Volume Two: The Secret Burial in the Cliff Valley — Chapter 123: Where No Bird Lands

After Old Tantou left, my heart remained heavy with anxiety. My third uncle’s safety weighed on me like a massive boulder, making it difficult to even draw a full breath.

I paced back and forth, losing count of how many times I had traversed the same stretch of ground. Ma Su and Liang Yue watched me, at a loss for words to offer comfort. Finally, Liang Yue walked over and took hold of my arm. "Li Yang, I know you’re worried about your uncle. But I think Old Ma is right—since none of us have met with any trouble, he’s even less likely to be in danger."

I nodded, forcing myself to cling to that thought for solace.

Liang Yue pointed to the ground. "Stop pacing. You’ve trampled the grass flat. Take a break."

Ma Su added, "Didn't the old man say he’d be back in an hour? It should be just about time."

I looked up at the sky. A faint, fish-belly white was beginning to spread across the horizon; dawn was approaching. We had been trapped in these mountains for an entire night. Yet, there was not a sound from where Old Tantou had disappeared. He had made quite a commotion when he left, but now, he seemed to have vanished into the sea like a stone.

This agonizing, burning wait was more than any human could bear.

Liang Yue shot me a glance, bit her lip, and said, "That’s it. You two wait here for me; I’m going in to look for him." With that, she turned to head into the woods.

Ma Su hurriedly blocked her path. "No. We can't act alone right now. Besides, the situation in there is unknown; rushing in blindly won't help."

Liang Yue retorted, "The old man said an hour, and the time is up. Are we supposed to wait a lifetime if he never comes out?"

Ma Su waved a hand. "To be precise, he has been in there for fifty-five minutes and thirty-two seconds. It’s not an hour yet."

Liang Yue glared at him, exasperated. "I don’t have time to play at counting seconds with you."

As they argued, I forced myself to calm down. Although Old Tantou was prone to gloomy remarks, he was a local bone-collector whose judgment of the terrain was far superior to ours. If he had set a one-hour limit, he must have factored in a margin of error, and there had to be a reason for it. If he hadn't emerged within that hour, something must have gone wrong inside. Rather than waiting here, it would be better to go in and check. Moreover, dawn was breaking; the yin energy would gradually dissipate as the sun rose, and the malevolent spirits would retreat, meaning we wouldn't face such grave danger.

After Liang Yue and Ma Su had argued for a while, neither able to convince the other, they both turned their gaze toward me.

I said to Ma Su, "Old Ma, the hour is up. Let's give it another fifteen minutes. Once that time passes, we go into the base of the cliff to find them."

Ma Su nodded, and we joined him in staring expectantly at the small grove.

Time ticked away, and though we watched until our eyes grew sore, the grove remained silent. Conversely, as the sky brightened, more and more birds emerged from the surrounding woods to forage.

Ma Su pointed toward the grove in front of us. "Look, there are plenty of birds on this mountain, but in this specific patch of woods, there isn't a single chirp, nor does a single bird fly out. It suggests the environment inside is vastly different from outside. We must be on our guard."

I had noticed this phenomenon as well and knew Ma Su was right. Such a place where birds refused to land meant there was something inside they feared. But at this moment, given the circumstances, I had no other choice; it was the only path forward.

Soon, Ma Su told me the time was up.

I took a deep breath and looked at the three of us. To my relief, despite the setbacks we had endured through the night, we still had our backpacks, which contained essential supplies that might prove useful.

By now, it was bright enough that we no longer needed moonlight or lanterns. I extinguished the lamp, shouldered my pack, and followed Ma Su and Liang Yue into the woods.

Just as Ma Su had said, the grove was deathly quiet—no insects chirping, no birds singing; it was as if all vitality had been drained away. Our intrusion into this stagnant, lifeless place felt as though we had disturbed a delicate balance, and I felt the hair on my skin bristle.

Old Tantou had once said that once we passed through this grove, we would reach the base of the cliff. Walking through it, I felt a surge of panic. What would this legendary cliff base look like? Would we find my third uncle? What had happened to Old Tantou to make him go and never return?

Having experienced so many bizarre events, my mind couldn't help but wander. I was terrified that there might be some strange trap in these woods, or that we might get lost in some sort of bewitching maze.

In truth, I had overthought it. The grove was not large; after walking for about twenty meters, we emerged on the other side.

Beyond the woods, we were met with a sea of wild, rampant weeds, some over a meter high. There was no path to be seen, and I had no idea which way Old Tantou had gone.

Ma Su carried a portable hand saw in his pack. We cut a few branches from the woods to use as walking sticks—partly to aid our movement, but also to beat the grass and alert any snakes or venomous creatures that might be lurking. Having the sticks made things much easier. Lacking a clear direction, we simply picked a heading and waded into the tall grass.

The wind rustled the weeds with a dry, whispering sound. Like explorers, we ventured deeper, step by step. None of us spoke; we instinctively spread out in a triangular formation, maintaining a distance of two or three meters between us.

After about ten minutes, Liang Yue, who was slightly ahead to my left, suddenly said, "There seems to be a stone tablet here."

Ma Su and I gathered around and cleared away the grass where she pointed. Indeed, a broken stone tablet lay there. It had split into two pieces; the lower part remained deeply embedded in the earth, while the upper section lay scattered to the side.

"There’s writing on it. Is it a place name?" Ma Su, interested in such things, leaned in to inspect it.

Because the tablet had been neglected for so long, the characters were weathered and faded, and without any paint, they were nearly impossible to discern at first glance. Ma Su took off his gloves and ran his fingers repeatedly over the stone.

Liang Yue and I watched him. Suddenly, Ma Su stopped, his hand frozen on the tablet, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

Startled, I asked, "What is it? Did you make it out? What does it say?"

Ma Su nodded. "It’s... 'South Willow Village,' three characters."

"South Willow Village? Are you sure it's 'South Willow' and not 'South Flow'?" I asked in astonishment.

Ma Su insisted, "It’s South Willow Village. If you don't believe me, touch it yourself. Wasn't the place we visited last night South Flow Village?"

I shook my head. "That wasn't South Willow Village; that was South Flow Village. It seems the real South Willow Village is here..."