Luo Ren shined his flashlight at the spot where the other tent had been, examining it for a long time. He noticed that the soil around the holes left by the removed tent stakes was disturbed.

He finally concluded: “These people ran away on their own.”

“Three people in one tent, panicking, probably disorganized and unable to agree on what to do—so they just ran.”

Indeed, every guess was correct.

With just the two of them, Luo Ren and Mu Dai worked effectively together. Mu Dai always listened to him, so as long as he remained calm and had a plan, both of them were steady.

But with Cao Yanhua and the others, no one trusted anyone else. Three people, three flustered Zhuge Liangs—while pheasants flapped chaotically outside, they yelled incoherently inside the tent.

—”Hold it down! Hold it down! The pheasants are trying to get in!”

—”Don’t pull! The tent stake on my side has come loose!”

—”Oww…” (This was someone getting pecked.)

If all three had simply lain still, it would have been better. Instead, they created chaos in their ranks. Combined with the pheasant flock’s most frenzied attack at that moment, the thought of escape suddenly took over their minds.

At that time, they had even called out to Luo Ren and his group: “Brother Luo, run!”

Unfortunately, the three hoarse voices couldn’t overcome the entire pheasant flock’s loud cries—Luo Ren and Mu Dai hadn’t heard them at all.

Luo Ren led Mu Dai to search the perimeter, and sure enough, they found the abandoned tent about half a li away from the campsite.

“It seems they ran with the tent at first.”

Luo Ren was a bit worried, but he still couldn’t help laughing as he stated this conclusion.

How to describe the scene at that time—

Three people, six legs sticking out from the bottom of the tent, supporting a tilting, unstable shelter, blindly running outward with a flock of pheasants in pursuit. Their strides were probably uneven, stumbling and tripping. In the darkness, they couldn’t see the path. Finally, in desperation, they abandoned the tent and ran for their lives.

In the darkness, panic bred confusion, and they might not even have run in the same direction.

Mu Dai stood up, directing her flashlight beam toward the wilderness: “Could they be in trouble?”

Luo Ren said, “A pheasant flock isn’t like wolves or wild boars—they’re not that vicious. Once they’ve driven the intruders out of their territory, that’s generally enough. But since they chose to run, it’s hard to say how far they went.”

“Should we go look for them?”

Luo Ren pondered for a moment: “In such complex mountain terrain, it’s too easy to get lost, especially at night. If we go searching, we might not be able to find our way back.”

He led Mu Dai back to the campsite first. They re-erected and secured the tent, sharpened thick branches with a knife, and planted them in a circle around the camp, stringing two rings of rope around them as a simple fence.

They lit a large bonfire in the center of the camp and built a tall wooden frame. All the powerful flashlights and headlamps were turned on, their beams pointing upward. Though the light inevitably scattered halfway up, the strong light sources managed to penetrate the night sky above.

With light, warmth, the crackling sound of burning wood, and chicken feathers scattered on the ground, the mountain ridge in the dead of night suddenly didn’t seem so gloomy.

Luo Ren told Mu Dai not to worry too much: “Rather than searching for them, it’s better to call them back. As long as you establish a good position with a clear landmark, they’ll naturally find their way in the dark.”

True enough—Yan Hongsha had martial arts skills, while Yi Wansan and Cao Yanhua each had their own set of abilities. Under normal circumstances, they could manage.

Mu Dai wrapped herself in a blanket and sat beside Luo Ren, keeping him company as they waited. The fire flickered, and even the sound of wood splitting in the flames came at regular intervals, like subtle hypnosis.

Her head rested on Luo Ren’s shoulder, and she gradually dozed off.

She dreamed she was in the forests of Feng Mountain Ridge, surrounded by dense trees and swirling mist. Above, large flocks of pheasants flew past with outstretched wings, casting dark shadows on the ground.

She was searching for people, constantly calling out “Cao Fatty,” “Wansan,” “Hongsha.”

Rustling sounds came to her ears, and several disproportionately narrow shadows flickered behind the trees, accompanied by low whispers.

—It’s right here…

—She’s about to find it…

—No, no, no, she can’t imagine…

Is it right here? Mu Dai’s heart pounded. She held her breath and slowly walked toward a brightly lit area deep in the forest. Branches made sounds beneath her feet. She saw tents and a blazing bonfire, with gathered light sources shooting straight up into the sky…

Was she dreaming while asleep, or was this a projection of the scene before her eyes while half-awake?

Just then, she heard Luo Ren chuckle softly and say: “Cao Fatty is back.”

Really? Mu Dai opened her eyes in confusion and looked around. Indeed, outside the fence, there was a familiar stocky figure trudging toward them.

As he came closer, it was indeed Cao Yanhua, hands covering his head, nearly in tears, calling out: “Brother Luo, Little Master.”

His disheveled state was almost laughable, but Mu Dai held back her amusement and turned to get the medical kit.

Cao Yanhua had been pecked on the head by a pheasant. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep. His forehead had several bloody streaks, and the skin on his hands and neck was scraped. In his words, “I don’t know how many times I fell.”

Mu Dai held an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, carefully tending to Cao Yanhua’s wounds. He kept hissing in pain, but had to make a clean breast of things, honestly answering all of Luo Ren’s questions.

No wonder Cao Liberation had acted as if possessed—not only had they forced alcohol down its throat, but they’d made it swallow a talisman too. Luo Ren teased him: “Even if it’s not your biological child, you shouldn’t torture it like that.”

Mu Dai burst out laughing. Cao Yanhua’s face crumpled: “Brother Luo, what was I after? Wasn’t it just hoping to find that phoenix clasp sooner?”

He added, “Brother Luo, did you try that tree? Liberation pecked at it for a long time.”

Luo Ren stood up, turned on the bounty hunter, and pointed the detector plate at the tree that Cao Liberation had pecked, from roots to branches.

Cao Yanhua finally gave up hope.

“What about Hongsha and Wansan?”

Cao Yanhua hung his head: “They ran away, hand in hand.”

According to him, at the time, they had fled in panic, hampered by the tent. His foot slipped, and the three of them tumbled together. They threw off the tent, and with the pheasant flock about to catch up, Yi Wansan shouted: “Fatty! Run!”

Then he grabbed Yan Hongsha’s hand and ran.

Cao Yanhua was heartbroken: “He shouted ‘Fatty, run!’ I thought he was going to pull me up, so I didn’t hurry to get up. Sister Hongsha got up quickly, they joined hands, and ran so fast they disappeared in an instant.”

Mu Dai tore off a piece of adhesive tape, placed a cotton ball on it, and stuck it on his head: “Serves you right! In such a dangerous moment, of course, it’s every man for himself. You were still waiting for someone to pull you up—who do you think you are?”

As for where Yan Hongsha and Yi Wansan had run to, Cao Yanhua couldn’t say. He said he had been pecked by pheasants, and it was so painful that he had howled as he ran at full speed, shaking off the birds. He didn’t know how far he’d run before stumbling and rolling down a slope. He was dazed for quite a while, then noticed bright light beams shooting into the night sky in the distance.

So he had limped back, heading toward the light.

The group hadn’t accomplished anything yet, but had already been thrown into chaos by wild pheasants. Even Luo Ren found it amusing. However, his mind was somewhat at ease: if Yan Hongsha and Yi Wansan were together, these two complemented each other—one with good martial arts, the other with a quick mind. Even if they encountered danger, they could handle it and would eventually find their way back.

Though Yan Hongsha and Yi Wansan had indeed “joined hands and run so fast,” it wasn’t quite as Cao Yanhua had described—”disappeared in an instant.”

Hearing Cao Yanhua’s screams of pain from being pecked by pheasants, the two had stopped. After exchanging a glance, they steeled themselves, each picked up a branch from the ground, and rushed back.

But by the time they returned, Cao Yanhua had already run off without a trace. Many pheasants that had stopped pursuing now saw new targets and renewed their attack.

They had to run again, occasionally picking up stones to throw backward. Yan Hongsha, having trained in martial arts, had good aim and hit two or three birds. However, she didn’t use much force because Yi Wansan urgently reminded her: “Just scare them off. If you killed the Pheasant King or something, all the pheasants on Feng Mountain Ridge would come for revenge, and we’d never get out.”

Indeed, at appropriate times, one should maintain good relations with chickens—for the chickens, and oneself, leaving a way out.

When their legs felt about to break, the pursuit behind them finally faded away.

The two were gasping for breath, nearly exhausted. As they caught their breath, a long howl came from far away, carried by the wind.

Yan Hongsha’s heart tightened, and all her hair stood on end: “Wansan, that sounds like… wolves.”

Yi Wansan was also tense: “Do you have any weapons on you?”

No—the situation had developed so suddenly that they hadn’t brought any equipment, not even flashlights or lighters.

Looking around, all they could see was a pitch-black forest. They couldn’t even remember which direction they had come from.

A cold wind blew, and the howling grew closer. Fear bred suspicion, and they felt the unseen forest rustling as if a pack of fierce beasts was approaching.

Cold sweat seeped from Yi Wansan’s forehead: “Hongsha, climb a tree first. Wolves can’t climb trees. Even if we have to spend the night in a tree, it’s better than being carried off by wolves.”

The two chose a sturdy tree and climbed up using both hands and feet. Leaning against thick branches, they hardly dared to breathe, hearing only the sound of large leaves rustling in the wind.

Faint moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves. Yi Wansan saw Yan Hongsha gesturing for him to look down.

He slowly lowered his body, pressing his chest and abdomen against the branch.

Below the tree circled two or three wolves circled with fierce faces, their eyes glowing eerily, their thick tails hanging down. In the moonlight, their two pointed ears stood erect.

They seemed to know there were people in the tree and looked up reluctantly. In that instant when their mouths opened, Yi Wansan thought he saw a mouthful of sharp teeth.

The wolves continued circling under the tree.

Yan Hongsha whispered, “Wansan, I’ve heard wolves are very clever. They can stack on top of each other and encircle their prey. We shouldn’t sleep tonight.”

Sleep? Was she still thinking about sleeping tonight? How relaxed could a woman’s mind be?

Yi Wansan reminded her: “Hold on tight, don’t fall.”

Yan Hongsha suddenly became anxious: “What about Mu Dai and the others, and Cao Fatty? Will they encounter wolves?”

Yi Wansan was already regretful. Why had they run from the campsite in the first place? At the time, they had a tent. Though it was rocked by the pheasant flock, if the three had worked together and sealed the tent completely, forget birds—even wolves couldn’t have gotten in. How had they ended up in this situation?

He said quietly, “Luo Ren and the little mistress should be fine. They have weapons and good martial arts skills. It’s Cao Fatty I’m worried about…”

His martial arts weren’t great, and he was plump all over—just what wolves preferred.

After a pause, the wolves walked away, and the forest grew quiet, but Yi Wansan became even more nervous.

Had they truly left, or were they planning some sinister scheme?

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and inadvertently looked up, suddenly seeing scattered light in the distance.

It was unlikely to be natural light—chances were that Luo Ren had set up a light beacon to help them find their way back.

Yan Hongsha saw it too and felt somewhat excited: “Should we go back?”

Yi Wansan gave a horrified laugh: “Go back? Do you dare? What if we encounter wolves on the way? They can shoot from where they are. They have all the equipment—guns and fire. Wild beasts won’t dare approach them. Better for them to find us than for us to find them.”

This made sense. Yan Hongsha bit her lip and looked at the thin, scattered light, her eyes gleaming with hope. She said, “It would be good if Cao Fatty were with them.”

Time passed minute by minute. The wolves didn’t return. The wind ebbed and flowed, and leaves rustled constantly by their ears. Yi Wansan, afraid Yan Hongsha might fall asleep, kept talking to her. At first, she responded, but later her replies dwindled to just “mm” and “ah.”

Looking at her in the moonlight, he saw that her gaze had become somewhat vacant—the kind of extreme tiredness where one struggles to stay awake. Several times, she pinched the flesh of her thigh.

She was a young woman after all. Yi Wansan, seeing how hard she pinched herself each time, felt a bit sorry for her: “How about this—you sleep for a while, and I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

The tree wasn’t comfortable for sleeping. He moved back a bit, giving up the center position near the trunk, letting Yan Hongsha lie closer to the middle. Yan Hongsha was quite embarrassed and said: “I’ll just close my eyes for a moment. Wake me if wolves come.”

“I will, I will.”

“Or we could take turns. When you get tired later, you can sleep, and I’ll keep watch.”

“I know, I know. Hurry up and sleep.”

His tone was impatient, as if annoyed by her talking too much. Yan Hongsha thought dejectedly: Yi Wansan seems to dislike me.

Indeed, he was both dismissive and disdainful, even lying about having written an article for her, then backing out.

She sighed, her eyelids pulled down by invisible hands, and quickly fell asleep.

The hard surface made her uncomfortable, leading to uncomfortable dreams.

She dreamed of her uncle Yan Jiuxiao, crawling eerily on the seabed; she dreamed of a cloth-sewn Weather Doll hanging down a well—when she looked closer, the doll suddenly grinned at her; she also dreamed of a dog picking up a burning piece of wood from a stove, walking stealthily on its hind legs, lighting the curtains in the room one by one…

Finally, she dreamed she was in a forest.

Dense trees surrounded her with swirling mist. There were intermittent wolf howls that made one’s scalp tingle.

She ran quickly, seemingly searching for someone, constantly calling out “Mu Dai,” “Luo Ren,” “Cao Fatty.”

Behind her came rustling sounds. She turned alertly and saw several disproportionately narrow shadows flickering behind the trees, accompanied by low whispers.

—It’s right here…

—She’s about to find it…

—No, no, no, she can’t imagine…

This dream scene felt so familiar. Hadn’t Mu Dai talked about this dream? At that time, they had discussed how those disproportionately narrow shadows might be the evil bamboo slips.

“She’s about to find it”—find what? Could it be the seventh evil bamboo slip?

Yan Hongsha’s heart pounded with both tension and excitement. She held her breath and slowly walked deeper into the forest, leaving the murmuring voices behind.

The scene before her suddenly opened up to reveal a large tree. The wild wolves circling beneath it abruptly turned around, dripping saliva between their bared teeth, their glowing green eyes like ghostly fires. With several guttural sounds from their throats, they pounced directly at her. Knocked to the ground, Yan Hongsha screamed, her eyes wide open, seeing a person crouching in the tree, staring at her like an owl…

Yan Hongsha shuddered and woke up.

Dawn was breaking. A thin morning mist hung in the forest. Yi Wansan was crouching on a branch, and indeed, he did look somewhat like an owl.

Yan Hongsha wanted to laugh. She moved uncomfortably, then suddenly discovered she had a coat over her.

Thinking she might be seeing things, she rubbed her eyes and looked again. It was a coat—Yi Wansan’s coat.

This was truly unexpected. Hadn’t he always seemed to dislike her? And hadn’t they agreed to take turns? Why hadn’t he woken her? Did he want to let her sleep longer?

Yan Hongsha’s heart beat rapidly for a while. After a moment, she cleared her throat and said, “Why didn’t you wake me? Did the wolves come back…”

“Shh!”

Yi Wansan gestured for her to be quiet: “Listen.”

Listen? To what? Yan Hongsha was momentarily bewildered.

The morning forest resonated with various sounds of revival—branches swaying, leaves floating, wind passing through the trees…

Wait, wait. Yan Hongsha heard something.

Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

It sounded like something pecking at stone, very faint, penetrating the thin mist, continuous and persistent.