Chapter 75

Main Text Chapter Seventy-Six Dragon Bone

I had just finally crawled out of the cave, about to cheer, when Pangzi said I had grown a 'human face' on my back. That nonsensical remark hit me like a bucket of icy water, pouring over my head, and my heart turned half cold. I hurriedly twisted my neck to look at my own back, only then realizing I couldn't see it, so I asked Pangzi: 'What the hell are you talking about? What human face on my back? Where? Whose face? Don't scare me—I've been neurasthenic lately.'

Pangzi hauled Da Jin Ya over, pointed at my back, and said: 'Why would I scare you? Let Da Jin Ya take a look—I'm telling the truth, right?'

Da Jin Ya set the 'Fragrant Incense Jade' he was holding in his arms on the ground. Having stayed long in the pitch-black cave, his vision was poor, so he rubbed his eyes, stood behind me, and examined my back: 'Hmm… hey? Old Hu, there's indeed a palm-sized mark on my two shoulder blades, like a birthmark… rather blurry… Is this a human face? It looks more like… more like an eye.'

'What? I grew an eye on my back?' My scalp went numb. The moment eyes were mentioned, I immediately thought of that Jingjue Ancient City beneath the Xinjiang desert, that nightmare‑like memory, comparable in horror to the grim recollections of the battlefield, a ordinary dread and sorrow. I bent my arm, felt my back, felt nothing, and hurriedly asked Da Jin Ya to describe in detail what exactly was growing on my back—whether it was a 'human face' or an 'eye'.

Da Jin Ya told me: 'It's just a faint circular dark‑red mark; if you don't look closely you can't see it, with concentric rings that somewhat resemble the layers of an eye's pupil. Perhaps I'm not precise—I should say it resembles an eyeball, not an eye, lacking eyelids and eyelashes.'

I again asked Pangzi: 'Little Fatty, you just said it looked like a human face—how come Old Gold now says it looks like an eyeball?'

Pangzi said behind me: 'Old Hu, I was just thinking of that human face in the ghost tomb, suddenly saw this circular mark on your back and mistook it for a face; now taking a closer look… you'd better not say… it really does resemble the kind of eyeball we saw in Jingjue Ancient City.'

The more Pangzi and Da Jin Ya spoke, the more panicked I became—this certainly wasn't a birthmark; did I even have one? I should know myself. What exactly had grown on my back? Most urgent was the lack of a mirror—I couldn't see my own back.

At this moment, Da Jin Ya suddenly shouted: "Pang Ye, you also have a birthmark on your back just like Hu Ye's. You two quickly check my back to see if I have one too."

I then looked at Da Jin Ya and Pangzi's backs, and discovered that Pangzi had a round dark‑red mark on the left side of his back; it really resembled a birthmark, blurry, lines not clear, about the size of an adult's palm, somewhat resembling the shape of an eyeball, but could not be certain; that kind of dark‑red like blood color was especially glaring in the afterglow of the setting sun.

Da Jin Ya's back was completely smooth, except for the worn‑out spots, with nothing else; this left me and Pangzi dumbfounded—this is certainly no coincidence; it seems it didn't happen while we were with Da Jin Ya; nine times out of ten, it's related to our expedition to the Xinjiang ghost cave—could it be that all the survivors of that trip have been cursed by that bottomless ghost cave?

I remember that just two days ago we arrived in Ancient Field; we encountered danger in the Yellow River, got completely soaked, and when we reached the guesthouse we all went to take a hot shower together… at that time… it seemed no one had yet noticed that strange red mark on anyone's body, which means it must have appeared only in the last day or two; could it be unrelated to the ghost cave, and instead we contracted some virus in this Dragon Ridge ancient tomb? But why hasn't Da Jin Ya shown any mark? Is he immune to this virus?

Pangzi said to me: "Lao Hu, don't overthink it, relax—what's the big deal? It doesn't hurt or itch. When we go back to shower, find a scrubbing cloth and rub hard; maybe it'll disappear. We've gotten a treasure this time; we should be happy. Ah… you guys, where is this place? I feel like I've seen it before."

Just as I crawled out of the cave, Pangzi told me there was something strange on my back; I panicked, didn't even notice where the cave exit was, only remembered that the mouth was extremely narrow, all collapsed yellow earth. Hearing Pangzi say the surroundings looked familiar, I looked up and couldn't help laughing: "Turns out we've been going around in circles—no coincidence, not writing a book—we've damned well looped back again."

It turns out the exit we crawled out of from Dragon Ridge is exactly the spot where, when we first arrived at the Fish Bone Temple, I climbed the ridge to survey the surrounding feng shui; on the way down, halfway up the slope I stepped on and collapsed an earthen shell, nearly falling in—at that moment Pangzi and Da Jin Ya heard the sound and rushed over, pulling me out of the earthen shell; that collapsed slope became a cavern, which we had peeked into, thinking it was a fissure connecting to an underground karst cave; now we see that this place actually connects with the large mountain cavern housing the bronze ding with a human face, forming a single system; after wandering halfway through the cavern, we ultimately climbed out through that very earthen shell we had inadvertently collapsed.

Our luggage and belongings were left not far ahead at the Fish Bone Temple; the most important thing was to find clothes to put on quickly, otherwise the young ladies and maidens we might encounter in this mountain gully would surely regard us three as hooligans.

I know dwelling on this won't help, but the sudden dark‑red mark on our backs has cast a shadow over our victory, leaving me deeply unhappy; the key is not knowing what that mark on our backs actually is, so we should see a doctor when we get back—although we feel nothing unusual, it's not something that belongs there, and having it on our bodies feels distinctly awkward.

The wind in the mountain gully was strong; we were poorly clothed, carrying the raw stone of the fragrant incense jade, and hurried back to the Fish Bone Temple. We had been gone almost a day, and the items were still intact, hidden behind the Dragon King's altar. Each of us found clothes to put on, took out the baijiu from our packs and gulped a few mouthfuls. No matter what, this piece of gold‑scented jade counts as gained; once we sell it in Beijing, it won't be a small sum.

Da Jin Ya, having eaten and drunk his fill, stroked the raw stone of the fragrant incense jade, feeling elated for a moment, and involuntarily began to sing: "I am neither a bandit rebel nor a thief who steals cities… what's a barbarian king clown worth? With one sword I can hold back a million soldiers…"

Although I also felt a bit of joy at striking it rich, the thought of the red mark on my back killed my enthusiasm; I just drank in silence.

I faintly sensed something amiss; an imprint resembling an eyeball certainly does not appear for no reason, and whenever I think of it, my back feels unusually heavy.

Da Jin Ya, seeing this, advised me: "Hu Ye, you're also a broad‑minded person; there's no need to dwell on this. Go to the hospital for a check‑up; if necessary, have the skin excised—it's not large, looks superficial, so it shouldn't be a serious problem. Better first consult a Chinese medicine practitioner; maybe a couple of doses of herb will make it disappear."

Pangzi said to Da Jin Ya: "This isn't a skin disease for the two of us; what's the use of seeing a doctor? We might as well burn it off ourselves with a cigarette butt."

I said to Pangzi and Da Jin Ya: "Forget it, let things be as they may; anyway I'm not dead today, so let's drink heartily—we'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow."

Pangzi clinked his wine bottle against mine, tipped his head back, and gulped down the remaining half‑bottle in one go: "We've just struck it rich; this life of ours must be cherished, and we still hope to enjoy the rest of our years."

After eating and drinking our fill, night had fallen; we sneaked back under cover of darkness to the village below the Serpent Coil Slope, spent another night borrowing lodging there, and the next day returned to Ancient Field, preparing to cross the Yellow River northward, only to be told that heavy rain had fallen upstream these past two days, making this stretch of the river too high to navigate— the earliest we could set sail would be the day after tomorrow.

After discussing, we figured that if we looked for a boat at another ferry, we'd have to travel a full day just to get there; it would be better to stay two days in Ancient Field county town to rest, and while we're at it, wander around the county—maybe we could pick up some leftovers and acquire a few burial objects.

So we stayed again in the same guesthouse as before, but this time the place was nearly full—most people were waiting to cross the river; Ancient Field is a small locality, with only two or three guesthouses and inns, leaving little choice, so we had to take a bunk in the common dormitory on the first floor.

The communal dorm slept eight; after we three went in, there were five people sleeping total, leaving three spots empty. We weren't comfortable leaving the valuable fragrant incense jade in a cabinet, so we wrapped it in three layers inside and three outside, took turns watching it in the room, and whenever we went out we held it close.

That evening, Pangzi and Da Jin Ya were in the room examining the fragrant incense jade, while I went to the guesthouse backyard bathroom to bathe and happened to run into Liu Lao Tou, who had drunk with us earlier.

I greeted him, exchanged a few pleasantries, and asked whether there was any famous Chinese medicine practitioner in Ancient Field County who could treat skin diseases.

Liu Lao Tou said there was indeed an elderly Chinese medicine doctor with the superb skill of 'miraculous hand, spring returning, curing disease'—an expert in treating psoriasis—after which he solicitously asked whether I was ill and where I felt uncomfortable.

At the time I was about to take a shower, wearing only an undershirt, I unbuttoned two buttons and let Liu Lao Tou look at my back; he said there was a rash back there and suggested I see a doctor.

After looking, Liu Lao Tou exclaimed in shock and said to me: "Young brother, how did you get this? I don't think it's a skin disease; it looks like a blood‑red stain, shaped very much like a character, and I've actually seen this character before."

I asked: "What? Is that a character on my back? Can you tell what character it is?"

Liu Lao Tou said: "Back in 1980, when our county was building a primary school and laying the foundation, we dug up some strange animal bones; at the time the locals snatched them all up, after which the archaeological team came, and via the county's broadcast they collected all the bones; the archaeological experts stayed at our guesthouse, and when they were retrieving the specimens I saw this character on the bone armor—though not just once."