Mental Torture

The search operation at Ox Head Mountain concluded after three weeks, and the outcome was heartbreaking. The promising twenty-four-year-old Ji Yuan ultimately could not be saved; the primary cause of death was dehydration—in other words, he died of thirst.

According to the two search and rescue team members who discovered Ji Yuan, the sky was somewhat dim at the time and they couldn't see clearly, but when they first found him, he could still speak. He was rushed to the hospital as soon as he collapsed, but he had already stopped breathing on the way there and could not be revived.

This incident had a considerable impact on both Ox Head Mountain and the company Ji Yuan worked for, but those hit hardest were undoubtedly Ji Yuan's parents and family.

But Ji Yuan could no longer see any of this.

His whole body ached unbearably... he couldn't move...

That was Ji Yuan's first sensation after his consciousness awakened.

His mind was groggy and sluggish, his thoughts not particularly sharp. The few thoughts he had were overwhelmed by a pain that stabbed through him like needles piercing every inch of his body.

He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't see, and even his perception of the outside world was extremely blurry. All he felt was an intensifying agony.

He didn't know how long passed before that torturous pain finally began to recede.

After enduring that ordeal, Ji Yuan lay limp on the ground like a pile of mud, gasping for breath. After a brief moment of relief, he sensed something was wrong.

The surface beneath him was hard, cold, and relatively flat—definitely not a bed. It felt more like lying on a floor. The surrounding temperature was somewhat low, and a light cold wind occasionally blew past, making Ji Yuan shiver uncontrollably.

But it was only an involuntary shudder of his body. Ji Yuan realized he still couldn't move. Aside from breathing, he couldn't even open his eyes. This feeling was somewhat like the legendary "ghost pressing down on the bed," but also different—at least he didn't feel any particular pressure on his body.

After regaining clarity of thought and physical sensation, Ji Yuan remained in a state of panic.

He was clearly not at home or in a hospital. There were no human voices around him. As for sounds, he could only hear some insect chirps and occasional bird calls. His nose caught a faint musty smell.

This made Ji Yuan wonder if he was lying on some wilderness road or some even worse place.

It was even possible that someone had kidnapped him, injected him with something, and dumped him in some desolate warehouse.

He didn't know how long he lay there in anxiety and unease. No one came, no cars passed—only unchanging silence.

Slowly, Ji Yuan discovered that his hearing seemed to have become very acute. The varied chirps of insects and birds became exceptionally clear.

Sometimes, if Ji Yuan happened not to be distracted by distracting thoughts and inner anxiety, he could fairly accurately pinpoint where the insects and birds were when he heard them, and even vaguely sense the distance between them.

Although this heightened hearing was quite remarkable, Ji Yuan's heart grew increasingly panicked and irritable.

Ji Yuan didn't know exactly how long had passed, but he felt it had been a very, very long time. During this period, no one had appeared by his side. Even if it were just the kidnappers coming over, that would be better!

Combined with his inability to move or open his eyes, this feeling was even more terrifying than being locked in a dark room. To keep from going mad, Ji Yuan could only constantly think, recalling and pondering in his mind what had actually happened.

Skipping over the time he was unconscious, his last memory was of encountering those two people by the stream. When he passed out, he could still hear their exclamations.

They said they were searching for a missing person and had been at it for over half a month. Judging by their uniforms, they might be search and rescue team members. But why wasn't he in a hospital and instead here?

Had something happened in between, or was there something off about those two search and rescue members themselves?

Ji Yuan could only speculate and guess about these questions, then shift his thoughts elsewhere.

But the most undeniable and crucial issue before all this was, naturally, that bizarre chess game. Without that chess game, none of this would have happened.

If the old Ji Yuan had been an atheist, then the current Ji Yuan had clearly changed his views.

Whether it was the disappearance of the company campsite after he came out, the words of the two search and rescue members, or the changes his body underwent in a short time—all were facts Ji Yuan had personally experienced. The first two might have been faked, but the changes in his body were real.

That is to say, in the eyes of others at the time, he had indeed been missing for over half a month, while his own perception was that only a few minutes—or even less—had passed.

This inevitably reminded Ji Yuan of a story his grandpa had told him when he was young:

Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a woodcutter. One day, while cutting wood on the mountain, he happened upon two old men playing chess.

The woodcutter set down his firewood and axe by a tree and stood nearby to watch the two old men play. One of the old men even smiled and broke off half a peach for him to quench his thirst and stave off hunger.

After watching for a long while, one old man suddenly turned to the woodcutter and said, "You should go home now."

Only then did the woodcutter realize it was getting late. He reached for his load of firewood and his axe, but was startled to find that the dry firewood had long since vanished, and the handle of his axe had rotted away, leaving only a rusted, worn-out axe head.

Somewhat shocked and bewildered, the woodcutter hurried along the familiar yet unfamiliar mountain path back home. The village had changed considerably, and familiar faces were hard to find.

After careful inquiry, the woodcutter learned that he had actually spent sixty years on the mountain. His family had all believed he had died in the jaws of a wild beast long ago, and his parents and elders had already passed away...

This story was one of Ji Yuan's favorites as a child. In the tale, the old men were said to be two immortals, and in the place where the story originated, there is a famous mountain called Rotten Axe Mountain.

The place Ji Yuan and his colleagues went camping was naturally not Rotten Axe Mountain but Ox Head Mountain. Yet the ancient tree, the chess game, and the rusted axe he saw all corresponded to the legend of the Rotten Axe Chess Game.

If that were the case, it wasn't hard to explain why Ji Yuan felt only a short time had passed while outside, time had shifted and over half a month had gone by.

Moreover, Ji Yuan's luck was both better and worse than the woodcutter's. Better, because he came out not long after, only half a month had passed outside, and his life hadn't been greatly affected. Worse, because no immortal gave him any miracle elixir to eat, so he had essentially gone without food or water for over half a month. Not dying outright was thanks to Old Man Heaven's blessing.

As Ji Yuan thought this, he didn't yet know that the original him had actually died long ago.

But even so, connecting all this didn't take much time. Ji Yuan was soon enveloped again by loneliness, fear, and irritability. Even forcing himself to think more and ponder more questions, the oppressive feeling only grew worse.

No one spoke, no footsteps, no one came...

Time was so long. No one, still no one...

Growing more and more anxious, Ji Yuan had now lost all sense of time. He didn't know if an hour or a day had passed. He could no longer calm himself down by force.

No wonder solitary confinement in some Western countries' prisons is considered a severe punishment for inmates—it's a serious form of mental torture.

At this point, Ji Yuan's state was no longer about worrying who had kidnapped him. It had completely turned into a desperate hope that the kidnappers would come quickly, even if just to hear their curses or have them kick him.

Still no one, still no one came!

'Someone come! Someone come! Anyone will do!'

Ji Yuan screamed countless times in his heart. What he feared most was that there were no kidnappers at all, and he would just lie here alone in some desolate wilderness, with no one coming except wild animals, snakes, and insects...

New book release! Don't pass by without a look, folks. If you have votes to spare, throw a vote my way. If not, a bookmark to show your support is just as welcome~