When they went up the mountain, there were four of them. But on the way back, only two remained.
Tang Xiao hurried back to their lodging, only to find Li Bohao and Li Po pacing anxiously inside the small wooden house. Their faces were grim as they kept glancing toward the door. The moment they saw Tang Xiao and his companion, they let out a sigh of relief.
Li Bohao said, “You’re finally back! Wait—why are there only two of you?”
“We lost them on the mountain,” Tang Xiao gave a brief explanation, choosing not to mention the strange occurrences they encountered. Noticing their grave expressions, he asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Weren’t you two planning to investigate the local customs? Are you done already?”
“This village isn't big; you can walk through it in half an hour. We checked out the Taizu God temple,” Li Bohao's expression was serious. “And… something about this place feels off. It’s not just their beliefs—it’s the people too… Li Po dug up a human bone behind the temple.”
Tang Xiao's eyes widened in shock. He instinctively looked at the pale-faced Li Po, who quickly nodded, his expression on the verge of tears. “We almost got caught by the locals! I buried it back as fast as I could, but I don’t know if they noticed… We should leave, now!”
A strange religion, an isolated mountain village, a place where only familiar faces exist, and now, the eerie occurrences on the mountain along with the discovery of human remains.
With all these strange events piling up, even a scientist like Tang Xiao, who never believed in the supernatural, felt chills running down his spine. “Yeah… we should leave. The signal here is weak—if anything happens, we won’t even be able to send out a message. Once my other bodyguard returns, we’ll head out immediately.”
“Are you sure he just got lost?” Li Bohao frowned. “Weren’t you following Uncle Cheng?” His gaze shifted to the dark-skinned man standing behind Tang Xiao, his expression flickering with uncertainty.
Wait… was this bodyguard always like this?
He had clearly seen him in the morning, but for some reason, the man now felt unfamiliar—almost unsettling. Even though he was staring straight at him, Li Bohao couldn’t seem to recall his exact features. He only knew that his skin was darker than usual, and his hair was silver-white.
Like… like what, exactly?
After a moment of hesitation, Tang Xiao decided to tell them about the strange things that had happened on the mountain, especially how Uncle Cheng had vanished without a trace.
Li Bohao’s expression grew even graver. “Could this… be a trap?” He lowered his voice. “I overheard some villagers talking about that mountain when I was investigating the temple. They said it was cursed. Supposedly, it’s the dwelling place of the Taizu God, and the locals never go up there—not even by accident.”
And yet, that middle-aged guide had never mentioned a single word about it. Maybe he was too focused on making money, or maybe he just didn’t believe in these things.
But for some reason, recalling the thick fog on the mountain, Tang Xiao couldn’t help but feel uneasy. “Once my bodyguard is back, we’ll leave.”
The other bodyguard should realize he was lost and come down to meet them soon. Hopefully, he wouldn’t take too long.
None of them dared to wander around outside. They sat silently in the cabin, waiting. But in the end, the missing person never returned—only a raging storm arrived.
The downpour came without warning. Within two or three hours, the sky had turned pitch black, covered in dense clouds. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and then the rain poured down in torrents. The fragile wooden house shook violently in the storm. Water leaked from multiple spots in the main hall. Tang Xiao and Li Bohao scrambled around, placing buckets to catch the dripping water and trying to nail wooden planks over the windows.
With weather like this, forget sneaking away in the night—they’d be lucky if they didn’t get blown away the moment they stepped outside.
The bodyguard still hadn’t returned. He might have been caught in the storm as well, but in this kind of weather, searching for him was out of the question. Tang Xiao sighed repeatedly as he stared out into the rain. Then, as he turned his head, his gaze met that of the dark-skinned man standing inside the room.
He was holding a bowl of steaming, pale yellow liquid, which gave off a sharp, spicy scent. “Drink this—it’ll keep you warm.”
Tang Xiao took the bowl and sniffed it. It seemed to be ginger soup.
Wait… was there even a place to cook in this cabin? Where did he get the ginger soup from?
Tang Xiao looked around in confusion, only to see that the others also had bowls in their hands. Li Bohao took a sip and said, “There’s a small kitchen in the back of the hall, but it only has a wood stove.”
No wonder he hadn’t seen the man earlier—he must have been making ginger soup.
Tang Xiao had been busy for hours. His clothes were soaked with rain and sweat, clinging to his body uncomfortably. He was too exhausted to overthink it. He downed the ginger soup in one go and flashed a smile. “Thanks. By the way, your name is…?”
“Jun Tesi,” the man said softly, his golden eyes locked onto Tang Xiao. “You can just call me Jun Tesi.”
“Alright, Jun Tesi.” What kind of name was that? It was neither entirely Chinese nor fully foreign.
Tang Xiao complained silently in his mind but showed no reaction outwardly. Perhaps it was the ginger soup taking effect—his once-cold body was now warming up, especially around his lower abdomen. A wave of drowsiness hit him.
Too many things had happened today. From collecting samples to tumbling down the hillside, his body was still sore. Deciding to turn in early, Tang Xiao climbed into bed.
With no signal, his phone was useless, and he needed to conserve battery. Everyone tacitly agreed to sleep early. The room arrangement was the same as the night before, except that one person was missing from Tang Xiao’s room. Originally, he had planned to offer Li Bohao the extra bed, but the latter was comfortable sleeping on the floor and declined.
Later, Li Bohao would find himself endlessly grateful for that decision.
As the others' breathing steadied in sleep, Li Bohao remained wide awake. His mind kept replaying everything that had happened throughout the day—his investigation, the conversations with the villagers, his sister discovering the human bone. It all felt like a warning, something eerily familiar.
No matter what, they had to leave tomorrow!
Amidst his jumbled thoughts, Li Bohao finally turned over, trying to coax himself to sleep. But what he saw next made his eyes widen in shock.
On the bed, the young man lay sound asleep, breathing evenly. His brows furrowed slightly, as if trapped in an unsettling dream.
And above him, someone was propped up on all fours, hovering over his body. The contours of their back rose and fell with each breath—like a silent, looming mountain range.
A flash of lightning split the night. For a brief moment, the white light illuminated the entire room. What Li Bohao saw in that instant made his breathing hitch—his pupils constricted to the size of a needlepoint.
The man's lower body had, at some point, lost its human form, making Li Bohao think of a tree rising from the earth, its roots intertwined and gripping the soil tightly—just like they were now tightly clutching Tang Xiao.
The young man, drenched from the rain, had stripped down to his underwear to dry off. They were all men, so no one thought much of it—little did they expect that this would conveniently aid some lurking monster in its work.
From the waist down, Tang Xiao was almost entirely engulfed by writhing, blood-red root-like appendages. It was impossible to see exactly what was happening. His kneecaps were pinned, forcing his legs into an awkwardly splayed position. His exposed toes twitched now and then, and even in his sleep, he instinctively struggled to break free. Yet it was as if he were sinking into a swamp—no matter how much he tried, he could only furrow his brows, his expression caught between pain and something else... something almost resembling pleasure.
It was like he was trapped in a dark, forbidden, debauched dream.
Li Bohao's mind was in chaos. He hadn’t even noticed when the monster had stopped moving. By the time he snapped back to reality, all he could see in his mind was a pair of cold, inhuman golden eyes expanding toward him...
“Li Bohao? Li Bohao?”
Tang Xiao waved a hand in front of Li Bohao’s face. He blinked himself back to awareness. “W-what?”
“You’re still asking? We need to decide whether to set out or not,” Tang Xiao said, rubbing his neck as a reminder.
Li Bohao finally came to his senses and noticed that both Li Po and Tang Xiao were waiting for his decision. He still seemed dazed. “Y-yeah... right.”
Last night… huh? What happened last night? He seemed to have had a nightmare, but he couldn’t recall what exactly had occurred.
“Brother, are you okay? Didn’t sleep well?” Li Po guessed.
“Maybe,” Li Bohao muttered, massaging his temples. Then, noticing Tang Xiao’s deeply furrowed brows and discomforted expression, he hesitated before asking, “Are you alright?”
“I'm fine. Probably just slept in a bad position.”
After a whole night’s rest, he had thought his condition would be better than yesterday. But strangely, it was the opposite. His body ached even more than before. Even though Jun Tesi had checked him over and confirmed he didn’t have many external injuries, there were several fresh bruises on his lower back and thighs. Maybe it was from the fall yesterday?
At that moment, that eerie feeling of being watched returned. Tang Xiao immediately turned his head—only to see Jun Tesi stepping out of the kitchen, holding a pot of something. “Come eat,” he said. “If we’re going to move, we can’t do it on an empty stomach.”
Li Bohao and Li Po were drawn in by the aroma. But for some reason, Tang Xiao just stared at Jun Tesi, dazed, for a long time.
Jun Tesi frowned. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” Tang Xiao replied.
Breakfast was a simple bowl of medicinal porridge. Jun Tesi explained that he had used the last bit of rice that a middle-aged man had given them and had gathered some edible plants in the brief lull of rain that morning.
The porridge wasn’t bad, but the atmosphere was heavy. Everyone ate in silence. Afterward, Li Bohao suggested, “We should head out. The rain has let up. As for Uncle Cheng and that other person, we can send people back to search for them later. Right now, we’re understaffed and unfamiliar with the terrain. If we go looking for them, we might end up losing ourselves instead.”
Tang Xiao knew he was right. He sighed slightly and agreed.
They quickly and silently packed their things, grabbing only the essentials before stepping out of the wooden house into the rain.
Then, all of them froze in place. Standing before them were villagers wearing conical straw hats, staring at them impassively.
The rain was too loud. None of them had noticed when the villagers had approached—nor when they had surrounded them.
An old man stepped forward and spoke in a calm, measured tone. “Honored guests, won’t you stay a few more nights? The festival is about to begin. It will be quite lively and entertaining.”
“No, we’re in a hurry,” Tang Xiao replied.
The old man acted as if he hadn’t heard. His murky eyes stared at them blankly, and his face carried a strangely vacant expression. “Please stay… and participate. It will be very fun.”
His last words were slurred, distorted—like he was speaking with something in his mouth.
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