Chapter 24: The Woman on the Beam

"Captain Zhao, Senior Sister..."

"Captain, Zhang Yihan..."

I called out loudly several times, but there was no response, not even an echo from the valley.

I checked my phone and found there was no signal. Immediately, I turned on the walkie-talkie we had prepared beforehand and switched to the prearranged channel, calling out, "Captain Zhao, Senior Sister, if you hear this, please respond..."

I called out for quite a while but received no reply. They must not have their walkie-talkies turned on. I left mine on, waiting for them to call me.

Gazing at the thick, sun-blocking fog, I started to feel uneasy. The fog in the valley was so dense that no sunlight could penetrate, making it dark even though it was broad daylight outside.

Knowing that waiting here wouldn't help, I hurriedly retraced my steps to see if they were still behind me. After climbing for about ten minutes without finding them, I came across a fork in the path. Both paths had freshly cut branches and grass, suggesting recent activity.

This area must not see many visitors, as the dense undergrowth would be impossible to navigate without a machete. It seemed they had split up.

Feeling a bit irritated that they hadn't informed me about splitting up, I chose a path at random and continued.

Along the way, I saw many freshly cut branches and grass. After following this path for over an hour, I still hadn't caught up with anyone. I decided to sit down, take off my gas mask, rest for a bit, and eat something.

I noticed that the path I was on seemed to follow the contour of the mountainside, neither ascending nor descending. It puzzled me; we had agreed to check the valley, so why was this path running horizontally?

After some thought and a short rest, I resumed my pursuit.

I continued along the machete-cleared path, determined to catch up. After about another hour and a half, the path suddenly took a sharp descent towards the valley. Standing at that spot, everything seemed normal, but I couldn't understand why the person ahead had chosen to descend here.

As I walked down the path, I noticed a yellow talisman paper hanging from a tree branch. It was about three fingers wide, with red symbols drawn on it.

I initially thought Zhao Mingzhu had left it, but upon closer inspection, I found it damp with dew, suggesting it wasn't recent. Given the high humidity in the mountains, it wouldn't have accumulated so much dew in just an hour or two.

But if it wasn't Zhao Mingzhu or Zhang Yihan, who could it have been?

Shortly after, I came across a human skeleton lying beside the path. It was a complete skeleton, from head to toe, with a yellow talisman on its forehead. The skeleton's right hand rested on a small tree branch, pointing down towards the valley, as if guiding me.

It was clear that Zhao Mingzhu and Zhang Yihan couldn't have made this path. They wouldn't have had such talismans. The fog in the mountains was thick, and freshly cut branches could still appear recent even after a few days. It seemed I had been misled.

Realizing this, I didn't want to linger any longer. I needed to get to the village at the bottom of the valley quickly.

Believing Zhao Mingzhu and Zhang Yihan would head to the village if they got separated, I descended rapidly, hoping to meet them there. The path eventually leveled out again.

Knowing I couldn't keep following this path blindly, I took out my machete and cut a direct route down to the valley.

Finally, after more than an hour of hacking through the undergrowth, I reached the valley floor. The fog was much lighter here, with visibility up to twenty or thirty meters.

I tried calling on the walkie-talkie again, but there was still no response. Determined, I decided to explore the village on my own. If they weren't in the valley, I'd have to search alone.

I marked the path back to the initial house I had seen with arrows on the stone slabs, ensuring I wouldn't lose my way in the fog.

The houses in the village were built along the mountainside, facing the central marsh. Contrary to what Old Wang at the county chronicle office had described, the valley floor wasn't dry but was a sprawling marshland with scattered lotus flowers.

Following the stone path, I passed several wooden houses. Each had coffins in the main hall and skeletons with yellow talismans on their foreheads. The scene was eerie, a testament to the devastating plague that had wiped out the village decades ago.

Imagining the horror of that epidemic, I assumed the first to die were placed in coffins, while those who died later were left beside them, lacking enough coffins for everyone.

In the 1970s, China was still very poor and underdeveloped. Faced with a plague, there was little to do but wait to die.

The dense miasma was due to decomposing organic matter. With no one to clear the dead animals, the toxic gases accumulated in the valley, making it dangerous for anyone who entered unprepared.

Initially, I thought the valley was small, based on our view from the hilltop. But as I walked, it seemed endless. When I unknowingly circled back to my starting point, I couldn't stay calm anymore.

"How did I get back here?" Seeing the message I had left, I began to sweat.

Checking my watch, it was only 2:30 PM. Had I walked the entire valley in just two hours?

I took out the air monitor and saw that the air quality was acceptable. Removing my gas mask, I quickly ate some compressed biscuits and drank water to regain my strength.

Knowing I had limited time, I headed back to the house where I had left the message, hoping Zhao Mingzhu and Zhang Yihan would be there.

However, as I approached the house, I was shocked. The white-haired woman who had been hanging from the beam was gone.

Without hesitation, I turned and ran.

At that moment, I found two reasons to leave quickly:

First, I might have unknowingly circled the valley, finding no trace of Ge Lao and Zhao Mingzhu, suggesting no point in further searching.

Second, I needed to get out before dark to avoid getting lost.

I climbed the path as quickly as possible. Midway up the mountain, my walkie-talkie suddenly came to life with an urgent voice: "Xiao Lin, Xiao Lin, do you hear me?"

I recognized Zhang Yihan's voice and replied excitedly, "Senior Sister, where are you?"

"Kid, we're at the house where you left the message. Why aren't you here yet?" Zhang Yihan shouted.

Hearing this, I was both happy and frustrated. Happy that they were safe, but frustrated knowing I wouldn't make it back before dark.

Of course, I couldn't leave them. I turned to head back down, but as I did, I saw a gaunt old man in the forest, hunched over and grinning at me.