My vision gradually sharpened from a blur, focusing on the dark gray roof of a stilt house.
How had I not drowned in such a turbulent current?
But… whose stilt house was this?
A stilt house.
I had no curiosity left for it.
The breath held in my chest instantly dissipated, and the coldness, as if immersed in water, engulfed me.
Perhaps after all that struggle, I hadn’t made it out at all.
Just then, the door suddenly pushed open.
My heart leaped into my throat, its beating paused in my chest, awaiting the answer to be revealed.
But the next second, I saw someone I thought would absolutely never appear here.
Professor Ye Wensheng.
I was stunned, my mind blank, even thinking I was still dreaming.
He, how was he here?
“Li Yuze, why are you staring blankly? Are you dizzy?” Professor Ye stood at the doorway, looking at me calmly.
He was almost forty but well-preserved, appearing only in his early thirties. The gold-rimmed glasses on his face made him look rigorous and solemn.
This was a look very popular with girls, and Ye Wensheng’s “Analysis of Ethnic Culture” was also widely popular; many students at school complained about not being able to get into his class. On weekdays, there were also many auditing students in his classes, filling the bright, tiered lecture hall to the brim.
Only now, this popular face was filled with exhaustion and worry.
“Professor Ye,” I must have looked incredibly foolish, stepping forward a few paces in disbelief, “Where… is this?”
Although I hadn’t drowned, my lungs seemed to be damaged, aching faintly. My emotions ran high, my breathing became labored, and my expanding chest pulled at my lungs with a tearing pain.
I instinctively clutched my chest.
“Are you okay, Li Yuze?” Ye Wensheng pushed his glasses up, holding my arm. “This is An Pu’s home.”
“An Pu?” It took me a moment to remember. That was the tour guide who led us through Dongjiang Miao Village and also the guide Professor Ye had recommended to us.
Just then, a tall figure appeared at the doorway. If I hadn’t been prepared, I might not have recognized him. An Pu had shed his previous disheveled appearance; his face was no longer unshaven but meticulously groomed, revealing his rugged and heroic features.
“You kid, you’ve got nine lives. When people saw you, clinging dead to a piece of wood, floating on the sandbank, everyone thought you were gone. When they pulled you out, you were barely breathing,” An Pu said in broken Mandarin as he entered. “Your Professor Ye almost died of fright when he identified you at the hospital!”
So, that horizontal tree saved me after all. My heart stirred, and I asked, “You’ve been looking for me… What about Qiu Lu and the other two? How are they?”
As soon as I spoke, Professor Ye’s face turned grim, and he lowered his head. An Pu patted his shoulder and said to me, “After you four went missing, Professor Ye came right away. He’s been very anxious and worried about all of you. Earlier, Wen Lingyu brought the other two out of the mountains, but you weren’t with them. Professor Ye refused to leave and insisted on finding you.”
Professor Ye said, “It was my oversight. I thought with An Pu leading you all, you wouldn’t be in any danger. I really shouldn’t have approved your application to visit the Miao Ethnic Village for your research.”
“Then… how are they now?” I couldn’t help but press.
Professor Ye took a deep breath and said, “Wen Lingyu has returned to school. Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong suffered varying degrees of brain damage and have both returned to Yancheng for treatment. Xu Zirong is doing okay, but Qiu Lu’s condition is not optimistic.”
Brain damage to varying degrees… like Ah Song? Or had they completely become puppets of the Gu insect?
I sat blankly on the bed.
Professor Ye said, “After they rescued you, you’ve already been examined at the hospital. Don’t worry, you haven’t been infected with their kind of parasite.”
Parasites… Professor Ye thought they were parasites?
I lifted my head, about to speak, but I met An Pu’s cautionary gaze. My words immediately caught in my throat.
An Pu then said, “Professor Ye, you should rest too. For so many days, even after the search and rescue teams gave up, you kept vigil. Now that this young man is awake, you should get some good sleep and rest.”
Professor Ye’s eyes were indeed swollen, though less obvious behind his glasses. He hesitated for a moment, and I quickly nodded at him. Professor Ye then hummed in acknowledgment and left the room.
Only An Pu and I remained in the room.
An Pu stared at me for a good while, and when I was thoroughly uncomfortable, he finally said, “I thought you wouldn’t make it out.”
“What?”
An Pu spread his legs and sat down in front of me, saying, “When the other three came out, after listened to Wen Lingyu, I went back to look for you. I just happened to meet that young man who used to frequent the Miao village.”
He meant Shen Jianqing?
“That handsome young man was very rude to me. He told me not to look for you again. He said you liked him very much and were determined to stay in Shidi Mountain, telling me not to bother looking for you and causing trouble for myself.”
I had no idea about any of this.
“I…”
An Pu waved his hand, interrupting me. “I don’t care about anything else. I’m telling you that Ye Wensheng never gave up looking for you. I tried to convince Ye Wensheng that you might be dead, but he refused to give up. Even after the rescue team left, he still went into the mountains every day to look for you. It was truly difficult.”
An Pu continued, “So, whatever you’re thinking, if you have any resentment in your heart, don’t blame him. If you must blame someone, blame yourselves for not listening to my advice.”
An Pu was here to speak up for Professor Ye. To be honest, when I was trapped in Shidi Mountain, I naturally felt exasperated. I often thought, if only I hadn’t come to the Miao Ethnic Village, if only I hadn’t taken on Professor Ye’s research project.
But while I had regretted it, I had never resented or blamed Ye Wensheng.
“I’ve never resented Professor Ye,” I said, looking directly into An Pu’s eyes.
“That’s for the best.” An Pu curled his lips into a smile, genuine satisfaction on his rugged face. He then added, “And the second thing, I hope you won’t speak of what happened in Shidi Mountain.”
My gaze sharpened. “Why?”
He knew about the Miao people in Shidi Mountain; An Pu had let it slip when he first took us there for our research visit.
An Pu said with oppressive intensity, “I don’t want to say much about the internal affairs of the Miao people to you. Dongjiang Miao Village and Shidi Miao Village originally belonged to the same Miao lineage, but gradually, through interaction with the Han people, they split into ‘Unassimilated Miao’ and ‘Assimilated Miao.’ The existence of the Unassimilated Miao is tacitly accepted. If you spread this information, you will not only cause trouble for us Miao people but also for yourself. We Miao people are sentimental and stubborn; we don’t shy away from trouble when dealing with enemies.”
Was he threatening me?
I said, “I don’t want to cause trouble, but my friends…”
An Pu cut me off decisively, “This is also what your friend, that young girl named Wen Lingyu, wants.”
I was stunned. “Xiao Wen thinks so too?”
Anpu nodded. “When she left, she voluntarily stated that she would keep absolutely silent about what happened inside, never mentioning it.”
Why? Was Xiao Wen scared? Or did she just want to let this matter rest and not pursue it further?
An Pu stood up, looking down at me as I sat on the bed, arms crossed. “You should think about it carefully, young man. You’ve already experienced the stubbornness and methods of the Miao people; you wouldn’t want to try them a second time, would you? You can also go back early and talk to that young girl.”
With that, An Pu left the room without looking back.
I sat alone on the bed, my mind a tangled mess. I thought I was free after escaping, but the issues I now faced were just as complicated.
I thought for a long time, and finally, only one thought emerged: I need to leave this place quickly, leave Dongjiang, leave the Miao village, and get far, far away from here.
Later that evening, Professor Ye came to my room to check on me. He had slept, and his complexion looked much better, though the fatigue hadn’t completely vanished.
“Professor Ye, when are we going back to Yancheng?” I asked. “I’ve lost all my belongings, so I’ll have to trouble you to take me back.”
Professor Ye smiled gently and said, “We can go back anytime you’re feeling better. After five months in the mountains, are you missing your alma mater that much?”
Five months? I was stunned for a moment and asked, “Is it already September?”
Professor Ye replied, “School starts in a couple of days. I had actually planned to take a temporary leave of absence to focus on finding you. But now, it’s just in time.”
I had always thought it was still midsummer and that I’d only been in the mountains for two or three months. It turns out time truly flies when you’re adrift in the mountains, and days just pass by in a daze. I thought, perhaps these few months in the mountains were like a timeless dream, an unexpected dream in summer. Now that the time had come, the dream was over, and I should return to my normal life. One cannot be trapped by an illusionary dream.
I looked at Ye Wensheng, mustered up my courage, and finally asked the question that had been circling in my mind for a long time.
“Professor Ye, has my… my father looked for me… um, has he asked about me?”
Ye Wensheng had some acquaintances with my father, and I had messaged him before I left, telling him I was going to Dongjiang. But after being missing for so long, I wondered if he would be worried about me.
Ye Wensheng paused with a flicker of helplessness on his face. From his expression, I already knew the answer. Reading people’s expressions has always been my strong suit.
Ye Wensheng sighed and said, “Professor Li has been very busy lately. He just received a national-level research project, so he took his team to the north…” He lowered his gaze to meet my eyes, and I even saw a hint of sympathy in his eyes. “However he did, he did ask me. I, I didn’t want him to worry, so I told him you were fine. And it’s good that you really are fine.”
I don’t need anyone’s pity. I had actually expected this result; I just… just asked casually. I followed his lead. “Then that’s great then. I didn’t bother him; let him focus on his work.”
Don’t bother him because of me.
