I could still be saved—I was still alive!
Even if they had found a corpse, shouldn't they have called the police?
Ji Yuan could not understand what was going through these people's heads. What they were doing was tantamount to murder!
Some of their earlier conversation had been strange as well. Could there really be something wrong with their brains?
Ji Yuan could tell that this group was not joking. They truly were no longer paying attention to him. After one of them covered him with a little more and laid a wet cloth over his forehead, everyone went back to their own business.
Zhang Shilin instructed everyone to move the fire closer to the Mountain God Statue, so that the dying beggar could be a little warmer.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Sparks flew continuously from the flint strikes. After a few blows, a small piece of tinder caught fire.
"It's lit! Firewood!"
"Coming, coming!"
"Don't pile it on too tightly!"
They added some thin, broken twigs and carefully tended the little flame. Before long, the fire blazed brightly.
The traveling merchants set up an earthen stove and placed their iron pot on it. Someone else fetched the bamboo tubes of rainwater they had collected by the temple entrance, poured the clear water into the pot, and set it to boil. Everything was done in perfect order.
Once they had finished, the traveling merchants finally relaxed for the moment and all sat down on the ground to rest.
"Rumble..."
Thunder rolled across the horizon, and the rain showed signs of growing heavier.
As they waited for the water to boil, the traveling merchants stared blankly at the downpour outside the Mountain God Temple.
"I wonder if this rain will stop before dark?"
Someone let out a worried sigh.
"Looking at it, it won't be stopping anytime soon!"
Someone else answered casually, pulling their clothes tighter around themselves.
"This spring rain is really cold!"
"Yeah! Skinny oxen and gaunt horses can scarcely make it past the eighth day of the second month!"
The group huddled around the not-so-large fire for warmth. Their damp clothes were hung to one side from a thin pole from the temple.
As the water in the iron pot steadily heated up, its lid gradually grew restless. Not long after, it began to rattle with a "clatter, clatter."
"The water's boiled!"
Liu Quan said with a smile, taking a wooden ladle from a basket, while the other traveling merchants each brought out their wooden bowls or bamboo tubes.
Without the slightest impatience, Liu Quan took the bowls and bamboo tubes one by one, ladled boiling water into them, and returned them one by one.
Meanwhile, a young man opened another basket and took out a cloth sack filled with assorted flatbreads and other dry provisions. Hugging the sack, he went around handing out food.
"Here."
"There, take it!"
"Brother Zhao, the steamed bun you like."
"Thanks!"
Each time the young man handed someone food, some patted his arm while others thanked him. Before long, he arrived in front of Zhang Shilin.
"Brother Shilin! There are still steamed buns and flatbreads. Which do you want?"
Zhang Shilin glanced at the cloth sack.
"Give me a flatbread."
"Alright."
The young man took out a dry flatbread and handed it to Zhang Shilin. He accepted it and nodded. The young man then put the sack back into the basket, took a steamed bun for himself, and returned to his original spot.
Some people were already blowing on the water in their wooden bowls and eating their dry provisions with the slightly cooled boiling water.
Throughout it all, Ji Yuan could hear the crackling of burning wood, the bubbles of boiling water and the clattering pot lid, the sound of ladling water, and the people chatting.
Fuck, this was too real. These people were actually sitting down to eat one after another, completely ignoring whether Ji Yuan lived or died!
"Shilin, when we were in Shuixian Town, I heard people say that Niu Kui Mountain hasn't been very peaceful these past few years. No one stays on the mountain at night. If this rain keeps falling, won't we have to spend the night in the mountains?"
The speaker was a middle-aged man gnawing on a dry flatbread, Jin Shunfu. His face was covered in crisscrossing wrinkles like ravines.
Zhang Shilin also looked out at the rain curtain.
"If we're careful tonight, there shouldn't be much of a problem. Besides..."
He looked toward where Ji Yuan lay.
"This beggar must have been here for a long time already. He's fine, so what do we have to fear with so many of us? Even if a great beast comes, we can drive it off!"
The young man handing out provisions shuddered at that, choking on his water.
"Cough, cough, cough... cough, cough, cough... Ah, Brother Shilin, cough, don't scare me! Are there really great beasts on Niu Kui Mountain?"
"Hahahahaha..."
"This kid... hahaha!"
"Little Dong, you need to work on that courage of yours! Hahaha..."
The people nearby all laughed at this. The young man had joined the group less than two months ago, but he was a spirited and hardworking lad. Since they were all fellow townsmen and already familiar with one another, they took especially good care of him.
Zhang Shilin smiled and looked at Wang Dong.
"Little Dong, Niu Kui Mountain has many peaks and deep forests. All told, it spans two hundred li in every direction. It would be perfectly normal for there to be a few great beasts, but the paths we choose all run along the outskirts, so they're relatively safe."
It really was Niu Kui Mountain, not Ox Head Mountain? Great beasts? Shuixian Town?
Ji Yuan's doubts deepened. How had he gone from Ox Head Mountain to Niu Kui Mountain? Did great beasts mean tigers? Shuixian Town was the least of it—China was vast, after all, and one could not possibly know every place in it.
The traveling merchants by the fire chatted and laughed. Zhang Shilin noticed that Jin Shunfu was still frowning, so he moved closer and asked in a low voice.
"Old Jin, what's wrong? What exactly did you hear in Shuixian Town?"
Jin Shunfu swallowed the dry flatbread in his mouth with a mouthful of hot water, looked around, and answered Zhang Shilin in an equally low voice.
"Shilin, I heard some people in Shuixian Town say that Niu Kui Mountain might be haunted by demons..."
For some reason, those words made goosebumps rise all over Zhang Shilin's body.
"I took it as a joke at the time and didn't pay much attention. We only passed through Niu Kui Mountain twice last year. What could happen? But now I suddenly feel inexplicably uneasy. Don't laugh at me, Shilin..."
The extra remark Jin Shunfu added was as much an attempt to comfort himself as it was an explanation.
"Don't scare yourself. Get some proper rest!"
Zhang Shilin patted Jin Shunfu's arm. They had an unspoken rule when traveling: whether by day or night, they absolutely could not pat someone on the shoulder.
Yet there was another person in the temple whose goosebumps had risen—the half-vegetable Ji Yuan.
What these people were saying did not sound like a joke at all, and they certainly were not acting. Honestly, if this had truly been an act, Ji Yuan was confident he would have heard the sounds of the set and filming equipment. He was certain that apart from himself, there were only those twelve people here.
Footsteps gradually approached, pulling Ji Yuan out of his thoughts.
Carrying a wooden bowl, Zhang Shilin walked over to the beggar behind the statue. He felt Ji Yuan's forehead; it was still scalding hot, and his breath was so weak it seemed almost nonexistent. He studied the beggar carefully. Though his face was dirty, there were no festering sores or rotten patches on it.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Shilin still reached out and used his wrist to raise Ji Yuan's head slightly, bringing the wooden bowl to Ji Yuan's dry, cracked lips.
"There isn't much we can do. Drink some..."
Warm water at a suitable temperature leaked from the corner of Ji Yuan's mouth, but quite a bit entered his mouth as well. His throat reflexively swallowed it down into his stomach, mouthful by mouthful.
Sweet dew descended, moistening his five viscera. Ji Yuan immediately felt much better.
Ji Yuan recognized that voice. It belonged to the man the others called "Brother Shilin," "Shilin," and "Leader Zhang." In other words, his name was Zhang Shilin.
Clearly, this man did not seem mentally ill, and neither did the others. An intensely powerful guess began to grow inside Ji Yuan's heart.
Could it be... I had really traveled through time?