Among our group, some had bungee jumped and some had paraglided, but those were extreme sports they dared to try only with proper safety measures. The four of us valued our lives quite a bit; no one wanted to end up here.
The iron chains hung in mid-air with absolutely no safety measures. The wind even made them sway constantly, hitting the cliff face with a grating sound that would make anyone, even those not afraid of heights, feel their legs turn to jelly.
Shen Jianqing seemed to sense our hesitation and said with a half-smile, “If you guys don’t dare, then don’t.” His tone was strange, but every word was clear. He raised his handsome eyebrows and looked at me.
My hands, hanging at my sides, secretly clenched into fists. No matter what, I was definitely going down.
Before Xu Zirong and I, two grown men, could speak, the usually gentle and weak Wen Linyu spoke first: “You look even younger than us, and if you dare go down, then so do I.”
Upon hearing this, I truly looked at her in a new light. All this way, Wen Linyu had spoken softly, without even a heavy breath, and her temper was always mild. I never expected her to be so brave.
Shen Jianqing rolled his eyes, glancing at Wen Linyu indifferently. His gaze was light, carrying a casual weariness. From my angle, the faint red mole on his eyelid, along with the collar around his neck and the silver ornaments on his head, complemented each other, inexplicably giving him an exotic allure, a beauty that was breathtaking.
I had never used the word “beautiful” to describe a boy, but on Shen Jianqing, this word seemed not only not out of place but even remarkably fitting.
On the other side, the tall, burly, and muscular Xu Zirong, not to be outdone, said, “I’ve even done skydiving, but I’ve never tried iron chains like these. They look exciting!” He ended with an upward inflection, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
Qiu Lu pouted and said, “Since we’re going for excitement, let’s go all the way! If I fall, I’m definitely clinging onto you and not letting go! Xu, Zi, Rong!”
It seemed our team was still united at this moment. I had originally been worried they might chicken out.
I said, “I have a few carabiners, but not enough rope. We can only give them to the two girls. I’ll protect Xiao Wen and Xu Zirong, you protect Qiu Lu, okay?”
Xu Zirong immediately thumped his chest, showing off the muscles in his arm.
“Let’s go then.” Shen Jianqing said and was the first to climb the iron chain and step onto the rope ladder.
With such a dangerous rope ladder, it was impossible to carry large items. I could only casually stuff insect repellent, a voice recorder, and a lighter into my pockets. My backpack held my camera and some essentials.
I swallowed hard, controlling my fear of heights, and followed Shen Jianqing. I tried hard to keep my body from trembling, wiping the cold sweat from my palms. My leg tentatively pushed downwards, and when it touched the “steps” made of iron chains, I lowered myself, then extended my other foot, searching for the next step. My hands gripped the chains on both sides tightly, holding myself firmly on the rope ladder. Suddenly, I felt a tightening on my foot, a warm sensation passing through my pants to my skin. I looked down, and Shen Jianqing’s right hand was on the rope ladder, while his left hand was firmly gripping my ankle. Seeing me look at him, he smiled brightly, guiding my foot steadily onto the next step.
The knot in my stomach immediately eased.
Shen Jianqing looked up and said in a very low voice, audible only to the two of us, “Don’t be afraid. You have me.”
My pupils constricted slightly.
I actually have acrophobia. I thought I had hidden it well, that no one had noticed, yet this youth, who looked clearly younger than me, told me, “Don’t be afraid, you have me.”
To say I wasn’t touched would certainly be a lie. I returned a hasty, forced smile, took a few deep breaths, bit my lower lip, and gripped the ropes even tighter with both hands.
Wen Linyu was after me. A rope was tied around her waist, and the end of the rope had a carabiner attached, allowing her to use external force to secure herself to the iron chains. Although she had to unclip it every few steps, which wasted some time, we prioritized stability over speed. Our goal was simply to get down safely.
Her movements were very careful. I watched her descend several steps steadily, and only then did I relax.
After her were Xu Zirong and Qiu Lu.
Just like that, the five of us were strung together on the same chain, like five little grasshoppers.
Due to the number of people, the iron chains swayed continuously, requiring extreme caution with every step to avoid slipping. My hands were clamped onto the chains, my joints long since stiff, and the soreness in my muscles slowly spread throughout my limbs. The mechanical movements helped to dissipate much of my fear; at least my legs weren’t shaking anymore.
I had lost all concept of time, feeling as if I had been climbing here since the beginning of time, but these iron chains seemed endless, still nowhere near the bottom.
After who knows how long, Qiu Lu called from above, “I really can’t go on. I’m so tired… You guys go ahead, I’ll go in a bit.”
Xu Zirong immediately said, “I’ll stay with you.”
I looked up; the clifftop was already very far above us. Looking down, the height from the ground made my scalp tingle. We were now stuck in the middle, caught between a rock and a hard place.
“Do you want to rest?” Shen Jianqing’s voice came from below. I looked down at him; his expression was normal, he wasn’t even breathing heavily, and there wasn’t even a single drop of sweat on his face. His hands loosely held the iron chains, as if he wasn’t dozens of meters in the air but swinging on a playground swing.
I began to admire this youth from the bottom of my heart.
“Yes, we’ve been walking for a long time already.”
It must have been past noon by then, as all the cooking smoke in the valley had vanished. Although standing high provides a great view and an excellent perspective for admiring the scenery, none of us were in the mood to appreciate the view at that moment.
After enough rest, we continued our descent.
With the experience from the first section, we walked more and more steadily. Everyone remained silent, focusing intently on their footing. After about another hour, we finally returned to solid ground, safe and sound.
The moment my feet touched solid ground, I still had an unreal sensation; my legs felt light and floaty, and I almost collapsed.
“We really made it down alive!” The last one, Qiu Lu, landed steadily with Xu Zirong’s help, her face showing the relief and joy of liberation.
When we looked down from above, we could quickly spot the location of each stilt house. But now, immersed in the mountains and a vast expanse of trees, with only branches and leaves as far as the eye could see, finding the stilt houses became a bit more difficult.
It really is “One cannot recognize the true face of Mount Lu, simply because one is in the midst of the mountain[mfn]This line is from Su Shi’s poem (Inscription on the Wall of Xilin Temple), and it metaphorically means: “You can’t see the whole picture when you’re too deeply involved in it.”[/mfn].”
Within Shidi Mountain, we needed a guide even more than we did outside. Furthermore, the Unassimilated Miao people spoke a different language, so we also needed a translator.
But weren’t both right in front of us?
I bit the bullet and troubled Shen Jianqing again: “We don’t have anywhere to stay right now. Could we impose on your home for a few days? Don’t worry, we’ll pay you.”
Shen Jianqing lowered his eyelids to look at me. This was the first time the two of us were this close, and only then did I realize that although the youth looked slender, he was tall. My height of 1.82 meters wasn’t short among men, but he was still a little taller than me.
Shen Jianqing shook his empty backbasket and said, “Why would you give me money?”
“Ah?” I was taken aback, afraid he didn’t understand the meaning of “money” in Chinese, so I explained, “Money is for bartering, for fair trade. If we want to trouble you, of course, we must give you a fair price so you don’t lose out.”
“Bartering, fair trade,” Shen Jianqing murmured. “You people from outside are really strange. Can everything truly be solved with money?”
Xu Zirong lifted his chin and delivered that classic line: “Yes, with money, you can do whatever you want!”
“Heh…” Shen Jianqing curved his rosy lips, revealing a playful smile. “I have no use for money, nor do I need this fair trade thing.”
That was also true. For Shen Jianqing, RMB might not be a circulating currency. This put us in a difficult spot; even money was useless here.
“Then what do you want?” Wen Linyu asked softly.
Shen Jianqing’s heroic eyebrows furrowed, as if he was stumped by the question too. After a long while, he seemed to think of something, a flicker of light passing through his eyes. He looked at me seriously and said, “You can give anything I want? Is it fair?”
To get him to agree, I had to boldly make a grand promise: “As long as I can give it, I’ll satisfy whatever you want.”
Only then did Shen Jianqing look pleased, his long eyebrows relaxing. “Li Yuze, I’ll remember your words, and you should remember them too.”
His tone of voice was still strange, yet when he pronounced my name, his pronunciation was surprisingly accurate. Perhaps it was from them calling my name throughout our journey that unconsciously corrected his pronunciation.
After Shen Jianqing finished speaking, he turned and nodded to Qiu Lu and the other two, left a simple “Follow me,” and then led the way forward.
The four of us followed close behind.
A winding path cut through the dense forest, clearly a place where people frequently walked, which made our movement easier than it had been in the forest above. What was even stranger was that I noticed the forest along the way was completely silent, with no sounds of living creatures at all. Not even a single mosquito or common insect, usually abundant in forests, was to be seen.
Perhaps they had flown elsewhere. I quickly forgot about this seemingly insignificant detail.
After walking for only a short while, a grayish-brown stilt house appeared in our line of sight.
It must have been the one I saw from the cliff, standing alone in the forest. The stilt house was three stories high, nestled against the mountain slope, with several slender bamboo poles extending from beneath to support the entire structure. A set of steps connected the main entrance of the stilt house to the ground, and the edges of some gray tiles, covered in moss, peeked out from the eaves.
Shen Jianqing ascended the steps and gently pushed the door open.
With bewildered expressions on our faces, he turned back, looking down at us. “Come in. This is my home.”
