Qi Xu listened to the voice message, carefully replied with her address. About ten minutes later, Xia Zhiming came bustling over energetically and casually tossed a backpack to Qi Xu. Qi Xu caught it and set it aside, then fawningly flattered Xia Zhiming. “I-I’ll get you something to eat!”
“I’ll get it myself!”
Xia Zhiming grabbed a plate and went bustling off to get food again. While Xia Zhiming ate her breakfast, Qi Xu devoured two more huge plates, which made Xia Zhiming across from her widen her eyes involuntarily. Then she looked at Qi Xu, her gaze blatantly conveying two words: embarrassing.
Xia Zhiming was silently cursing Qi Xu with her eyes, and Qi Xu read it loud and clear: Aren’t you embarrassed? Have I ever skimped on your food or clothes? Do you have to eat like that? Sure, it’s a buffet breakfast, but you can’t act like you haven’t eaten a full meal in eight lifetimes, head down and scarfing away!
It was a good thing Xia Zhiming didn’t know Qi Xu had already eaten four plates before she arrived. If she did, she probably would have taken her plate and sat somewhere else to avoid the boss lady thinking they were together.
After finishing breakfast, Xia Zhiming grabbed Qi Xu and prepared to set off. Qi Xu shouldered her backpack and followed behind Xia Zhiming, unable to resist asking, “Where are we going now?”
“Just follow me. Why ask so many questions?”
But judging by Xia Zhiming’s direction, they were heading toward Rowboat Mountain. Before Xia Zhiming arrived, Qi Xu had searched Rowboat Mountain on her phone and gotten some basic info. It was a free scenic spot, often shrouded in mountain mist, a niche but beautiful attraction.
From a distance, the clouds and mist swirling around the peak did give it an ethereal, immortal air—truly beautiful.
But up close, with the peak towering high, the thought of climbing made Qi Xu’s legs go weak. They were already there, though, and Xia Zhiming had started up, so Qi Xu had no choice but to follow. They had only climbed the paved steps for a short while when Xia Zhiming turned onto a small path and pulled Qi Xu onto a remote trail rarely trodden by people.
Earlier, while climbing, Qi Xu had seen a sign on the mountain path that read, “Please do not stray from the road. Dangerous mountain paths, do not climb.”
Qi Xu instinctively felt this wasn’t good, but after walking a bit, Xia Zhiming set down her backpack, pulled out a compass, and took out a sealed plastic bag and a small stick. Qi Xu leaned in for a closer look and saw that the transparent plastic bag contained several strands of hair.
Qi Xu asked, “Whose hair is this?”
“You guess.”
Qi Xu fell silent. She really was guessing. Xia Zhiming got to work. She took the hair out of the plastic bag and wrapped it around the small stick. She placed the compass on a half-person-high spot, then began the ritual.
Her right hand formed a orchid finger, pinching the small stick in the middle, while her left hand formed hand seals and moved around the stick. After a moment, she exhaled onto the stick, and an inexplicable flame burned the hair to ashes, leaving only a faint scent of scorched protein.
The smell was very light and vanished with a gust of mountain wind.
Only a thin wisp of smoke remained on the small stick.
At this point, the stick looked more like incense that had burned for a bit. Xia Zhiming pinched it with her orchid finger and brought the smoke to the compass. She gently waved the stick over the compass a few times, and the smoke fully dispersed.
The white smoke vanished, but the compass spun on its own, then ding ding ding, it pointed vaguely in one direction.
Xia Zhiming picked up the compass and had Qi Xu follow her.
By now, Qi Xu had figured it out. She guessed the hair belonged to one of the missing children from Xintan City. Kids’ hair was fine and soft, and it could easily fall out at home—not hard to collect a few strands.
Xia Zhiming was too amazing. She could really find someone just from hair, like in the movies!
Qi Xu followed behind Xia Zhiming, feeling like they finally had a real lead this time! She couldn’t help asking, “Does finding the target with hair mean the kid is still alive?”
“Not necessarily. Maybe in a ghost’s belly.”
Xia Zhiming’s words instantly deflated Qi Xu’s high spirits. She carefully asked, “Th-then is the kid still alive?”
“You guess.”
“!”
At that moment, Qi Xu hated those two words with a passion. She didn’t want to ask about the kid anymore and changed the subject, asking why Xia Zhiming didn’t want other colleagues to come along. Not mentioning it was fine, but bringing it up made her mad.
Xia Zhiming stopped abruptly. When Qi Xu reached her side, she stuck out her leg and kicked Qi Xu’s butt hard. “You’ve got some nerve bringing that up! What good are those losers except startling the snake? Good thing you weren’t dumb enough to send your location. Guess what—if that ghost notices so many people coming for it, will it still show up? Or get angry and eat the kid first!”
“Loser! You’re a real loser! They’re a bunch of big losers! You’re a little loser!”
Loser Qi Xu hung her head. She admitted Xia Zhiming had a point.
The little loser could only silently follow the big brain onward. But even the big brain with victory in hand could miscalculate. After walking a bit, they ran into four people—a group of girls with hiking poles, resting by some rocks.
Qi Xu and Xia Zhiming exchanged glances, and then Qi Xu saw Xia Zhiming swiftly tuck away the compass faster than the ear could hear it. Clearly, Xia Zhiming knew using a compass like that was too weird. But Qi Xu was a bit surprised—Xia Zhiming actually cared about her image in others’ eyes.
Even the little maniac had a day when she valued face. Strange.
The four girls were thrilled. “Great! We finally ran into someone!”
They got excited for a moment, then looked dejected. “Are you lost too? What do we do? Should we go together?”
Qi Xu thought going together was impossible—they had serious business. But these girls were clearly lost, and leaving them could lead to trouble. The mountain paths were rugged, and the stretch they’d come through required hands and feet.
Xia Zhiming moved with agile grace. As a Daoist, she ran faster than anyone—clearly no stranger to Ba Duan Jin.
Qi Xu, a fragile college student, wasn’t inferior in stamina, fueled by youthful vigor, so she kept right up with Xia Zhiming without falling behind. But these four girls were different. A bit older than Qi Xu, around Xia Zhiming’s age, their stamina was nearly spent—who knew how long they’d been walking? No way they could keep up.
Leaving them be would tug at Qi Xu’s heartstrings.
Xia Zhiming saw her expression and knew her soft heart was acting up.
“Don’t even think about letting them follow us. Have them wait here—they won’t die.”
Far from calming the four girls, Xia Zhiming’s words made them more tense. Qi Xu had no choice but to persuade Xia Zhiming. She spoke softly, afraid the girls would hear. “We don’t have to keep them the whole way. Isn’t there a fork ahead to the main road? We could drop them off there.”
Seeing Xia Zhiming unmoved, Qi Xu added, “Besides, if something happens to them and they die with resentment, turning into ghosts, won’t they come after us later?”
Xia Zhiming scoffed. “Them? Four little weaklings together wouldn’t be enough for me to handle.”
After much pleading, Qi Xu finally got Xia Zhiming to agree. Qi Xu went to the four girls, quietly explained the situation, and they became a group of six, continuing onward. But the four girls’ stamina truly couldn’t match Xia Zhiming and Qi Xu’s.
Xia Zhiming went without saying—her climbing form was so nimble that even the four behind with hiking poles couldn’t compare. Qi Xu had to give her all just to keep up. But with four deadweights, they had to stop now and then to check on the rear.
Plus, Rowboat Mountain was perpetually misty, and in thick fog, people blurred if too far apart.
After climbing steadily for a good while, Qi Xu turned back to check on the four girls before facing forward to follow Xia Zhiming again, and she noticed something off. There should have been four girls behind her. But when she glanced back just now, the number seemed wrong, vaguely.
Qi Xu swallowed. She remembered their mission—they were here for a ghost.
In the pervasive mountain mist, an extra person in the group—what else could it be? She didn’t need to think hard.
She reassured herself: Maybe I just miscounted. It’s still four, nothing more.
She climbed two or three steps, then had Xia Zhiming slow down a bit. She turned back again to see if the four had caught up. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then looked.
Even in the mist, four girls were clearly visible, though their figures were fuzzy—but the number was unmistakable. This time, Qi Xu couldn’t fool herself: one, two, three, four… five. Five followed behind.
This was peak Chinese-style horror.
Western horror: Four go out, one comes back.
Chinese horror: Four go out, five come back.
Damn! A ghost was following them!
Qi Xu whipped her head around, heart pounding. She shouted for the four behind to hurry. She didn’t want them noticing the extra person and panicking, so she kept reassuring herself: Maybe someone else got lost and tagged along midway.
But right after urging them, she heard responses.
“Got it!”
“Okay!”
“Right away!”
“Wait for me, slow down a bit. I can’t keep up…”
“Coming.”
The replies varied, but basically one per person. Yet when the voices fell, even the complainer stopped, plunging the scene into dead silence.
Because… five different voices had replied to Qi Xu.
