Huang Ling, on Provincial Highway 11, is the second mountain pass in western Zhejiang after You Ling. At that time, the road conditions were far from being as spacious as they are now, with a three-meter-wide dirt road stretching for about five kilometers from the top of the hill to the upper slope.

  On this five-kilometer uphill slope, there is a bridge that was built in the mid-Ming dynasty. Almost every year, vehicles or livestock fall from the bridge, and below it is a deep gorge over 30 meters deep with turbulent rocks and water. If you fall down, you will definitely not survive, so locals also call this place "The Bridge of Lost Souls".

  Huangling is a mountain, and the road opened from the mountain is part of Provincial Highway 11, connecting the transportation between Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, transporting coal and grain from southern Anhui to Zhejiang, and small commodities and aquatic products from Zhejiang to inland areas. The road may be small, but there are many cars, and at that time, the most common ones on the road were Liberation trucks.

  This is not, just as we were shaking and carefully rushing along, but at this critical moment, we encountered a situation: after passing the Hulunbuir Bridge, a large truck came from the opposite direction, and its headlights pierced my eyes so that I couldn't open them.

  In the past, roads were not as wide as they are now. When two vehicles met on a narrow road, it was a common occurrence for one of them to pull over into a designated "passing place" or lay-by, which was essentially an extra parking space built at intervals along the road, similar in size to modern-day lay-bys.

  Where is the frame closest to the eye? It's just behind the bridge, which is where we just passed. The baby stepped on the brakes and stopped, ready to fall backwards. I reminded him: "Why don't I get off and watch for you?"

  "No need." The baby held a cigarette in one hand and steered with the other, saying: "I come through this place every day, I can find my way home blindfolded."

  I believe in Bao's skills, he used to be a soldier, an armored vehicle driver, one of the most sought-after professions at that time. After Lin Bao retired from the army, he was originally assigned to drive a car for a bank leader in the county, but that kid was quite promiscuous and had an affair with the leader's wife, after being caught, he almost got sent to jail, luckily the woman begged for mercy, Lin Bao only lost his job and went back home to operate an illegal taxi.

  An old driver should never make this kind of mistake, but accidents can happen unexpectedly.

  When the car tilted to the middle of the bridge, Lin Baobao suddenly shouted "Ah", I turned my head and saw that the cigarette butt in his hand had burned his fingers. This guy felt pain and his hand shook, and the cigarette butt fell down. Coincidentally, the cigarette butt fell into his shoe, burning flesh, this guy, anyone would have an instinctive reaction. Lin Baobao bent down to pick up the cigarette butt, but one of his hands was still on the steering wheel, his body moved, his hand didn't move, and the steering wheel also turned with it. If he had picked up the cigarette butt at this time, maybe nothing would have happened, but he pressed down once, not only did he not press the cigarette butt, but also made it fall deeper inside.

  This guy was scalded by him, that guy, and immediately kicked his foot up. This is also an instinctive reaction, but at that moment, he forgot what he was doing and what was under his feet.

  I only heard the car's engine suddenly become violent, the engine speed instantly soared, followed by a loud "bang" sound, and then I heard the shattering of glass and people's screams. I glanced in the rearview mirror, and saw chaos behind the car, amidst the chaos, I vaguely saw someone wearing white clothes flying out from the rear windshield...

  It was the closest I'd come to death in this lifetime, and it happened in an instant. The entire car sailed over the ancient stone bridge's railing, like a rock kicked off a cliff. The sensation of freefall left my brain reeling, and unlike what you see on TV, there wasn't even time for a reaction - the massive impact knocked me out cold within the first second of release.

  When I was pulled out, I woke up. I saw a piece of iron sheeting, the noise and lights around me made me realize that I had been rescued. I don't remember how I was sent to the hospital. I know there are two scars on the back of my head, and until today, these two scars still haven't grown hair, so I always slightly let it grow a bit longer to cover them up. It's not that I think they're ugly, but I don't want to see them and recall the miserable scene from that year.

  Our luck wasn't too bad, the car fell into a small pond, and it was this water that saved our lives. If we had deviated from the road by just two steps, I think today I wouldn't be able to sit here telling you stories. Not dying doesn't mean not being injured, many people were hurt in that accident, enough to keep them bedridden for half a year. There were many cases, such as Big Cow's five broken ribs, Lin Baobao's fractured arm, countless external injuries, and some even suffered brain damage, lying in bed for over half a year.

  This was a major accident, and I happened to be the one who got hurt the least among these people. The car was upside down, straight up and down, and plunged into the water tank. My seat and position saved my life. I only had four stitches on the back of my head, two small wounds that added up to less than two centimeters. As for others, even if they didn't die, they were seriously injured. Lin Baobao's cervical vertebra was fractured, and Da Niu Guang's five ribs were broken. That night, I was sent home first, and when Cha Wenbin heard the news and saw me, his face turned iron blue.

  Is this thing my fault? Saying it's my fault is also partly true, saying it's not my fault, actually the car wasn't driven by me either, this was just an accident.

  "It's not a surprise, you didn't lose your life, that's already a blessing. I see the dark shadow between your eyebrows is almost two fingers wide." Zhang Wenbin was extremely angry about my sneaking out: "At least you should have told me, to exorcise the dust and sweep away the bad luck. Do you think anyone can just go and touch the grave?"

  I got out of bed, the back of my head was aching and I gritted my teeth: "If you touch it, just touch it, tomorrow one fire will burn it, damn it, it's really looking for us?"

  "Your classmate's dad is so annoying, I think you're also about to be driven crazy by him, how can you be so blind."

  "Cut it out, you're really tempting me." I sneered: "How about I introduce you to that classmate of mine?"

  "Not interested, but I can tell you that you're just barely holding on with your eight characters for the past two years. If it were someone else, they would have seen King Yan by now. Didn't you see the thick fog tonight? When did you ever see a night like this where it didn't rain and yet there's such a big fog? I'm telling you, tonight was lively, many people saw with their own eyes a group of people carrying a sedan chair to the back mountain of Mao Grass Bay."

  "Who is it?"

  "What about you?" Cha Wenbin took a sip of tea and said: "I may not be able to settle the matter with your friend, I still have to go find someone tomorrow."

  I joked: "Don't be ridiculous, although that classmate of mine doesn't look very good, you don't have to decline so strongly."

  "Don't take me for a god, you guys dug up that old man during the day, it's easy to dig him up but hard to send him back. I've heard of earth gods before, this is a good deed you've gotten me into, I'd rather encounter ten ghosts than one god, or else I'll be dragged down with him too. Next time, ask around clearly before doing something, that classmate's dad Gao Cheng deserved to die, he cut off someone's divine root in the past."

  "What's Xian Gen?" I pulled up my pants and said: "This thing?"

  Zha Wenbin rolled his eyes and said, "That thing of yours is just a piece of straw. He disturbed someone's grave, saying he was going up the mountain to find a place to plant some corn, but ended up suffering at someone's tomb."

  "It's no big deal, at that time when we were leveling graves and returning the land to farming, many grave mounds were smashed but nobody made a fuss."

  "Don't bother arguing with you, that classmate's father can still be buried tomorrow, but he has to wait another day. They're already working on it with his family members. If they continue like this, something will definitely happen." Zhang Wenbin paused and said: "Some things are not to be trifled with, tonight is the best lesson for you."

  "Brother, I believe it, how can I not believe?" I raised my arm to gesture to the torn elbow of my clothes: "Every day staying with you, in your brain there's either a god or a ghost. Tomorrow you'd better invite a fairy to come and take a look."

  This person I don't know, and haven't heard of, but some people have been talking about her, saying she's a fairy maiden reincarnated. In reality, she just looks like a rural woman in her forties. She's wearing a red cotton-padded jacket with green pants, a pair of black cloth shoes, her hair is styled in a bun, and on top of her head, there's a big flower tucked in. When this woman walks down the road, her butt swings back and forth like a grinding disc, making all the village bachelors drool.

  Her name is He Jinfeng, and she told us that she was from a different village in the same town. How did Zha Wenbin invite her? It's said that her life was saved by Zha Wenbin's master Ma Zhenren, so when Zha Wenbin came out, she would definitely come too.

  What's with this woman? Upon closer inspection, oh boy, she's got quite a story!

  In the past, there were often people in rural areas who claimed to be possessed by gods and would deceive villagers with their tricks. These people were usually women and were called "xiang gu" (spiritual ladies). Most of these xiang gu were actually swindlers who would spout nonsense and cause many people to lose money or even their lives.

  He Jin Feng is also a "fairy maiden", but this fairy maiden doesn't help people ward off disasters or difficulties. If you want her to speak, it depends on your fate. Although she has an elegant appearance and demeanor, no one knows that she's never married in her life, guarding her chastity like jade, all because of the man who saved her back then, but he refused to marry her.

  As for their relationship, Zhao Wenbin should address her as "Aunt", but she wouldn't respond. If he called out to her with a single "Shifu's wife", this woman would be delighted beyond measure.

  The woman's melon seed shell flew across, her slender fingers were different from those of ordinary working women. Her face was full of smiles as she looked at Zhang Wenbin: "What brings you to find your master's wife?"

  Cha Wenbin didn't dare to make fun of his master's name, so he changed his words and said: "I want to ask for your help, 'go down' once and take a look for my nephew."

  "Hey, I don't have a nephew like you, stop pretending to be related!" The woman indeed changed her face instantly, dropping the melon seeds in her hand: "If it's something within our family, then it's my business. If it's something outside, even calling your own mother won't work!"

  Zha Wenbin intercepted the woman and said, "Auntie, I regard you as my own kin. You also understand Master's temperament, don't make things difficult for me, okay?"

  That woman stretched out her finger and poked Zhang Wenbin's forehead, saying: "The same virtue as Old Man Ma! One-sided, are all of you Taoist priests stubborn? Never mind, I didn't expect anything. What's going on?"

  "Let's ask the village elder about it, there's a master in the den behind the mountain, what's his origin."

  "Got it, is everything ready?" the woman asked.

  Zha Wenbin saw her agree and repeatedly replied: "Alright, even the sedan chair to carry you up the mountain is ready."

  "Let's go!" The woman leaned back on a stretcher in the courtyard, with one man at each end carrying it, making "creaking" sounds as they walked out. The onlookers behind them couldn't stop pointing and whispering to each other. I heard someone say: How did she even come here?

  "What's going on?" I asked Cha Wenbin: "Ma Zhenren's little wife?"

  "Don't talk nonsense!" Cha Wenbin said while packing things up, "She's a divine woman, chosen by the gods. I can only interact with ghosts and monsters, but she can communicate with the spirits."

  "Really her?" I was somewhat skeptical.

  Zha Wenbin patted me on the shoulder and said, "You have no choice but to believe!"