Though the disaster had caused damage, no one had been killed or injured, so Crying Graves Ridge hadn't been completely sealed off. The local government in Huixiang was also swamped, with so many things happening all at once. Huixiang wasn't a big place, and they simply didn't have enough people to handle everything.
That gave me an opportunity.
Zhuang Huai was driving again. Lu Qiaolan and I went with him to the area around Crying Graves Ridge, heading out the very next day after we got the news.
Lu Qiaolan was dumbstruck in the car, looking completely dazed. Two teddy bears poked their heads out of her backpack, all three of their glass eyes fixed on the flattened landscape outside.
Zhuang Huai and I weren't faring much better.
Just as the photographs had shown, Crying Graves Ridge had been pressed flat. Only the scattered remains of earth and stone proved that a small mountain had once stood there.
The village at the foot of the ridge was bustling with people. Many had packed their belongings and were preparing to leave. A few people were directing the evacuation, though I couldn't tell if they were local officials or people sent by the Huixiang government.
Among them, I spotted the woman who ran the farmhouse restaurant. She was alone, and her expression wasn't one of lingering shock or relief at having survived. She looked furious, shouting something in the local dialect and pointing at the people trying to keep order. Those around her shared her indignation.
Zhuang Huai stopped the car, and the three of us got out and approached Crying Graves Ridge. No one stopped us. A few people surveying the scene saw Zhuang Huai in his police uniform, glanced at him, then went right back to work.
There weren't many