As soon as Xiao Xia left Ironhead Mountain, she headed strait towards Naman Village.
The distance from southern Sichuan was much closer compared to going from the north like they did last time when handling Guan Zheng’s case. However, due to the lack of convenient transportation options, it took much longer.
Xiao Xia barely slept in days. She was afraid Ruan Zhan’s soul would wake up, afraid she would forever lose her chance to save him. Therefore, despite her exhaustion, she still desperately tried to make up for lost time. This suffering was nothing compared to the pain of losing Ruan Zhan.
However, the heavens seemed to be against her. No matter what form of transport she chose, issues cropped up. Planes and trains were delayed, cars broke down along the way. Even taxis managed to go the wrong way. She burned with anxiety, wanting nothing more than to fly straight to Naman. By the time she finally reached the village at the foot of the mountain, her body was ready to give out and it was already deep in the night.
She hurriedly ate a bowl of noodles and drank some water to avoid starving along the way, and considered whether or not to make her way into the mountains at night. Time waited for no one so she naturally wanted to act immediately. However, the mountain forest was dangerous at night. The road terrain was already tough without considering what might be lurking in the dark. She wasn’t afraid of something happening to her, but rather that Ruan Zhan would be done for if something did.
Just as she was pacing around the town entrance trying to make up her mind, a loud mechanical noise drew her attention. Turning around, she saw a brand new red tractor driving from the town to the outskirts. She was clearly standing in the way.
She instinctively went to move out of the way, but a flash of inspiration caused her to hurriedly run back and wave the car down. The person driving the tractor obviously didn’t expect her to do this, and didn’t slow down at all. They could only pull the emergency brake. Looking at the approaching front of the car, Xiao Xia closed her eyes in horror. She heard a sharp screech, and when she opened her eyes again, the tractor was only half a foot away from her. If the person driving the tractor had braked half a second later, she would have been hit directly.
The person driving the tractor was stunned for a full minute before coming to his senses. He glared at Xiao Xia, looking very angry, and shouted a string of regional dialect at her. The other people sitting on the tractor also started talking all at once. Xiao Xia understood none of it but knew they were cursing her. But since she was at fault, and also needed their help, she could only listen while putting on a friendly appearance, repeatedly bowing in apology.
She couldn’t quite distinguish the clothing of the ethnic tribes, but based on her experience of staying in Naman Village for a while last time, the person driving the tractor and the seven or eight people in the small trailer behind seemed to be from Najin Village, a neighboring village of Naman.
“Does anyone here…speak…Chinese…as in Mandarin?” She approached the side of the trailer and looked pitifully at the people. She asked loudly, and purposefully slowed down her speech.
“No need to speak like that. I can understand.” A young man in his twenties said. He was wearing a self-woven blue cloth jacket with a wide hem and large pants, a blue headscarf wrapped around his head. He seemed to be an item with the young girl next to him, who was wearing a blue-black round-neck short jacket with a slanted front, an embroidered square scarf on her chest, a long skirt with white cloth edges on the cuffs and hem. Her hair was tied up and covered with a black scarf, and she wore a pair of large silver earrings. In Xiao Xia’s memory, this attire seemed to be of the Zhuang tribe, and they should be from Najin village.
“May I ask if you are going to Najin Village?” She asked anxiously
If so, she could catch a ride for part of the way. She also remembered a tiny rest stop halfway up the mountain. The path split into three forks there, each leading to one of the three villages in the mountain. Naman was the closest one to that rest stop. Although something scary happened at the rest stop the last time, with Wan Li almost dying, the place had been renovated the last time she came to visit Ah Bai. The real proprietors had also returned and opened up for business again.
If she could hitch a ride there, she could make her way to Naman herself or give the innkeepers some money to escort her. She was relatively close with that family, and they were kind and honest people.
“How do you know?” The young man said. “My name is Tu Shui, and we are indeed heading back to the village. Are you going up the mountain? Who are you looking for? It’s already dark now, it’s too dangerous for you to walk the mountain road alone!”
“I’m going to Naman Village. I have an urgent matter to discuss with the village chief.” Xiao Xia hurriedly said, and also mentioned the highly respected village chief. “Can you take me part of the way?”
“That’s no problem.” Tu Shui also agreed without consulting the person driving the tractor, “But when we get to the fork in the road, you have to go on your own. We also have an urgent matter and must return to the village as soon as possible. We can’t take you. It’s probably better if you head up tomorrow during the day instead.”
As soon as she heard the response, Xiao Xia insisted on taking the ride. In her mind, if everything proceeded smoothly, she would reach Ah Bai by midnight and they could get back to Ironhead Mountain the next evening. In that case, even if it took a few days for Ah Bai to treat Ruan Zhan, there would still be enough time.
The person driving the tractor grumbled, seemingly in a hurry to get going, annoyed that Xiao Xia and Tu Shui were chatting too long. So Xiao Xia quickly climbed into the trailer behind the tractor, obediently curled up in a corner, and with a jolt from the tractor, they left the town.
The other townsfolk all thought Xiao Xia was a lunatic. She, a woman from another place, arrived here in a state of exhaustion. She was so dirty that her original skin color was unrecognizable, with disheveled hair and a worried expression. After eating something, she didn’t look for a place to stay but kept wandering around the town gate. Then, she started gesturing and talking to herself, not knowing who she was speaking to. Finally, she decided to head straight up the mountain. Some kind-hearted people tried to stop her, but she disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Xiao Xia didn’t know any of this. She only heard during dinner that a simple gravel road had recently been built from the foot of the mountain to the villages in the mountain. The money came from Naman Village, and the other two villages also provided manpower. Although the road was not completely unobstructed, it was much easier to walk now. She guessed that He Fu Gui’s ill-gotten gains that she had donated last time had brought some benefits to Naman, and now made her own trip a little smoother. She was both happy to have helped and also felt it was a form of karma. Her act of kindness was now being repaid, making her journey to save Ruan Zhan a little more promising.
The tractor drove really fast, not much slower than a car. She actually felt a little dizzy sitting in the corner of the trailer. She looked up at the others and saw that they were all silent, seemingly very tired, and about to fall asleep under the jolt of the tractor. She wanted to wake them up because the wind in the mountains was unusually cold, so cold that her teeth were chattering. Wouldn’t they catch a cold if they slept like this?
“Hey, wake up.” She nudged Tu Shui who was next to her.
Tu Shui turned his head and glared at Xiao Xia, seemingly blaming her for waking him up, then lowered his head and went back to sleep. Xiao Xia’s hand froze in mid-air and she felt even colder.
Tu Shui’s face was ashen gray while his pupils and lips were deathly pale without a trace of blood. The muscles of his cheeks were shriveled like dried jerky, not at all like the face of a living person! Looking at the others, although they all had their heads down, the sides of their faces could be seen clearly under the moonlight. They were all like Tu Shui.
She actually got on a ghost car full of dead people! What was going on? Although it was already dark when she went up the mountain, it wasn’t yet the time for ghosts to start roaming! Why was it her again? Was it her bad luck or some plot? But why target her? Was there something secretly preventing her from saving Ruan Zhan?
Thinking of Ruan Zhan, thinking of Bao Da Tong saying that the three men were all waiting for her to save them, a trace of courage emerged within the fear in her heart. She can’t be frightened! She told herself, while secretly observing the surroundings.
On the narrow mountain road, cliffs and dense forests seemed to fly past on both sides, casting patches of shadows illuminated by the moonlight onto the strange tractor, making the sleeping ‘people’ appear even more ethereal. The road was extremely quiet. At some point, even the roar of the tractor had disappeared. Xiao Xia felt as if she were riding on a kite.
She quietly shrank back, afraid of waking them up, while searching for a place where she could jump off the vehicle. But for some reason, even though the moonlight was very bright, the ground was pitch black, as if there were cliffs all around the tractor. No matter which direction she jumped from, she would fall into the ravine.
Suddenly, a violent jolt occurred. Although it made no sound, the entire tractor seemed to be jolted by something. Not only did it make Xiao Xia jump, but the Zhuang tribe woman, Tu Liang, beside Tu Shui also shook. Her head had been lowered in sleep the whole time. This shock made her head jerk heavily, and it actually snapped off with a crack, rolling to Xiao Xia’s feet, face up, eyes still closed.
Tu Liang shifted, slowly crawled over, and reached out to pick up own head. After being picked up, the head blinked, said something to Xiao Xia in ethnic dialect. Xiao Xia didn’t understand or dare to respond. She just remained frozen, watching as Tu Liang returned to her spot and continued sleeping.
But a second later, Tu Liang opened her eyes once again. This time, she was no longer in a sleepy state, as if she had been startled awake. She looked at Xiao Xia and screamed. “She wasn’t there!” This time, she spoke in Chinese, and Xiao Xia understood.
When she shouted, everyone on the tractor woke up. Even the driver turned around. They heard Tu Liang pointing at Xiao Xia and shouting. “She wasn’t there! She wasn’t there in the car!”
“Who are you? Why are you in our trailer?” Tu Shui, who was closest to Xiao Xia, grabbed the front of her shirt and asked.
Because the two were too close, Xiao Xia had no way to dodge. She was lifted up entirely by Tu Shui, swaying in mid-air like a rag doll.
“You were the one who let me on your ghost car!” Xiao Xia yelled silently, but she wasn’t able to speak. She was still relatively clear-headed despite the fear, and reached into her pocket. Feeling warmth, she hurriedly closed her hand.
“I know her. She is the city person who donated money to Naman Village to pave the road.” Another person said.
Tu Shui made a sound of understanding, glaring at Xiao Xia with hatred, “It’s all your fault. If it weren’t for you spending money, we wouldn’t have built the road. Without the road, I wouldn’t have driven the tractor so fast, and wouldn’t have fallen into the ravine at the forked road. It’s your fault, now you have to pay with your life!” He said viciously. Since his face was less than half a foot away from Xiao Xia’s, she could see dark resentment flowing out despite not having a yinyang eye. And with his words, his palm began to tighten, wanting to strangle Xiao Xia.
The feeling of suffocation came, and although Xiao Xia was holding the talisman in her hand, she couldn’t raise her arm. But at this critical moment, the bone necklace given by Uncle Bao belatedly played its role. It didn’t have the holy power of her protective amulet, and reacted more slowly to evil aura. Now that it sensed the encroachment of evil spirits, it suddenly turned bright red. The dazzling light flared into Tu Shui’s face, causing him to scream and release Xiao Xia.
At that moment, Xiao Xia clearly saw a pair of lively black eyes watching her from behind Tu Shui’s lifeless face, creeping her out even more.
“Southern Trigram of heavenly flames, form the state of enlightenment, refine!” As soon as she regained her freedom, Xiao Xia threw out the Five Elements Fire Talisman, and without any hesitation, jumped off the car.
She didn’t have time to think carefully, nor could she see the road clearly; it was merely her survival instinct that prompted her to make the choice. The moment she jumped out, she even felt a bit of regret. What if they were next to a crevice? She would fall to her death in that case. If she died, who would save Ruan Zhan?!
While she was feeling vexed, she landed on the ground with a thud. Although it was very painful, she clearly didn’t fall into any depths. There was a sloping hill beneath her, causing her to roll a couple of times before stopping.
She had already pulled out another talisman before her body stopped moving. Looking up, the tractor flashed with black and white light, stopping not too far behind her. She hurriedly threw out the Five Elements Water Talisman. With the combined attacks of fire and water, the terrifying ghost car finally vanished.
She looked around, and saw the gravel road next to the hill. There was no cliff in the distance, only the small hill. Afraid of seeing other strange things, Xiao Xia hurriedly pulled out another talisman in preparation.
She had been to Naman twice. Despite being in the mountains, it was pretty easy to find the way after the road was built. She realized she was almost halfway up the mountain. She should reach the forked road and the rest stop if she walked a bit further ahead. Turning back now was a longer journey down the mountain, so she might as well forge ahead. It would at least bring her closer to Ah Bai. Time was tight, so she had to seize every second.
She walked forwards. She had extremely unpleasant memories of the rest stop, and the current situation made it uncertain the family there was still normal, but she could always skip the place and head straight down the fork to Naman Village.
“Excuse me, how do I get to Naman Village?” A woman suddenly asked.
It was so sudden Xiao Xia was almost startled into falling over. Turning to look, she saw a woman dressed entirely in black. Her waist-length hair was also black, and only her face was pale as snow. From the distance, it looked like a floating piece of paper.
“Is that the way?” The woman pointed ahead as she spoke, her hand also frighteningly pale. She looked at Xiao Xia, her pale face only had those black eyes that seemed alive, but they seemed to be looking behind Xiao Xia.
Seeing that Xiao Xia ignored her, the woman extended her other hand into the air, and a green glowing light instantly ignited in her palm. Without waiting for Xiao Xia’s response, she walked towards Naman.
No one would ask for directions in the middle of the mountain at night. She wasn’t human!
…….