Chapter 124: Yingshan Village

We were all in a bad mood, and suddenly being scolded like that made it even worse. Fatty spat and cursed loudly, "Old man, you got it wrong. This has nothing to do with us, it's that Third Master's bad judgment. How can you blame us? I've been in this business for years, and this is the first time I've been chased all over the street by the cops. Damn frustrating!"

I thought he was going too far, so I quickly stopped him and gave him a look. Panzi couldn't stand hearing anyone speak ill of Third Master; he could tolerate a word or two, but at this moment it was best not to say too much, otherwise a fight might break out.

Fatty still owed me some face, so he shut his mouth, lit a cigarette, and smoked heavily. Panzi turned to Chenpi A'si and asked, "Grandpa Chen, we've dealt with each other before. This isn't the time to criticize us. You're the elder here. Now that the 'lama poker' has broken, what do you think we should do? We'll listen to you."

Fatty glared, about to protest, "Why should we listen to him?" But Panzi held him down and stopped him. I knew Panzi must have some plan, so I quickly grabbed Fatty and patted his back to calm him down.

Chenpi A'si squinted at Panzi, was silent for a long time, then said, "At least you know some rules. Let me give you a few pointers. We can't take the train. I've arranged other transport. Those who want to follow, get on with me. Those who are dissatisfied, go back where you came from! But let me tell you in advance, the place we're going is not simple. Wu Sansheng originally approached me to have an old guy like me guide you. In this world, besides me, I'm afraid no one else can get in."

Fatty sneered, "Hah, old man, don't try to scare us. Your Fatty has seen it all! I tell you, we've plucked the moon from the sky and crawled the sea like turtles. We've even tipped over the Jade Emperor's chamber pot. Isn't it just a Nine-Dragon Corpse-Carrying Coffin? How tough can it be? I can slap the zombie inside and make it jump out on its own. And this one here, do you know who he is? He's the grandson of the Dog King of Changsha. Back in Shandong, we used to..."

I quickly squeezed Fatty and laughed, "Old man, don't listen to his nonsense. Half of what he says, you have to toss into the latrine."

Chenpi A'si looked at me and said, "Don't deny it. I know you're the grandson of Wu Laogou. I attended your father's full-moon banquet. You should call me 'Grandpa'."

Wu Laogou was how a few close associates in the underworld called my grandfather. My grandfather said he had dealings with this man, so it was indeed true.

I quickly nodded and called out, "Fourth Grandpa." Flattery gets you everywhere.

Chenpi A'si gave an odd smile, unclear what it meant. Panzi asked, "Grandpa Chen, what should we do now? Find a place to stay first, or..."

Before he finished, a car horn sounded from afar—one long, two short. Chenpi A'si said, "My ride is here. You decide whether to come or go. Those who want to go up the mountain, follow me." With that, he straightened his back and walked toward where the horn came from.

None of us followed immediately. After he walked away, we exchanged glances. Panzi said softly, "This old guy was prepared. He seemed to know we'd be in trouble here. I'm sure he sold out Guangtou. Now the contact in Dunhua is definitely gone, and don't expect equipment anytime soon. To figure things out, we have to follow him. What a ruthless move. No matter what, I have to carry out Third Master's orders. You decide whether to come or not." He then stood up and chased after Chenpi A'si.

Poker-face glanced at me and Fatty, then stood up and followed.

Suddenly only the two of us were left. I looked at Fatty, and Fatty looked at me. He asked, "By the way, what's this 'Nine-Dragon Corpse-Carrying Coffin' of the Dongxia Emperor he mentioned?"

I shook my head. "I don't know either."

Fatty stubbed out his cigarette and thought for a moment. "So? Shall we catch up and ask?"

I laughed, nodded, and we both stood up and chased after them.

The middle-aged man we met at the station who was with Chenpi A'si turned out to be someone Chenpi A'si had arranged nearby. They had arranged the transport. The vehicle that came for us was a Jiefang truck. After we got into the cargo bed, goods were piled on top. The truck drove all the way out of Shanhaiguan, onto the provincial road, heading straight for Erdaobaihe.

We slept like the dead the whole way. When I woke up, it was already noon the next day. Trucks weren't as convenient as trains; we still had half a day's journey. The temperature here was already much lower than Hangzhou. Although the cargo bed had a tarpaulin, the wind still got in, and I was shivering from cold. Chenpi A'si was wrapped in a military coat, occasionally showing a hint of old age fatigue, but such expressions vanished in an instant. I sighed inwardly, thinking he was indeed old. What was an old man like him, who already knew his fate, still scheming for? We discussed the plan for entering the mountains. According to the information Chenpi A'si got from Guangtou, after arriving in Dunhua, we would also take a car to Erdaobaihe, where local guides and equipment would be waiting. From there we would go to a small village called Lizigou. At that place, he would reveal the destination, and then the guide would take us there. After finding the place, the rest would be up to us.

We definitely couldn't go to Lizigou. The cops might already be waiting there. Besides, that place was too close to Erdaobaihe. We discussed and decided to skip Lizigou and go further in. There were a few more villages inland; we would drive until the road ended.

We didn't know how much Guangtou knew about the location of the Heavenly Palace. Since he was gone, things were much more difficult. Changbai Mountain is very large, part of it within North Korea. Searching inch by inch was unrealistic. But we speculated that since the destination was Lizigou, it must be nearby. We would follow the usual routine: first go to a nearby mountain village to check things out and gather information. That should yield results.

Everything went according to plan. When we reached Erdaobaihe, Chenpi A'si's people got the equipment. I was amazed at how resourceful they were given the nationwide crackdown. When I opened it, I was dumbfounded. What kind of equipment was this? No shovels, no firearms. The most numerous items were actually sanitary pads (Whisper brand), followed by ropes, ordinary tools, chocolate, a large bag of chili peppers, washbasins, and other daily necessities.

Fatty asked what was going on. Were we going to distribute women's labor protection supplies or something? Chenpi A'si said, "You'll understand when you use them."

Four days later, we arrived at Yingshan Village, deep in the Hengshan forest region. It was a miracle the truck could make it here. On some sections, just thirty centimeters beyond the road was a bottomless abyss. One slight mistake by the driver and we would have been smashed to pulp. When we asked the locals, we learned there used to be a border guard post here, but it was later abolished. That's why the road was built this far; otherwise, we would have needed snow sleds. But because of the road, occasionally some self-driving tourists came, and the villagers were used to outsiders.

Chenpi A'si had three men with him: one called Lang Feng, the driver, a big guy; one called Monk Hua, who wore glasses but had scars all over his body; and a younger one in his thirties who hadn't stopped talking the whole way, named Ye Cheng.

We got off the car and looked around at the snowy mountains. I tried to recall the mountain scenery from the murals in the underwater tomb, but obviously, standing in the wrong place, all snowy mountains looked the same.

Chenpi A'si said, "Finding the dragon is easy, locating the acupoint is hard. The 'Zang Jing' says: three years to find the dragon, ten years to locate the acupoint. To identify a dragon vein takes at least three years, but finding the treasure eye takes ten. This process is very strict. Since we know the dragon head is at Hengshan, once we go into the mountains, we can naturally find the treasure eye's location. The problem is how to get into the mountains. This place is not like others; the snowy mountains are too high. Ordinary hunters don't go there, and ginseng hunters can't reach the snow peak. Finding a guide will be difficult."

The village had no guesthouse. We couldn't find a place to stay, so we had to knock on the village committee's door. The village Party secretary was quite enthusiastic and found us a temporary empty wooden house for forest rangers. We paid and settled in. After a few days in the village, we rented horses, and after much trouble, found a local Korean veteran named Shunzi who was willing to be our guide.

He told us that ordinary people don't go up the snowy mountains. Because of changing wind and snow, the route is different almost every day. Besides, there's nothing up there. Only when they were soldiers patrolling did they go up. He could climb several peaks here, so if we really wanted to go up, he could take us, but once we entered the snow zone, we had to listen to him.

We agreed on a price and the deal was sealed. We organized the equipment and bought more things as Shunzi requested. Nine people, fourteen horses, we set off grandly into the depths of the forest.

Changbai Mountain's scenery is beautiful. Looking up, each section of the mountain had a different color. The mountain was so tall it chilled the heart, and we didn't pay much attention to the surrounding forest scenery. All our energy was focused on not falling off the horses. But with occasional glances, the majesty of the entire sky and peaks still stirred our hearts.

Changbai Mountain is a volcanic body with many hot springs and small volcanic lakes. From Yingshan Village into the forest, following the foresters' mountain path upward for four hours, we reached 'Agexi' Lake. In Korean, it means Girl Lake. The lake was like a mirror, without a ripple, reflecting the entire Changbai Mountain.

To convince Shunzi we were tourists, we took photos by the lake and then continued. The first part of our journey was in the lower part of the mountain range. The further we went, the steeper the ground became. Finally, we found ourselves moving on a slope of about 60 degrees. The trees were straight, but the ground was slanted. Every step was extremely dangerous. Shunzi told us that further up there was a deserted village, the former border post. No one was there now. We would spend the first night there, and the next day we would cross the snow line.

At that moment, Agaixi Lake was already below us. Looking down from above, the vast lake from before now seemed no larger than a pond. It was then that all of us noticed another horse team had appeared by the lakeshore, and their numbers far exceeded ours.

We found this somewhat unexpected. Fatty took out his binoculars, looked down below, then handed them to me and said, "We've got trouble."