Yuan Xiaobai gave us three a lot of baked cakes, this time entering the mountain with a very clear goal is to get the head of the tiger. To be honest, none of us have seen what a tiger looks like, only saw it in New Years paintings, and Fatso said that tigers are nothing special.

  In Shi Baizhus eyes, no matter how high ones kung fu is, they are still afraid of a kitchen knife. As long as he has a gun in his hand, he can defeat anyone under the sky.

  The local peoples "West Mountain" is not a single mountain, but a whole piece. This mountain is located on the west side of the Daxinganling Mountains, and from the village, you can barely see a few mountain tops. That land is taboo in the eyes of local people. No one has ever verified whether the story told by Miao Lan was true or false, but that day seemed to be a bit unsettling from the start.

  Yuan Xiaobai got up early and made a big plate of white vegetable noodles for us. When she was cutting the cabbage, she cut her hand and blood splattered all over the floor. Pangzi got out of bed to pee and fell in the courtyard, breaking his nose. But these small things didnt matter to us. In those years, a little injury was nothing to worry about. After a days work, who wasnt covered in cuts and bruises?

  There was only one rifle, and we didnt have hunting dogs. I rummaged through the warehouse and found a red-tasseled rifle with a slightly rusty barrel that could still be used. Carrying it on my body was better than going empty-handed. Zhang Wenbin went to the tractor warehouse in Tunli and found a roll of steel wire, which was made up of many thin steel wires twisted together, like brake lines. We not only relied on guns but also had to think of ways to set traps. There were also iron shovels, those foldable engineer shovels that were said to have been left behind by the Japanese years ago and still didnt have a single dent after being used by villagers for so many years - their quality was truly impressive. Each of us wore a hatchet on our waist, which was essential for entering the forest, used for both clearing the way and self-defense.

  From the village of Ye Ren Tun, walking west along the small river for seven or eight miles, we have already entered the territory of Xi Shan. However, here you can still see some remnants of the fields that were opened up by previous generations, with charred stones showing that there was once human activity here. Further ahead, we had to cross a dense forest, and it was just as we reached the edge of this forest that the path disappeared - in fact, it couldnt even be called a path, but rather just a place where people could walk.

  The rivers current is very rapid, and the bottom is covered with large stones overgrown with moss. The water depth changes unpredictably. Fatso tried it out and found that the icy water made him shiver all over. Taking the water route was hopeless. We decided to walk along the riverbank instead, because Fatsos theory was: tigers are animals, and as animals they need to drink water. Lets follow the river and see if we can discover anything.

  The reality is not as we thought, walking along the river for less than two kilometers and it suddenly stopped in front of us, a 40-50 meter high waterfall appeared before our eyes. Below the waterfall was a pool of water, emerald green and impossible to see its depth, with an area about the size of a basketball court. We couldnt climb up any further, the steep cliff was covered with slippery moss, if we wanted to reach the top to get a view, we would have had to cross over a big mountain. It was already noon at this point, so we decided to rest here first.

  In the autumn season, the needles of the larch tree have begun to turn yellow, and a thick layer has been laid on the ground. I leaned against the ground, gazing at the distant waterfall, feeling a strong desire to fall asleep, and my eyes slowly closed unknowingly.

  When I woke up again, it was already dark outside. I rubbed my eyes and found that there was no one beside me.

  Zha Wenbin and Shi Baozi are gone!

  At first, I thought they were just going to take a stroll nearby and would be back soon. But as the owls hooting echoed through the woods, I was still left alone. During this time, I shouted and searched, but ultimately returned to the original place, and they had vanished. The sound of water flowing by my ear continued to gurgle, and my heart was in a mess. Although Ive been brave since childhood, being alone in these deep mountains and old forests is inevitably a bit scary. What made me even more panicked was that I didnt have any fire source, leaving only a red-tasseled spear and an axe by my side.

  These two people have no reason to abandon me, in the pitch-black night where I cant see my fingers, what can I do? Except for waiting, I dont have a better choice. The night in the forest doesnt belong to humans, all kinds of sounds that Ive never heard before make me feel like Im going to collapse at any moment.

  Before we came, Miao Lan said there were wild men here, as well as tigers and bears. Fatty, fatty, youve always emphasized that everyone is a revolutionary comrade, so why did you abandon me at this critical moment?

  In the dark of night, I feel like theres always a pair of eyes staring at me from all around, and the more I try to pay attention to that feeling, the more real it becomes. I keep turning my head around to search for it, but those eyes seem to react just one step faster than me, always changing position just as Im about to see them.

  This feeling grew stronger and stronger, and slowly, I had an urge to run away.

  "Run!" The word popped into my mind, but where could I run? It was so dark around me that I couldnt even see my own feet, yet the suffocating feeling kept urging me to make a choice.

  Here is the translation:

  Got it, climbing a tree! I remembered that bears are said to not climb trees. My back was against a large tree, and all the trees here were tens of meters high, with straight fir trees only starting to branch out very high up. I untied my belt and looped it around the trunk, then pushed off with both feet, moving my belt up a bit further and continuing to push, slowly but surely, I was already leaving the ground. This skill is something I learned from a young age, in the mountainous northwest of Zhejiang where walnut trees are abundant, most people there know this technique, and Im no exception.

  I climbed up for over ten meters and started to encounter branches. I tried one and it was very sturdy, with three forks that were just right for sitting on. To prevent myself from falling off, I specially tied my hands to the tree with a belt.

  Every minute sitting there was unbearable, I felt like I was still being stared at by those eyes, and it was waiting for me below. I kept reminding myself that I couldnt sleep, I had to wait until dawn. The red-tasseled spear was clutched tightly in my hand, and I fantasized about how I would stab it into the heart of the wild man before it tore me apart if it really existed.

  It was around 10 oclock at night, I hugged the tree trunk and vaguely heard a sparse voice in the forest. Suddenly, I woke up again, following the sound, I saw two fires coming from the forest towards here, and someone said: "I dont know how Xiaoyi is doing, I didnt expect to chase so far."

  "It should be fine, with his two rows of teeth even if he was caught by savages, I reckon theyd still find it hard to get a bite in. But this isnt our fault, who told him to sleep so soundly? I could put a gun right in front of him and he wouldnt even react."

  I figured out that it was Zhang Wenbin and Pangzis voices, which finally relaxed the strings that had been tight for half a day. However, these two people actually abandoned me here so unscrupulously, I decided to get revenge on them.

  I saw them arrive at the place where I slept during the day. The fat one held a torch and turned around, saying: "Huh? Wheres the person?"

  Cha Wenbin seemed a bit worried: "I hope nothings wrong."

  "No way, that kid isnt very clever, is he?" But actually, Fatty was just comforting himself, because by the time I heard the second half of his sentence, his voice was already shaking.

  "Xiao Yi!" Zhang Wenbin shouted loudly, "Xiao Yi, where are you? Were back! Xiao Yi, did you hear that?"

  Nonsense, cant you hear me? Im right above your heads, but Ive decided to remain silent. Who made you sell out this teammate first?

  Zha Wenbin and Shi Baozi called me several times, but I didnt respond. Baozi started to get anxious: "It seems something really happened, lets hurry down the mountain to find someone. Were not familiar with this forest, its so big, who knows if he encountered tigers or wolves."

  "Then you go find someone, Ill continue to look here." When I heard Cha Wenbin say this, my heart suddenly felt infinite goodwill towards him. This old countryman was still reliable after all, and at critical moments, it was still ones own people who were needed. Just as I was about to respond and climb down the tree, I suddenly caught a glimpse of a black shadow flashing behind Cha Wenbin. I was very certain that it was a black shadow because he was facing away from me and talking to Fatso, and the two mens torches could illuminate all around clearly. Meanwhile, Fatsos gaze only stayed on Cha Wenbins body.

  "Are you going alone?" said the fat man. As he finished this sentence, I saw that black shadow again. It was extremely fast and circled around to the back of the fat man from the side of the two people. This time I saw it more clearly than before.

  By the faint light of the torch, I saw that in the illuminated place, a pair of huge arms had already opened up and were slowly moving towards Shi Tongzi.

  No good, somethings going to happen! At this moment I didnt care about teasing them anymore, so I used my loudest voice and shouted with all my might towards the people below: "Be careful! Theres something behind you!"

  "Little Yi!" Zhang Wenbin shouted, and then he probably saw something too, and roared at the fatty: "Squat down!"

  Shi Baizi, although he looks very fierce, his reaction speed is really not to be underestimated. He didnt know anything but followed Cha Wenbins orders in the first time. I only saw something flashing over Shi Baizis head like lightning, and then it brushed past Cha Wenbins body again.

  Fatso felt a gust of wind on his head, he stood up with his gun and shouted: "What the hell is that!"

  At this time, I also slid down the tree and didnt have time to explain why I climbed the tree. Panting heavily, I said: "Its lucky, we cant stay here."

  "Were you just on the tree?" Cha Wenbin asked me.

  "Its a good thing I was in the tree and happened to see it, or else Fatso would have been done for."

  Fatsos heart still had lingering fear as he asked: "Is it a wild man?"

  "I dont know, I just saw a white blurry thing flying over your head, about this big." I gestured with my hand, and indeed, the thing was roughly the size of a small calf, moving at an extremely fast speed, so fast that it couldnt be seen clearly.

  Cha Wenbin looked around and said: "Its white. I also saw it, but what I saw doesnt seem to be a wild man."

  "What is it?" I asked.

  "Its like a fox, with an entirely white body."

  Shi Baozi said, "Youre talking nonsense, where can you find such a big fox? Besides, wild beasts are generally afraid of fire. We both have torches in our hands, and a fox would dare to attack us from behind? If I catch it, Ill skin it!"