160: Chapter 160 "Don't dig that thing up; let it sleep."

It was raining in Beicheng.

When Chen Zhen walked out of the high-speed railway station, the rain slanted against his face, feeling cool.

There weren't many people in the square in front of the station; a few travelers holding umbrellas hurried by with their heads down, the wheels of their suitcases making dull sounds on the wet ground.

He pulled the hood of his windbreaker up and stood under the eaves.

Zhou Rui followed from behind, his backpack covered with a rain cover, looking like a bulging blue tortoise shell.

"This rain is not light," he looked up at the sky, "Can we go into the mountains?"

Yun Xi arrived as well, walking over from the other side. She wasn't using an umbrella, and the brim of her raincoat hood was pulled very low, revealing only half of her face.

"The rain is even heavier over at North Mountain."

She glanced at the weather on her phone, "It is moderate rain over at Shiqiao Village, turning to light rain in the afternoon."

Chen Zhen did not hesitate.

"Let's go. We'll decide once we reach Shiqiao Village."

The bus station was to the north of the high-speed railway station, a ten-minute walk away.

The waiting hall was not large, with a few people sitting scattered about. The air was filled with a smell of instant noodles mixed with damp clothes.

Zhou Rui went to buy three tickets; when he returned, he had three cups of hot soy milk in his hands.

"Get something to eat first. There might not be food when we get to Shiqiao Village."

Chen Zhen took the soy milk; it was hot, and a layer of water droplets had condensed on the cup wall.

He took a sip; it was a bit too sweet.

Yun Xi didn't drink hers; she placed the soy milk on an empty chair nearby and looked down at her phone.

"Han Lie said he has been to North Mountain twice. Once ten years ago, and once five years ago. The stone tablet is still there, but many trees have grown around it, making it hard to find."

Zhou Rui took out Shen Zhiyuan's map from his backpack and spread it out on his knees.

"He took the road on the east side, marked 'Danger'. We will enter from the south; it's a detour, but it's safe."

Chen Zhen stared at the "Danger" character on the map.

When Shen Zhiyuan wrote this character, the ink was thicker than the surrounding text, and the brush strokes were pressed down, as if to deliberately emphasize it.

"Did he take the road on the east side?" Zhou Rui asked.

"He did." Chen Zhen pointed to the dashed line on the map, "The dashed line is his route. Up from the east, down from the east. It is marked 'Danger' because he encountered a landslide."

Zhou Rui leaned in to look.

"Then did he still take the east side afterwards?"

"He only takes the east side. Marking it 'Danger' wasn't for himself; it was to warn others."

The bus arrived.

The three of them got on the bus and chose seats by the window in the back row.

The bus swayed as it drove out of the city; the buildings outside the window became shorter, and there were more and more trees.

The windshield wipers swung back and forth on the windshield, making a monotonous squeaking sound.

Chen Zhen leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes to rest.

He was going over the terrain of North Mountain in his mind—starting from Shiqiao Village, hike twelve kilometers of mountain road north, the altitude rises from three hundred meters to eight hundred meters. The rune stone is on the southeast side of the mountainside, near a pine forest, and below the pine forest is a scree slope.

Shen Zhiyuan had written in his notes that the scree slope had collapsed later on.

When it collapsed, it buried half of the rune stone, and it took him three days to dig it out.

The bus jolted, and Chen Zhen opened his eyes.

Zhou Rui had fallen asleep against the window, his mouth slightly open, holding his backpack in his arms. The elastic band of the rain cover was digging into his neck, leaving a red mark.

Yun Xi was not asleep; she had been looking at her phone, the light from the screen reflecting on her face, her expression very calm.

"Han Lie said there is an old guide in Shiqiao Village named Uncle Chen. He went to North Mountain when he was young and knows the location of the rune stone."

Yun Xi handed over her phone.

On the screen was a chat log, sent by Han Lie: "Uncle Chen is over seventy, hard of hearing, but his legs are still okay. When you get to Shiqiao Village, ask for him and say Han Lie introduced you. He lives in the second house at the entrance of the village, and there is a persimmon tree in front of his door."

The bus drove for two and a half hours. By the time they reached Shiqiao Village, the rain had eased a bit, turning from heavy rain into moderate rain.

The village was not big, with a few dozen households lined up along both sides of a dirt road.

The houses were old-fashioned brick and tile houses. Some of the walls still had slogans from decades ago painted on them, the writing blurry.

The first house at the entrance of the village was a grocery store, with half of the door panels removed, revealing the dark shelves inside.

The second house was Uncle Chen's home. There was indeed a persimmon tree in front of the door; most of the leaves had fallen, and a few unpicked orange-red persimmons hung on the bare branches, wet in the rain.

Zhou Rui went to knock on the door.

He knocked a few times, but no one answered.

He knocked again, and an old man's voice came from inside, very slow, as if it were coming from a great distance. "Who is it?"

"Sent by Han Lie!"

The door opened.

The old man was taller than Chen Zhen had imagined, his back a bit hunched, but his eyes were very bright, not looking like a man in his seventies.

He was wearing an old military overcoat, with the buttons done up incorrectly, the hem uneven on one side.

He glanced at the three of them, his gaze pausing for a moment on Chen Zhen, then he turned sideways to let them in.

"Come in, the rain is heavy outside."

The room was not big, with a table, a few chairs, and a stove.

On the stove sat an iron pot with the lid on, steaming hot.

Uncle Chen walked to the stove and lifted the lid. Inside, potatoes were stewing, bubbling away, the aroma rising with the steam.

"Have you eaten?"

"Yes, we have," Zhou Rui said.

Uncle Chen ignored him, took three bowls from the cupboard, wiped them with a rag, scooped three bowls of potatoes, and placed them on the table.

"Eat some more even if you have. It's cold in the mountains, you need something substantial in your stomach."

Chen Zhen sat down and picked up the bowl.

The potatoes were stewed until very soft, the soup was milky white, and the saltiness was just right.

He took a few bites, and his body warmed up.

Zhou Rui also sat down to eat, eating very quickly, taking the map out of his backpack while eating and spreading it out on the table.

Uncle Chen leaned over to take a look. "North Mountain?"

"How did you know?" Zhou Rui was stunned for a moment.

Uncle Chen pointed to the circle on the map.

"I've been to this place when I was young. Back then, there hadn't been a landslide, and the road was easy to walk." He sat down and picked up his own bowl to take a sip of soup. "Later it collapsed, burying the road. If you want to go there, you have to take a detour."

"How far is the detour?"

Uncle Chen didn't answer directly; he stood up, walked to the wall, and took down a shoulder pole.

The shoulder pole was very long. He held it horizontally, pointing one end at Shiqiao Village on the map and the other at the main peak of North Mountain.

"A detour. Go up from the south, it's two hours longer."

He used the shoulder pole to draw a line on the map.

"Take this gully. There is a stream in the gully. Follow the stream up, turn left when you get to the mountainside, pass through a pine forest, and you will arrive."

Zhou Rui took notes.

Uncle Chen hung the shoulder pole back on the wall and turned to look at Chen Zhen.

"You have something on you."

Zhou Rui and Yun Xi looked up at the same time.

Uncle Chen didn't look at them, only stared at Chen Zhen.

"Golden. On your chest."

Chen Zhen didn't speak.

Uncle Chen waited for two seconds, didn't get an answer, and didn't press for one either. He turned and walked back to the stove, lifted the lid, and stirred the soup.

"When I was young, I also saw people with light on them. His surname was Shen. Back then, he came every year, and whenever he came, he would stay for several days." He paused. "Later, he stopped coming. They said he was sick."

Chen Zhen put down his bowl. "Shen Zhiyuan."

Uncle Chen nodded.

"Yes, that's the name. The last time he came was thirty years ago. The day he left, he said something to me."

"What did he say?"

Uncle Chen was silent for a moment.

"He said, the thing underneath cannot be dug up. Let it sleep."