The sky grew darker and darker. The mist seemed to thin a little, yet gusts of chilly wind began blowing in the height of summer.
In all honesty, Zhang Xing had briefly wanted to use the Compass again, but feeling the pain in the hollow of his shoulder, he simply could not bring himself to do it.
"Zhang Sanlang."
Li Ding stopped beneath a boulder and looked back at him. "It'll be completely dark soon. I'm afraid we won't make it tonight. What I mean is, let's not waste our strength... Look, how about we go there?"
Following his pointing finger from atop the mule, Zhang Xing looked a little startled. "Up the mountain?"
"Up the mountain, to its main peak," Li Ding said earnestly. "First, we won't get lost. Second, look at that ridge like a horse's mane. There happens to be a bare patch on it, like a person's forehead. When your inspector comes looking tomorrow morning, she'll spot us straightaway... I feel there's something wrong with the feng shui down here. We shouldn't linger, but we can't find another way out just now."
"True." Zhang Xing had clearly noticed something amiss too. "This wind is far too unseasonable. It should be cleaner and more open up there."
Having made their decision, the two men and their mule stopped circling the foot of the mountain and headed straight for the summit.
Strangely enough, once they turned uphill, the way became clear. Never mind being led in circles by ghosts-they even felt as though they were striding with a tiger's vigor, covering a thousand miles a day.
They really did sweep right up the mountain.
Reaching the protruding patch of bare ground at the summit, they saw the great moon hanging high and the little moon curved into a