My vision gradually cleared, and I focused. Before me were the gray-blue roofs of stilted houses.
I hadn’t drowned in that violent river?
But… whose stilted house was this?
Stilted house.
By now, I no longer felt curiosity.
The panic in my chest evaporated instantly, replaced by the chill still clinging to me from the water.
Maybe after all this struggle, I had nowhere to escape to.
At that moment, a door suddenly opened.
My heart jumped, frozen mid-beat, waiting for the truth.
Then, in the next second, I saw someone I never expected to appear here.
Teacher Ye Wensheng.
I froze, my brain numb, half-convinced I was still dreaming.
He… how was he here?
“Li Yuze, what are you staring at? Dizzy?” Teacher Ye stood in the doorway, calm, watching me.
He was almost forty, but well-preserved, appearing barely in his early thirties. Golden-rimmed glasses gave him a serious, commanding look.
A face many girls would admire—and Ye Wensheng’s Exploring Ethnic Culture course was very popular, often oversubscribed. Many students sat in on classes just to hear him speak, filling the bright lecture hall.
But now, that well-loved face was etched with worry and exhaustion.
“Teacher Ye,” I muttered, probably looking foolish, stepping closer in disbelief. “This… where is this place?”
I hadn’t drowned, but my lungs ached as if damaged. My chest throbbed painfully as I drew breath, the stretch of my ribs tearing slightly with each inhale.
I instinctively clutched my chest.
“You’re alright, Li Yuze?” Ye Wensheng pushed up his glasses, supporting my arm. “This is Anpu’s home.”
“Anpu?” I paused, then remembered. The guide who had led us through the Tongjiang Miao village, recommended by Teacher Ye himself.
At that moment, a tall figure appeared in the doorway. If I hadn’t been braced for anything, I might not have recognized him.
Anpu’s usual disheveled appearance was gone. His face, clean-shaven and carefully groomed, revealed the rugged, commanding features he naturally possessed.
“You kid, you’ve really got a death-defying streak. When others saw you clutching that root, drifting on the riverbank, everyone thought you were dead. Pulled up, and you were still barely breathing!” Anpu entered, speaking in imperfect Mandarin. “Your teacher, Ye, ran to the hospital to check on you—he nearly died of worry!”
It had been that tree growing out of the cliff that had saved me.
A shiver ran through me. “You’ve been looking for me… what about Qiu Lu and the other two? How are they?”
The moment I spoke, Teacher Ye’s expression darkened and he lowered his head. Anpu patted him on the shoulder and turned to me. “After you four went missing, Teacher Ye came looking right away. He’s been worried sick, truly anxious for you all. Wen Lingyu led the other two out of the mountains, but you weren’t there. Teacher Ye wouldn’t leave—he insisted on finding you.”
Teacher Ye said, “It was my oversight. I thought with Anpu guiding you, nothing would happen. Honestly, I shouldn’t have approved your field study in the Miao village in the first place.”
“And… what about the others?” I pressed, unable to help myself.
Teacher Ye drew a deep breath. “Wen Lingyu’s already returned to school. Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong suffered varying degrees of head injuries and have gone back to Yancheng for treatment. Xu Zirong’s condition is stable, but Qiu Lu’s isn’t looking good.”
Different degrees of brain injury… like Ah Song?
Or… completely turned into a puppet under the insects’ control?
I sat on the bed, stunned.
Teacher Ye continued, “After they rescued you, they ran medical tests. Don’t worry—you weren’t infected with that kind of parasite.”
Parasite… Teacher Ye thinks it’s a parasite?
I looked up, about to speak, but Anpu’s warning gaze stopped me cold. My words died in my throat.
Anpu said, “Teacher Ye, you should rest too. These past days… even after the search teams gave up, you stayed. Now that the young man’s awake, you should get some sleep.”
Teacher Ye’s eyes were indeed swollen, though the glasses hid it somewhat. He hesitated, and I quickly nodded. Teacher Ye murmured “Hmm” and left.
Now the room held only Anpu and me.
He stared at me for a long moment before speaking. “I didn’t think you’d make it out.”
“What?”
Anpu straddled his legs and sat in front of me. “When the other three came out, following Wen Lingyu’s instructions, I went back to look for you. But I ran into that young man who used to frequent the village.”
He meant Shen Jianqing?
“That handsome guy—very rude to me—told me not to come looking for you. He said you liked him and had decided to stay in Shidi Mountain, and that I’d just be making trouble for myself if I tried to find you again.”
All of this, I had known nothing about.
“I…”
Anpu waved me off, interrupting. “I don’t care about anything else. I just want to tell you: Teacher Ye never gave up looking for you. I even told him you might be dead—but he refused to give up. Even after the search teams left, he kept going into the mountains. He really worked hard.”
He continued, “So whatever’s on your mind, any resentment, don’t lay it on him. If there’s blame, blame yourselves for not listening to me.”
Anpu was speaking on Teacher Ye’s behalf.
Honestly, during my ordeal in Shidi Mountain, I had my moments of breakdown, anger, and regret. I often thought it would have been better never to come to the Miao village, never to take on Teacher Ye’s project.
But while I regretted it, I never resented or blamed Ye Wensheng.
“I’ve never held a grudge against Teacher Ye,” I said, locking eyes with Anpu.
“Good,” he said, smiling, his rugged face showing genuine satisfaction. “Also, one more thing—I want you not to tell anyone about Shidi Mountain.”
I stiffened. “Why not?”
He knew about the Miao in Shidi Mountain. When he first guided us there, he had already let something slip.
Anpu’s tone was firm, almost oppressive. “I won’t go into the internal affairs of the Miao. The Tongjiang Miao village and Shidi Miao village belong to the same branch, but over time, through contact with the Han, they split into the ‘raw’ and ‘cultivated’ Miao. The existence of the ‘raw’ Miao is tacitly acknowledged. If you publicize this, you’re not only bringing trouble to us Miao, but also to yourself. We Miao value loyalty and stubbornness—when dealing with enemies, we don’t mind extra trouble.”
Was this a threat?
“I don’t want trouble, but my friends…” I began.
Anpu cut me off sharply. “Your friends, that little Wen Lingyu, have the same idea.”
I froze. “Little Wen thinks so too?”
He nodded. “When she left, she promised to keep everything she saw a secret, never to mention it.”
Why? Was she scared? Or did she just want this to end and not be pursued further?
Anpu stood, looking down at me sitting on the bed, arms crossed. “Think carefully, young man. You’ve already seen the Miao’s stubbornness and methods—you won’t try a second time, right? You can also go back sooner and talk to that little girl.”
He turned and left without looking back.
I sat alone on the bed, my mind a tangle. I had thought escaping meant freedom—but there was still so much to face, unresolved and messy.
After a long pause, only one thought came clearly: I had to get out of here—leave Tongjiang, leave the Miao village, get far away.
Later, Teacher Ye came to my room to check on me. He had slept for a while, and his complexion looked much better, though traces of fatigue remained.
“Teacher Ye, when are we going back to Yancheng?” I asked. “I’ve lost all my things, and I’ll have to trouble you to take me back.”
He smiled politely. “Once your health is fully recovered, we can leave anytime. After spending five months in the mountains, are you really that eager to return to your alma mater?”
Five months? I paused. “It’s already September?”
“Yes,” Teacher Ye said. “School starts in a couple of days. I was planning to request a leave of absence so I could stay and focus on finding you. Now the timing’s perfect.”
I had thought it was still midsummer, assuming I had only spent two or three months in the mountains.
It turned out that in the mountains, time was imperceptible; the days had slipped by in a haze.
Perhaps these months in the mountains had been like a dream in which time did not exist, an unexpected summer reverie. Now the time had come, the dream ended, and I should return to the normal course of life.
One cannot be trapped by a fleeting dream.
I looked at Ye Wensheng, summoned my courage, and finally asked the question that had circled my mind for so long.
“Teacher Ye… my father… has he looked for me? Has he asked about me?”
Ye Wensheng had some connection with my father. Before I left, I had sent him a message about my trip to Tongjiang. Now that I had been missing for so long, I didn’t know whether my father had worried.
Ye Wensheng froze for a moment, his face momentarily at a loss.
From his expression, I already knew the answer. Reading people’s expressions had always been my strength.
He sighed. “Professor Li, he’s been very busy recently. He just took on a national-level research project and went north with his team…”
He looked me in the eye, and I saw a flicker of sympathy there.
“But yes… he asked about you. I didn’t want him to worry, so I told him you were fine. Fortunately, you really are.”
I didn’t need anyone’s pity. I had already anticipated this outcome; I had merely asked out of habit.
“Then that’s good. I won’t trouble him—let him focus on his work,” I said.
I wouldn’t let him be disturbed because of me.