Chapter 243: Snake Marsh Ghost City (Part 3)

The stones were relatively dry. I set down A Ning's corpse. Everyone was exhausted and sat down to rest.

We took off our clothes and spread them on the stones to dry. Fatty wanted to light the smokeless stove, but after rummaging through all the luggage, he couldn't find a single one. It seemed they had all fallen out during last night's chaos. Unable to start a fire, he made do with the lamp wick from the fuel can. Unexpectedly, the swamp here turned out to be saltwater—apparently connected to a nearby large salt marsh water system. Luckily, the rain had washed down from the canyon, so the opening was basically tasteless; otherwise, drinking water might have been a problem. I first put in a few disinfectant tablets, boiled some water, and had tea. Then I fetched water to wash myself.

After soaking in water all night, my skin was wrinkled. Taking off my shoes, my feet were soaked white, and the skin peeled off at a touch. Even though I had tightened my shoe laces, after removing my socks I could still see tiny leech-like things attached to my feet. I killed them with a hot dagger blade, picked them up to look, but couldn't tell what kind of bugs they were.

However, if the swamp water was saline, the insect population should be relatively smaller. At least saline leeches were unlikely here. For us entering deep into the swamp, this was great news.

Panzi handed me his tobacco, saying it was local tobacco he had asked Zhaxi for when they parted, good for expelling dampness. In this kind of humidity, a person would be ruined in a week, so a few puffs would help, so we wouldn't end up unable to walk in old age.

I took it and smoked. The tobacco was wrapped in a plastic bag, but after last night's ordeal, it had gotten damp. A few puffs made me choke terribly, with tears streaming down, but it actually felt quite good. Whether it was physiological or psychological, after smoking, my mind felt much clearer, and the fatigue suddenly became less noticeable.

Fatty also asked him for some. Panzi broke off half a cigarette and gave it to him. He lit it and finished it in a few puffs, then asked for more, but Panzi wouldn't give. At that moment, we saw Poker-face silent, looking at the swamp beside him, lost in thought. Panzi probably felt it was awkward to leave him out, so he also offered him half a cigarette. I thought he wouldn't take it, but to my surprise, he did accept it, only he didn't light it; instead, he put it in his mouth and started chewing.

"Damn, little brother, if you don't know how to smoke, don't waste the stuff," Fatty protested. "This thing isn't for eating."

"What the hell do you know? Chewing tobacco is much more potent than smoking. In Yunnan and Myanmar, plenty of people chew it," Panzi said. But after speaking, he also felt puzzled, so he looked at Poker-face and said, "But you don't seem like a heavy smoker, little brother? How do you know about chewing tobacco leaves? Have you worked on a ship? Or been down in a mine?"

Poker-face shook his head. After chewing a few times, he spit the tobacco into his hand and rubbed it on the wound on his palm. I glanced over and saw that the skin on his palm was white and turned up. Though it wasn't bleeding, it was clear that the high temperature here made it hard for the wound to heal. After applying it, he glanced at Panzi, who stared at him with suspicious and distrustful eyes, but he still showed no reaction. He turned to look at the swamp again and ignored us.

We were used to this situation. Poker-face seemed tight-lipped about his own circumstances, but I understood that a large part of these questions even he himself didn't know the answers to. "A person who appeared out of nowhere, with no past, no future, seemingly having no connection to this world"—that was his self-assessment. Sometimes when I thought about it, it was really quite apt.

Naked and with the moisture evaporating from our bodies, I felt a bit of comfort and recovered somewhat. Fatty took out compressed jerky for us to eat. We devoured it with tea, not really tasting it, just filling our stomachs. A full stomach made us sleepy, so Panzi used the backpack and its contents to set up a sunshade, and while he kept watch, the rest of us squeezed inside. We all knew that once we entered the swamp, we might never get another chance to rest. Having a whole sleep now was a kind of benefit. Without any extra thoughts, as soon as we lay down, it was almost like our vision went black, and we fell asleep.

That sleep was deep and dark; I don't know how long I slept. I woke up groggily and found that it was pitch black all around and I was sticky all over. Rubbing my eyes, I saw that it had gotten dark and it was raining again. Panzi was lying on the luggage nearby, also asleep. Fatty was beside me, snoring. Poker-face was sleeping deeply, facing inward.

The fuel can in the distance was still burning, but the rain made the flame turn blue, and it didn't illuminate far. I took out a storm lantern and lit it, then wanted to wake the others. At that moment, I noticed something was wrong.

It turned out that the sleeping bag that had been wrapped around A Ning's corpse had been opened at some point. A Ning's upper body was exposed, as if she were sleeping peacefully there.