章 4: Chapter 4 Lost in Longgu Ridge
I slapped my head and exclaimed, "Oh no, I forgot about Mile!"
I hurriedly ran to the entrance of the ancestral hall, which was now empty. I quickly closed the door and gently knocked three times on the upper right corner of the door panel. The ancestral hall emitted a "wuwu" sound, gently swaying twice. I then opened the door, only to find Mile sitting inside, smoking one cigarette after another. The floor was littered with cigarette butts. As soon as he saw me opening the door, he threw away the cigarette butt and rushed out, grabbing me, saying, "Damn, brother, did you forget about me? What kind of place is this? As soon as I came in, the door disappeared!"
Seeing Mile's disheveled appearance, I couldn't help but laugh and said, "There are mechanisms in this ancestral hall. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but for those who don't understand, once they come in, getting out is harder than climbing to the sky!"
"It's truly unbelievable!" Mile exclaimed excitedly. "I never thought there would be hidden talents in this small mountain village. Such mysterious things in the world!"
I thought to myself, this was nothing compared to my experiences tonight.
"Let's go, have something to eat, and rest well!" I patted Mile on the shoulder. At this moment, Mile suddenly grabbed my left hand, looking curiously at the new finger, and asked, "What's this? Did it regenerate?"
He pinched the new finger and said, "Fake?"
"Yeah, I'll tell you about it later," I patted Mile's shoulder, took him to eat something, and then went back to the room to rest.
In fact, I really needed some rest. The experiences tonight, in Mile's words, were "unbelievable." Lying in bed, I tossed and turned, gazing at my new finger by the moonlight outside the window. Everything that happened tonight flashed through my mind like a movie – the Mozi descendant, the mechanical stone house, the Nine Dragons Maze, the "Eighteen Fragments," the artificial finger, and Wuling. All of it felt like a dream. Perhaps I was just dreaming, and tomorrow, I would wake up in my rented room in Beijing.
But when I woke up the next morning and saw the artificial finger, I immediately understood – this was definitely not a dream.
Two days passed quickly. Grandfather's funeral proceeded according to the pre-arranged steps, and everything went smoothly. The family members set off early to the prepared graveyard, and in these two days, my mind was in a daze. During the funeral, both Big Uncle and Father occasionally glanced at me, hoping for an early response, but I was conflicted internally.
The funeral concluded before noon, and the distant relatives who came from afar began their journey back. I bid farewell to Father and the others, preparing to pack up and return to Beijing. However, I noticed Mile was missing. When I woke up, he was still sleeping because he didn't need to attend the funeral. I didn't wake him up, but until dinner, I hadn't seen a trace of Mile.
I searched inside and outside, even checking the tree hole and the ancestral hall, but still, there was no sign of Mile. A sinister premonition crept over me. I rushed to the village entrance, and luckily, a few kids were playing there. I asked them if they had seen a tall, slightly dark, chubby guy with an eye patch.
The slightly older kid frowned and pointed to the south, saying, "Saw someone in the morning, seemed to be heading that way!"
I followed the direction the kid pointed, and it led to Longgu Ridge.
Could this guy really have entered Longgu Ridge? Thinking about it, cold sweat broke out on my back. Angry and worried, I hurriedly ran to the entrance of Longgu Ridge. On the way, I found a trail of fresh footprints. They were exactly the same as the ones Mile had when he came. I cursed myself; if only I hadn't told him about the military pay.
The entrance to Longgu Ridge was located between two mountains, like a giant mountain gate. Once you entered, it was Longgu Ridge. Inside, the mountains were high, the woods were dense, and the sun was never seen all day. Moreover, it was said that there were eighty-one forks inside. Although this statement needed verification, at least it indicated that there were many forks. I stood at the entrance of Longgu Ridge, looking down, and saw the footprints on the ground extending into the depths of Longgu Ridge. I felt furious. I checked my phone, but there was no signal.
I hesitated at the entrance of Longgu Ridge, pacing back and forth. Eventually, I gritted my teeth, took a step, and entered Longgu Ridge. As soon as I entered, a cold wind hit me, carrying a faint smell of blood, making me feel uneasy. The entrance to Longgu Ridge led to a downhill path covered in overgrown grass, but the traces of someone trampling through the grass were clearly visible.
I followed the traces on the ground and soon entered the depths of the forest. The lush branches intertwined, almost completely obscuring the entire valley. Inside, it was hot and humid, and after a while of walking, I was covered in sweat. I had to sit down, rest, and continue forward. After about half an hour, the sky suddenly darkened. I checked my phone; it was only 3:30 in the afternoon. If I were outside, it would still be sunny, but inside the mountains, the night fell early due to the high terrain.
This made me more anxious. If I couldn't find Mile and get out soon, once it got completely dark, both of us might be stuck inside. Following Mile's traces on the ground, I walked forward. The mountain roads were winding, and after more than an hour, I finally emerged from the dense forest. Before me was a massive valley, with towering cliffs on one side. The curved shape of the cliffs resembled dragon bones.
By now, the sky had completely darkened. Except for the sound of insects crawling through the grass, there was only the beating of my heart. I was somewhat tired from the journey, so I sat on a rock by the cliff, lit a cigarette, and took a few puffs. Just then, I vaguely saw a flickering light not far away, as if someone was waving a mobile phone.
I immediately extinguished my cigarette, sharpened my focus, and sprinted towards that direction. However, despite the light seeming so close, just a few dozen meters away, no matter how much I ran, I couldn't get closer. Suddenly, I felt a gap under my foot, and a dangerous thought flashed through my mind. I urgently stopped, but the inertia was too great. When I realized, one foot had already stepped into the abyss below the cliff. The towering cliff beneath was pitch black, and a cold wind blew up, unusually chilling. My body was completely out of control, and I began to fall. I thought, this is it!
At that moment, someone grabbed me. I turned around abruptly, only to see Mile grinning at me.
"What the hell!" I cursed.
Mile pulled me up from the edge of the cliff and said, "How did you end up in here too?"
"Isn't it because I came in to find you? I repeatedly told you, and yet you still came in!" I complained.
Mile looked around and made a hushing gesture. He pulled me to squat in the nearby bushes and said, "Buddy, let me tell you, I followed a kid in!"
"A kid?" I asked, frowning.
"Yeah, when I arrived at the entrance, I saw a kid inside. I was afraid the kid would get lost, so I followed. But that kid walked too fast. By the time I caught up to here, the kid was gone!" Mile whispered, "Do you think I've gone mad?"
"It's quite possible. Remember the other legend about Longgu Ridge that I wanted to tell you?" I said thoughtfully, "I heard from the elders that during the natural disasters three years after the founding of the country, many people died here. Children under three couldn't enter the ancestral tomb, but they couldn't be buried either. In the end, they were thrown here!"
"Don't scare me!" Mile exclaimed.
"Why would I scare you? Let's not talk about it. We better leave this spooky place as soon as possible!" I looked at the eerie mountains around us and said, "Staying here for a while feels chilling!"
"Agreed!" Mile nodded. Just as we stood up, a dark object fell from Mile's pocket to the ground. Curious, I looked in the direction of the object. Mile quickly bent down, picked it up, and held it tightly in his hand.
"What's in your hand?" I stared at Mile and asked.
"A stone!" Mile dismissed.
Seeing Mile's nervous expression, I immediately questioned, "Take it out, let me see!"
"What's so interesting about a piece of stone?" Mile said, about to put the thing back in his pocket. I grabbed Mile's hand, snatched the object from him, and saw that it was a blackened silver ingot. Behind the ingot, there was an inscription: "Imperial Decree, Chongzhen Eleventh Year, Sufficient and Perpetual Seven Wells Salt Tax Division, Tax Officer Tax Silver One Hundred Two Liang Zheng, Craftsman Li."
"What...where did you get this?" I asked, holding the heavy silver ingot.
"It was just at the edge of the cliff where we entered!" Mile pointed to the cliff in front. I followed his finger, and both of us broke out in cold sweat. The dragon-like cliff we had entered just disappeared without a trace, replaced by an endless dense forest.
"What's going on?" Mile said in panic.
I quickly turned my head, only to find that the path we had entered from was also gone. Thick fog was rolling in from the dense woods on both sides, like surging floodwaters.
"Oh no, we might have triggered the mechanism here!" I frowned.
"Mechanism?" Mile asked incredulously.
"Yes, do you remember the mechanism in the ancestral hall? It's called the Nine Dragons Maze. Once you enter it, the mechanism activates, and the original door disappears. I think what we entered now is also this Nine Dragons Maze. If we can't find the key point of the mechanism, we might be trapped inside!" I warned, surveying the surroundings vigilantly.
"Can you decipher it?" Mile asked anxiously.
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