Mayi Physiognomy

After Li Yajing bandaged my wrist, the pain wasn't as intense as before, though sharp, bone-splitting pain would still strike occasionally.

Whenever that pain hit, I'd break out in a cold sweat instantly.

With the whole "living dead" incident, I was naturally relieved of night watch duty for the rest of that night. Wang Junhui and Lin Sen took turns watching until dawn. Fortunately, the living dead seemed sufficiently frightened by Wang Junhui; it didn't reappear that night.

Early the next morning, as we packed our gear to set off, Zhao Kuan suddenly stopped Wang Junhui. "Boss, encountering the living dead on our very first day... the danger is too great. Do you think you could..."

Before Zhao Kuan could finish, Wang Junhui nodded. "Understood. More money, right?"

Zhao Kuan nodded.

Wang Junhui said, "Don't worry. As long as you guide us faithfully, your payment will be doubled."

Zhao Kuan grunted in acknowledgment, shouldered his pack, and went back to leading the way.

Since I was injured, Wang Junhui and Lin Sen took half the items from my backpack, significantly lightening my load.

The path on the second day was much harder than the first. While there had been faint trails discernible on day one, today Zhao Kuan had to hack a path through thickets of thorns ahead of us.

Worried Zhao Kuan might lead us astray, I asked him if he was sure of the way. Chopping at the thorns, he replied, "Relax. Even though it's been years, I know this route well. This is the shortest way. Going around the ridge is too far, and you have to cross Wild Boar Ridge – running into a few boars there would be disastrous."

Progress was slow that day. The trail appeared and disappeared intermittently. By evening, we'd covered barely half the distance of the previous day.

The forest grew denser. Finding a spot to pitch tents required chopping with machetes for a long time just to clear a small patch. Tonight, Wang Junhui and Lin Sen would again take turns on watch.

The night passed relatively peacefully. Apart from being startled awake by a few wolf howls around midnight, nothing else happened.

The third day's path was even more challenging. While there had been occasional small paths on the second day, by the third day, there was no path at all. We had to continuously chop through thorns to advance. Because the workload was heavier, Zhao Kuan, Lin Sen, and Wang Junhui took turns hacking through the thickets to clear the way.

That day, we finally emerged from the dense forest. As the altitude increased, tall trees gradually became fewer. The vegetation before us shifted to mostly low shrubs, though still largely composed of thorns and weeds.

Without the forest canopy, our visibility improved. Looking back, the endless expanse of woods stretched as far as the eye could see. We had trekked through that forest for two days.

As we gained altitude, we were also moving away from water sources. Starting today, we had to conserve every drop of water.

According to Zhao Kuan, our next opportunity to replenish water wouldn't be for at least three days – at a mountain spring higher up. But with low rainfall in recent years, it was uncertain if that high-altitude spring still existed. So, we couldn't pin too much hope on it.

On the evening of the third day, we chose a large, flat rock on a mountainside to rest. To secure the tents, we gathered stones from around the rock and piled them up to serve as anchor points.

The rock offered good visibility, with no dense forest nearby. Feeling somewhat recovered, I volunteered for the first watch tonight. Wang Junhui and Lin Sen had chopped thorns all day; making them take turns on watch again would be too exhausting.

Besides, if we encountered trouble again, they were our main fighters. Wearing them out would drastically reduce the team's capability.

My watch was until midnight. After everyone settled down to sleep, I started feeling drowsy myself. Luckily, the high altitude meant that despite it being summer, the night wind made me shiver constantly. Each shiver shook off the sleepiness.

Around eleven o'clock, I needed to relieve myself. I climbed down from the rock, undid my pants, and did my business – the whole thing took less than three minutes. When I climbed back up, I saw a dark shape moving near Zhao Kuan's tent.

My heart instantly skipped a beat. I didn't dare turn on my flashlight rashly, fearing I might startle whatever it was.

Judging by the shape, it wasn't human. It looked like a wolf!

If it was a wolf, I wasn't too scared. Even a strong one, I figured I could hold my own for a bit. But if it was the living dead... I wouldn't last a single encounter.

I climbed back onto the rock, trying to minimize noise. But the shadow seemed to notice me anyway. It suddenly let out a low, threatening growl in my direction. That sound was unmistakably a wolf!

Since it had spotted me, there was no point hiding. I switched on my flashlight, yelled "Wolf!" at the top of my lungs, grabbed the machete I'd left on the rock, and charged forward. At my shout, lights flicked on inside the tents. The sudden illumination startled the wolf. It turned, leaped off the rock, and vanished into the deep night shrubs below.

Seeing the wolf flee, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Sen emerged, machete in hand, asking where the wolf was. "It ran off," I told him. He rubbed his eyes and said, "It's almost midnight. I'll take over watch. Get some rest. Just a wolf, scared you like that? Also," he added, "Seems like you've got an aura for trouble, kid. When Junhui and I are on watch, nothing happens. The moment it's you, peaceful sleep goes out the window."

Wang Junhui scanned the surroundings but detected no sinister energy. He told everyone to go back to sleep.

But I couldn't sleep. I suddenly remembered Zhao Kuan's story about wolves licking faces. Could that wolf have come to lick our faces and turn us into monsters?

It wasn't just me. Wang Junhui and Li Yajing were also awake, sitting on the rock and chatting quietly. Seeing the light still on in my tent, Wang Junhui called me over.

Sitting beside them, I brought up the wolf-licked face story. Hearing my question, Li Yajing chuckled. "Wolf-licked face? Nonsense. Those injuries weren't licked; they were bitten. I've been to this town before, examined several so-called 'wolf-licked face' patients. Their injuries were caused by wolves biting and tearing the nose and surrounding skin. Definitely not licking. It's just that when a wolf bites, it uses its tongue to pull the flesh into its mouth, making the victim feel like the skin and nose were licked off."

She paused, then added confidently, "I'm absolutely certain about this. Unlike the last issue, I won't be wrong about this one."

Wang Junhui nodded in agreement. "Yajing's right. Those people fought with wolves. They all had injuries on their arms or legs – clear signs of actual wolf attacks. Definitely not paranormal events. Besides, compared to the 'face-licked' cases, many more people here have been bitten by wolves on their limbs, without facial injuries."

"The reason people only remember the 'face-licked' stories is because the victims' appearances are so bizarre. Exaggerated retellings turned it into a spooky forest tale."

Wang Junhui and Li Yajing spoke with reason and evidence, so I believed them. Besides, I had seen the creature myself just now – it was a wolf, not something supernatural.

Tomorrow would be the fourth day. We were about halfway through our journey. Seizing the moment, I asked Wang Junhui again about the purpose of this trip. He turned to me with a smile. "Chu Yi, you really don't know how to make conversation. I've already said I'll tell you when we find it. If we don't find it, then forget it. And you're still asking? Forget it. Sleep, sleep."

With that, Wang Junhui got up and went back to his tent. Li Yajing also smiled and returned to hers.

I looked helplessly at Lin Sen. He shrugged. "Don't look at me. I'm on watch. Not in the mood for chatting."

Over the next two days, as the terrain grew increasingly higher, the thorny paths lessened, but the trails became much steeper. Our pace remained slow, though slightly better than before.

Two days later, we reached the mountain spring Zhao Kuan had mentioned. It emerged from a crevice beneath a cliff face deep on the mountainside, forming a small pool about ten meters across nearby.

The water was clear and cool. After Li Yajing tested it and confirmed it was safe, we filled our containers. With this water, we could at least cook noodles once, instead of just eating dry rations with cold water.

The subsequent journey continued relatively smoothly. The bandage came off my wrist; the black handprint had indeed faded. My corpse poison was completely cured.

During these days, I mentally reviewed all the corpse-subduing techniques my grandfather had taught me. If I encountered that living dead again, I definitely wouldn't be as helpless as last time. Subduing it might be beyond me, but defending myself should be manageable.

Another two days passed. At noon on this day, we finally arrived at the base of a tall but not overly steep mountain. Its summit was bare, covered only in ankle-high weeds.

Reaching this point, Zhao Kuan took a deep breath. "This is it. That mountain is Little Western Heaven. The Bottomless Cave is at the peak – a waist-thick hole, bottomless. Throw a stone down, you won't hear it hit the bottom. Oh," he added, his face showing a flicker of excitement, "and there's Heart-drilling Grass around the entrance. Don't touch it. A scratch can hurt like hell."

He then added hopefully, "Bosses, if there are any golden toads later... I hope you won't fight me for them."

Wang Junhui reassured him, "Don't worry, no one will take them from you."

Ascending this peak was easy, much simpler than the paths we'd traversed in recent days. As we climbed, Wang Junhui cautioned, "Be careful. The corpse energy is thick around here. It seems the local legend is entirely true – the living dead crawls out from the Bottomless Cave. Today, we'll uncover the secrets of both the cave and the creature."

He shot a glance at Zhao Kuan and continued, "And hopefully, we'll all find what we're looking for."