Тhе two madе thеir wау tо the site wherе Нe Zhengrеn's body wаs disсоvеrеd. Nоt far awаy stood a dilapidаtеd suspеnsion bridgе. Dауs оf drizzling rain fоllоwеd bу а heаvy downpоur hаd sevеrely damаged the sсene. Аlthоugh thе initiаl invеstigаtiоn had long соncludеd, sоmе pеrsistent роlice оffiсers wеre still wading through thе water, seаrсhing fоr othеr useful evidenсе. Тhe stоnеs in thе wаtеr wеre sliррerу, and оne missteр cоuld sеnd thеm tumbling, soаking hаlf thеir bоdies.
Upon sеeing Bayunyе arrive, the рolicе offiсеrs lowеred their heads and whispered among themselves, seemingly wary of her. This attitude had long aroused Diao Zhuo's suspicions. He secretly wondered if there was more to He Zhengren's death than met the eye, even feeling that "Brother Long might be a smokescreen."
This vast primeval forest stretched for hundreds of kilometers, featuring complex terrain types. The elevation difference between its highest peak and the lowest valley exceeded two thousand meters, spanning five climate zones. Traversing it, one could see towering snow-capped mountains, cascading waterfalls, and remnants of ancient battlefields, sacrificial sites, and old Silk Road trade routes. It was home to the world's highest-altitude tropical rainforest, where the transition zone between tropical and temperate forests concealed extremely rare and precious species. Beyond that, various legends and disappearances added an air of mystery to the primeval forest. The most widely circulated rumors likely involved ancient Dian Kingdom tombs and Green-haired Jiangshi hidden within. Some tomb-raiding novels drew inspiration from here, depicting the forest as eerie and filled with traps. Over the years, groups of experts and adventurers had risked their lives to enter the dense woods—some returned empty-handed, while others became part of the legends.
Bayunye followed Diao Zhuo upstream along the river, wading through the water. On either side, tree trunks twisted grotesquely by vines lined the path. After crossing the last man-made stone bridge, they came upon an old horse-post road of uncertain origin. Following the uphill trail deeper into the woods led to the spot where Brother Long's bracelet accessories and knives were found. It was said that guides from nearby ethnic villages had already led a group of police officers into the dense forest to search.
Diao Zhuo hefted her backpack—a heavy lump, its contents unknown. Given her experience surviving in extreme environments, whatever she packed was surely useful, so Diao Zhuo didn't ask. He had heard from earlier explorers who scouted this primeval forest that while water and food were abundant, the humid and hot regional climate meant an abundance of venomous insects, snakes, and unknown plants, all posing unpredictable dangers. Additionally, the slippery trails made walking difficult, especially near cliffs and massive boulders, where the risk of falling was high. As for the legendary mysterious disappearances akin to the Bermuda Triangle and tales of wildmen, the earlier explorers hadn't experienced them. They only said that once inside, survival depended on sheer resilience and toughness.
Sheer resilience and toughness... Diao Zhuo glanced at Bayunye. Sensing his gaze, she playfully slapped his butt. "Watch the path, not me. You'll have plenty of time to look later."
Diao Zhuo snorted. "Are you really that good-looking?"
Bayunye pretended not to hear.
He gave her shoulder a firm pat, pulling her into his embrace as he answered his own question. "Yes, you are."
She chuckled softly and shook her head helplessly. This man was completely under her spell, now utterly shameless.Ahead, a crowd bustled, and among them, several men in orange windbreakers stood out conspicuously against the backdrop of camouflage uniforms and police attire. From a distance, their faces looked familiar. They were checking the standard items in their rescue backpacks, with medical kits, toolboxes, entrenching shovels, portable oxygen tanks, filtering masks, climbing ropes, and other supplies neatly arranged in rows.
Someone spotted Bayunye, and after a quick exchange, they began walking toward her, waving excitedly as they approached.
"Hey, Master Ba, long time no see! You're still as handsome as ever!"
"Master Ba, how have you been?"
"Master Ba is still the same Master Ba, but Captain Diao has become Master Ba's Captain Diao~"
"With the flower already taken, I should've known better than to come."
Familiar faces swarmed around, greeting her warmly. Bayunye felt momentarily dazed, taking a long moment before breaking into a smile—"Da Qin, Xiang An, Qi Zi, Tan Lin... you all came!"
"When Master Ba and Brother Long are in trouble, how could we just stand by and do nothing?" they said with a laugh, briefly explaining their plans. Bayunye took a look at the scouting map for a while and prepared to set off. Unexpectedly, a police officer stopped her, checked her ID, and said, "Bayunye, right? Since you're not a member of Beidou Rescue and you have a good relationship with Renlong Duoji, for this search... you should just stay and wait for news."
Bayunye understood their concerns and didn't take offense, smiling calmly instead. "I heard you found some of Brother Long's personal belongings? Can you give them to me?"
"No."
"Can I at least take a look at the photos?"
The officer nodded and had someone bring over a few photos. Bayunye looked through them one by one, then glanced expressionlessly toward the depths of the jungle.
Among the crowd, a few people dressed as ordinary civilians gathered together. One of them, wearing sunglasses, had been staring intently at Bayunye and Diao Zhuo since she appeared. He was slightly hunched, wearing a black fisherman's hat with a wide brim that covered half his face. His raised collar and camouflage headscarf concealed his mouth and nose, making it impossible to discern his appearance.
Diao Zhuo gave Bayunye a meaningful look, signaling her to quietly join them. They were tall and burly, surrounding her in the middle, making it unlikely the police would notice her for a while. She plopped down on a rock, asked for a pair of scissors, grabbed her ponytail with one hand, and cut it off in a few snips. The remaining short hair cascaded down, giving her a somewhat androgynous look reminiscent of male leads in 90s Hong Kong films.
Diao Zhuo, ever sharp, had guessed her intentions the moment she asked for the scissors. As soon as her ponytail was gone, he took off his black baseball cap and placed it on her head, then handed her his jacket. She quickly put it on. Already tall, with her newly cut short hair, she looked almost indistinguishable from behind.
The guide for this Beidou Rescue team was called Kong Gan. It was said his real name was very long. He was a dark, lean middle-aged man with shoulder-length hair cascading loosely. Across his chest, he carried a large bamboo tube, its contents unknown. Like other locals, he wore the strap of his bamboo basket across his forehead, with a wooden plank cushioning the back of his neck—a unique way of carrying the basket, characteristic of the local ethnic tradition. He said he would do his best to lead everyone to the deepest parts of the forest he knew. The implication was clear: he would only guide them to places he had been before, unwilling to venture any deeper."Let's go." Bayunye wasted no time, pointing in a direction. Kong Gan said nothing more and stepped forward, while the others reacted swiftly, striding toward where she indicated.
The police noticed the Beidou Rescue Team setting off and glanced over from a distance. Seeing only five or six men marching in a line, with no sign of the long-haired Bayunye among them, they relaxed and turned to other tasks.
The man who had been watching Bayunye earlier waved to his companions, and several of them quickly followed suit.
"You really cut it just like that..." Xiang An caught up to her once the police were out of sight, sounding a bit regretful.
"It'll grow back. It's not like I castrated myself," Bayunye replied nonchalantly, glancing at Diao Zhuo and adding with feigned politeness, "As long as Captain Diao doesn't mind."
Perhaps because he had lost and regained her, Diao Zhuo abandoned his usual blunt, straight-talking style and put effort into the art of "how to appease a woman," forcing out an insincere remark: "Even shaving it all off would be fine."
She took off her hat and asked someone nearby for scissors. "Since you say so..."
"Stop right there," Diao Zhuo said, putting the hat back on her head.
Everyone burst into laughter and asked, "Do we just keep heading in this direction?"
Bayunye looked back. Behind them, the subtropical plants were dense and intertwined, their branches and leaves so thick that even with binoculars, the police wouldn't be able to spot her. Once out of the police's sight, she had returned the jacket to Diao Zhuo and changed back into her camouflage jacket, which offered excellent concealment in the jungle. "Of course. Brother Long is most likely in this direction," she said. "At the very least, he started off heading this way."
Diao Zhuo felt relieved. "Did the items he left behind contain a clue?"
"Exactly. One of the accessories on his bracelet is a wooden carving of a dragon," Bayunye explained. "Unlike others, whose dragons are often 'ascending dragons' symbolizing rising success, his is a 'descending dragon'—reversed, which seems somewhat inauspicious. I never understood it before, but now I think it was also to commemorate his wife. After she passed away, he felt he couldn't rise higher alone. So, what he used to hint at the direction wasn't the dragon's head but the opposite—the dragon's tail. Wherever the tail pointed, he went."
"He wasn't hinting to 'others'—he was hinting to you," Diao Zhuo said firmly. "He believed you would come looking for him."
"It's a shame the police wouldn't let you go..." Da Qin sighed. "They were only focused on preventing you from helping Brother Long escape, never realizing that precisely because you two are close, you'd be more likely to find him."
"That's why I didn't tell them either," Bayunye said with a mischievous smile. "We have to find Brother Long before they do, ask him what really happened, and then decide whether to turn himself in or defend himself. He's not some ruthless criminal—things can be explained."
"Progress," Diao Zhuo praised, but she shot him a glare. Hearing continuous footsteps behind them, she turned and saw it wasn't the police, which eased her mind a little. Diao Zhuo turned to the group that had been following them and asked, "Hello. May I ask, who are you...?"
The group stopped openly, and a sturdy middle-aged man chuckled. "We're from the Provincial Mountaineering Association. We've been here before, just like your Beidou Rescue—we're also here to help find someone."Bayunye recognized their accent and suddenly asked them a few questions in dialect. The middle-aged man replied fluently in the same tone, while the others occasionally chimed in with similar accents—some from Baoshan, others from Dehong.
"My name is Liu Ming, and he... we usually call him Fat Monkey. There's also Old Sun, Old Bao, and Ah Shui." Liu Ming briefly pointed them out one by one. They all wore wide-brimmed hats, likely to protect themselves from hornets and other venomous insects, with every exposed part of their bodies tightly covered.
Diao Zhuo also briefly introduced the others in his team. Dressed in Beidou Rescue jackets and hats, neither side managed to remember each other's names right away. With a shared goal, they naturally moved deeper into the forest together. However, although the mountaineering association members traveled alongside them, they showed little interest in further interaction, chatting among themselves in dialect. The others didn’t pay much attention, each group keeping to themselves.
The man named Ah Shui walked at the rear of the group, deliberately keeping his distance from Bayunye, yet his gaze never strayed far from her back. Whenever she turned slightly or glanced aside, he immediately lowered his head, pretending to watch the path, as if afraid she might notice him.
Once she confirmed the group was indeed from the province, Bayunye didn’t dwell on it further, instead searching around for a suitable branch.
This area was already remote and rarely visited, with no paths trodden by travelers. The ground was layered with fallen leaves, like a natural cushion—each step sinking unpredictably, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow. Startled beetles and spiders occasionally darted out from beneath the leaves, disappearing into the gaps before anyone could get a clear look. The trees were tangled with roots, vines grew wild and chaotic, moss clung to exposed stone surfaces, and clumps of white bird droppings dotted the moss like tiny flowers. Between the crevices of nearby rocks hung strands of sticky fluid. The deeper they went, the denser the tree shadows blocked the already faint sunlight, making the surroundings even more secluded. Spiderwebs were everywhere, the air thick with the scent of damp decay, mingled with the faint odor of reptiles and the peculiar fragrance of plants.
"Watch your step, don’t step on anything you shouldn’t," Kong Gan reminded everyone.
No sooner had she spoken than Da Qin stepped squarely into a pile of unknown animal droppings with a squelch. He lifted his foot helplessly. "What shouldn’t I step on?"
"Snakes," Bayunye answered for him. She had just found a branch as thick as her wrist and was tapping it ahead as she walked. "This place is full of venomous snakes. If you get bitten, it’s no joke. Even if everyone works together to carry you out to find a doctor, it might already be too late."
Kong Gan nodded, her dialect accent thick. "We occasionally come here to gather mushrooms, so there might be fewer snakes. But deeper in, forget snakes... there are even black bears."
Bayunye said, "When I was in the military, one of our Uninhabited Area survival training sessions took us to a mountain. We were given a few coordinates and had to find them within five days without bringing water or food. It was similar to this place... but here is even more primitive, possibly more complicated than where I was."
Qi Zi was taken aback. "That sounds incredibly tough!"
"It was manageable, mostly just boring, especially at night. Back then, I wondered if there were any wild men on the mountain. If there were, I hoped one or two would show up—preferably male wild men, so I could..."
"What would you do?" Diao Zhuo glanced sideways at her.
She rubbed her hands together. "Play a round of Landlord."
No one responded, thinking to themselves, "We’d believe that when pigs fly.""What do we do if we run out of food?" Da Qin asked for advice.
"Basically, whatever monkeys can eat, you can eat too. But the chances of running into monkeys... are pretty slim. They're clever little devils—if they see a large group, they'll have already run off; if they see just a few people, you should thank your lucky stars if the food you manage to find isn't snatched away by them." Bayunye used a branch to poke left and right, clearing away quite a few spiderwebs. So far, she hadn't encountered any snakes. "I can't speak for other places, but here in Yunnan, there are plenty of wild fruits. If you recognize them, pick and eat them boldly. If you don't, take a small bite first. If your mouth doesn't go numb and you don't get diarrhea after a while, eat a bit more—but don't overdo it. If you're lucky, you might come across a wasp nest—that's a treasure! Honey aside, the larvae inside are a delicacy! How to get them depends on your skills... Some people never get a taste of honey and end up getting stung to death. Haha!"
Everyone listened to her boasting with great interest. Someone asked her, "Have you eaten other insects? The kind that are 'tasting like chicken, crunchy and crisp'?"
She burst out laughing. "I'm not Bear Grylls! If you're trying to survive, you can chew on tree bark or eat wild grass. Don't mess with insects lightly—it's not just about whether they're poisonous or not. You never know what parasites they might be carrying inside. I can't say how crunchy they are, but it could be worse than getting bitten by a venomous snake. If it were me, I'd rather risk a 'five-step snake' than end up unable to take care of myself for life—the kind where you have to poop at eight sharp and wake up at nine on the dot. Hahaha!"
Xiang An sighed in admiration. "Where on earth did you train? You're really 'well-versed in all kinds of dangers'!"
"Can't say." Even after years of retirement, the rules of confidentiality still applied.
As they chatted, they kept an eye on their footing. They walked for a long time but still made no new discoveries. When the group stopped once again to mark their coordinates, Diao Zhuo pursed his lips and thought seriously. After leaving the bracelet accessory and a knife, Brother Long hadn't left any more marks. He couldn't figure it out—ordinary people would know to leave something behind, so Brother Long couldn't have overlooked it. Unless there was some other reason? Like... no time?
Bayunye suddenly leaned in and whispered, "Why do I feel like Liu Ming and the others don't really seem like a mountaineering team?"
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