Once everyone had arrived, Meng Xu stood in the guesthouse courtyard.
"Today's task is simple." He pointed outside the gate. "There are plenty of mushrooms in the forest behind Cloud-Hidden Town this season. The local villagers say these next few days are the perfect time to pick them."
"Your task today is to head into the mountains and pick mushrooms. Come back before noon. The group that picks the most will earn bonus points. As for what the points are for, I'll explain when you get back."
Shen Yuzhou was the first to raise his hand. "Are we splitting into groups?"
Meng Xu shook his head. "No groups. Everyone goes together, but your hauls will be counted individually. We'll see who picks the most."
Cheng Yanqiu glanced at Shen Yuzhou. "Do you know your mushrooms? Don't bring back a whole pile of poisonous ones."
Shen Yuzhou patted his chest. "I do! I learned about them from books!"
Pei Yubai stood at the very back, both hands in his trouser pockets, without a word.
Lin Yanru asked, "Do we need to bring anything?"
Meng Xu pointed to the bamboo baskets on a nearby table. "One basket each. The mountain paths are rough, so be careful. Don't go too far, and come back before noon."
Ji Shiyu went over and took a basket, saying quietly, "Let's go."
Jiang Wantang took one too and followed behind him.
The group left the guesthouse and headed toward the mountain behind it.
Behind Cloud-Hidden Town was a dirt road, with farmland on either side and the forest farther ahead.
The morning mist had yet to clear. The distant mountains were hard to make out, nothing but a hazy stretch of green.
Once they entered the woods, the light dimmed. The canopy overhead was dense, letting through only scattered fragments of light.
A thick layer of fallen leaves covered the ground, soft underfoot and making hardly any sound.
Shen Yuzhou walked at the front, looking everywhere and muttering, "Mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms... where are you?"
Cheng Yanqiu strolled along behind him, occasionally crouching to examine a mushroom on the ground, but she picked none. "I don't know them," she said. "I'll see what you pick first."
Ji Shiyu, on the other hand, was quite earnest about it, crouching whenever he spotted one and putting it into his basket.
Lin Yanru walked beside him, occasionally asking, "Is this one edible?" Ji Shiyu would patiently explain.
Jiang Wantang walked at the very back with light steps, her basket still empty.
Pei Yubai walked somewhere toward the rear of the group. He had changed into a black athletic jacket and dark trousers, though he still wore the same running shoes.
He carried a bamboo basket, but there was nothing in it. He barely bent down, only occasionally glancing at the ground before walking on.
A few bullet comments floated past.
[Pei Yubai's just here for a stroll, isn't he?]
[He won't even look at the mushrooms]
[Maybe he doesn't know them]
[How could Pei Yubai not know them? He's played a character who lived in the mountains]
[Then he just can't be bothered to pick any]
After about twenty minutes of walking, the woods grew denser and denser. They could no longer make out the path either. Fallen leaves and weeds covered the ground, making it impossible to tell where the path was.
Shen Yuzhou finally found a cluster of mushrooms. He crouched to pick them, calling out, "I found some! These are edible, right?"
Cheng Yanqiu went over and took a look. "Are you sure?"
Shen Yuzhou hesitated. "They... should be?"
Ji Shiyu came over to look and nodded. "Yes. Those are saffron milk caps. They're edible."
Delighted, Shen Yuzhou stuffed them into his basket by the handful.
Seeing him do that, Cheng Yanqiu crouched down too and started picking.
They spread out to look for mushrooms on their own. Pei Yubai stood watching for a while before finally crouching down too. He picked very slowly, being so choosy that he only collected two after all that time.
A bullet comment read: [Pei Yubai picks mushrooms like he's choosing imperial consorts]
They walked for another half hour or so. Instead of clearing, the mist grew thicker. The woods were shrouded in gray, and they could no longer see clearly beyond ten meters.
Shen Yuzhou looked up at the sky and muttered, "Why does it feel like it's getting harder and harder to see?"
Cheng Yanqiu noticed too. She stopped, looked around, and frowned. "How long have we been walking?"
Lin Yanru checked her watch. "Almost an hour since we came in."
Ji Shiyu stopped too, his voice quiet. "Should we head back?"
Everyone came to a halt. They looked around, but there were only trees and mist in every direction. They could no longer find the path they had taken in.
Lin Yanru took out her phone and checked it. No signal.
"No signal," she said.
Cheng Yanqiu took out her phone too and held it a little higher, but still had no signal. Shen Yuzhou followed suit. One glance at his phone made his face fall. "I don't have a signal either."
Ji Shiyu did not take out his phone. He simply stood quietly and looked around.
Jiang Wantang had been silent the whole time. Now she said softly, "The mist is too thick."
Shen Yuzhou began to panic a little. "What do we do, then? Didn't Director Meng say we wouldn't be able to contact him without a signal?"
Cheng Yanqiu remained fairly calm. "He said the livestreaming equipment was made by his own family's company, and the signal is strong. Meng Xu should be able to see where we are."
Shen Yuzhou looked around overhead and found a camera hidden among the branches. He relaxed a little. "Oh, right. The livestream's still running."
The bullet comments were discussing it too.
[Are they lost?]
[The mist's too thick to tell which way they're going]
[The director should be watching, right? Hurry up and rescue them]
[Why isn't Pei Yubai reacting at all?]
Pei Yubai really did show little reaction. He stood under a tree, still holding that basket, his expression exactly the same as always. He glanced around and said, "If we can't find our way out, we wait here."
Seeing how calm he was, Shen Yuzhou gradually settled down too. But within seconds, he started worrying again. "What if Director Meng hasn't noticed we're lost? He might think we're still picking mushrooms."
Cheng Yanqiu thought for a moment. "True. How about we look around nearby for somewhere with a better signal so we can contact him? Or make it easier for him to find us."
Lin Yanru nodded. "All right. Don't spread out too far. Keep within reach of one another."
They began wandering around the area. Shen Yuzhou was out in front, winding his way around a patch of shrubs.
Then he suddenly stopped.
"Come look!" His voice rose a little, not in fear, but in surprise.
Cheng Yanqiu walked over. "What is it?"
Shen Yuzhou pointed ahead, his eyes wide. "There's a house over there!"
Everyone came to stand beside him.
Through the mist, they could indeed see a house not far away. It was not a little farmhouse courtyard, but a residence. It stood in a relatively open clearing, with trees all around, as though the forest enclosed it.
Through the mist, a wooden house slowly emerged deep in the woods.
It was large and clearly well cared for. The exterior walls were dark brown, clean and free of moss, with even gaps between every plank.
The roof tiles were laid close together. Though a little moss grew along the edges, it had clearly been trimmed, leaving everything neat and tidy.
There was a small clearing in front of the house, free of fallen leaves or other debris. The leaves had been gathered to one side in a pile.
A stone path led out from the doorway, its stones set into the earth and worn level underfoot. Their surfaces had a faint sheen, as though people walked over them often.
A few stalks of bamboo grew on either side of the path, their stems a vibrant green and their leaves clean, with none withered or yellow.
Beside the bamboo sat a stone worn smooth, with a coarse pottery jar resting on it. A few dried wildflowers stood in the jar. Though dried out, they remained upright, as though someone had deliberately kept them.
The wooden lattice windows were covered with white window paper, unbroken. A small clay pot sat on a windowsill, planted with a few lush green sweet flag plants, drops of dew still clinging to their leaves.
The door stood ajar. A string of copper wind chimes hung from the frame, giving off faint, delicate notes when the wind blew, soft and never harsh.
The whole residence was quiet, but not with the stillness of abandonment.
It was the quiet of someone living inside, someone who had lived there for a long time and lived slowly and simply, so slowly that even the wind was willing to stop and rest.
Mist drifted slowly between the rooftop and the bamboo, veiling the house in a thin gauze. The distant trees were indistinct shadows. Only the house was clear, as though it were the sole thing awake in the woods.
Shen Yuzhou said quietly, "This place... is so quiet."
Cheng Yanqiu said nothing, staring at the wooden house.
Ji Shiyu said softly, "It looks like someone lives here."
Standing at the back, Jiang Wantang looked at the wooden house, a flicker in her eyes. This atmosphere had always been very much her style. It was like the way people from the north loved the misty, rainy scenery south of the Yangtze.
It really struck a chord with her.
Bullet comments began pouring in too.
[What is this place?]
[So pretty, but it feels so lonely]
[Like a house you'd only find in a novel]
[Could someone actually live in there?]
[A reclusive master living beyond the mundane world?]
Lin Yanru was the first to come back to her senses. She looked around, then at the wooden house. "Should we go take a look? Maybe someone lives here and we can ask for directions."
Shen Yuzhou nodded. "Come on, let's go look."
He was the first to head forward, but he lightened his steps, as though afraid of disturbing something. His thought was, What if someone really is there?
Pei Yubai stayed where he was. He narrowed his eyes at the wooden house.
The bullet comments noticed him.
[Why isn't Pei Yubai moving?]
[What's he looking at?]
[That expression... does he think there's something strange about this house too?]
After a while, Pei Yubai started walking. His pace was unhurried, but his strides were long, and he soon passed Shen Yuzhou to take the lead.
Shen Yuzhou called after him, "Brother Pei, wait for me-"
Pei Yubai did not look back.
A thin layer of moss grew on the stone path, making it a little slippery underfoot. Pei Yubai walked steadily all the way to the door.
The door was wooden and unpainted, almost the same color as the walls.
Pei Yubai stood at the entrance, raised his hand, and knocked twice with the door knocker.
The sound was not loud, but it rang out in the quiet woods.
No one answered.
He knocked twice more. Still no answer.
Shen Yuzhou came closer. "Maybe nobody lives here?"
Pei Yubai ignored him and reached out to push the door.
It was unlocked and swung open with a creak.