Аh Shui wаs thе lаst tо land as usuаl. Тhе оthеrs had alreаdу gatherеd around thе соrрsе аnd the two strаnge individuals, discussing and speсulаting with puzzlеd and аstоnishеd lоoks. Аh Shui glаnсеd tоward Вayunyе’s lоcаtion—she was lоudly berаting Kong Gаn, whо hаd just triеd tо flее. He quiеtlу movеd tо thе spоt farthеst frоm Baуunуe, еndured the nausеating stench, tооk а loоk at the cоrрsе, pаusеd, shооk his hеаd slightly, аnd thеn pullеd down thе brim of his hat.
Тhe twо strаngе individuals rеgаinеd сonsciousnеss again, straining to oрen their mouths аs if trying to bitе, but with their hаnds аnd feеt bound and mouths tightly gagged, they could only shake their heads futilely.
“Are they actually zombies?” Bayunye asked, still shaken.
Tan Lin, unwilling to touch their necks, placed his fingers on their wrists instead. “Their pulses are erratic, but they’re definitely alive.”
“Could they have been bitten by a giant lizard or a venomous snake?” Xiang An muttered while applying ointment to the wound on the back of his hand. The others carefully examined the limbs of the two strange individuals, finding only scrapes, bruises, and leech bites, with no signs of animal bites.
“They’re clearly not locals, and they don’t have backpacks or luggage,” Da Qin remarked, stroking his chin as he looked down. “How could anyone enter the mountains without even a bottle of water? Where did their backpacks go, and why did they end up like this?”
“Maybe they saw something terrifying and went mad from fear?” Kong Gan speculated.
Bayunye said, “I’ve seen madmen on the streets—some like to run around naked, some talk loudly to themselves, some wear bizarre outfits. But no two madmen are ever exactly the same.”
“Where did these two come from? Are they connected to Brother Long or that corpse? Can you tell?” Qi Zi asked Diao Zhuo.
As they spoke, Diao Zhuo picked out various debris from the hair and clothing of the two strange individuals—blood-stained band-aids, plant leaves, and broken petals—placing them one by one on a plastic sheet and pointing them out to Kong Gan.
“Leaves of the bald cypress… and… tree ferns… Hmm, this… this is…” Kong Gan picked up a yellow petal and a half-leaf with a peach-red stem. “Sulfur azalea!”
Bayunye squeezed closer. “Sulfur azalea?”
“Master Ba knows about it too?” Xiang An asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve never seen it, only heard that there’s a sulfur azalea conservation area in Dali. It’s an endangered species.”
“We haven’t seen this flower anywhere along our journey,” Diao Zhuo asked Kong Gan. “Is it found nearby?”
Kong Gan waved his hand dismissively. “We’ve been heading toward the canyon all along, and there’s none of this stuff in the canyon. I once heard that a few provincial plant experts came to Biluo Snow Mountain for research and found quite a few sulfur azaleas in the fir forests. This flower can also be cultivated, but it requires grafting. Master Ba is right—wild ones are rare and need protection… I don’t know much more, after all, I’m not the mountain god or earth deity here.”
Diao Zhuo sensed that Kong Gan seemed less forthcoming in his answers, perhaps due to lingering resentment after his failed escape attempt. But the priority now wasn’t to cater to Kong Gan’s feelings—it was to find someone. So, he pressed on relentlessly: “Where do wild sulfur azaleas grow?”
“In the mountains.”
“Which mountains?”
“Diancang Mountain in Dali, and Biluo Snow Mountain, as I mentioned earlier.”
“There are wild sulfur azaleas in this primeval forest too, otherwise, they wouldn’t have petals on them, right?”
“I don’t know.”"You know." Diao Zhuo stared him down. "If you don't want to guide us, stay here and wait for the police. But you must tell us where the wild sulfur azaleas grow."
"Captain Diao is a clever man. You already know the answer in your heart. Since you say I can stay here, I'll help you keep an eye on the body and the two madmen while waiting for the police." The cunning Kong Gan said with a smile.
Diao Zhuo glanced at him, ignored him, and covered his nose with clothing as he went to search the body's personal belongings and backpack. Everyone endured the stench and gathered around to help. The power of the corpse's odor was not something ordinary people could tolerate. Xiang An soon ran to the side and vomited, followed by Qi Zi, Old Bao, Old Sun, Tan Lin, Da Qin... Bayunye, who had long since moved away, looked up and saw Ah Shui standing far off as well. Suddenly, she felt a sense of déjà vu, as if she had seen this scene somewhere before.
Where was it? She tried hard to remember.
Qiangtang.
Yes, it was when they found Zou Kaigui's body—the scene of them bagging it while turning away to vomit.
Why did she think of Zou Kaigui? Bayunye rubbed her eyes and stopped dwelling on it.
The body's belongings seemed to have been searched before. There was no phone or navigation device, let alone weapons. Soon, the police on the periphery replied with information: according to the deceased's ID, he was a habitual offender with a long criminal record, also a drug addict who usually made money through illegal activities to buy drugs.
With two bodies appearing in succession, the police's attention seemed to have shifted away from Brother Long.
"Anyone else who wants to stay, stay. The rest, follow me." Diao Zhuo packed up and strode forward.
Several people cast disdainful glances at Kong Gan, who sat cross-legged on the ground, smoking as if relieved, as if he had truly escaped death. As they set off again, Liu Ming curiously asked Diao Zhuo, "He said you already know. What exactly do you know?"
"Along our journey, the highest altitude we've reached is less than 2,000 meters. Now, at the canyon, the altitude has dropped to just over 1,000 meters. Kong Gan refused to tell us where the sulfur azaleas grow not to protect an endangered species, but because he tacitly acknowledged that sulfur azaleas cannot grow in the altitude range from where we entered the mountains to the canyon. He couldn't explain it. The Biluo Snow Mountain he mentioned earlier is an extension of the Himalayas and one of the main ranges of the Hengduan Mountains. It branches off from the Tanggula Mountains in Tibet and extends into Yunnan Province, with no fewer than 15 peaks exceeding 4,000 meters in altitude. If there are forests of fir trees there, they must grow at altitudes above 3,000 meters. The plant experts discovered large areas of wild sulfur azaleas there, indicating they are best adapted to altitudes above 3,000 meters." Diao Zhuo checked the route map on his GPS. "Looking at our travel trajectory, the only places that could reach an altitude above 3,000 meters are the mountains ahead—the very places Kong Gan has been unwilling to go. Just now, after seeing the two strange men, he became even more unwilling to guide us, so he also refused to share his speculation: the two strange men likely escaped from those mountains, and it's possible their situation is related to Brother Long's disappearance."
"This Kong Gan is such a sly old fox. If we weren't pressed for time, I'd definitely pick a fight with him!" Bayunye gritted her teeth.Diao Zhuo patted Bayunye’s back. “The green corpse, the decomposed body we just found, and the two delirious people—at least four have been chasing Brother Long these past few days, some of them armed. I believe far more than just these few have entered this primeval forest. We’ve been searching along the way, but so far, we haven’t seen large groups retreating, which means Brother Long is still safe. Perhaps those chasing him haven’t even caught sight of him yet.”
“That’s such a relief…” she sighed.
Diao Zhuo glanced around. After a night of chaos, everyone was covered in mud and bloodstains, their faces etched with exhaustion. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Let’s move forward a bit further, find a place without leeches, rest for a few hours, and continue searching at dawn.”
The group advanced a little more. Bayunye spotted a directional marker left by Brother Long on a bald cypress tree. Since the surrounding trees were spaced far apart and the area wasn’t as damp as the valley, they decided to set up camp there. Soon, several tents were pitched, glowing like little orange lanterns.
Da Qin boiled a pot of water on a portable gas stove, poured in compressed biscuits to dissolve them, then added ham sausages and mushrooms picked along the way. Finally, he scooped in a spoonful of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. He seemed somewhat nostalgic. “Master Ba, we ate like this in Qiangtang too. Back then, it tasted amazing, but when I tried cooking it again after returning, I couldn’t stomach it. How do I put it? Your state of mind changes your taste.”
Bayunye laughed and pointed at Diao Zhuo. “I’m different from you. Even back in Qiangtang, I thought his knockoff lamb stew with bread was awful. Later, when I tried the real thing in Xi’an, the knockoff tasted even worse!”
“Our Captain Diao never won Master Ba over with his cooking skills,” Da Qin remarked.
“I don’t need him to win me over. The key is…” Bayunye slung an arm casually over Diao Zhuo’s shoulder. “I’ve been trying to win him over. If I can’t win him over, I’ll just beat him until he’s moved.”
“Now that you mention it, I’m curious—if you two really fought, who would win?” Tan Lin had seen their skills earlier when dealing with the frenzied stranger, and neither of them seemed ordinary.
“That’s a question I’ve always wanted to know the answer to too,” Xiang An chimed in, eager to stir up trouble.
Bayunye brushed it off, lifting the lid of her instant noodles. A puff of steam rose into the air. “What, you think there’s not enough going on already, so you’re egging us on to fight?”
“Don’t worry, you two won’t fight. How could he bear to lay a hand on you? Besides, if he ever hit a woman, we’d look down on him.” Da Qin nudged Xiang An with his shoulder. “No matter what, Master Ba would win.”
“I don’t like hearing that. If I win, it should be by skill…”
To Diao Zhuo, this topic was as boring and pointless as a group of illiterates discussing the origin of the universe. He unwrapped a pair of disposable chopsticks. “Open your mouth. I’ll feed you.”
With that one sentence, Bayunye’s ambitious spirit deflated completely. Amid the group’s teasing, she snatched the chopsticks from him and buried her head in her noodles.Everyone filled their stomachs and hurried to sleep. Diao Zhuo's tent was still lit, with Bayunye inside as well, tending to each other's minor wounds. Her calf had been bitten by the strange man, and the deep tooth marks had now turned into a few small red spots. Diao Zhuo took a cotton swab, dipped it in some erythromycin ointment, and applied it. In the dim light, his clear, handsome eyes beneath thick brows and the sharp angle of his jawline exuded a strong masculine charm. Bayunye reached out and touched his face. He looked up at her, and for a moment, their eyes met, emotions swirling between them. Bayunye smiled slightly and shifted her gaze away.
Diao Zhuo glanced at his watch. "Time to sleep."
She stretched and was about to lay out her sleeping bag when she suddenly remembered something. Leaning closer, she lowered her voice and asked, "Among the team members you brought, Xiang An ranks last in fighting ability, yet you still chose him to come down with us to scout. Why?"
He tilted his head back and took a few sips of water, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Do you want the truth or a lie?"
Bayunye's thinking always differed from ordinary people. With interest, she said, "Let's hear the lie first."
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
"Who are the eggs?"
"Liu Ming and the others haven't shown their skills yet. If we send all the best fighters down to scout, those left behind might not be capable enough. If something unexpected happens, it would be hard to handle both sides at once. I know your abilities. Logically, one of us should stay behind while the other scouts, but I won't do that. It's not that I don't trust you—it's that I can't rest easy. No matter how capable you are, I still worry."
"Oh my, that sounds too real," Bayunye covered her mouth. "Quick, tell me the truth."
He looked at her, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Xiang An likes you."
This answer left Bayunye puzzled. "Lots of people like me. Are you going to call every one of them down to fight monsters with us? Oh, I get it—you're jealous, so you're deliberately making things hard for him? Be kind, a real man should have a broad heart."
Diao Zhuo pinched her cheek, using a bit of force, and immediately let go when he saw her pained expression. "Does a thick-skinned person like you still feel pain?"
"Believe me, I'll beat you up?"
"I believe you."
"Then go on."
"He likes you, so he'll pay more attention to you than the others who can fight. If I can't look after you for a moment or something happens to me, he can step in." Seeing her eager to argue, he covered her mouth, forcing her to listen. "In this world, it's not just Brother Long who can risk his life for you. I can too, and I will. If we really run into trouble, I can die for you. But I hope that if I die, you can live. He might buy you a few more seconds to escape. Someone else, without feelings for you, might not."
Bayunye forcefully pried his hand away and clenched her teeth, hugging him tightly. She had never said that only Brother Long was a life-and-death friend. Ever since that time in Qiangtang when they encountered poachers and he shielded her, willing to take a bullet for her, they too had become comrades bound by life and death!
"Diao Zhuo, back when you said my jacket looked like a delivery uniform, did you ever imagine you'd be the one to 'collect the lunchbox' for me?"
"Never thought about it."
"And who are you to think that I, Master Ba, could just stand by and watch you die?" She looked at him solemnly. "If you dare die, I'll..." Diao Zhuo frowned, his expression turning stern as he gripped her wrist tightly, afraid she might say something reckless.
"I'll desecrate your corpse!" she declared.Diao Zhuo's eye twitched, and the torrent of words surging within him instantly condensed into a single phrase—
Fuck.
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