Chapter 106: Strange Happenings in the Dead of Night

A few meters away from them, by a cluster of stones, Cheng Che lay motionless, his body twisted awkwardly. Zhang Qinglin and Wan Qing hurried over to check his injuries. Fortunately, he only had superficial wounds and was merely unconscious.

Wan Qing’s face was grim. She furrowed her brows tightly, her voice sharp with anger. “What kind of person did you bring here? You nearly got us all killed! Where is he?”

She glanced at Cheng Che, then toward the car, clenching her fists, ready to rise and head that way.

“That person isn’t in the car. He’s already run off. All I know is that he wasn’t working with the one who was chasing me,” Zhang Qinglin said firmly, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. “First, let’s get Cheng Che over there and treat his wounds.”

As they helped Cheng Che across to the opposite side of the vehicle, they suddenly noticed that Chi Tan was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s that brat? He was just here a moment ago.”

“Put Cheng Che down here first. I’ll go look for him. He wouldn’t leave alone, and since he’s injured, he shouldn’t be wandering off. Wan Qing, be careful.”

Zhang Qinglin headed into the dark thicket of trees. Early winter in Qinghai was bitterly cold. Below this mountain road lay sheer cliffs, and only a small, gloomy grove stood nearby, now buffeted by a strong, chilling wind.

The cold wind howled overhead as Zhang Qinglin’s dark eyes fixed ahead. Suddenly, he stopped.

Not far in front, a terrifying wail pierced the night—the heart-wrenching crying of a child.

Zhang Qinglin’s senses sharpened. Why would there be a child here? He quickened his pace toward the sound. After a few steps, the crying grew startlingly close. Suddenly, a shadow darted past him. Zhang Qinglin’s face darkened. He gave chase, sprinting fiercely after the figure.

“Stop! Don’t run!” Zhang Qinglin shouted behind him.

Amid the sobbing “Wah wah wah…” came broken, anguished words: “It wasn’t me… it wasn’t me.”

The voice belonged to the person who had been sitting in the front seat. Moments later, Zhang Qinglin caught up beneath a large tree, where the man was curled up, trembling against the bark, his head shaking.

“It wasn’t me…” he murmured, tilting his head up then suddenly turning sharply to stare at Zhang Qinglin.

Zhang Qinglin was drenched in sweat, utterly spent. His legs gave out, and he collapsed, sitting on the ground.

Then, the man’s expression twisted into something grotesque and unnatural. His eyes fixed in a dead stare, as if he had seen something horrific. Suddenly, he lunged at Zhang Qinglin.

Zhang Qinglin was knocked to the ground. The man went mad, stretching his neck and opening his mouth wide, revealing two rows of yellow teeth, biting toward Zhang Qinglin’s face.

“Damn, he’s really lost it,” Zhang Qinglin exclaimed, kicking against the man’s body.

But the man was like a berserker, deaf to all reason.

They tumbled downhill, wrestling fiercely. Seizing an opportunity, Zhang Qinglin grabbed the man’s neck with both hands. Desperate, he swept up a nearby stone and struck it against the man’s head.

In an instant, the man’s expression froze. His struggles ceased, and he collapsed, unconscious.

Zhang Qinglin finally exhaled in relief and stepped away. Then, from nearby, he heard a desperate cry for help. He looked toward the source—it came from behind a rocky cliff just ahead.

Approaching the stone wall, the voice became unmistakably familiar. It was Chi Tan.

Rounding the rock, Zhang Qinglin’s breath caught in his throat at the sight before him: a vast stone platform with a towering ancient tree rising in its center. But in the darkness, the tree appeared grotesquely strange. Its sprawling branches were densely hung with round objects resembling inflated skins, swaying in the cold wind.

Suddenly, from the side of the tree came a cry, “Help… help… Brother Xiao Lin!”

“Chi Tan, is that you?” Zhang Qinglin called out.

“Brother Xiao Lin, it’s me! Hurry and save me! This place is terrifying,” Chi Tan’s voice dwindled.

Zhang Qinglin dashed onto the stone platform and stood beneath the tree. A chilling, bone-deep cold seized him. Circling the tree, he found no sign of Chi Tan.

Then, above his head came the sound of something striking repeatedly. Looking up, Zhang Qinglin’s heart nearly stopped. Hanging from the branches were not round skins, but dozens of withered skulls, their hollow eye sockets pierced by long, brittle twigs. The branches creaked ominously in the wind.

Zhang Qinglin noticed that each skull was tied with a strip of black cloth.

“Chi Tan…” he called anxiously, fearing the worst.

He moved around to the back of the tree when suddenly something darted past him. “Brother Xiao Lin, watch out behind you!” Chi Tan’s voice rang overhead.

Just then, a long snake slithered down the trunk toward Zhang Qinglin’s back. He dodged swiftly and rolled aside, looking up to see Chi Tan hanging upside down in the tree’s center, suspended among the swaying skulls.

The snake was a white-browed pit viper, a venomous species usually found in hills or mountainous regions during summer. Its red eyes glowed unnaturally, and its rigid body blocked the approach like a silent sentinel.

“Chi Tan, are you alright? Has the snake bitten you?” Zhang Qinglin confronted the venomous serpent.

“I wasn’t bitten. My head feels like it’s going to explode. I think someone knocked me out and hung me here. My legs are tied to the tree.”

Zhang Qinglin scanned the dry branches where Chi Tan was suspended. He could climb up using those brittle twigs, but the biggest danger now was the deadly snake.

Suddenly, Chi Tan cried out, “There’s a ghost! There’s a ghost, Brother Xiao Lin!”

Zhang Qinglin tilted his head, glancing behind him with his peripheral vision—there was nothing there. “Don’t be afraid, Chi Tan. I’m coming to get you down now.”

“Brother Xiao Lin, be careful not to get bitten by the snake!” Chi Tan warned, as one skull swung closer. Terrified, he shifted his body toward the tree trunk for safety.