Volume 1: Spirit Marriage Chapter 49: Mountain Cave

  Arrived at the opposite side of the mountain, the sound of running water came from ahead. A bay of creek water flowed out from between the stone cracks. On top of the rock was a cave about 2-3 meters high, with relatively smooth surface and signs of climbing. This should be the cave where Fan Feng said there were immortals.

  Zhang Yunhao took out his phone and said he wanted to take a photo of us, but Zhong Ling'er walked away without saying a word, apparently she didn't like taking photos.

  Fan Feng walked over, looked at us with a displeased expression, as if unwelcoming our arrival. We ignored him and each went to scoop up creek water to drink. The creek water was clear and sweet, Wu Lele was amazed, pouring out the remaining half bottle of mineral water and replacing it with creek water. Zhong Ling'er squatted on a rock, stretching her hand into the creek water, slowly sliding it back and forth, as if chatting with the creek water.

  I and Zhang Yunhao looked up at the opening above, saw a wooden sign standing beside it with red letters: Danger, No Climbing. The opening was about one meter high and two meters wide, because of our position below, we couldn't see how deep inside. I said why don't we go up and take a look? Zhang Yunhao rolled up his sleeves and said that's natural, since we're here, of course we have to go in and take a look.

  At this moment, someone shouted: "Hey!" We turned our heads and saw that it was Fan Feng. Zhang Yunhao seemed to have not heard him. I asked him what's wrong, he held his phone in one hand and waved the other hand restlessly, looking anxious, and asked if I had seen his girlfriend. I said no, then asked isn't your girlfriend with you? He cursed, then looked up towards the cave entrance.

  It's obvious that little guy lost his girlfriend. In my estimation, that girl must have quietly slipped down the mountain while he wasn't paying attention.

  The sky is getting darker, as if the heavy rain is about to arrive. I suggested that we go into the cave, Zhang Yunhao and Wu Lele agreed unanimously, but Zhong Ling'er looked at the warning sign and then stared blankly at the entrance of the cave. I asked her if there was anything strange here? She slowly shook her head.

  Fan Feng held his mobile phone and shouted anxiously on the phone: "Come to the cave immediately, Niu Niu is gone! Hurry up and find her for me!"

  I was face to face with Zhang Yunhao and Wu Lele, I said your girlfriend might have gone down the mountain, it's going to rain soon, you should go down quickly. Zhang Yunhao chimed in: "And leave that tent behind." Fan Feng looked at the tent in his hand, threw it in front of Zhang Yunhao and said: "Find my girlfriend, and this tent is yours." I said how can we find her if she's gone down the mountain? Hurry up, maybe you can still catch up with her halfway. But Fan Feng said: "She didn't go down the mountain, I was just over there making a phone call, watching the road down the mountain, and saw that she didn't go down, it's as if she disappeared while standing here." I asked where she was standing, he said it was right where you two are standing. I looked at where I was standing, and suddenly felt a chill run down my spine.

  "Are you stupid? She must have gone into the cave. Go find her in the cave!"

  Fan Feng looked up at the entrance of the cave and hesitated, saying that the entrance was so high...

  "High fart!" Zhang Yunhao took a few steps back, then rushed forward in one step, reached the entrance of the cave, clapped his hands, coughed twice, raised his head and chest, and waved to us: "Comrades are good, comrades have worked hard!"

  I told you to stop being cute, how deep is that hole?

  Zhang Yunhao walked a few steps into the courtyard and suddenly shouted: "Ah!"

  The sound stopped abruptly, and then there was a dead silence.

  My heart sank, had Zhang Junhao encountered danger? Just as I was about to climb up, Wu Lele rushed ahead of me. Unexpectedly, she had only climbed halfway when she suddenly cried out in a sobbing tone: "I... my legs are weak, Xiaodao, save me!" I saw her clinging to the rock like a spider, wanting to go up but unable to, wanting to come down but not daring to. She turned her head and looked at me with a pleading gaze, then shouted again: "Hurry up, what are you staring blankly for?" I said, how can I help? Why don't you jump down and I'll catch you?

  "I'm afraid of falling." Wu Lele really cried.

  Zhong Ling'er came to my side and stared at Wu Lele without saying a word.

  I was worried that Wu Lele would really fall down, so I had to walk up and hold her legs with both hands, calling out in a depressed tone: "Old Buddha, hold on!" Wu Lele didn't show any courtesy, stepping on my hands to climb up, but unexpectedly, her foot slipped and she let out a miserable cry as she slid down. My eyes moved quickly and I hurriedly held out both hands underneath her, and she sat down on my wrists with a thud. I felt strange, just about to let go, when Wu Lele immediately cried out: "Don't let go, push me up!"

  No choice, I pushed her buttocks and struggled to get her up there.

  When we reached the top, Wu Lele adjusted her clothes and stretched out her hand to me, saying pull me up. I looked at her slender hand and said forget it, don't let me pull you down again. Then I asked Zhong Ling'er if she wanted me to push her up, but she shook her head and said she wasn't going up. She then told me to hurry up and see what had happened to Zhang Yunhao.

  Fan Feng was stunned behind me. I looked at him and asked if he wanted to go up together. Fan Feng swallowed his saliva and said he wouldn't go up either, but I told him what if his girlfriend encountered danger again upstairs? He thought for a moment and then asked for my help before walking over to climb up like Wu Lele. Fortunately, this kid was agile despite being timid, and he managed to climb up easily. I couldn't understand why Wu Lele, who seemed so capable, couldn't climb up, but this kid did it with ease. Was Wu Lele pretending?

  I looked up and saw that the top was empty, Wu Lele and Fan Feng were nowhere to be seen. I told Zhong Ling'er that I was going up, and she nodded, reminding me to be careful. I felt a warmth in my heart and easily climbed up without any effort. When I looked inside, it wasn't very deep, only about one zhang (a unit of length). What's strange is that Zhang Junhao, Wu Lele, and Fan Feng were all gone!

  Did they evaporate here?

  I looked down and saw Zhong Ling'er looking up at me. I said they've disappeared, could this be an alien base that took them away? Zhong Ling'er said go take a look inside, I said I've already seen the entrance, what if I go in and also disappear? Zhong Ling'er said there's water flowing out, there should be a cave inside.

  Suddenly, Wu Lele shouted: "Xiao Dao!"

  The sound was coming from the cave, and it seemed to be coming from the left side of the entrance. My heart skipped a beat as I rushed inside, only to find out that there was a small passageway on the left side, which I hadn't noticed earlier due to the extreme darkness inside.

  I called out to Wu Lele, and immediately got a response from her, telling me to come in. It was very dark inside, so I took out my phone and carefully made my way forward, walking less than three or four meters before the space suddenly opened up in front of me. A large cavern appeared, about three meters high and twenty square meters wide, with many bluish-gray stones and a waterway running through the middle that was about three meters wide. Water flowed out from between the stones, but it wasn't very fast, so I could see several rocks sticking out of the water. The water was dark and murky, making it impossible to tell how deep it was. The water flowed into a pile of rocks and disappeared from view, probably flowing down through the cave entrance below. Some light filtered in through the rocks, illuminating objects two or three meters away just enough for me to make them out.

  Wu Lele and Fan Feng stood on a bluestone, looking around to the left and right. I asked Wu Lele, "Where's Hao Ge?" Wu Lele said she didn't know, she hadn't seen that deadbeat since they came in. I shouted loudly several times, my voice echoing in the cave for a long time, but there was no response from Zhang Junhao. Wu Lele pointed to the opposite side and asked, "Look, what's that?"

  The waterway divides the cave into two parts, and the empty space opposite is only about five or six square meters. Looking up, there is a person standing on that empty space. The light is too dim, the person is wearing black clothes, and is facing away from us, too far to see clearly whether it's a man or a woman.

  "Niang Niang!" Fan Feng shouted at the person several times, but the person just stood there motionless and didn't respond.

  I exchanged a glance with Wu Lele, and I said that might be Hao Ge, would he have gone crazy? I'll go take a look. Wu Lele gave me a signal with her eyes, indicating that I shouldn't move, then she asked Fan Feng: "That person looks like a girl, aren't you going to go take a look?"

  Fan Feng looked at the waterway in front of him, his face showing difficulty, and said, "How can we get past with this water?" Wu Lele said, "You can step on those stones to get past." Fan Feng asked, "Why don't you guys go over?" Wu Lele said, "Mind your own business whether we go or not. If you don't go, you might never find your girlfriend again."

  I saw Fan Feng hesitating and was indeed very afraid, taking a step forward would mean going over, but Wu Lele grabbed my hand and whispered: "Don't move, let him go."