Chapter Eight: The Cave

  Panting heavily, crawling in this narrow cave on a hot summer day is really stifling. I'm already drenched like I've been washed by water. The deeper we go into the cave, the darker it gets. Except for a faint light ahead, I couldn't see Yang Xiufeng's situation clearly. With my head down and crawling forward, I didn't expect Yang Xiufeng to suddenly stop. I bumped my head right into something soft, which seemed to be Yang Xiufeng's butt...

  "What's wrong?" He shrunk his head back, but didn't know why Yang Xiufeng stopped.

  "My pants are caught -" felt Yang Xiufeng moving, guessing that this was trying to reach the caught place.

  I couldn't help but let out a sigh of resignation, all I could do was wait. However, in a place like this, trying to reach back and adjust my pants wasn't exactly an easy task. To be honest, it was quite embarrassing. Although I couldn't see, the fact remained that right in front of me was a girl's butt. The moment I thought about it, a strange, indescribable smell seemed to waft into my nostrils, leaving a faint, lingering sensation.

  Shake off the distracting thoughts in my mind, trying to ensure that I don't think too much, but somehow warning myself can't completely eliminate distractions. Just as I was struggling with this internal conflict, Yang Xiufeng suddenly took a step back, and I didn't notice, so my butt ended up stuck to her face. The smell was even stronger, and for a young man like me who is full of energy, it was incredibly stimulating. Who can know that in the still of the night, women often appear in my dreams.

  Some things can't be said, anyway I feel bloated and my face is a bit burning, just don't know what to do, but then I hear Yang Xiufeng's voice sounding strange: "Little Hai Ge, I can't reach it, can you help me undo my pants?"

  It's really easy to get misunderstood, this sentence makes my heart even more confused, but I don't dare show it, responded with a sound, and even forgot to ask, just stretched out my hand to explore, what is the soft thing in my hand? It seems... - my heart skipped a beat, subconsciously withdrew my hand, but then thought this isn't "a thief's heart is not at peace", wouldn't this prove that I'm guilty? Hurriedly calmed myself down, stretched out my hand to explore again, and coughed: "Xiaofeng, wipe over there."

  "Left——left side——” Yang Xiufeng's voice was also trembling, and she couldn't help but feel that something was off, only she didn't know if it was intentional or not. She felt embarrassed to say anything, but how could a girl not be concerned? Her face had already turned bright red, it's just that it couldn't be seen in the dark cave.

  She let out a soft "oh" and stretched out her left hand, but she couldn't see where it was stuck, so she had to feel around with her hand. It still felt soft, and at this point, her heart was racing wildly. This was the first time she'd ever touched a girl's private area, and of course, she didn't dare think about it too much. She quickly reached over to one side and felt around, and indeed, her pants were caught on a rock. With great effort, she managed to free herself, but after who-knows-how-long, the smell at the tip of her nose grew stronger, and she had a feeling like she was going to explode. She swore that she really was controlling herself not to think wild thoughts.

  Actually, I didn't notice that Yang Xiufeng's breathing was also very urgent. Unfortunately, my mind was all on the hand at that time, anyway, it was untied, and when the hand came back, my heart was still beating fiercely. However, I tried to control my voice to be more natural: "Untied——"

  As soon as the words fell, it seemed like a very difficult thing had been done, and finally, she let out a sigh of relief. Yang Xiufeng only hummed a response from her nose, and didn't say another word, silently continuing to crawl forward. The awkwardness spread between them, neither daring to speak up, luckily the darkness covered up much of it.

  Finally crawled out of the cave, I took a deep breath and escaped from the sweltering heat. It was really cool outside. Turning my head to look at Yang Xiufeng beside me, she looked a bit dazed at this moment when it was slightly dark, but with her back facing me, I knew she still couldn't let go of the awkwardness earlier.

  "Let's go." I didn't know what to say either and was a bit afraid to look at Yang Xiufeng.

  Yang Xiufeng didn't say a word, she just turned her body and walked forward. At this time, the sun was setting, and night was about to fall. However, it's impossible to stay here. From here, not far away, you can reach the small path in the mountain. In my opinion, as long as Godmother is still alive, she must be walking on the road. Along the small path, I should be able to find something.

  The night in the mountains isn't as beautiful as I imagined, the mountain wind blows, the tree shadows sway gently, it's as if there's something hidden inside, and a sense of loneliness surrounds me. Not to mention Yang Xiufeng, a girl, originally two people talking is the best way to dispel loneliness and fear, but because of the awkwardness between them earlier, there really isn't anything to say. Of course, I'm actually feeling guilty, after all, I was just thinking nonsense earlier.

  "Ah——" A shrill cry, Yang Xiufeng didn't know what terrible thing she saw, and suddenly retreated back, her voice filled with panic and helplessness. But I was afraid that there was nothing to see, perhaps it was the experience of these two days, my first reaction was that there were ghosts, my heart suddenly tightened, and I quickly protected Yang Xiufeng in my arms.

  As I looked around, although I couldn't see very far, but I didn't see anything. Would a ghost come out at this time? If it really came out, what should I do? Just as I was getting nervous, Yang Xiufeng buried her head in my arms and trembled with fear, saying: "Sna---sna---"

  Suddenly let out a breath, what's there to be afraid of snakes, bitterly smiled and shook his head, and pulled Yang Xiufeng forward. This sudden shock had dissipated the awkwardness from earlier. After a while, Yang Xiufeng seemed to have also realized that burying her head in my chest wasn't quite right, and she too had calmed down. Suddenly, she extracted herself from my arms, her face red as she stood to one side, for a moment not knowing what to do or say.

  They walked forward in silence, without seeing a glimmer of light, which meant that the goddess was not on this side, and they didn't know how long they had been walking through the mountains. They were finally exhausted and couldn't hold on any longer. Yang Xiufeng picked up a stone and sat down, saying softly: "Little Haige, let's take a break."

  I didn't say much, just found a stone to sit down on, my legs were a bit numb, but in front of the girl I didn't want to show it, so I just endured it, secretly took a look at Yang Xiufeng, didn't expect Yang Xiufeng was also sneaking a peek at me, both of our eyes met, and we both had slightly red faces, quickly looked away.

  Two people not speaking to each other is a bit awkward, and after a long time it's quite embarrassing. I also couldn't hold back anymore, so I casually brought up a topic: "Xiaofeng, I still haven't asked you how your dad is doing?"

  "Uh——" Yang Xiufeng was taken aback, her face turned slightly gloomy, and she shook her head lightly: "I don't know, from the moment your second uncle came back, he seemed to have lost his soul, kept muttering about coming to San Gu Niang Mountain to find Shen Popo. As a result, he didn't even make it out the door before he fell to the ground and couldn't get up. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to come out as a girl."

  Maybe it's the torture in my heart, people can't do things that go against their conscience, or they will collapse under the torment of their own conscience. He nodded and felt that he couldn't continue this topic, so he didn't think much about it for a while, and suddenly asked: "It seems like you and your grandmother are the closest in your family, right? She..."

  I suddenly shut my mouth again when I thought of that old lady, this big black sky is so scary, I really want to slap myself in the face. At this time, asking what's going on, but it's already too late. Yang Xiufeng heard my words, looked up at me with a glance, biting her lips hard, and struggled to say in a low voice: "Little Hai brother, you must know something, did my grandmother fake her own death?"

  "Yes..." I fell silent for a moment. I didn't deceive Yang Xiufeng: "You were there at the time, you saw it too, it was really terrifying..."

  I still remember the scene vividly, and I couldn't help but shiver. The mountain wind seemed to have grown colder, while Yang Xiufeng simply stared blankly at the sky behind me, her face a complex mix of emotions. After hesitating for a long time, she finally gritted her teeth: "Little Hai, do you think that's what it means to be a vengeful spirit - because they died with unfinished business and couldn't swallow their resentment?"

  "I don't know——" Actually, Second Master had told me that when a person dies with some resentment, it can't be dispelled and they will come back to life. But I couldn't tell Yang Xiufeng, the truth is always hard for people to accept, after all, both sides of the hand are flesh, letting a girl bear these things is really unbearable.

  For a moment, she fell silent again, looking at Yang Xiufeng's face full of grievances. I knew that perhaps she already had an answer in her heart, but chose not to believe it. This topic was really too heavy, and I didn't want to continue. I coughed: "Xiaofeng, I'm hungry, give me something to eat."

  Yang Xiufeng didn't say a word, she just took out the ham and instant noodles from her backpack and silently handed them to me. She herself had no appetite, actually I didn't have any either, but this was also a good way to resolve the awkwardness.

  It wasn't long before Yang Xiufeng and I had nothing to say, but just then the flashlight that had been shining all along suddenly went out, plunging everything in front of me into darkness. At that moment, I couldn't even see Yang Xiufeng. This sudden change made my heart jump violently, and I stood up abruptly, clenching my fists as a chill ran down my back.

  But as I waited for my eyes to adapt to the darkness, I saw Yang Xiufeng's bewildered figure, yet nothing happened. Maybe it was just that the flashlight was broken, I comforted myself, and didn't blame myself for being startled. After all, the experiences of the past two days made it easy for people to be suspicious and fearful. Even though I wasn't afraid, my heart was still racing with anxiety. Feeling Yang Xiufeng approaching me, I relaxed a bit and tried to calm my voice: "It's getting late, let's find a place to spend the night after searching around, shall we?"

  She nodded, Yang Xiufeng was apparently afraid, pulling my sleeve and closely following me. The shadows of the trees in the dark mountains swayed back and forth, as if there were countless ghosts among them. Every step I took made a sound, and it seemed like something was following closely behind me. I didn't know why, but I always felt uneasy in my heart, as if something was about to happen.