Chapter Twelve: Treacherous Peaks of Shu, Racing Through the Night

That night, Peanut stayed in the main room, his eyes fixed on Rat. Before going to bed, I sneaked a glance at him—there was a constant smile on his face, so persistent that Rat, crouching uncomfortably in the corner, nearly ended up kneeling down and bowing to Peanut in submission. After witnessing this, I lay down on my bed, picked up my phone, turned the volume down, and listened to my father’s recording once more. If Old Tan hadn’t been there with me, I probably couldn’t have held back the tears.

“Stop staring,” Old Tan said. I had thought that after such a bizarre few hours, Old Tan would be exhausted, but like me, he found it hard to sleep. “Your dad’s got a long life ahead of him. Besides, you still have me—your brother.”

I switched off my phone and managed a bitter smile. “Best if you don’t get involved in this. After all, we’re heading into an ancient tomb. If the police catch you, you’ll be in real trouble.”

“Tch. Let me tell you the truth—I’m a grown man, and I’ve never witnessed anything like this in my life. If you don’t let me go with you to save your dad, I’ll call the police myself.”

With a raised eyebrow, Old Tan glanced at me. I felt a trace of comfort, knowing someone had my back. As for my father, I wasn’t sure if my second or third uncle or my youngest aunt had heard the news yet, but no matter what, even if they watched my father die, they would never allow me to venture into the ancient tomb. After thinking it over, I realized that only by rushing there myself would my father have any hope of survival. Most importantly, I couldn’t sit by and wait for someone else to save him. Even if I had to go alone, I would.

“Alright, then let’s be a tomb-raiding brotherhood and get my father out safely.”

“Now that’s what I call brotherhood.”

With anxiety, impulsiveness, fear, curiosity, confusion, and countless other emotions, we finally drifted off to sleep. That night ended the ordinary course of my life. From then on, secrets, conspiracies, and doubts filled my world—like a demon’s curse, they began to torment me without end.

When I opened my eyes the next day, it was almost noon. I shook Old Tan awake and told him to pack up quickly. When I stepped outside, I found Peanut waiting at the door, holding our backpacks.

“You know my dad’s situation. We agreed to leave at dawn. If you were already up, why didn’t you wake us earlier?” I snapped at Peanut as I took my backpack.

From below the steps, Rat replied, “This trip will wear you out. If you don’t sleep well now, you won’t make it. Little Master Hua is thinking of you.”

“Oh, so now it’s ‘Little Master Hua’? Looks like you two got on well last night,” Old Tan grumbled, glancing at him.

Given the circumstances, Old Tan and I were definitely on the same side. Rat had his own agenda; our relationship was one of mutual use—he’d lead the way, and probably didn’t dare return alone. As for Peanut, though he had done things in our favor, his appearance in my family’s cellar was suspicious, and his skills made me wary.

On the road, though, I had to admit that having someone guide us was entirely thanks to Peanut. Rat was too cunning; dealing with Old Tan and me would be child’s play for him. The only thing keeping him in check was Peanut. Rat didn’t care if Old Tan and I were there; the odds were against us. But with Peanut tipping the scales, Rat behaved himself. Still, I couldn’t help but question Peanut’s motives. Could he really be an old friend of my father’s? But who would put a friend in a coffin? And thinking about those soul-suppressing talismans on the coffins, it seemed my father was actually trying to keep him sealed—what was the real story?

Before we even got in the car, my head was already spinning. I told myself to stop overthinking—better to ask my father once we saved him. While still in the mountains, I had called the boatman from the day before. As soon as we reached the riverbank, his boat was already waiting.

“Hey? Two went up, four coming back down?” the boatman said, clearly puzzled.

I didn’t bother to explain. Once the boat started moving, I noticed the pit where we’d buried the baby girl yesterday had been dug up.

“Could wild dogs have taken the body?” I wondered, but then I saw a white figure in the bushes along the shore, clutching something in its arms. It looked like a long-haired woman holding a baby…

“Ah!” I cried out. If Peanut hadn’t reacted quickly, I would have fallen overboard.

“What’s wrong?” the others asked.

“There’s someone on the shore…” I started, but when I pointed, there was nothing there.

Unable to explain, I forced myself to suppress my fear. Peanut stared into my eyes, then glanced meaningfully toward the riverbank.

It was our second day of trekking, Old Tan and I. Luckily, we’d prepared for a mountain expedition, so our packs were well-stocked, saving us a lot of trouble. We bought plenty of dry food and reorganized our gear into three bags—Peanut carried one as well.

“Really now, is there any need to be so wary of a kid? I could report you for child abuse,” Rat protested in his shrill, old-lady voice when he saw our precautionary measures.

We ignored him, focusing on how to reach Gulin as fast as possible. By dusk, we arrived in the county town, bought a few more supplies, and found a private car. Old Tan handed the driver a wad of cash, and the man was all smiles as he took us on our way.

On the road, I asked how long it would take to get to Gulin. The driver said it would be slower at night but no later than four or five in the morning. I was so anxious I could barely wait, so I promised him another five hundred if he could shave an hour or two off the time. As soon as he heard this, the driver slammed on the brakes. We were confused, but then he dashed into a small convenience store and returned with a dozen coffees and two packs of cigarettes. Then, the middle-aged driver gave us a taste of true highway madness. All four of us turned pale, probably thinking about how to survive a potential crash.

“This stretch is rough. Once we hit the highway, we’ll be flying,” the driver said excitedly, blasting rock music.

“Oh, even faster?” I began to regret my offer.

“Absolutely. We’re not even close yet. Don’t worry—you paid, so I’ll get you there on time.” Whether it was the caffeine or the adrenaline, the driver nodded along to the music as we sped through the night.

Rat, sitting up front, turned to us with a miserable face. “If my hands were clean, I’d call the cops myself.”

When we finally reached Gulin, I almost thought the driver had taken us back to Chengdu. This was the new county seat: thick with modernity, still bustling with lights and people even at one in the morning. As we said goodbye, the driver tried to leave us his number, saying he could pick us up again if needed. Before he’d finished, the four of us made a break for it.

Once we stopped, I asked Rat which way to go.

“Which way?” he replied, confused.

“To the ancient tomb, of course. Don’t play dumb,” I snapped.

He frowned. “At this hour? Why not find a hotel and set out at dawn?”

“No,” Peanut cut in. “Young Master Yuan is right—the situation is urgent. If you want to tip off your boss, you can borrow a phone when we get there.”

I immediately realized Rat’s suggestion to stay at a hotel was just a cover to make a call. Now that Peanut had exposed him, Rat’s expression stiffened. These people were calculating, beyond anything I’d expected. Compared to Rat and Peanut, Old Tan and I were utterly inexperienced. But then I realized something else—Rat had been holding my father’s phone since we left the tomb days ago. If he wanted to tip someone off, he would have done it already.

I only thought this way because I still didn’t understand what those so-called tomb raiding gangs were really like, nor what orders from those bosses truly meant.

To keep it short, we switched to a local taxi, and Rat told the driver to take us to a place called Erlang Town. But after only twenty minutes out of Gulin, Rat told the driver to stop. We were dropped in a mountain ravine, startling the driver, who probably thought we were robbers.

As soon as we were out, the taxi sped away. We shone our flashlights around, and Old Tan started cursing: “What the hell is this place? There’s not a single light anywhere. Yuan, this is even bleaker than your hometown.”

“Nonsense. Where else would an ancient tomb be, if not somewhere remote? Want it built under the city square?” Rat retorted. “I told you we should have come during the day. The road ahead is rough—don’t blame me if you fall into a ravine.”

Old Tan kicked him, told him to shut up, and lead the way.

Off the highway, there was no path at all. Darkness pressed in on every side, animal calls and wild growls echoed from the forest. Our flashlights revealed swarms of mosquitoes and moths, and the ground was strewn with stones fallen from the mountain. Soon, I realized Rat and Peanut were far ahead—both moved quickly, as if the rough terrain meant nothing to them. Peanut didn’t even need a flashlight; he kept glancing around as he walked, searching for something.

I was too worried about my father’s fate to care about anything else, but Old Tan was having a rough time. Before we even started climbing, he’d fallen a dozen times. Normally, he would have thrown a tantrum and sat down in protest, but this time, even with his legs and arms scratched, he didn’t utter a word. I asked if he needed a break, but he refused, saying not to waste time and that men should tough it out. As we supported each other, I thought to myself: good brother, I, Yuan Jie, will never forget this as long as I live.

After a long while, I couldn’t help but shout ahead, “Rat, it’s all mountains here—which one is it?”

The two in front circled back, and Rat gestured for us to look up. The darkness was deep thanks to the mountain slopes on both sides, but the summer night’s sky was clear, and the mountaintops formed visible outlines.

“It’s the big mountain to the south. Look around—do you see anything special?” Rat swung his flashlight in all directions.

I knew nothing about geomancy or mountain forms, so I looked to Peanut.

“This mountain is the highest and largest,” Peanut said. I’d expected him to know something about the Book of Changes or geomancy, but that was all he offered.

Rat, seeing our confusion, stuck out his lower lip in pride. “There are hundreds of mountains here, thirteen main peaks. Twelve form a crescent, encircling this one in the center. If this mountain was the same height or lower than the others, it’d be nothing special, but it’s clearly higher—this is what geomancers call ‘All life worships the Mother.’ Here, ‘life’ refers to the twelve zodiac animals, so the literal meaning is the twelve zodiacs bowing to their grandmother. The ‘Mother’ here is the Earth Mother, or Nüwa.”

Rat didn’t look like someone with profound knowledge, but he spoke with authority, leaving Old Tan and me bewildered.

Seeing us engrossed, Rat then put on his old lady’s voice and declared, “This is a peerless geomantic site—no wonder there’s a royal tomb from the Han dynasty here.”

Peanut, who had been stone-faced, suddenly burst out laughing at Rat’s final remark.