What kind of person was Shen Jianqing, exactly?
I once thought he was beautiful and kind, that even if his upbringing wasn’t ideal, he still grew independently, brilliant and dazzling.
But now, my judgment has wavered.
Was he really that kind of person? Could the path he pointed to really lead us out? Did he… did he truly want us to leave?
I retreated step by step, using every ounce of strength I had not to make a sound, holding my breath, until I was out of the woods and sure he couldn’t see me. Only then did I turn and sprint back.
Without a candle for light, the surroundings were terrifyingly dark. I stumbled and ran all the way back to the house before daring to breathe heavily.
Wen Lingyu heard the commotion and came out of the room, a towel in her hand. Seeing my panic, she asked with concern, “What’s wrong? You didn’t find Shen Jianqing?”
I swallowed, shaking my head, my breath still uneven: “Whatever you do, don’t mention I looked for him! Remember! Did you hear me?!”
My tone was too harsh, and Wen Lingyu became flustered: “What in the world happened?”
I didn’t know how to describe what I had seen. It was too horrifying, too bizarre. Should I say I suspected Shen Jianqing could control insects? Even I wouldn’t believe it if I said it out loud.
“He might not be who he appears to be. Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong getting a fever at the same time is too suspicious. Xiao Wen, don’t be scared. We’ll bring their temperatures down first. We must leave tomorrow, no matter what.”
Wen Lingyu’s slender brows drooped, her naturally round, smiling eyes cast down: “I understand. With you here, I’m not afraid.”
Patting Wen Lingyu’s shoulder, we turned and each went to tend to the couple.
Fortunately, after taking medicine, and with Wen Lingyu and I caring for them until three in the morning, Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong’s fevers finally went down.
During this time, Xu Zirong woke up. Seeing me, he was still quite confused, and with a voice hoarse and raspy from the fever, like a broken gong, he said, “Ah Ze, why are you here?” After saying that, he exaggeratedly pulled the blanket up and added, “I have a girlfriend, I’m not into guys, you know.”
Me: “……” I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
Seeing that he still had the energy to crack jokes, I guessed he was probably fine.
“Oh, come on, what do you have that I’d be interested in?”
Xu Zirong blinked. “My fresh, lively body, of course…”
“You mean your body now, looking like a boiled prawn?”
“Cough, cough, cough!” Xu Zirong burst into a series of loud coughs.
I quickly said, “Just rest well, don’t talk nonsense.”
“Thank you, Ah Ze, my good brother!” I reached the door, and Xu Zirong called out to me. Just as I was about to be touched, I heard him say, “Could you get me another glass of water?”
I replied, “…Fine.” Taking care of a patient is only right.
After taking care of Xu Zirong, I finally relaxed a bit, but then a headache swept over me.
The veins on my temples throbbed, and a dull pain spread to the top of my head. The two girls’ rooms next door had quieted down. I rubbed my temples, forcing myself to go back to my room and lie down before dawn.
When I woke up again, the sky was just turning a fish-belly white; it must have been before six. After being busy for most of the night, I couldn’t fall back asleep. The headache had subsided somewhat, it was no longer as unbearable.
Remembering the decision I made last night, I painstakingly got up. We couldn’t stay in this place any longer; the longer we stayed, the more likely something unexpected would happen. As long as Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong were able to move, we had to leave today.
As I stepped out of my room, I saw Wen Lingyu. She must have also had a restless night; there were two distinct dark circles under her eyes, and her face was as pale as paper.
“Lulu should be fine now. As for when we are going to leave, I’ll follow your lead.”
As soon as she spoke, Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong emerged from their respective rooms in perfect sync. They, on the other hand, looked rosy-faced and full of energy, showing no signs of having been sick.
Compared to them, Wen Lingyu and I looked more like the patients.
“As soon as possible, get your things packed.”
Qiu Lu stepped forward and said, “Thank you both for last night. Today, just the two of us will carry the luggage!”
Wen Lingyu shook her head. “You’ve just recovered from your illness; you shouldn’t overexert yourselves.”
Xu Zirong quickly said, “I feel fine now, my body’s strong as an ox!” With that, he flexed his arm, showing off his firm muscles.
“Aiya, just let him do more of the work!” Qiu Lu declared, settling the matter.
Their illness was as strange in its departure as it was in its arrival; both of them simultaneously developed fevers and then simultaneously recovered at dawn.
It was truly bizarre, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
“Then, if everyone’s ready, let’s go.” I said.
Qiu Lu suggested, “Maybe we can ask Shen Jianqing again about the way out.”
At the mention of Shen Jianqing, the memory of what I saw in the woods last night surfaced, countless black insects encircling him, while he stood there completely unperturbed.
“Don’t disturb him. We can figure out our way out on our own.” With that, Wen Lingyu and I exchanged glances. In her worried eyes, I saw my own pale reflection.
Downstairs in the stilt house, there was still no one around. Shen Jianqing’s door and windows were tightly shut, and he was nowhere to be found.
I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If I had actually run into him, I didn’t know if I could have acted normally.
We set off lightly, tracing our steps back along the path we remembered, and quickly arrived at the foot of the cliff.
Climbing the iron chain would allow us to leave this place.
But reality, once again, delivered a harsh, unannounced slap to our faces.
The iron chain on the cliff was gone!
We ran to the base of the cliff, searching back and forth in a wide circle. The cliff face was covered in wild grass and moss, with nameless small flowers growing, but where was any trace of that iron chain?
Where was the iron chain that was originally here?!
Without the iron chain, how were we supposed to get back?
It felt as if a black insect had crawled into my chest, biting me, producing a fine, dense, terrifying pain…
“I didn’t see wrong, did I? Or did we come to the wrong place? The iron chain isn’t here.” Qiu Lu rubbed her eyes, unwilling to accept the fact.
Xu Zirong said, “Impossible. I remember this is exactly where we came down. No mistake.”
“Someone cut the iron chain from up there?” Qiu Lu asked.
The iron chain was extremely heavy; the iron chains on the Luding Bridge could weigh up to forty tons, and the one on this cliff would only be heavier. If someone cut the rope from above and wanted to retrieve the chain, it would undoubtedly require immense human effort. If they didn’t care about the chain… then, logically, it should be piled at the base of the cliff. The commotion of moving such a heavy chain would surely have alerted us.
“Regardless, our current predicament is that there’s no iron chain to climb, so we can’t get out at all.” I said, frowning.
Qiu Lu asked, “What do we do? Do we go back and ask the Miao villagers for help?”
Before I could speak, Wen Lingyu shook her head vehemently, rejecting the idea.
I said, “They don’t understand our language, and they might not even be willing to help us.”
Xu Zirong pressed, “What about Shen Jianqing? What exactly happened between you and Shen Jianqing that we have to avoid him when we leave?”
I sighed softly, knowing they wouldn’t want to leave without understanding. So, I told them what I had seen in the woods last night and some of my speculation.
After listening, the three fell into a long silence.
Much later, I often thought that at the time, we were just university students, with very limited understanding of the world, and we were eager to view everyone and everything with the greatest goodwill. We so rashly stumbled into the Unassimilated Miao settlement, believing we would receive kind treatment from simple folk. But in reality, our presence was a threatening signal in their eyes.
A signal that might disrupt their secluded, stable, and comfortable lives.
So, how could they possibly let us leave alive, perhaps even publishing articles exposing the Unassimilated Miao customs and culture?
It was a truth we simply hadn’t grasped yet.
Xu Zirong tried to climb the cliff face. But the cliff was covered with much greenery and moss, making it slippery, with no handholds. He climbed two steps and then fell, which I quickly caught him from.
“No good,” Xu Zirong said, shaking his head helplessly. “If I can’t climb it, much less you guys.”
So, we were now in a dilemma, caught between a rock and a hard place.
There was no path to leave, and going back might also be dangerous.
My gaze drifted, and I suddenly thought of the wide river in the Unassimilated Miao settlement. We had been so focused on the arched bridge and the red ribbons that we had overlooked the river itself.
“I think I’ve found a way out, but it’s just a guess.” I said softly.
Qiu Lu immediately pressed, “What is it?”
“We can follow the river. The river isn’t stagnant water, so it must connect to the outside world. If we follow the riverbed, we’ll definitely find our way out.”
Wen Lingyu nodded as if she’d had an epiphany. “That’s not a bad idea.”
At this point, we truly had no other options.
With a direction in mind, we put on our backpacks and set off. We had no idea where this river originated or where it would flow. We made our way to the riverbed and followed the direction of the current, moving steadily forward.
The paths here were all mountain trails, and more accurately, they were barely trodden routes that couldn’t even be called “paths.”
We stumbled along, twisting our ankles several times.
Qiu Lu was in even worse shape; her feet were rubbed raw inside her shoes, bleeding profusely and soaking the sponge insoles of her sneakers. Xu Zirong watched, heartbroken but helpless.
The mountain path didn’t align with all our expectations. Soon, we entered a gorge, and the Unassimilated Miao village, like a secluded paradise, was left far behind us.
The gorge path was even steeper, and the gap between the two mountains was extremely narrow. The river seemed squeezed between the two peaks. We walked along the edge of the gorge, with the rushing river below us and the roaring sound of water in our ears.
Looking up, we could only see the mountain on the opposite side and a sliver of sky compressed into a thin line. Besides that, a few birds occasionally soared overhead.
It was truly “mountains connected on both banks, with hardly a break.”
