Night fell, and the fog rose.

Mu Dai and the others dismantled their tent in the thick fog, packed their bags, and bagged up garbage that couldn’t be broken down. The flashlights cast flickering shadows, and only at this moment did Cao Yanhua remember to take a photo with the tree stump pot. He ran over, squatted down, straightened his back, and grinned, showing a standard eight teeth.

Yi Wansan took a photo of him with his phone. Cao Yanhua happily came over to check the result—

“Where am I?” he asked.

“Look in the fog.”

Yan Hongsha said, “Yi Wansan’s photography skills are terrible. Doesn’t he know you need to use light at night? Let me do it.”

She held the phone in one hand and the flashlight in the other, shining the light like a spotlight directly onto Cao Yanhua’s face. Cao Yanhua bravely kept his eyes wide open against the strong light…

After taking the photo, they looked at it—the dark image showed only a bright, glowing face that even a ghost would refuse to be compared to.

Cao Yanhua was speechless. After a while, he said, “I really can’t be bothered with you two…”

Surprisingly, Yan Hongsha offered him advice: “Just photoshop the two images together…”

Mu Dai could barely hold back her laughter. After a while, Luo Ren came over with his backpack, counted everyone, and had them stand in their original positions with the ropes secured.

All flashlights were turned off, and the silver-eyed bats flapped their wooden-like wings as they rose into the air.

The first time you experience something, it’s unfamiliar; the second time, you’re more accustomed. This time, they weren’t as tense as before, even chatting occasionally. Mu Dai was like a careful team leader, sometimes kicking away stones under her feet, cautioning those behind her.

—Watch out, it’s slippery here, walk slowly.

—There’s a hole, everyone be careful.

Yan Hongsha had a sudden idea: “Mu Dai, let’s build a house here.”

She was enthusiastic: “This path is so winding—Mr. Shen walked just a small section during the day and got dizzy from going in circles. Ordinary people definitely couldn’t get in. Let’s build a house here, just for vacation. Next time we come, we’ll bring food, drinks, a barbecue grill, a solar generator, and speakers so we can sing!”

Cao Yanhua thought this was a good idea: “We could also bring computers and project movies. We’ll project them onto the fog screen—the effect would be amazing, like an IMAX theater.”

These ideas flowed like water from an opened gate, unstoppable. They talked about making a vegetable garden to grow green onions, vegetables, and peppers, and setting up seventy-two plum blossom stakes for practicing martial arts anytime. Shen Gun listened with envy and asked, “Can I come play too?”

“Of course, of course,” Cao Yanhua promised generously, as if this whole mountain belonged to his family.

“Can I bring friends too?”

“Well…” Cao Yanhua considered for a moment, “They would have to pass a character test. We don’t let just anyone in.”

Luo Ren, walking at the back, almost laughed out loud.

However, these beautiful fantasies of playing house still touched his heart.

Yes, yes, yes—if only they could get through these last seventeen days, cross that final chasm, what couldn’t they do?

They returned to Plum Flower Ninth Maiden’s mansion with more than two hours until dawn.

Seventeen days left. They needed to gather their fighting spirit and push through—once they passed it, everything would be fine.

Mu Dai lit the incense in the memorial hall, put on her mourning clothes again, and with Cao Yanhua, kept vigil until daybreak.

Shen Gun took over Zheng Mingshan’s room, found paper and pen, and carefully transcribed the photographed materials from his phone. He had promised Mu Dai that when they left Misty Town, he would destroy all related materials and never tell anyone about this secret.

Life is truly difficult, Shen Gun thought with a twinge of sadness. Why keep so many secrets? Last time too, it had caused a “ghost possession” incident where the person involved attached to his good friend’s body and told him: “I don’t agree with you writing it down, not a single word.”

He couldn’t help but sigh like Yu Liang: since you let me know, why not let me write it down…

Luo Ren pushed open the door. The one or two days in the mountains had been safe, without much physical exertion, more like a time of recuperation for him. His injuries were recovering well.

He came to ask Shen Gun: “We’re leaving at daybreak. Will you be… ready?”

Of course not. He still had so much information to recall and organize, and he was planning to search for related materials online.

Luo Ren didn’t insist: “There’s no definite news about Long Town anyway. I’ll take the others toward Hangu Pass first. If you’re a day or two late, just meet up with us when you can.”

Time passed quickly. As soon as there was a hint of daylight, everyone was packed and ready to go.

Cao Yanhua got into the car and first flipped the countdown calendar to “17.” Looking at the black number, his palms were slightly sweaty, with a sense of eagerness to get to work.

Mu Dai was the last to get in the car. She handed the mansion keys to Shen Gun with many instructions to give.

“You’re not staying for free. When you’re tired of your research, at least come out and clean up. Especially my Master’s memorial hall.”

“Yes, yes, I understand the importance of balancing work and rest.”

“Also…” Mu Dai lowered her voice, “There are some taboos you should observe. My Master has only passed the first seven days, she hasn’t completed the full seven-week mourning period. Senior Brother marked the days on the calendar. On those days, you should properly avoid the area.”

“No need, no need.” Shen Gun smiled broadly. “I hope she comes back. If she returns, I’d like to interview her. In my heart, your Master is quite a character…”

Mu Dai was dumbfounded. After a pause, she resolutely pushed the keys into his hand: “Bye.”

She turned and walked a few steps, then suddenly came back.

Smiling, she said, “I won’t give you those seven wooden pieces. But if you call me something nice and promise to take good care of them, I could leave the silver-eyed bats to keep you company…”

Shen Gun’s eyes widened instantly. The next moment, with supreme enthusiasm, he embraced Mu Dai: “Little Pocket, you are unbearably adorable…”

“Unbearably,” that verbal tic—everyone had learned it.

In the Hummer, everyone’s gaze swiftly turned to Luo Ren.

Luo Ren was very calm: “Why look at me? This is a pure relationship between a man and a woman. A hug won’t hurt anyone. Am I supposed to be jealous over something so trivial?”

Cao Yanhua praised him: “Little Luo Ge is so open-minded!”

Yi Wansan: “So confident!”

Yan Hongsha: “Exactly, couples should trust each other, that’s how it should be.”

Qingmu had told him many Japanese ghost stories. Some stories were actually quite cute, speaking of harmless malicious thoughts that would turn into small round stones, rolling under enemies’ feet, causing them to slip and fall face-first into the mud, their front teeth flying far away.

Those small round stones would quickly grab the teeth and roll back, jubilantly shouting: “Revenge! Revenge!”

He didn’t want Shen Gun’s front teeth, but a fall was quite necessary.

As the car left the fog, it was truly a magical experience. As they drove, the fog gradually thinned and dispersed. Yan Hongsha rolled down the window, constantly watching the fog outside, muttering: “It’s clearing… oh, it’s clearing more… looking back, it’s still like a foggy bun, but here it’s gone…”

Yi Wansan tugged at her sleeve and made a shushing sound.

Looking back, they saw Mu Dai leaning against the passenger seat, already asleep. Similarly, Cao Yanhua was leaning on Yi Wansan’s shoulder. Yi Wansan was pushing his head away as if annoyed—these two, who had been keeping vigil since their return last night, were thoroughly exhausted.

Yan Hongsha quickly closed the window. Later, when they opened the bags for breakfast, they took small bites and moved gently.

Yan Hongsha even knelt on the back seat to look at Cao Liberation in its cage, mouthing to it: Liberation, don’t crow, everyone’s sleeping…

Cao Liberation gave her a sideways glance, as if saying: I only crow when there’s something worth seeing, who has nothing better to do than crow all day…

When the phone rang, Mu Dai had already had a long sleep. She opened her eyes groggily as the car had just pulled over to the side.

It was a bustling small county town. At the roadside, Yi Wansan had opened the car door and jogged down to buy water. With the window rolled down, the midday sunlight mixed with the local dialect poured into the car. Mu Dai listened for a while and said, “That’s Sichuan dialect.”

Luo Ren smiled: “We’ve entered Sichuan and have been driving for almost 6 hours.”

He answered the phone.

It was from Wan Fenghuo. His voice wasn’t as certain as when he usually delivered information. His first sentence was: “That Long Town, accurately speaking, no longer exists.”

Gone? How could such a large place simply vanish? Hunter Leopards’ ancestors could trace back so many years and still get information.

Wan Fenghuo laughed dryly: “My friend, conditions vary from place to place. Hunter Leopard’s ancestors were from a small town in Eastern Zhejiang, where families clustered together, sometimes living in the same spot for over a thousand years without moving. But the place you’re investigating is different…”

Hangu Pass, located in Lingbao City—open any related geography book, and the description is generally “bordered by plateau to the west, cliff to the east, Qinling Mountains to the south, and the Yellow River to the north.”

The trouble centered on the Yellow River.

In the old society, the Yellow River changed course, breached, and flooded multiple times, providing much material for imperial court dramas and Republican era films. People would typically see urgent horsemen riding to the Forbidden City, with a voiceover saying, “Your Majesty, terrible news, the Yellow River has breached again!”

Wan Fenghuo explained that in 1933, a major flood occurred in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, considered the most severe of the 20th century. Seven provinces and over sixty counties were affected, with more than 3 million people displaced. Lingbao City was among the affected areas.

In other words, the original Long Town had long been washed away beyond recognition. Even if the entire town wasn’t destroyed, the people who fled the disaster were scattered, who knows where, plus the subsequent military campaigns, sweeps, and counter-sweeps—it was nothing like those small towns in Eastern Zhejiang that remained unchanged for hundreds of years.

Finally, he said that Long Town could roughly be confirmed to be within the range of Tong County near Hangu Pass.

After hanging up, he sent Luo Ren a photo.

It showed a county town street scene with many tall buildings, numerous electric bikes and bicycles passing by, and a large promotional billboard in the frame: “All county citizens work together to strive for a civilized model county…”

Luo Ren smiled bitterly and said, “Now this is truly looking for a needle in a haystack.”

The time that followed was spent mostly on the road. Luo Ren and Cao Yanhua took turns driving, while everyone chatted, not avoiding the topic of the Ominous Bamboo Slips, letting their imaginations run wild.

—The celestial anomaly over 1,000 years ago shouldn’t have only affected China, right? What about other countries?

Probably, Cao Yanhua was excited: “Other countries have plenty of things related to seven too, like the seven deadly sins, seven continents, seven dwarfs, and so on.”

They also talked about specific people. Hitler probably had an “Ominous Bamboo Slip”—a warmonger, highly inflammatory, implementing genocide—wasn’t this the unlimited expansion of “malevolent thoughts”?

—So, when the Allies finally broke through to Berlin, was the Western European “Phoenix Squad” part of the Allied forces?

—Correct, but the West doesn’t favor phoenixes, maybe they called it the “Angel Squad” instead.

Luo Ren listened with mixed amusement and exasperation, and said, “Actually, just by switching two characters, the Ominous Bamboo Slips would be something good.”

Cao Yanhua was puzzled: “Which two characters? How to switch them?”

Luo Ren slowly recited a sentence.

“The power of the Seven Stars, attached to the body, changes human hearts, [devours evil] and [promotes good], strengthens the body, makes one agile in movement, even to the point of returning life.”

The car suddenly fell silent.

After a long pause, Mu Dai softly said, “That’s true.”

…

They couldn’t leave Sichuan that night and stayed near Guangyuan. They set out early the next morning, flipping the countdown calendar to “16.” At noon, they stopped in Xi’an, eating the legendary belt noodles and meat in buns, then proceeded along the Weinan and Huashan line toward Lingbao.

Along this route, the mountains notably increased. Cao Yanhua searched for topographical maps online and saw that some peaks reached nearly two thousand meters, with an average elevation of over one thousand meters.

By late afternoon, they crossed Yao Mountain, which is an eastern branch of the Qinling Mountains, extending between the Yellow River and Luo River. Hangu Pass was located between them.

When passing by the Hangu scenic area, Luo Ren deliberately drove to a high point and stopped.

Looking down, there were many tourists, a scene of prosperity.

Yi Wansan stretched his neck, shading his eyes with his hand, squinting into the distance. Seeing his difficulty, Mu Dai handed him her pocket monocular.

He turned the monocular, muttering, “This is it, this is exactly it.”

Luo Ren was puzzled: “What do you mean?”

“That time at the Small Merchant River, the first water shadow was drawn by me. I remember it clearly—the image showed the outline of distant mountains and a large river. The mountain’s silhouette was similar to Yao Mountain’s ridgeline, rising from southwest to northeast, and there was a river, either the Yellow River or the Luo River. This area must be right.”

They spent some time at Hangu Pass, and by the time they entered Tong County, it was very late.

Luo Ren drove around the county town first. The town wasn’t particularly large, but it looked new, with few historical sites. Upon inquiry, they learned that Tong County didn’t have an established administrative division before; it was reorganized and divided after the founding of the People’s Republic.

This meant that even to check county records, they could only start from after the nation’s founding.

Luo Ren’s prediction was accurate—even with the area narrowed down to this spot, it was still like searching for a needle in a haystack.

They stayed in Tong County that night. Prices were not expensive here; even the best hotel cost just over three hundred yuan per night. Luo Ren booked a high-floor so-called “scenic view” family suite, with inner and outer rooms, dual bathrooms, two large beds, and a sofa that could accommodate two people when extended. It was more than enough for five people, and Cao Liberation could fly around as it pleased, as long as it didn’t fly out the window.

Opening the window to see the so-called “scenic view,” it was merely a small patch of county town lights, and beyond that, mountains.

Yan Hongsha murmured, “There are so many mountains here.”

Mu Dai also leaned on the windowsill to look: “In ancient times, when there weren’t so many households, looking from high up, it would just be a few spots of light dotting the mountains. Quite scary to think about.”

After everyone had washed up, Luo Ren slept on the sofa in the living room. As he lay down, he saw Cao Yanhua bring up the countdown card and place it on the coffee table beside the sofa.

Looking at the time, there were still a few minutes until midnight. Luo Ren didn’t sleep, staring at the second hand on the watch as if waiting for a mission.

At noon, as the hand crossed the mark, he flipped another page of the card and finally let out a long breath.

His sleep was restless, constantly feeling like he heard continuous funeral music, making his heart feel heavy.

When he got up in the morning and mentioned it to Cao Yanhua and the others, he discovered that it wasn’t just him—everyone had heard it.

Yan Hongsha opened the window to look, pointing downstairs and shouting, “There really is! Look, there’s a funeral across the street.”

They had checked in hastily the night before and hadn’t looked carefully. Indeed, at the entrance of the residential complex opposite, several cars draped with black funeral banners were parked.

Cao Yanhua muttered, “That’s a bit inauspicious.”

After Guan Sipailou, he had developed a subconscious aversion to anything associated with death.

Mu Dai couldn’t help but smile, calling everyone: “Let’s go downstairs for breakfast.”

The hotel restaurant was on the first floor, with a breakfast buffet. There weren’t many diners. When Luo Ren returned with his food, Cao Yanhua, who was already seated and eating, winked at him and pointed at a table of people behind them, saying in a low voice: “Little Luo Ge, the deceased was an old teacher. These people all settled in other places but came back to attend the funeral.”

That explained it.

Luo Ren ate quietly. After a while, several people came in who looked like family members, heading straight into the restaurant. The people at that table quickly stood up, shaking hands, offering condolences, and exchanging pleasantries.

Luo Ren overheard their conversation.

—My condolences.

—When will you take them up the mountain?

—In the next day or two.

—If you need any help going up the mountain, just let us know.

—Thank you, thank you…

The group walked out while exchanging pleasantries and soon left.

Luo Ren felt there was something strange about it, frowning as he kept staring across the room. Mu Dai noticed his distraction and waved her hand in front of him several times: “Luo Xiaodao?”

Luo Ren came back to his senses and smiled at her. As the server came to collect the used dishes, he suddenly spoke up.

“Miss, I’d like to ask, what does ‘going up the mountain’ mean?”

The server was briefly taken aback but quickly understood: “You mean ‘going up the mountain’? That’s a local expression here. It means burial, burying in the cemetery.”

“But why call it ‘going up the mountain’? Is it like ascending to immortality?”

The server looked blank. She was quite young and didn’t know much.

“Perhaps you could ask the people across the street? The family holding the funeral usually hires traditional funeral directors who have been in the business for generations. They might know.”

Luo Ren did go ask.

It was an old man with barely any teeth left. When he smiled, air whistled through the gaps.

He earnestly explained to Luo Ren: “No, it has nothing to do with immortality. In the past, in our area, when locals died, we always sent them up the mountain for burial—firstly because there were many mountains nearby with plenty of space; secondly, because the Yellow River used to cause floods, and if the graves were too low, they might be washed away, which was considered unlucky. So we buried them up in the mountains.”

“Nowadays, with improved water conservancy, flooding rarely happens. Plus, there are policies requiring cremation, with designated cemeteries and burial grounds. But the expressions haven’t changed yet—during burials, people still habitually ask ‘when are they going up the mountain’…”