Chapter 442: Cooperation Proposal

I practically fled out of the house before I could recover from that disgusting scene.

Jude Kao was behind me and handed me a bottle of beer; I took a few gulps to calm down.

"Any thoughts?" he asked me.

I looked at him, not sure what exactly he meant. He said, "Chinese people like to beat around the bush. I've picked up that bad habit a bit. Sorry, I mean, do you want to cooperate?"

"Cooperate?"

"I don't have much time left either. What comes next is your world. I've always been an outsider on this land and never gained its favor. Cooperation has always been my choice. You can think over my proposal," Jude Kao said.

"You don't need to dress it up. I understand what you mean," I said. "What do you want?"

"We've scouted the entire four-hour journey inside, but beyond that black door, no matter what method we use, we can't break through. I can provide you with all the data," Jude Kao said. "But there's one condition: you must take one of my people in with you."

I calculated in my mind. Panzi seemed about to refuse, so I immediately pulled him back: "Wait, I think we can accept."

"Third Uncle, they're just a rabble. Whatever information they can get, we can get even easier. Such a condition is worthless to us."

"Not necessarily," I said. "Since Mr. Jude previously said he never makes a deal he can't close, he must be very confident in his terms. The data he mentioned should be different from what we imagine."

Jude Kao nodded. "My idea isn't that simple. The reason I propose this cooperation is to prevent you from making unnecessary sacrifices. Without this data, on that four-hour journey, at least one of you will die."

"That's because you're useless," Panzi said.

Jude Kao laughed, then shook his head and said, "Fine. No matter what I say, you won't believe it. You'll have to go in yourselves to know what kind of place this Zhang Family Ancient Building really is. I'm preparing four coffins here, waiting for you to come back and sit down for a talk."

We parted on bad terms. Panzi gave me a look. Actually, I wanted to cooperate, but Panzi had a point, so I just nodded and said, "We'll talk about it when the time comes. Mr. Jude, please go ahead."

Panzi and I sat by the stream, pondering what that old foreigner had said and what we had seen. Panzi said, "It seems that inside this Zhang Family Ancient Building is extremely strange. I originally thought that with all the commotion we made outside, Jude Kao and his people could get into the building. Never expected that after so many days, they've lost so many people and haven't even found where the building is."

"Can we be sure that this ancient building is definitely in the mountains?" I asked.

"The Hundred Thousand Mountains have many legends since ancient times, but only here is there a legend of a great fire during the Ming Dynasty. In modern times, many things have happened. In the last hundred years, countless people have entered this remote mountain village. These people definitely had a purpose. There must be a great deal of clues pointing to the Zhang Family Ancient Building being in these mountains. But I saw you were absent-minded just now and almost gave the game away. Did you think of something?"

I looked out into the darkness. I knew it was a vast uninhabited area, deep in the mountains and forests.

I lit a cigarette and told Panzi about the terrible patient I'd just seen and the shadow I'd seen earlier at Agui's house and in Third Uncle's photos. "This is definitely not a coincidence. I think there's a possibility: that shadow might be the same kind of thing as the person we just saw."

"Explain in detail," Panzi said, obviously not understanding.

I said, "We don't know what that person encountered in that crevice. But let's suppose he managed to survive this time. What would his body become? You should be able to imagine it."

Panzi nodded. The person who had stood up earlier — his shoulders had basically melted away, his whole appearance incredibly grotesque. This deformity was absolutely incurable.

I said, "And the photo Brother Chu gave me, and the strange shadow I saw on the second floor of Agui's house earlier — they look exactly like the posture of that person standing up just now. I believe that in this village there is someone who suffered the same accident as that patient but survived and became deformed." I took a drag on my cigarette, held the smoke for a moment, and thought of more. "This person is very likely one of the archaeological team from twenty years ago."

Panzi remained silent. I had told him about my experiences in Banai, but he might not fully understand. Actually, I was just organizing my thoughts for myself.

"Suppose the archaeological team back then went deep into the mountains—whether before or after the swap—and conducted archaeological activities by that deep mountain lake. Given the time and scale of that team's operation, they must have found something. They might have entered that cave, then encountered an accident. Some died, some survived, some went missing. Afterward they left, but one person who they thought would surely die from the trap actually crawled out of the cave, barely surviving, and returned to the village to live," I said. "That person lived there for decades. He knew many secrets and didn't dare go back to the world outside the village. He thought he would grow old and die in that village. But what he never expected was that the matter wasn't over. Decades later, the ideological successors of that earlier archaeological team appeared in this village again."

"You just made that up, didn't you?" Panzi said. "Then how do you explain the photo Brother Chu gave you?"

"The background of that photo is the Golmud Sanatorium. That strange shadow is behind a screen. Xiao Ge was also found in this village. The timelines all line up. I don't know the exact relationship, but clearly this small village holds more secrets than I imagined," I said.

Panzi said, "Then you might as well not sleep tonight. Let's go ask Agui what's going on. Go check his second floor and find him out?"

I shook my head. "No need." I thought of the fire at Poker-face's former residence earlier. It was very likely that the person had been living in Poker-face's house. As soon as we appeared, he noticed and immediately burned down his house, destroying everything. So we wouldn't find anything on Agui's second floor. This person is no poor wretch. After so many years, judging by his actions, he still displays extremely high alertness and execution capability.

Why? During the time Jude Kao has been here, he would definitely have erased all traces. Besides, at this moment, he won't be in the village.

If it were me, I would definitely be deep in the mountains, moving around near Jude Kao's camp.

"Do you think back then, did they find the Zhang Family Ancient Building?" Panzi asked. "Those iron-like objects they finally took away — could they have been taken out of the Zhang Family Ancient Building?"

I shook my head. We still don't know this person's stance, but he burned down Poker-face's house, indicating he doesn't want the past exposed. I don't know whether he doesn't want to expose himself, or everything. But I have a very ominous feeling.

This feeling might be related to Poker-face's house being burned down. I was just a little short of seeing those photos, but a moment of carelessness allowed someone to outmaneuver me.

"Panzi! Can the team set out without resting?" I asked Panzi.

"Yes, these people were all handpicked by me. They can handle staying awake for three days," Panzi said. "What? You have an idea?"

"We need to go into the mountains immediately. I think something might go wrong," I said. "Tell them we'll rest once we're in the mountains. We must reach the lakeside by tomorrow night."

My sudden decision caught everyone off guard. Fortunately, Third Uncle's authority held sway here. In a strange atmosphere, everyone packed up their already opened bags and had Agui prepare dogs and mules overnight, and we set out into the mountains.

Even so, by the time we got the mules and officially set out, it was almost three in the morning. In the forest night, mosquitoes and insects covered the ground. I was incredibly exhausted, but my heart was tormented by an inner fire. Even knowing I might be worrying for nothing, I couldn't help but feel anxious.

Along the way, I walked at the front of the team, closely following Agui, who led the way with three dogs. Behind us, Panzi and a few workers drove the mules, strung out over a long distance.

We didn't rest until daybreak, setting up the first supply point and marking the trail as we went. After passing through dense canopy, we saw Jude Kao's team not far off, all in blue tents. We ignored them and kept moving.

The journey was uneventful. By the time we reached the edge of the demon lake, it was already evening of the second day. Only a sliver of sun remained, casting a faint, hazy light on the calm surface of the lake, making it look exceedingly dim.

But on the other side of the lakeshore, campfires blazed brightly, and a string of red flames revealed an unbelievable scene.

Campfires were everywhere, cooking was going on everywhere. Among the piles of rocks were many makeshift huts with thatched roofs. There were at least twenty or thirty people, along with mules, dogs, and even ducks mingling among them.

A tape recorder was playing music, and beer and soda cans were scattered in the crevices of the rocks.

In the firelight, groups of two or three people played cards, stared off into space, or drank—an utterly leisurely, modern pastoral scene.

"The bosses couldn't stand sleeping in sleeping bags on the rocky beach, so they built huts. The ducks were raised to be eaten—too troublesome to bring them in one by one, so each group grabbed a dozen or so and raised them in the lake first. Anyway, ducks can't run off if they leave the lake." Agui said, "In a few days I'll have to bring some lounge chairs from outside. Some boss wanted something like 'sunbathing'?"

"Sunbathing," Xiao Hua said from behind, patting me on the shoulder. "That's how people are. In this line of work, they're born with a love for living in the moment."

I watched a foreign man and woman sitting on a large rock by the lakeshore, kissing, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

No one paid us any attention. As we walked into their camp, everyone looked at us with indifference. When Panzi passed a stack of beer cases, he grabbed a few cans and tossed them to us without anyone protesting.

"Looks like they've taken us for their own," Panzi said. "Jude Kao's not dependable either—not even a lookout posted."

"Not necessarily. Some people are bold because they're skilled." Xiao Hua looked toward a spot, took a sip of beer, and pointed. I turned and saw a spark of light in a tree at the edge of the rocky beach forest, as if someone was smoking up there.

"Just one?"

"Just one," Xiao Hua said. "Probably packing heat and has good eyes."

"Let's keep our distance from them," Panzi said. "It's smoky and chaotic, too many people and eyes." He pointed toward the other side of the lake, which was pitch black.