Chapter 135: White Bones

Having a guide lead the way was essential. The guide chosen at the time was a famous mountain runner in the county—a very old, highly experienced man named Wei Huai, nicknamed Old Locust Tree. Because of his age, Old Locust Tree no longer ventured into the mountains very often and spent most of his time at home with little to do. When the county organized this expedition, he volunteered to serve as guide. Given his reputation, he naturally became the guide for the team.

Quite a few people entered the mountains that day. Nearly every department sent representatives, and there were more than forty people in all. By the time they reached the interior of Dragonhead Mountain, night had fallen. If they left the mountain, they would still be unable to finish the journey even if they returned the next day. They had no choice but to set up camp where they were and spend the night in the mountains.

Anyone who has never spent a night in the mountains can hardly imagine how miserable it is. Old Locust Tree could not help wondering whether the people from the county seat would be able to endure it. In truth, there was not much danger. Wild beasts feared light, and as long as the camp remained brightly lit through the night, no animals would approach. Of course, it was not impossible—just exceedingly rare.

But at night in the mountains, wild beasts were not the most frightening thing. The worst were the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes there were many times larger than ordinary ones, and a single bite was enough to make a person suffer terribly.

Sure enough, before midnight, quite a few people began to complain. Their swollen bites were both painful and itchy, and almost no one could sleep. Everyone got up and gathered together, chatting around the camp. After a while, they realized that someone seemed to be missing: Deputy Section Chief Wu from the county’s Environmental Protection Bureau.

At first, everyone assumed he was asleep and admired him for being able to rest in such an environment. Then the people sharing his tent said that he was not inside. Everyone guessed that Deputy Chief Wu had gone to relieve himself. But as time passed, it began to feel increasingly wrong. Who could possibly spend an entire hour in the latrine?

It was Old Locust Tree who suddenly realized what might have happened.

He told everyone that Dragonhead Mountain contained many “ghost pits.” A ghost pit was a place that swallowed anyone who fell into it, never allowing them to climb back out. Legend had it that a war had once taken place in Dragonhead Mountain, leaving countless dead behind. The mountain had consequently become saturated with yin energy and heavy resentment, and strange things often happened there.

Old Locust Tree had wanted to warn them from the beginning, but most of these people were Party cadres. If he started talking about superstition, ghosts, and spirits, he might only bring trouble upon himself, so he had kept silent. Now that something had truly gone wrong, he was frantic with worry.

He immediately suggested that one of the bureau chiefs leading the expedition gather more than a dozen young and able-bodied cadres to search for Deputy Chief Wu. This time, Old Locust Tree concealed nothing. Although many people found his explanations ridiculous, he remained extremely cautious.

Just then, someone suddenly let out a scream—and vanished.

Everyone hurried over to look. The man had fallen into the ground, and his entire body was sinking rapidly. Soon, only his head remained above the surface. By the time everyone reacted, they could no longer pull him out.

The scene resembled quicksand in a desert, yet also looked somewhat like a swamp. Someone ran back to camp for tools. When the tools were brought over and they began digging, they discovered that the ground was actually like a hollow tree trunk. They also unearthed quite a few human bones.

The discovery terrified many of those present. Soon afterward, they found the man who had been swallowed. He was already dead. Even more horrifying was the sight at his ankle: a skeletal hand was gripping him, as though that bone-white arm had dragged him into the earth.

Every person there was an atheist, a staunch Party cadre. Yet the sight before them left them stunned. It shattered their entire understanding of the world, striking them with an indescribable force.

Old Locust Tree was shocked as well, but he did not panic. He knew this was what the legends called a ghost dragging away a person. He had heard old people speak of such things before, though this was the first time he had ever witnessed one.

As a mountain runner who had spent his life among the wilderness, Old Locust Tree held a deep reverence for ghosts and spirits. He believed in such superstitions. Without hesitation, he dropped to his knees and began chanting words no one else could understand.

They then summoned more people to pry open the skeletal hand and pull up the young cadre’s body. They discovered Deputy Chief Wu beneath him. To everyone’s surprise, Wu still had a faint breath in him. They quickly dragged him out and attempted emergency treatment.

In the end, however, Deputy Chief Wu could not be saved. The local government sealed the true cause of his death. The story spread only by word of mouth, and whether any of it was true was impossible to say.

The reason Three Flat Gourd knew the details so clearly was that Old Locust Tree had been his master. Three Flat Gourd had once followed him into the mountains. Yet Old Locust Tree had never told him about these events. No matter how persistently Three Flat Gourd questioned him, the old man never let slip a single word.

Still, through occasional probing and stray remarks, Three Flat Gourd managed to learn a few fragments. And it was not only Old Locust Tree who kept silent. Everyone who had been present had guarded the matter closely, as though some hidden truth prevented them from speaking openly. That secrecy made the incident all the more mysterious.

Three Flat Gourd was an exceptionally talkative man. His mouth had not stopped once during the entire journey. Still, that was not necessarily a bad thing. It made the car livelier and kept everyone from becoming too bored while already tense and on edge.

After driving for another ten minutes or so, the road became increasingly bumpy. The concrete pavement disappeared, replaced by dirt. There were hardly any other vehicles passing through the area, so I told our driver to slow down a little more, lest the other side discover us.

At that moment, Guo Fan said from the back seat, “Boss, according to the map, the road ends after another five kilometers. In three kilometers, we’ll pass a village.”

I nodded and continued thinking.

The village we passed was not large. By then, nearly every household had turned off its lights. Whenever our car went by, a few dogs barked from time to time.

When Guo Fan said there was no road ahead, he meant that no road appeared on the map. In reality, there was a narrow farm track there, barely wide enough for a single vehicle. The small trucks were moving extremely slowly.

If the other side had noticed a vehicle behind them earlier, they might have assumed it was simply headed toward the village. But things were different now. At such an hour, on a road like this, it would be impossible for another car to appear by coincidence. Anyone traveling along this farm track at such a time could hardly be going to visit a grave.

Clearly, that was not possible.