On the mountain path, four men skillfully and unobtrusively protected the old man.

The footsteps behind them were barely audible, causing them to turn around involuntarily.

That strangely dressed man was quietly following behind.

“Chief, are we really taking this person with us?” one man couldn’t help but ask in a low voice. “This man… is really peculiar.”

The old man nodded with a smile and also glanced back.

“Peculiar he may be, but he’s harmless,” he said.

Can you really tell if someone is harmful or harmless just by looking at them nowadays? The men shook their heads in disagreement.

Although there was an elderly person with them, their group walked at a good pace. Soon they emerged from the dense forest area and came to relatively level ground, where there were more people.

“Hey, hey! Who are you people? You can’t just go up the mountain randomly.”

Someone immediately rushed out from the management booth set up by the town government at the foot of the mountain, shouting.

“Alright, alright, we understand. We’re coming down the mountain now,” the old man said with a smile.

“At such an advanced age, why are you still wandering around recklessly?” the management staff said angrily.

The old man just smiled good-naturedly and didn’t speak.

Leaving the booth, they encountered several men and women with full outdoor equipment gear coming their way.

“Are you coming from the mountain?” they actively greeted and asked.

The old man nodded with a smile.

“Is it safe up there?” a man asked hurriedly.

“If someone this old can go up there, what’s unsafe about it?” Before the old man could answer, others spoke up.

“However, supposedly there’s a wild man or something up there who steals clothes and food,” another girl said.

This comment made the others burst into laughter.

“A wild man? More like a wild monkey…”

“Only you girls would fantasize about wild men…”

“This isn’t Shennongjia…”

But the four men on the old man’s side all looked toward the man quietly following behind them.

Their gazes swept over his obviously ill-fitting, strangely matched pants and shoes.

The man’s expression was calm, as if he hadn’t noticed their looks.

Everyone laughed and chatted, no longer paying attention to the old man’s group. They avoided the checkpoint ahead and walked toward the mountain forest.

“Young folks, the mountain forest isn’t safe. It’s better to go this way,” the old man called out loudly to remind them.

The people over there laughed even more, turning to wave dismissively at the old man with disdain.

The old man shook his head.

“Let’s go,” the man beside the old man reminded him in a low voice. “We can’t delay any longer.”

The old man nodded and looked back at the mountain forest.

“I wonder if I’ll ever get to see it again,” he murmured.

With that, he stepped forward. After walking a few steps, he sensed something and turned back.

The man was standing there, not moving.

“Young man?” the old man called.

The man looked over. His expression was somewhat grave, as if he had made some kind of decision, then he stepped forward.

So from this moment on, he would step by step leave this mountain forest that could shelter him, step by step enter this strange and eerie world.

The old man smiled and without saying much, turned to continue forward.

Three cars were parked at the foot of the mountain. Four or five men dressed like the previous group were standing there. When they saw them approaching, they all breathed a sigh of relief, but were puzzled when they saw the man behind the old man.

“Giving someone a ride,” the old man said simply.

The surrounding men looked even more surprised.

What kind of person could actually get a ride from this old man!

“Young man, come, sit with me,” the old man said, getting into the car and beckoning with his hand.

Car?

The man’s gaze swept over these strange things, but his expression showed not the slightest hesitation or surprise, as if these were things he was completely familiar with. He didn’t stand on ceremony either, stepping forward and getting into the car with steady movements.

The old man smiled slightly, not missing this man’s habit of tapping the running board with his foot when getting in the car, just like himself.

The driver closed the car door and started the engine.

From the corner of his eye, the old man saw the man beside him instantly tense up, his hands resting on his knees clenching slightly. But he quickly relaxed them.

The scenery outside the car window was rapidly retreating, with that anxiety-inducing rumbling sound and strange smells that irritated the stomach…

The man’s breathing became somewhat rapid involuntarily.

“Open the car window,” the old man said.

For someone of the old man’s status, car windows were usually never opened during travel. The guard in the front seat hesitated.

“Never mind, the scenery ahead is nice. Stop for a moment, I’ll get out and take a look,” the old man said again, pointing ahead.

Scenery?

The guard was puzzled but still picked up the radio to notify the front and back.

The man’s gaze swept over the guard with the radio, then saw the car ahead stop first.

That thing could actually allow conversation across distances?

“Come, young man, would you like to get out and take a look?” the old man said, opening the car door and getting out.

The man nodded and followed him out. The fresh air made him exhale deeply, and that churning feeling was quickly suppressed.

“What relationship do you have with the person you’re looking for…” the old man asked while stretching his legs facing the mountain wilderness.

The man didn’t speak, looking at the mountain wilderness.

“Only knowing their name and job?” the old man continued asking, not minding the lack of response. “How old are they?”

Don’t know, don’t know how old she is, she always said she was older than us…

The man’s ears echoed with that girl’s words.

“Don’t know,” the man said.

The old man turned to look at him, somewhat surprised.

“Well, if we pulled up photos, you could recognize her, right?” he asked.

“Couldn’t recognize her,” the man answered.

The old man stopped his movements and looked at the man with a smile.

“Then, young man, do you know how big China is and how many people live here?” he said.

China…

The man shook his head.

“Little Tang, did you check what I asked you to check?” the old man called to someone nearby.

A guard immediately ran over.

“I checked,” he said. “As of now, there are 65,832 women named Qi Yue nationwide.”

The old man looked at the man, making a “you see” expression.

The man was clearly shocked too.

However, what surprised him was that they could find out so quickly how many people had this name?

And so precisely?

“She’s a doctor,” he said.

This man wasn’t discouraged at all – the old man was somewhat surprised, then smiled and nodded.

“Profession is harder to check, needs more filtering,” he said. “Young man, if you trust me, come with me.”

The man looked at him.

“Haven’t I already come with you?” he said.

Since they met, he had spoken little and briefly. This was probably the longest sentence he had said, and moreover…

The old man smiled slightly.

Others might not notice, but he had noticed that this man’s accent was already starting to resemble his own.

Such formidable learning ability…

Such formidable observation skills…

And such formidable emotional control ability…

The old man laughed heartily and reached out to pat his shoulder, saying “good” several times.

“Then, may I ask your honorable name, young man?” he laughed.

The man looked at him and extended his hand.

“Chang Yuncheng,” he said.

The old man naturally extended his hand to shake it, and saw a trace of a smile appear on the man’s face.

Very pleased?

Why?

The handshake? The old man withdrew his hand and couldn’t help but look at his own hand.

Indeed, many people would be extremely excited about shaking hands with him. However, the smile on this man’s face wasn’t that kind of excited, flattering smile.

Obviously, he wasn’t happy because he was shaking hands with him as a person, but very likely simply because of the act of shaking hands itself.

The old man smiled and stepped into the car.

“Let’s go,” he called, looking at the man. “Chang Yuncheng.”

Chang Yuncheng took another look at the mountain wilderness and got into the car.

Seeing the old man get in the car, the surrounding guards also got in their vehicles.

“Why look at scenery for no reason?” a guard in the back couldn’t help but say.

“I don’t think it was about looking at scenery,” another person said. “I figure that country bumpkin was carsick…”

At this point he clicked his tongue twice.

“Why is the chief so good to this country bumpkin who appeared out of nowhere?” he said with a frown, looking completely puzzled.

The car wound its way along the mountain road thick with autumn atmosphere.

Seeing the woman walking up the mountain path, the scenic area management staff hurriedly called to each other.

“Hey, that woman is here again,” they said.

However, compared to the previous few days, they weren’t as tense now.

This woman had been here for seven days already.

Except for the first three days of crying and making a scene, she had been much quieter the past few days.

But everyone was certain this woman had mental problems. Otherwise, who would spend all day crying over a set of bones?

“Thank you,” Qi Yue said, handing over the ticket in her hand.

“Um, miss, are you alone?” the staff member asked hesitantly.

Wasn’t there always a woman accompanying her before?

“She went to book plane tickets,” Qi Yue said amiably.

The staff member made an acknowledging sound, ultimately not daring to ask whether one person was leaving or both were leaving, to avoid stimulating this crazy woman’s nerves.

She tore off the stub and saw the bag in Qi Yue’s hand.

“Miss, we need to check this,” she said.

Qi Yue cooperatively handed over the bag.

Everyone opened it and saw only two cans of beer inside.

“This…” the staff member hesitated.

Qi Yue reached over to take them, popped both open with two snaps, took a sip from one can, then looked at the staff member.

The staff member waved her through and signaled to the other two staff members with her eyes. The two hurried to follow.

Step by step approaching the tomb chamber, Qi Yue still stopped several steps away, then sat down, quietly looking at the white bones.

She placed one can of beer over there and picked up the other, tilting her head back to drink, then sighed.

“Tell me, do you still count as a man?” she said.

The staff members standing vigilantly to the side were stunned. They looked at each other, then at the woman.

Was she talking to them?

“Do you still count as a man? What kind of world is this? Where is there a man who would spend his whole life like this for one woman?” Qi Yue continued, tilting her head back for another drink, then thinking of something, she patted the beer in front of her. “Come, try this – alcohol from our place.”

As she spoke, she poured out some of the beer.

The tomb chamber had a blue brick floor, and the alcohol quickly seeped through the cracks after being poured on the ground.

The two staff members couldn’t help but shiver and looked around – of course, there really wouldn’t be anyone there…

This woman really was crazy…

“How is it? Good, right?” Qi Yue continued, even smiling as if someone was sitting in front of her.

The two staff members got goosebumps all over.

“Big brother, a woman dies and she dies – what’s the big deal?” Qi Yue continued, looking at the bones before her. “It’s just one woman. Yes, you really liked her, really liked her, but does that mean you can’t lose her? In this lifetime, who hasn’t lost some things? What’s the big deal?”

That’s right, that’s right, the two staff members nodded, so no matter what you’ve lost, please return to normal quickly, miss.

Qi Yue drank again, then poured the beer across from her onto the ground.

“Lost is lost. Sad, difficult, but life must go on. There will always be new things coming. Who knows what people we’ll meet tomorrow? Maybe someone we like even more, love even more,” she said, smiling as tears flowed down. “Are you stupid or not? Are you stupid or not!”

The staff members couldn’t help but look at the bones – could these bones resemble this woman’s lover?

What was this all about!

Qi Yue tilted her head back and drank the beer in one gulp, then poured the beer across from her onto the ground in one go.

“Alright, I’m going back first,” she said, standing up and putting the beer cans in her bag.

The two staff members were somewhat surprised. They weren’t planning to remind her about not littering or anything – they were already prepared to clean up themselves. They hadn’t expected this crazy woman to still maintain proper etiquette.

What made them even happier was that this woman said she was going back.

Thank heavens, they could finally have peaceful days.

Qi Yue stood up and looked at the bones.

“After I finish the business over there, I’ll come back to keep you company soon,” she said, waving at the empty chamber as if seeing that man smile.

She also smiled slightly, turned around, and left.

Behind her, the two staff members looked at each other with pained expressions.

She was coming back…

This was endless…

Wouldn’t someone take care of this…