Chapter 1: First Encounter with Postal Service (6)

  "Several others had also arrived at the shore, and Sun Erhu and his companions were shouting out the old man's name in a loud voice. The old man finally came ashore, and only then did he discover with surprise that the shining object that had just saved him was actually the dull-looking stone he had been carrying on his person all along. From then on, the old man treasured this thing as a precious jewel, keeping it safe until he passed away and left it to me." Old Cang finally let out a deep breath.

  "What is this stone thing anyway?" I asked curiously.

  As soon as I finished speaking, Old Cang's body shook violently for a moment. He glanced at his watch and said, "If you can come back, I'll tell you again. It's getting late now, so go back and rest early. That letter..." Old Cang hesitated, then patted my shoulder and said, "Be careful on the way!"

  I left Lao Cong's house and headed straight home, it was already midnight, thinking about sending that damned letter tomorrow, my heart became increasingly uneasy. Back in my own room, the red envelope to be sent out tomorrow was placed on the desk, I turned on the desk lamp and sat in front of the writing table, carefully examining the envelope, the material of the envelope was very special, it felt oily when touched.

  Then I took out the box that Lao Cong gave me, took out the stone, and I had been questioning Lao Cong's words in my heart. Does this stone really have the effect of warding off evil spirits? But for now, no matter what, it's still safer to carry it with me.

  The morning sunlight stung my eyes, and my head was still a bit heavy after just getting out of bed. However, I struggled to put on my clothes, checked my luggage, and set off. Last night at the banquet, Lao Cong told me the general direction of Beigou Village, so I basically had a plan in mind. From that tattered old map, it seemed like we were surrounded by mountains on all sides.

  Everything was going smoothly on the highway, but after getting off the highway, a dark cloud emerged from the horizon and heavy rain came suddenly. In no time, I was soaked to the bone. Luckily, I arrived at Dàqí (Big Flag) and according to the map, there were only a few miles of mountain road left before reaching Běi Guā Cūn (North Trigram Village). Dàqí is a small town with one of our branch offices, where I stored my bicycle and continued on foot towards Běi Guā Cūn in the rain.

  The village of Beigua is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Although the mountain is not very high, it is extremely barren. There is only a relatively wide valley in the middle of the mountains. It's strange to say that the two mountains are barren, but this valley is overgrown with weeds and wild grasses. The winding path has almost been completely swallowed up. So walking forward is absolutely arduous. Just after taking a few steps, I suddenly froze, feeling a chill on my calf. I hurriedly lowered my head to look at my calf, and when I saw it, the whole person almost fainted.

  It was as long as a finger, entirely black and resembled a snake, but compared to it, it was much shorter, more like a mouse that had been stripped of its skin, yet not quite. Whatever this thing on my leg was, at the moment it was biting down hard on my calf and wouldn't let go.

  I don't know where I got the courage from, but I grabbed that strange thing and pulled it outwards with force. Who knew this guy was sticky, like he had a layer of mucus on him? As soon as I applied some force, my hand slipped right off his body.

  One blow was not enough, and this guy became more and more ferocious, seemingly biting deeper. The feeling from my calf was no longer just a coolness, but gradually turned into a sharp pain, as if a very fine needle had entered the bone marrow. I sat on the ground, looked around, picked up a somewhat sharp stone, and smashed it at that monster's body. Just as the stone was about to touch the monster's body, it suddenly jumped up with a "whoosh" sound, which really surprised me.

  Looking at the monster again, its bouncing ability is not inferior to that of a national-level athlete. With one bounce, it jumped out more than two meters. At this time, I was face to face with it, and I could see its whole appearance clearly: about one chi long, or even longer, its entire body was dark black, with a round small mouth, inside which there were two thread-like things, estimated to be its tongue. The shape of its head and tail were almost the same; right, it had no legs, which is why I thought it looked like a snake earlier.