Chapter 323: Old Man Panma

The old man was very thin, even more so compared to the fat lynx on his shoulder, but on closer inspection you could see that his atrophied muscles were still as tough as iron bars, making it easy to imagine how imposing he must have been in his prime. Under the moonlight, his eyes were bright and sharp, giving off an indescribable feeling.

He returned the hunting knife to the sheath at the small of his back, looked me over again, shifted the lynx to his other shoulder, and then said something in the local dialect for me to follow him.

The grass around them was still moving, but the old man paid it no mind as he carried the lynx and walked ahead. Soon, the surrounding commotion gradually faded away, and mournful cries came from deep in the woods. Lynxes form temporary hunting groups; this one was probably the strongest, responsible for the final kill. Now that it was dead, the hunting group had disbanded. Lynxes are extremely cautious by nature and would never take a second risk.

The old man shouted as he headed toward the ancient tomb, the flashlight beam flickering but always aimed at the mountain. Clearly, Agui was not being kind—he hadn't come down to rescue me.

Only one flashlight was coming this way. We went to meet it and saw that Poker-face rarely looked so anxious. He seemed relieved when he saw I was safe, then noticed the old man.

Poker-face's hands were also covered in blood, and Agui's hunting knife was held in a reverse grip. The two exchanged a glance. When Poker-face saw the old man's tattoo, he was instantly stunned, but the old man seemed not to notice him and walked straight past.

I thought to myself, wow, what a cool old man, with the same bearing as Poker-face. Could he be Bottle's father?

Poker-face wanted to go up and ask, but I stopped him, saying the old man was no pushover and obviously didn't speak the same language. Asking him would be useless; let's go back first.

Passing the place where I had fallen, we saw another lynx corpse on the ground, its neck broken—clearly Poker-face's handiwork. The old man gestured for us to pick it up. Poker-face hoisted the corpse onto his shoulder, and together we climbed the slope. The people above immediately ran over, looking very surprised when they saw the old man.

The old man chattered away with them in the local dialect, and I couldn't understand a word. I secretly asked Yuncai who this old man was.

Yuncai said, "Who else could it be? He's the Pan Ma you've been looking for."

"He's Pan Ma?" I was amazed, though I had already suspected as much. They all said Old Man Pan Ma was the greatest hunter; who else could kill such a large lynx with his bare hands at his age? After all, a single lynx can take down a lone Tibetan wolf. Felines are the apex mammalian predators, and you couldn't do that unless you were extremely familiar with their habits.

Just now, Old Man Pan Ma must have been attacked by the lynx and kept fighting it until he reached here, then lay low to wait for the right moment. Damn, that final fatal strike—I doubt even Poker-face could have been as clean. If it had been just one second later, one of us—the old man or me—would surely be dead.

Agui checked my injuries and introduced us to each other. The old man didn't seem interested in us; he only gave a brief greeting and then started wiping off the grime on his body.

Wiping off the blood, I noticed that his tattoo looked quite terrifying against the bloodstains, and the pattern was almost identical to Poker-face's. There was a fresh wound on the old man's spine, frighteningly deep, probably from the lynx's ambush.

The group murmured among themselves, recounting the journey into the mountains. Through half-guessing, half-interpreting, plus Yuncai's translation, I got the gist. The earlier part was mostly as I had guessed—they had come into the mountains because of his son's matter, never expecting to encounter a lynx. Fortunately, the old man had a habit of carrying a branch over his back when going into the mountains: it served as a walking stick and also protected the back of his neck from ambushes on flat ground. This was an old custom from the days when wild beasts roamed freely, and it had never been used in his lifetime, but this time it saved him. His clothes were torn off, but the back of his neck wasn't bitten through—it was an extremely close call.

Lynxes hadn't been seen for years, and suddenly appearing here might be because of the heavy rains a few days earlier, forcing them out due to some disturbance deep in the mountains. More people means more rats, so they were attracted to village edges by food. The old man looked excited, as if he had recaptured the feeling of his prime. I figured that now was not a good time to ask questions. Agui called for us to head back, saying the villagers must be worried sick. The old man's and my wounds were quite deep and needed immediate treatment.

Several of us burned the two lynx carcasses by the time the sky was turning pale. Then we stamped out the fire and set off immediately.

Lynx pelts are priceless, and burning them was such a waste. But Agui said they couldn't let anyone know lynxes had appeared here; otherwise, poachers would swarm in within a week. Greedy as they are, even if they couldn't catch a lynx, they'd definitely hunt something else, and the area would be picked clean.

The journey back was uneventful. It was already broad daylight when we returned to the village. Several village cadres had stayed up all night and were about to head into the mountains with a few people when they met us at the mountain pass.

We ate breakfast at the village office—griddle cakes and egg congee. I was so hungry I had two big bowls. The village was like a festival, with people constantly coming to ask all sorts of questions.

My shoulder was almost bitten through. After disinfection, I got a tetanus shot and had herbal medicine applied. Old Man Pan Ma got over a dozen stitches on his back. That barefoot doctor really went at it, like sewing a quilt—quick and rough. The old man remained silent the whole time, listening to the village cadres nagging endlessly.

Leaving aside those tedious matters, after the treatment we wanted to go rest first, intending to visit the old man after we recovered. But just as he was leaving, the old man made a gesture for us to follow him home.

Poker-face and I exchanged a glance, thinking this old man really had a strange temper. We stood up and quickly followed. But after a few steps, Old Man Pan Ma shook his head again, suddenly pointed at Poker-face, and said something.

We didn't understand and looked at Agui, who had followed. Agui also looked puzzled and spoke a few words with Pan Ma. Pan Ma replied in a very firm tone, then walked off directly.

I had no idea what was going on and looked blankly at Agui. Agui looked a bit embarrassed. I asked him what the old man had said. Agui said to me, "He said if you want to know the truth, come alone. He can't come."

I frowned, wondering what that meant. I glanced at Poker-face. Agui added, "He also said…"

"What did he say?"

"He said that if the two of you stay together, sooner or later one of you will kill the other."