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墨書 Inktalez
I was stunned for a moment and asked the ticket agent, "How long will it take to cross this mountain?"
"About two hours or so. You can't see the road in the dark, and this road winds around the mountain, so the vehicle won't go fast," the plump woman explained briefly.
My heart was racing; I couldn't wait two hours, not even two minutes. I immediately asked the woman, "Is there an inn up ahead? I need to make a phone call; it's urgent."
The woman thought for a moment. "There is one, not far from here. But don't take too long; we're all waiting for you."
I replied, "You don't need to wait. I'll just stay here; you can drop me off."
The woman immediately protested, "How can that be? That would be abandoning a passenger!"
I was taken aback but quickly understood her concern. "It's my reason; you don't need to refund my fare."
Hearing this, the woman finally relaxed. Soon, a dim light appeared by the roadside, and the driver stopped the vehicle under the glow. I saw a two-story bamboo and wooden structure with a sign hanging outside that read: Inn. It was simple and straightforward.
The driver honked the horn for a while, and as Fatty and I got out of the car, the door of the Bamboo House opened. A middle-aged woman stepped out, clearly dressed in traditional Yao attire—a dark blue jacket with colorful embroidered stripes and a headpiece that looked like it was draped in floral fabric.
I approached her and first asked if there was a phone available. After confirming there was one, I told her we wanted to stay. The bus didn't linger long; after dropping us off, it roared back onto the road.
There were not many guests in the inn, and I hurried straight to the phone while Fatty leaned over the wooden counter to check in. I had Jack's number from his earlier call on my phone, but when I dialed it, I got a busy signal. Redialing yielded the same result. It seemed Jack was trying to reach me repeatedly. After what felt like an eternity, the call finally went through.
"Who went in? Is it Xiao Ting?" I asked impatiently about my most pressing concern.
"No, of course not. She's with me," Jack explained.
I felt a weight lift off my chest. Those ten or twenty minutes had been agonizing; hearing his words made me feel almost faint with relief.
"Then who went in? Was it Xiao Guolin's student?" My tone lightened as I asked this question, my thoughts becoming clearer. This must be what they mean by 'worrying leads to confusion.'
"Where are you now? Why did we get disconnected earlier? Is everything okay on your end?" Jack seemed to sense something was off.
I had no choice but to tell him the truth. "We're having some issues here too." Then I briefly explained our situation. "Song Gang and I are heading towards Yunnan, planning to cross into Myanmar from there and then enter Vietnam via Laos or Thailand. We found a contact related to Xiao Guolin who might be in Myanmar. Xiao Guolin may have crossed into Vietnam through the China-Vietnam border. With this information, Song Gang and I intend to search for more details in Vietnam. It won't take a short time; what exactly happened on your side?"
I hesitated to delve deeply into our situation; there were too many loopholes, and revealing too much would surely expose me. I quickly shifted the topic back to him. Of course, I wouldn't immediately go over to meet them, just to draw out the nonexistent contact of Xiao Guolin, merely to find an excuse for the future expenditure of five hundred thousand USD.
"It's chaotic here. Several teams have gathered, at least two teams went in before the lockdown. I'm trying to contact them to see if I can get some information from them."
My mind felt sluggish, perhaps a lingering effect of the concussion, and I struggled to process Jack's words. "What do you mean? What several teams? Are they official search personnel? Isn't that student Xiao Guolin with you? Didn't he participate in the search operation? He should know these people."
Jack first let out a string of expletives in a Henan dialect, then said, "No, Xiao Guolin's student came with us, but he doesn't know these people. I do. They've been keeping an eye on this matter for a long time; I didn't expect them to act so quickly. They're a bunch of greedy wolves."
I rubbed my throbbing head and cautiously asked, "Who are they?"
There was silence on the other end for a moment. "Like us, some independent archaeology organizations."
"Oh." I feigned understanding. "So their goal is the same as yours, right?"
"Yes, there shouldn't be much difference."
"Then what is our goal?" I threw out this crucial question.
"I can't discuss that over the phone," Jack replied firmly. "I didn't intend to hide this from you, but it has to be discussed face-to-face. I hope you understand."
"Does Xiao Ting know about this?" I asked.
"No, only you will know. You also have to promise not to tell that Fatty," Jack's tone carried evident hostility towards Fatty.
Honestly, I had no intention of keeping this from Fatty, no matter how secretive it was. If withholding important information led to harm for Fatty later on, there would be no place for regret. I even entertained the thought of quickly resolving the issues here and stealthily slipping into Wutong Ridge to gather real intelligence from other teams. Compared to Jack, I was more inclined to trust Fatty.
"What information did Xiao Guolin's student provide? How did he end up with you?" I swiftly changed the subject.
"There’s one important piece of information. Xiao Guolin and his team of over thirty people entered underground together; only six people who followed Xiao Guolin went missing along with him. The others were forced out due to an attack by unknown creatures in the Underground Passage. The current issue is that the entrance to the Underground Passage has disappeared; the search he participated in was aimed at finding that entrance."
"Where did it disappear? The entrance leading underground should still be there, right? Where does this entrance lead?" I asked anxiously.
Jack and I have different understandings of this issue. I have personally experienced the strangeness of this passage. Although there are many things I cannot comprehend, I have come to accept it. As long as I know where this entrance leads, I can roughly determine its location underground. After all, I have been trapped in the Underground Passage several times and have become quite familiar with the situation inside.
"The problem lies here," Jack said, filled with helplessness. "The personnel attacked by unknown creatures were evacuated from the Underground Passage second, and the entrance to the underground disappeared. According to Xiao Guolin's students, this passage's entrance had gathered hundreds of people. To prevent unknown creatures from coming out and harming others, a fence was built at the entrance, and trench was dug. Warriors stood guard twenty-four hours a day. The Task Force's Base Camp was constructed around this entrance. In broad daylight, the five-meter diameter vertical entrance vanished, as if by magic, turning into flat ground."
"Where is this entrance located?" Despite feeling a chill run down my spine, I insisted on asking my question.
"It's near a Yadan Landform Group."
"Is it at the same location as during the first Archaeology?"
"I don't know; he doesn't know either. No coordinates were provided."
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