterns and text we couldn’t understand. My comrade chopped it up for firewood to keep warm. The next morning, we woke up to find that comrade had been beheaded, stripped naked, and tied to the spot where the puppet had stood. We burned down the cabin and evacuated that forest area.”

“These kinds of things aren’t impossible to deal with. You see, burn it to a crisp, and it’s gone,” Yilale said, as if trying to reassure himself. 

“What about you two? I heard Xiao Jiang came here for his mother.”

Jiang Ye nodded. 

“My mother studies Western Yunnan religions. At some point, she stumbled into Taisui Village and became fascinated with the religious civilization inside. She came here last month and never returned. As for Jin Feize…”

Yilale smiled. 

“Jin Feize came here for you, right? Are you two lovers?”

“We are not lovers,” Jiang Ye stressed.

“Sorry, my mistake.” Yilale shrugged and smiled. 

“Don’t worry, Professor Bai paid your bodyguard fees. Since we’ve taken the money, we’ll protect you well. Just relax, think of it as a vacation.”

He walked away after saying that. Jiang Ye watched his back, frowning slightly. Bai Nianci definitely knew something about Taisui Village, but he hadn’t told these two mercenaries everything, which was why Yilale had come to probe Jiang Ye for information. Unfortunately, Jiang Ye himself didn’t know much either. Why didn’t Bai Nianci want him to leave? Jiang Ye was curious; if he had said he wanted to go to the hospital, what measures would Bai Nianci have taken?

As he was thinking, he suddenly felt thirsty. His water bottle had mold filaments in it, and he couldn’t wash it clean, so he’d thrown it away. The tricky part was that he had only brought one water bottle, and now he had nothing to drink from.

Just as he was at a loss, Huo Ang came over and gave Jiang Ye a new water bottle. 

“Your bottle was dirty. Use this one, I’ve cleaned it.”

Jiang Ye didn’t take it. 

“Then what will you use?”

“It’s fine, I’ll use Yilale’s.”

Jin Feize also offered a water bottle. 

“Thank you, but he can use mine.”

Just as Huo Ang was about to retract his hand, Jiang Ye took the bottle.

“I won’t use his.”

Huo Ang turned to leave. Jiang Ye hesitated for a moment and called out to him, “It’s very dangerous inside. Are you sure you want to keep going?”

He turned back and smiled. 

“Don’t worry. Your Big Brother Huo here is full of righteous energy. Ordinary demons and ghosts can’t harm me.”

Jiang Ye paused, then asked, “You’re an overseas Chinese, right? Why did you come back to the country?”

Huo Ang scratched his head. 

“I got lost in this forest when I was a kid, fell and hurt my head. I couldn’t remember where my home was, and no one came looking for me, so I was sent to an orphanage. My adoptive parents adopted me and took me abroad. They passed away last year, so I thought I’d come back and see if I could find my biological parents. Look at you, how old are you, always frowning. Relax, you’ll definitely find your mom.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Ye said.

Huo Ang waved his hand and walked away.

They walked until the afternoon but still hadn’t reached Taisui Village. Based on their estimated pace, they should have arrived by now. Everyone stopped to rest, and Bai Nianci took out the map to check the route.

“Xiao Huo, go to the ridge and check the view,” Bai Nianci said.

Huo Ang took off his backpack and started climbing the ridge with a pair of binoculars. He scrambled up the rock face with his bare hands and surveyed the surroundings. Suddenly, he saw smoke from a cooking fire in the distance. Looking in that direction, he discovered a settlement. He memorized the direction, put away the binoculars, and quickly returned to the group.

“I’ve found Taisui Village,” Huo Ang said. 

“But it’s strange, there seem to be people inside. I saw someone cooking.”

“It might be Professor Shen’s people,” Jiang Ye guessed.

Huo Ang joked, “It couldn’t be Professor Shen’s ghost, could it?”

Only Huo Ang could manage a smile; everyone else’s expression was grave. Truth be told, in a place like this, signs of human life were more alarming than no signs at all.

They estimated that if they didn’t rest, they could enter the village that night. But given the strangeness of the place and the precedent of many people disappearing inside, they decided to rest for the night and enter during the day. That evening, they pitched their tents. Bai Nianci refused to sleep alone, so Yilale stayed with him, while Huo Ang had a tent to himself. After dinner, everyone went into their tents. Jiang Ye couldn’t sleep, lying with his eyes open and staring into space.

Just then, footsteps passed by outside their tent. He didn’t know who it was, up so late. Probably Huo Ang, Jiang Ye thought. The guy was a heavy smoker and would sneak off for a cigarette whenever they took a break. The person was rummaging for something outside, making a clattering noise that made it hard to sleep.

Jin Feize was also awake, or perhaps he had never fallen asleep.

Jiang Ye said, “I’m going to go check.”

Jin Feize held him down. 

“Don’t. Sleep with me.”

He moved closer, resting his head on Jiang Ye’s shoulder.

Jiang Ye frowned. 

“Go away.”

“Little Ye, you’re so mean to me,” Jin Feize said, aggrieved.

“…”

Bothered by Jin Feize like this, Jiang Ye also grew tired. He had walked all day and couldn’t even get up. The tent zipper was right in front of him, but he just didn’t want to move. Jiang Ye turned on his side and fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, everyone came out for breakfast, ready to set off.

Huo Ang rubbed his brow. 

“Who was up in the middle of the night, making all that noise outside?”

“Wasn’t it you?” Yilale said. 

“You’re the only one who gets up in the middle of the night to smoke.”

“You want the truth?” Huo Ang said. 

“I was jacking off last night. I was so exhausted I didn’t get up once.”

Everyone fell silent.

Yilale, already used to Huo Ang’s irreverence, looked at Jiang Ye. 

“Professor Bai and I never left the tent. Was it you two?”

Jiang Ye’s expression turned grim.

“It wasn’t us either.”

Huo Ang was stunned. 

“Then who was it?”

Yilale looked at Huo Ang again. 

“Ang, don’t joke around at a time like this. It was you, wasn’t it?”

“I swear,” Huo Ang held up three fingers. 

“If it was really me, may I never get hard again for the rest of my life.”

No one had gotten up during the night, so who did the footsteps outside belong to? The air around them instantly froze. A silent tension spread, and everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts.

Bai Nianci said in a low voice, “Starting tonight, we’ll take turns keeping watch.”

With that, the group set off. Half an hour later, they found feces and instant noodle packets by the creek, garbage likely left by Shen Duo’s team, which meant they were on the right path. After another two hours of walking, they saw the gate of the village in the distance. By visual estimation, it was still about five hundred meters away. Huo Ang, at the front, raised his fist, signaling the team to stop.

Huo Ang came over to check Jiang Ye’s mouth and skin. 

“You’re fine. We can untie you now.”

Jin Feize asked, “Can I still feed you after this?”

Jiang Ye replied coldly, “No.”

Jin Feize looked regretful. 

“What a pity.”

Jiang Ye saw Yilale starting to set up camp and asked Huo Ang, “Aren’t we going in?”

Huo Ang said, “Professor Bai said we won’t spend the night inside, we’ll only go in during the day. We’ll set up a base camp first, then send a drone in for a look around.”

He opened his laptop. The map showed five red dots for their positions, and their respective heart rates and blood pressures were all normal. Huo Ang opened another case, started up a drone, and remotely piloted it into the village. The screen of the remote control displayed the scene inside: many dilapidated wooden stilt houses stood along the hillside, packed tightly together and separated by horse-head walls. The village had only one street, which wound its way up the slope and was very muddy. There were some shops along the street with dilapidated signs.

Jiang Ye thought to himself, there should be an archaeological site nearby. It was the place his mother came to back then, and also the location of Shen Duo’s team’s camp. Where was that site?

Huo Ang maneuvered the drone, trying to fly into one of the stilt houses to see inside. However, all the houses had their doors and windows sealed shut; there was no way in.

“That’s weird, I could’ve sworn I saw smoke from a cooking fire just now,” Huo Ang said under his breath.

“Could it really be a ghost?” Yilale said.

Huo Ang was confused. 

“Do ghosts need to eat?”

“Pan the camera,” Bai Nianci said suddenly. 

“Turn left. Look behind that window, is that a human figure?”

Huo Ang did as he was told. A stilt house covered in ivy came into view on the screen. Behind the swastika-patterned window lattice on the second floor, there seemed to be a human figure, standing quietly by the window, facing the drone, motionless. The drone slowly approached the window, and as the camera focused, everyone saw the “person’s” appearance clearly.

It was a scarecrow standing inside the stilt house.

What a strange scarecrow. Who would put a scarecrow inside a house?

The drone filmed it for a while but couldn’t find anything unusual, so it turned to fly elsewhere. After a full circle, there was still no sign of anyone. It was an abandoned village.

“Well, should we go in?” Huo Ang put down the remote. 

“It’ll be dark soon if we don’t.”

“Wait.” Jiang Ye’s brows were tightly furrowed.

“Still waiting?” Huo Ang asked, puzzled. 

“Xiao Jiang, if you’re scared, you can stay here at the camp and wait for us. We’ll go in and search, and help find your mom while we’re at it.”

Bai Nianci said kindly, “Little Ye, if you have any thoughts, just say them. I value your opinion very much.”

“Before us, several groups have already gone in,” Jiang Ye counted. 

“My mother’s group, Professor Shen’s group… my mom’s group alone had more than ten people. Professor Shen and his subordinates had at least five. But from what the drone just captured, there were no signs of recent human activity. Walking leaves footprints, eating leaves trash, and relieving oneself leaves feces. There was nothing inside. Don’t you all find that very strange?”

Yilale nodded. 

“It’s like… they all vanished into thin air.”

Huo Ang was impatient. 

“What’s the use of thinking so much? We still have to go in and take a look. Maybe they’re all hiding in the houses, and everyone is super hygienic and built a simple toilet to take turns pooping.”

Bai Nianci nodded.

“Alright. It’s three in the afternoon now. We’ll go in for a quick look and come out before sunset.”

The group traveled light. Huo Ang stuck a fully loaded pistol in the back of his waistband and slung an AK-12 assault rifle over his back. Yilale’s gear was similar. Bai Nianci brought his camera. Jiang Ye saw that Jin Feize was also carrying a bag. It contained no equipment, just stuffed full of hawthorn cakes.