254: Chapter 254 Double Image

The new cave, like a tempting yet dangerous Pandora's box, stirred ripples in Ling Ye's heart.

He suppressed the impulse to immediately occupy that dry, warm space, and also held back his speculation and unease about the Neighbor's whereabouts, forcing himself to return to his daily routine—reinforcing his old cave, stockpiling fuel, hunting and gathering, and continuing to lonely hone his survival skills in the wilderness, which had become even more difficult after the wind and rain.

However, unlike the pure, solitary survival of the past, the shadow of the collapsed shack and the secrets of the abandoned cave hung over his actions like two invisible shackles.

Every time he looked towards the southwest, every time he passed the Water Source slate (still empty), he would unconsciously pause for a moment, as if expecting that familiar, hunched figure to miraculously emerge from behind the desolate hills, breaking this suffocating silence with a stone or a pack of dried meat.

But the wilderness only responded with an eternal, lead-gray silence.

Seven or eight more days passed this way.

The weather did not truly improve; it merely shifted from violent cold currents to persistent low temperatures and haze.

Ling Ye's fuel reserves were mostly exhausted again, his hunting yields were meager, and the plants he gathered grew weak due to the persistent cold.

The shadow of hunger, like a maggot on a bone, quietly approached once more.

Just as he began to seriously consider whether to risk entering that "abandoned cave" to find more usable resources, or even consider it as a new long-term base, an extremely small, yet impossible-to-ignore change appeared.

It was on another cold dusk when he went to the Water Source to fetch water as usual.

As he approached the depression and habitually cast his gaze toward that familiar slate, his footsteps froze in place.

There was something on the slate.

Not a package, not dried meat.

It was a few small stones, arranged in an extremely complex and orderly manner he had never seen before.

Ling Ye's heart skipped a beat, then began to pound with a wild rhythm!

He practically lunged over, crouching beside the slate, his eyes fixed on those few stones.

At the core of the arrangement were three stones of different colors and shapes, forming an irregular triangle:

A smooth black pebble (representing "Accept/Understand"?).

A piece of gray schist with fresh chiseled marks (representing "Information/News"?).

A piece of white quartz with a natural hole in the center (representing "Passage/Location"? Or something else?).

In the center of the triangle formed by the three stones lay a small pinch of gray-green moss—the very same type of moss the Neighbor had used previously to warn of the "dangerous cave"!

But this time, the moss was fresh, even carrying the scent of moist soil.

And at one corner of the triangle, pointing towards the southwest (the direction of the Neighbor's original shack), an arrow shape was laid out with smaller gravel.

At another corner of the triangle, pointing towards the northeast (the approximate location of the "abandoned cave" Ling Ye had discovered), a charcoal drawing of an extremely simplified "person" symbol was made, but the head of this person symbol was circled.

What did this mean?!

Ling Ye's brain raced, attempting to decipher this complex, even somewhat chaotic "Stone Language."

Black pebble (Accept) + Gray schist (Information) + White holed stone (Location/Passage) + Fresh moss (Danger association) — "Information/passage about that dangerous location (moss cave), received/understood"?

Arrow pointing southwest (old shack) — "I (was) over there"? Or "From over there"?

Northeast, person's head circled — "Someone over there (northeast cave)? Trapped? Beware?" Or maybe... "I left a 'head' (mark/information) over there (cave)?" Or "There are clues about a 'person' (me? enemy?) over there"?

The direction of the information was vague, even contradictory.

But one thing was crystal clear: The Neighbor was back!

Or, at the very least, it was active in this area again and had left this set of extremely important, clearly directed "Stone Language"!

Moreover, this set of "Stone Language" was directly linked to that dangerous moss cave and the cave in the northeast!

The Neighbor knew about that cave! Perhaps even knew that Ling Ye had already discovered it!

A chill, mixed with intense excitement and vigilance, instantly swept over Ling Ye.

He forced himself to calm down and carefully re-examined every detail of the slate.

Then, he discovered more.

On the edge of the slate, near the direction of the Water Source seepage, there was an extremely inconspicuous, slightly darker wet mark, shaped like a distorted, lying-down "8," or... a variant of the infinity symbol "∞"?

Was it a natural water flow mark? Or left intentionally?

And in the crevice beneath the slate, close to the ground, he seemed to glimpse a faint, dark red reflection.

He carefully pushed aside the gravel and saw a piece of dark red pottery shard, the size of a fingernail, with sharp edges.

The shard was new, the cross-section rough, as if it had just been shattered not long ago.

Fresh moss, a new wet mark symbol, a new pottery shard... All of this indicated that the Neighbor had been here not long ago, and, very likely, was not in a good state (shattered pottery?), yet still tried its best to leave this complex, even seemingly hurried and chaotic "message."

Was it passing a warning? Indicating a direction? Asking for help? Or setting up some kind of trap that Ling Ye could not yet understand?

Ling Ye's heart was completely in chaos.

He picked up the dark red pottery shard; it felt cold to the touch.

There were no patterns on it, only a rough texture and a fresh fracture.

He had to make a decision.

Should he immediately follow the instructions of the "Stone Language" and go to the northeast cave to investigate?

Or go to the collapsed shack in the southwest to check?

Or, hold his position and wait for the Neighbor's next contact?

The risk of direct contact was immense.

But if the Neighbor was truly over by the cave, and was in a situation of danger or needed help...

Ling Ye's gaze fell once more on that set of stone arrangements.

Especially the "person's head circled" symbol.

It didn't look like a simple mark, but more like an image of... being trapped, restricted, or "being watched."

Was the Neighbor in trouble over at the cave? Trapped?

Or did the cave contain important clues about the Neighbor's past (or an enemy) that required him to discover them?

He looked towards the northeast.

In the twilight, the outline of those hills was even deeper, like a crouching giant beast.

Ultimately, the sense of responsibility to the "alliance," the concern for the Neighbor's safety (though still filled with vigilance), and the curiosity about that mysterious cave and the potential secrets within it, overcame the fear of direct risk.

He decided to risk going to the northeast cave, conducting an extremely cautious investigation, focused on reconnaissance and observation, and absolutely avoiding exposure.

Goal: Confirm if there were traces of the Neighbor or new information left in the cave, assess if there was danger, and at the same time, verify the meaning of the "person's head" symbol in the "Stone Language."

He quickly returned to his cave and made the most thorough preparations: bringing his bow and all arrows, a fruit knife, a spearhead, a water bottle, the last bit of salt and medicine, and flint fire starter.

He carefully checked his equipment to ensure nothing would go wrong.

Then, under the cover of night, like a true ghost, he silently set off towards the northeast, towards the cave he had discovered a few days ago that hid secrets.

This time, he was not looking for resources, but to uncover a mystery, to face the true face of the mysterious Neighbor with whom he had forged a silent covenant yet who remained shrouded in mist, and... the danger it might be facing.

The wilderness wind was still cold.

But in Ling Ye's heart, a flame mixed with tension, anticipation, worry, and determination was burning.