Chapter 4: Did I Travel Through Time?

I am still alive! There is still hope!

Even if what you saw was a corpse, shouldn't you report it to the police?

Ji Yuan found it hard to understand what these people were thinking; their actions were tantamount to murder!

Some of their previous conversations were also strange. Could it be that there is really something wrong with their minds?

Ji Yuan realized they were not joking; they truly were ignoring him. After one person covered him slightly and placed a wet cloth on his forehead, everyone else went about their own business.

Zhang Shilin instructed everyone to move the fire closer to the mountain god statue, so the dying beggar could also get a bit warmer.

Clink, clink, clink...

Sparks flew from the striking flint, and after a few attempts, a small piece of tinder caught fire.

"It's lit! Get the firewood!"

"Coming, coming!"

"Don't press it down too tightly!"

They added some small, broken branches and carefully tended the flames. Soon, the fire grew strong.

The itinerant merchants set up a makeshift stove, placed their iron pot on it, and someone else retrieved bamboo tubes that had been collecting rainwater from the temple entrance. They poured the clear rainwater into the pot to boil it. Everything was done in an orderly manner.

Once these tasks were completed, the merchants finally relaxed, all sitting on the ground to rest.

Rumble, rumble...

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the rain showed signs of intensifying.

The itinerant merchants, waiting for the water to boil, stared blankly at the heavy rain outside the mountain god temple.

"I wonder if this rain will stop before dark?"

Someone sighed worriedly.

"From the looks of it, it won't stop anytime soon!"

Another person replied casually, pulling their clothes tighter at the same time.

"This spring rain is really cold!"

"Yes, indeed! Skinny cattle and horses have a hard time past the eighth day of the second month!"

A group of people huddled around the modest fire to keep warm, while their damp clothes were hung on a thin pole from the temple on one side.

As the water in the iron pot grew hotter, the lid gradually became restless, and soon after, it began to rattle and clatter.

"The water's boiling!"

Liu Quan said with a smile, then took a wooden ladle from a basket. The other merchants, in turn, took out their own wooden bowls or bamboo tubes.

Liu Quan patiently took each wooden bowl and bamboo tube, filled it with hot water using the ladle, and returned it to its owner, one by one.

Meanwhile, a young man opened another basket and pulled out a cloth bag filled with various kinds of dry provisions, such as flatbreads. He held the bag and distributed the food to everyone.

"Here you go." "Take this!"

"Brother Zhao, the steamed bun you like."

"Thank you!"

As the young man handed out each item, some patted his arm, others offered a word of thanks. Soon, he reached Zhang Shilin.

"Brother Shilin! There are steamed buns and flatbreads. What would you like?"

Zhang Shilin glanced at the cloth bag.

"Give me a flatbread."

"All right."

The young man took out a dry flatbread and handed it to Zhang Shilin, who took it and nodded. Then, the young man put the bag back in the basket, took a steamed bun for himself, and sat back down in his original spot.

Some had already begun to eat their dry provisions, blowing on the hot water in their wooden bowls to cool it slightly.

During this process, Ji Yuan could hear the crackling of burning wood, the bubbling of boiling water, the rattling of the pot lid, the sound of the ladle scooping water, and the chatter of the people.

He thought, "Damn, this is too real! These people are actually eating, completely ignoring whether I live or die!"

"Shilin, when I was in Shuixian Town, I heard people say that Mount Niu Kui hasn't been very stable in recent years. No one stays on the mountain at night. If this rain keeps falling, won't we have to stay on the mountain tonight?"

The speaker was a middle-aged man gnawing on a dry flatbread, named Jin Shunfu, whose face was covered in crisscrossing wrinkles.

Zhang Shilin also gazed at the rain curtain outside.

"Being careful at night should be fine, and besides..."

He looked at where Ji Yuan was lying.

"This beggar must have been here for a while, and he's fine. What do we have to fear with so many of us? Even if a 'big creature' comes, we can scare it away!"

The young man distributing the dry provisions shivered upon hearing this and choked on his water.

"Cough, cough, cough... Oh, Brother Shilin, cough, don't scare me! Are there really 'big creatures' on Mount Niu Kui?"

"Hahahahaha..." "This kid... hahaha."

"Xiao Dong, you need to work on your courage, hahahaha..."

The people nearby burst into laughter at this remark. The young man had only joined the group less than two months ago, but he was a very energetic and diligent fellow. Since they were all from the same hometown and knew each other well, they took good care of him.

Zhang Shilin smiled, looking at Wang Dong.

"Xiao Dong, Mount Niu Kui has many peaks and dense forests, spanning a good two hundred *li*. It's perfectly normal for there to be a few 'big creatures,' but the paths we choose are along the outer edges, so it's relatively safe."

So it's Mount Niu Kui, not Mount Niutou? "Big creatures"? Shuixian Town?

Ji Yuan's confusion deepened. How did he get from Mount Niutou to Mount Niu Kui? Did 'big creature' refer to a tiger? The name Shuixian Town was secondary; after all, China was vast and one couldn't know every place.

The itinerant merchants around the fire chatted and laughed. Zhang Shilin noticed Jin Shunfu was still frowning, so he leaned closer and quietly asked a question.

"Old Jin, what's wrong? What exactly did you hear in Shuixian Town?"

Jin Shunfu swallowed the dry flatbread in his mouth with a gulp of hot water, glanced left and right, and replied to Zhang Shilin in an equally quiet voice.

"Shilin, I heard some people in Shuixian Town say that Mount Niu Kui... might be haunted by demons..."

For some reason, hearing this gave Zhang Shilin goosebumps.

"At the time, I dismissed it as a joke and didn't pay much attention. We just passed through Mount Niu Kui twice last year; what could possibly happen? But now, I'm suddenly feeling inexplicably anxious. Shilin, don't laugh at me..."

Jin Shunfu's added remark was more a way of comforting himself than an explanation.

"Don't scare yourself, get some good rest!"

Zhang Shilin patted Jin Shunfu's arm. They had a private rule when traveling: never pat someone's shoulder, whether day or night.

However, there was actually another person in the temple who also got goosebumps: Ji Yuan, who was practically in a vegetative state.

What these people said certainly didn't sound like a joke, nor was it acting. Honestly, if it were a performance, Ji Yuan was confident he'd be able to hear sounds from the set and filming equipment. He was very sure there were only twelve other people here besides himself.

Approaching footsteps gradually drew Ji Yuan's thoughts back.

Zhang Shilin, carrying a wooden bowl, walked over to the beggar behind the statue. He touched the beggar's forehead; it was still scorching hot, and his breathing was so faint it was barely perceptible. He examined the beggar carefully; although his face was dirty, there were no festering sores or rotten patches.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Shilin reached out and used his wrist to slightly raise Ji Yuan's head, then brought the wooden bowl to Ji Yuan's cracked lips.

"There's not much we can do, but drink some..."

Hot water at a suitable temperature leaked from the corners of Ji Yuan's mouth, but a significant amount also entered his oral cavity, and his throat reflexively swallowed it sip by sip.

Like a life-giving dew, it moistened his inner organs, and Ji Yuan immediately felt much, much better.

Ji Yuan recognized the voice as belonging to "Brother Shilin," "Shilin," or "Leader Zhang"—the person referred to by the others. So, his name was Zhang Shilin.

Clearly, this person didn't seem mentally ill, and neither did the others. An extremely strong conjecture began to form in his mind.

Could it be... that I've really traveled through time?