Chapter Twenty-Three A Strange Dream

  As I saw these five people walking down the mountain, my heart suddenly started racing, as if I was a thief hiding and the police were searching for me in this direction. Who would be bored enough to run to this desolate mountain at night except for that old ghost-raising man? If it really is him, if I get caught, what awaits me will be worse than death, because he might turn me into a ghost, making me a terrifying tool.

  There are five people on the other side, if they really find me, it's not easy to catch me in this forest like catching an ant. If I get caught, then Tiantian will also be taken back, thinking of this, I quickly called Tiantian to drill back into the wooden puppet.

  I don't know if those five people saw the torch I just picked up, maybe they didn't see it because after Tiantian reminded me that someone was behind me, I trampled it out. The torch had been extinguished for two or three minutes when those few people appeared, but even if they hadn't seen the torch, I still had to hurry and leave as soon as possible, staying here any longer would be dangerous, after all, there were five people on the other side.

  Running is the only way out, but after losing the torch, the hawthorn forest is pitch black and I don't dare to turn on my flashlight. Every locust tree in this forest has many dragon blood vines hanging down that can bind people, so I can only crawl on the ground like a four-legged snake. First, I'm afraid of being tied up by the dragon blood vines, then I'll become a sheep waiting to be slaughtered and won't be able to run away anymore. Second, I'm afraid of hitting trees if I walk upright, after all, there isn't a single blade of grass on the ground of this locust forest, so crawling doesn't feel tiring at all.

  I crawled forward in a straight line, relying on my senses, and circled around the tree roots when I reached them. After crawling for about 70 or 80 meters, I heard footsteps behind me. Those five people finally entered the pagoda tree forest, while I crawled faster, wondering if they would suddenly be tied up by vines. I crawled a bit more, feeling that those people weren't walking in my direction, so I stopped to rest for tens of seconds. My arms were really sore and weak, just like when you're doing push-ups and reach your limit, making it hard to do even one more.

  I rested while pressing my ear to the ground, listening. This was a method I learned from Journey to the West. But unexpectedly, apart from the sound of running water, I couldn't hear any footsteps from those people at all. I turned my head around and looked everywhere but didn't see even a glimmer of light, as if no one had ever entered this forest of pagoda trees before. The surroundings were dead silent, without even the chirping of insects, only faintly hearing the sound of water flowing from that stone spring, which was also very quiet.

  It's really strange, did these five people disappear out of thin air, or was it just an illusion from the beginning and no one came at all. If I can still believe in my own illusions, would Tongtong also have illusions? How could someone as clever as me not figure it out?

  I wanted to ask Tóng Tóng, but I didn't dare make a sound, so I could only put my hand into the bag and tap on the wooden puppet with my fingers. But strangely, Tóng Tóng didn't respond to me, as if it really was just a wooden puppet after all, without a little water ghost inside.

  This suddenly became so strange that I felt as if this world was left with only me, and even Tongtong disappeared.

  I didn't have time to think anymore, I rested for about a minute and started climbing again. This time, I climbed another 70-80 meters in one breath, but still hadn't reached the edge of the forest. It was pitch black and nothing could be seen, while around me, there was still no sound to be heard, even the sound of the stone spring water had disappeared. Thinking that I was alone in a dark and quiet mountain valley, and this place might be the mountain valley where Grandma said the fox and snake had a conversation, and above my head, there were many dragon blood vines that could bind people, saying I wasn't afraid would be deceiving myself.

  I took out the ancient bronze dagger and held it in my hand, then crawled for another distance. Finally, I really couldn't move anymore, and my whole body went limp and fell to the ground motionless. I felt very strange, according to reason, this shouldn't be possible. I had crawled at least over 200 meters, which was already the width of the pagoda tree forest. Why couldn't I crawl out? Was I walking in circles?

  I can't take this atmosphere anymore, I took out the wooden doll and softly called out to Tongtong a few times, but she still didn't respond to me. Is Tongtong not inside? Then where did she go? What's going on here?

  I have never felt such fear, the feeling of this fear is like the sound of footsteps in my room at midnight when I was a kid. I couldn't care less about anything else, stood up and turned on the flashlight to take a look, and the surrounding environment almost made me scream.

  I didn't even realize when I walked out of the pagoda tree forest, and now I'm standing in a pile of rocks, these stones are as big as a bamboo basket, one on top of another, stacked up to three meters high.

  What place is this? Just as I was getting anxious about where I had ended up, I suddenly heard a voice coming from outside the pile of rocks.

  I climbed up the pile of rocks, and saw a fire not far away. I covered my ears with my hands to listen, feeling that many people were talking, but the language they spoke was unintelligible to me, similar to those African tribal languages heard on TV nowadays.

  I called out a few more times, but Tongtong still didn't respond. I gripped the small ancient bronze knife tightly in my hand and walked over to where the sound was coming from, climbing over the pile of rocks. I kept walking until I reached a spot not far from the firelight, and what I saw made me almost drop the knife in my hand, almost making me shout out loud - it was just too eerie.

  I saw a large bonfire in front of me, and next to the bonfire was a group of small dwarves. These little people were only as tall as a can of Coke, and the taller ones were just slightly taller than a beer bottle, exactly like what I dreamed about that time.

  There were over a hundred of these little dwarves, dancing around a bonfire in some sort of bizarre ritual. I was less than three meters away from them, but they seemed to have no idea I was there, completely absorbed in their dance.

  At this moment, thousands of questions emerged in my mind. What is this place? How did I get here? Where did Tongtong go? Where are those five people who came down from the mountain slope? Where did these little dwarfs come from? Am I dreaming?

  I stood still, like a statue, watching these little dwarves dance, and after observing for a while, I felt that they were not dangerous, so I decided to walk over and take a look. Even if they attacked me, what could they do? With one foot, I could trample two or three of them to death; if their height was like ordinary people's, then I would be equivalent to a four-story-tall giant.

  I took a few steps forward, thinking that these little dwarves would see me and run away in all directions. But the result was frustrating to the extreme - they didn't pay any attention to me at all, treating me like air, and continued dancing. I also got a clear look at their appearance - although short, they were very strong, just like weightlifters shrunk down. Their facial features were different from ours, but somewhat similar to Southeast Asians, specifically the Malay people, with dark yellowish skin. None of them wore any clothes, with a white strange symbol painted on their chest, resembling a cartoon sun.

  I couldn't help but crouch down to look at them, and then I couldn't help but stretch out my hand to catch one to take a closer look. But the result was just like in that dream, my hand went straight through the body of a small dwarf. They were just like ghosts, without physical bodies, just projections, and it was impossible to catch them.

  I tried several times but failed, so I simply put my hand into the fire pit. As expected, this fire was also a projection and didn't scald me at all. Apart from looking like flames, it actually didn't exist.

  I lay flat on the ground, shouting at this group of dancing dwarfs, but they still didn't react, probably because they hadn't heard me at all. They seemed not to exist in this dimension, just like a mirage, which I couldn't understand.

  I let out a few roars as I just got up, and then heard the sound of gurgling and rumbling in front of me, like a huge wave crashing over from the sea. I immediately shone my flashlight forward, and was so scared that I urinated in my pants. In front of me, not far away, a giant wave as high as three or four floors was rushing towards me.

  Nightmare, this must be a nightmare, but I still turned around and ran away immediately. I only ran two steps before the huge wave rushed over, and then I lost consciousness.

  When I came to, everything around me was pitch black. I heard someone calling out to me, a voice repeating "Tiao He Gege" over and over again. As I regained my senses, I realized it was Tongtong...

  Sound.

  "Tongtong is it you?" I asked into the darkness, and a voice responded with an "Uh-huh".

  "Hmm! I'm Tongtong, Brother Jumping River, you're awake?"

  I've been with Tiantian for half a year now, and it's the first time she calls me "Jiao He Gege". I ask Tiantian where we are, and at the same time, I find myself unable to move. Tiantian tells me that we're on top of that old locust tree! And I'm actually being tied up by Dragon Blood Vine like a rice dumpling.

  How did I end up on this old locust tree? I was clearly crawling on the ground, wasn't I? I remember I didn't fall asleep, and it seemed like I should have crawled out of the woods. How did I end up on this tree?

  Tongtong told me it wasn't, she said I had been crawling towards this old locust tree in the dark all along, and she didn't remind me either. When I climbed to the base of the tree, several dragon blood vines suddenly tied me up and pulled me onto the tree. At that time, Tongtong finally realized something was wrong, but I fell asleep and couldn't be woken no matter what.

  How did this happen, it's too strange. How could I climb up to this old locust tree? I suddenly thought of those five people and asked Tiantian where the five people were just now?

  Tongtong said she didn't know, in the woods she felt like everything was blocked out, before she could sense someone coming, it was because they had reached the edge of the woods.

  Everything in this pagoda forest is beyond my understanding. I don't know if it's like this during the day, or if it only gets like this at night.

  My name is Tongtong. I took out a match from my pocket, she made some dry branches and leaves on the rattan under the tree, lit the fire, and in less than two seconds, the rattan released me. I quickly climbed down the tree, and as soon as my feet touched the ground, I saw five flashlights lighting up around me.