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墨書 Inktalez
I thought carefully, but I couldn't determine whether there were truly no wild animals here. Just because I didn't see any didn't mean they weren't there, but the fact that neither Jack nor I had seen anything was a problem.
I turned my head and interrupted Ah Xiang, who was sternly talking to the two Mountain Folk. "I haven't seen any animals in this forest; that's not normal. Did you see anything?"
Ah Xiang cursed in a mix of Chinese and Vietnamese, then turned back to me. "I'm discussing this with these two Lao People. They insist that this place is haunted, that someone has put a curse on it. I've heard of people being cursed, but I've never heard of a place being cursed."
With that, Ah Xiang shouted a few more words at the two Mountain Folk before sitting down beside me. Lowering his voice, he said, "There is definitely something wrong here. You probably won't believe what I heard in the forest at first, but I'm not lying to you, and my ears are sharp; I don't make mistakes."
My hands instinctively rubbed together as my nervousness became hard to suppress. Of course, I wouldn't associate this with ghosts, but the danger hidden behind such abnormal phenomena still made me anxious.
I glanced outside the fire pit. It was completely dark now; apart from the fire in front of us, everything around was pitch black. The flames illuminated the mist rolling toward the fire, gathering around it but unable to get close, as if it feared the flames. I knew this was due to the heat evaporating the moisture.
I believed that even if there were light now, it would be impossible to see anything just a few meters away; the fog was too thick. The sky was also shrouded in mist, obscuring the stars and moon. Other than the crackling sound of branches burning in the fire, there was no other sound on the hillside—not even the buzzing of mosquitoes, a sound I had heard before.
"We need to arrange for someone to keep watch," Ah Xiang stated firmly. "Two people per group; those two Lao People need to be separated. How about we alternate groups between us and them? I doubt those two can last until the end; they'll crack under pressure. We need to watch out for them turning against us and stealing our stuff. If we sense any signs of that..."
At this point, Ah Xiang made a downward cutting gesture with one hand. I nearly jumped up at that and glanced nervously at the two Lao People; fortunately, they were exhausted and had already fallen asleep leaning against each other.
I outright rejected Ah Xiang's suggestion. Working with such Outlaws made me uneasy; if he was already thinking about eliminating them just because they showed signs of fear, what would happen if we fell out? He could easily dispose of me without a second thought. The 9** that Fatty gave me had been hidden in my backpack all along; it seemed I should carry it with me at all times. Given Ah Xiang's current state, who knew when he might turn hostile? I couldn't afford to be caught off guard.
I forced a smile and handed Ah Xiang a cigarette. "In any case, someone has to carry things. If you take care of those two, it's your responsibility. You know all that's in our backpacks is essential; there's nothing extra. Don't expect me to do any heavy lifting—whoever causes trouble should bear the burden."
Ah Xiang did not take the cigarette I offered, merely lifting his eyelids to glance at me, a hint of disdain flickering in his gaze. I didn’t care whether he looked down on me; what mattered was not letting him see me as an easy target. I absolutely could not ignore this challenge to my moral boundaries.
However, asking Ah Xiang to carry all that equipment along the mountain path was too much for him. As he rummaged through his pockets, he said, "Fine then. Let those two carry the gear. Keep an eye on them during the night watch; don’t let them pull any tricks."
I let out a quiet sigh of relief and nodded. I thought to myself, what kind of tricks could they pull here? The backpack contained nothing but instruments, gear, and food. My personal pack held fifty thousand USD, but who would know?
At that moment, Ah Xiang pulled out a jar and a pack of rolling papers from his pocket before finally accepting the cigarette I handed him. He tore open the cigarette I gave him and mixed in a bit of brown leaves from the jar with the tobacco, quickly rolling two cigarettes and handing one to me. "Here, have something stronger."
I knew what it was—a joint. Both Fatty and I shared a strong aversion to drugs; we wouldn’t touch this stuff, not even with a ten-foot pole. I shook my head and declined, but a hand reached over my shoulder and took the joint instead—it was Jack. He took a puff and settled down contentedly by the fire.
Ah Xiang lit up his joint as well, leaning back next to the fire lazily. "Why don’t you take the first watch? I’m in no shape to keep an eye on things; we can’t let those two Lao People screw us over again."
I glanced at the two addicts beside us; there was no way I could rely on them for the first watch. I told Ah Xiang, "Alright, you take the second shift with A San and Jack for the last round. Each group will watch for two and a half hours; it should be light in about seven or eight hours."
Ah Xiang nodded vacantly in my direction. I couldn’t be sure if he was really acknowledging me; his gaze seemed unfocused. At that moment, Jack seemed to come back to his senses slightly; sitting up with half a joint in hand, he asked, "What else did you mix in here? This stuff is potent."
Ah Xiang replied in a half-dazed tone, "Big smoke paste—strong stuff."
Jack muttered an English curse under his breath, took another deep drag from the joint, then tossed the remaining half into the fire before rolling his eyes and drifting off again. This was like knowingly walking into danger and choosing to do so anyway; I felt no sympathy for such people. I kicked him twice to see if he would react; when he didn’t, I checked his pulse—it was strong. I looked down at the two junkies—one dead asleep and one barely alive—and walked over to the two Mountain Folk.
I instructed A San to tell them that someone would be joining me for the night watch.
A San and another Mountain Folk quickly fell asleep as well. The Lao People who would be keeping me company looked to be in their thirties or just shy of forty; my ability to judge Southeast Asian ages wasn’t very accurate, especially with Mountain Folk who often appeared older than they were, making it hard for me to gauge. The only thing I was certain of was that he was older than me.
We couldn’t communicate verbally due to our language barrier and had to rely on simple gestures, which was quite inconvenient. I could see that this Lao People was very fearful. The goodwill I had shown while crossing the swamp had earned me some trust from him; he gestured animatedly while chattering away nervously, constantly glancing at Ah Xiang as if afraid he might wake up. It seemed that Ah Xiang was indeed someone extraordinary—not only did A San regard him with great caution, but these two Lao People were equally afraid of him. However, this Lao People’s expressions were too obscure; it was as if they believed there were mysterious forces at play here. If he had expressed something more concrete, I might have been able to understand better; but this abstract notion left me utterly perplexed.
I patted his shoulder, signaling him to quiet down. I had no patience to play guessing games with him here. I planned to put my scheme into action, taking advantage of the two Vietnamese who were fast asleep to hide the nine on my person. The feeling I got from Ah Xiang was becoming increasingly dangerous.
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