Inside a dilapidated earthen hut in the mountains, a campfire burned toward the back, with a pot suspended above it on a frame.
A group of men sat around the fire, while Yi Shuyuan huddled in the innermost corner, wrapped in a tattered padded coat. Only the warmth of the fire gradually brought him back to himself.
But Yi Shuyuan's mind was in turmoil. He was utterly terrified, yet forced himself to stay calm. The joy of being alive that he had felt when first pulled ashore had long since vanished. Even though he still could not make sense of the situation, he knew he was in trouble.
From the scraps of conversation Yi Shuyuan had overheard, the earthen hut they were in was actually an abandoned relay station.
Earlier, Yi Shuyuan had been too cold to speak. Now, he simply did not dare speak carelessly.
Not only were all the men in the hut dressed in strange clothing, but each carried either a saber or one of those long-shafted, pointed spears. There were also hooked sickles, nets, and ropes. They shoved Yi Shuyuan around as though he were a piece of merchandise. The savage menace in their faces seemed almost visible to the naked eye. These were certainly no good men.
For a while, Yi Shuyuan had thought he might be on the set of a historical drama. But with some relevant work experience behind him, a single glance around revealed no equipment or crew, immediately ruling out that possibility. Nor did this so-called abandoned relay station bear any trace of modern life.
Now, aside from one lingering thread of unrealistic hope, Yi Shuyuan's heart held nothing but an endless sense of absurdity and fear.
Although Yi Shuyuan remained silent, the others in the hut chatted merrily.
"Boss, should we try a stretch farther upstream tomorrow, or somewhere closer to the bank?"
The speaker was one of the men nearer Yi Shuyuan. He wore something like a fur-lined leather vest over loose cloth fighting clothes. His hair was tied into a topknot with a silk scarf, though some still hung loose at the back of his head, making it clear that his hair was long.
Yi Shuyuan clearly remembered that this was the man who had lifted him out of the icy water with one hand, then carried him one-handed for quite some distance to reach this place.
The others' clothing differed, but was much the same overall.
Before the man they called Boss could answer, someone beside him started complaining.
"It's been days, and we haven't found a single trace. Could the information be wrong?"
"Exactly. We're running low on dry rations, too. If this keeps up, are we supposed to eat him?"
One man poked the fire with a branch. As he spoke those horrifying words, he pointed its ember-glowing tip at Yi Shuyuan, making the latter's breath catch.
Eat people? Eat me? Yi Shuyuan's already pale face lost even more color.
"Enough, stop scaring him. Aren't you afraid eating an idiot's meat will make you stupid?"
"Hahahahaha! He's already stupid enough. A little more won't hurt." "What did you say?"
"Am I wrong?" "You!"
The atmosphere inside instantly grew tense. Both men clearly had exceptionally violent tempers, and they even gripped their weapons. At that moment, a short-bearded man who had remained silent finally spoke.
"Enough, stop making trouble! That beast has boundless strength, but it's also timid and cunning. It's certainly hard to deal with. We'll have to think of another approach tomorrow, but we mustn't give up easily. A rare beast like the Snow Python is scarcely seen in this world. If we can get the Snow Python Gallbladder, it'll be worth more than untold heaps of gold, silver, and jewels!"
"That's right. I heard that even swallowing it directly can cure every illness and greatly increase your martial prowess!" "Of course we should sell it! Then we can live in wealth and glory for the rest of our lives!"
"If we offer it to the emperor, could we get official posts?" "Probably high-ranking ones, too!"
"And there'd better be money as well!" "Well said!"
"Hahahaha."
As the men laughed and dreamed of their future, the short-bearded leader turned his gaze toward Yi Shuyuan. Yi Shuyuan was pondering the word "emperor," and when he saw the man looking at him, he instinctively shrank farther into the corner.
"Mm. A Gou, give him some hot soup and something to eat. He's the only bait we have left. If we get him killed too, we'll really be in trouble."
"Got it."
Yi Shuyuan quickly looked toward the man who had answered. Even in his fairly thick clothing, he looked noticeably thinner than the others. He was one of the quieter men in the group and had been tending the pot all along.
The others' conversation shifted toward dirty jokes-girls at this or that establishment in some city, pretty widows in one place or another, and the like.
Although Yi Shuyuan kept his eyes on A Gou, watching him fill a bamboo container with soup and take a steamed bun from a cloth bag, and even found himself involuntarily licking his lips and swallowing, he continued to follow the others' conversation with his ears and the corner of his eye.
Once again, he confirmed that there were no signs of a set and no equipment anywhere. The oppressive savagery of these men, together with his near-death experience in the icy river, made him realize that this truly was no act.
"Here. The soup's still a little hot, so be careful."
Yi Shuyuan carefully reached out to take the bamboo container and steamed bun. He could no longer suppress his hunger and craving. Carefully raising the bamboo tube, he took a small sip to test the temperature, then gulped down several large mouthfuls.
The soup was delicious and warm. A rich stream of warmth flowed through Yi Shuyuan's mouth into his stomach, quickly warming his body and even his thoughts, making him feel that he was still alive.
Then Yi Shuyuan began taking huge bites of the steamed bun, stuffing his cheeks before chewing and washing it down with soup. His body's cravings and the situation around him left him no room to worry about manners.
Only after seeing that Yi Shuyuan could eat and drink did A Gou leave and return to the spot where he had been squatting.
The men chatting nearby seemed to have exhausted their current topic for the moment. One of them turned toward Yi Shuyuan, who was wolfing down his food, and asked with an obvious grin.
"Hey, idiot. Where's your home?"
Hearing this, Yi Shuyuan, who had just swallowed the last bite of his bun, froze for a moment. But his body moved faster than his thoughts, and the words came out almost instinctively.
"My home, my home is in West River Village, Yuanjiang County. My mother's waiting for me to come-"
At that, Yi Shuyuan abruptly closed his mouth. What was going on? Where was that? As his thoughts raced, a vague yet bright memory surfaced in his mind: a quiet, peaceful village with cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks.
"Hahahahaha! That's the only complete sentence he knows. Every time you ask, he answers right away!"
"Ahahahahaha!"
Another burst of laughter rang out around the fire, while Yi Shuyuan grew even more uneasy, his thoughts wandering in a hundred directions.
A Gou, however, saw that Yi Shuyuan had finished and came over to take his bamboo tube. Yi Shuyuan clutched it tightly and looked up at him. It was an unconscious reaction, but the next instant, he realized how unwise it was and hurriedly let go.
A Gou took back the bamboo tube. Seeing the fear and unease on the filthy, disheveled man's face, he sighed.
"I'll get you some more."
One of the men nearby turned toward A Gou and teased him.
"A Gou, make sure you take good care of our idiot. Otherwise, if we run out of bait, we might use you instead!"
A Gou shrank slightly at those words. Yi Shuyuan, who had been watching closely all along, could tell that he, too, was showing clear fear. But the man they called Boss spoke up at once.
"A Gou, don't listen to his nonsense. Just do your work properly."
After speaking, the boss shot a fierce glare at the man who had made the joke. The latter waved his hands repeatedly, though the flippant grin on his face did not fade.
In the corner, Yi Shuyuan kept taking deep breaths to steady his heart, which was racing wildly with fear. As unobtrusively as possible, he examined everything inside the hut. He saw dark stains that looked like blood on the hems of some men's clothes, notches in the blades as others wiped their weapons, and things resembling concealed weapons that reflected a cold gleam...
Yi Shuyuan crushed the last lingering shred of hope in his heart. These men truly were villains who could kill without blinking!
The firelight flickered faintly. To Yi Shuyuan's eyes, it made the shadows behind the men twist and writhe, until, in a daze, they seemed like all manner of monsters baring their fangs and brandishing their claws.
A Gou came over again with the soup. But Yi Shuyuan, who had been eagerly awaiting that hot soup, felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of even greater unease-one that vaguely surpassed his fear of the wicked men before him.
Without realizing it, Yi Shuyuan had already raised a hand to cover his nose lightly. A rank stench with a strange, rotten quality had appeared, growing from barely perceptible to increasingly distinct.
Yi Shuyuan looked around. The villains by the fire continued laughing and chatting, utterly unaware. Even A Gou, approaching with the bamboo tube, showed no other reaction.
Wrong, wrong, something's wrong! Yi Shuyuan felt his scalp prickle, and the dread in his heart grew stronger and stronger!
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