Chapter 3: Meeting Too Late

Panzi walked over at this moment and said, "The old man says it's still too early, and the boatman hasn't started work yet. Why don't we take a break here?"

Wu Xiaoxie looked surprised. "It's this late and he still hasn't started?"

The old man chuckled, knocking his dry tobacco pipe against the sole of his shoe. "He's the only boatman we've got here, and he's the best. Whether he works or not, and when he starts, is entirely up to him. Sometimes he’s too lazy to get up and won't work at all for a whole day, which can drive people crazy."

"Then why don't you all hold a meeting and decide to replace him with someone more reliable?" Uncle Three asked.

"We would if we could," the old man said with a bitter smile. "You’re from out of town, so you don't know—the Mountain God only gives face to him. Anyone else just doesn't work."

Uncle Three was curious. "What do you mean?"

The old man took a puff of his pipe, inhaled deeply, exhaled, and sighed. "Without him leading the way, anyone who enters that cave never comes back out. Nobody knows what he does in there."

Uncle Three had studied the map earlier and knew they had to pass through a cave ahead. Hearing the old man's words, he found it even stranger. "What? Does that cave eat people or something?"

The old man gave a dry laugh but didn't elaborate, waving his hand. "I don't know about that. It’s just stories passed down from previous generations; who knows if they're true?"

Hearing this, Panzi and the others exchanged glances and stepped aside, while Uncle Three ordered everyone to take a temporary rest.

Uncle Three crouched next to the old man to keep prying for information, but he only confirmed that the cave was indeed eerie and that the boatman was an outsider who had come years ago. No other useful information was gathered.

Suddenly, the waterweeds beside the creek rustled. Uncle Three quietly rested his hand on the dagger at his waist, only to see a dog scramble out, its mouth clamped around a fish about the size of a hand and a half.

"Hey," the old man said, "Ludan is out catching fish again today."

Uncle Three withdrew his hand and asked, "Is this your dog? It looks really sturdy."

The old man shook his head. "No, it belongs to the boatman. Ludan, come here."

The old man clapped his hands, calling the dog over. The dog was plump and strong, with bright, alert eyes. It was clearly a fine animal. Uncle Three felt a sense of fondness and reached out to pet it. Just as he was about to pick it up, he caught a whiff of something and his expression changed. "This dog..."

Wu Xiaoxie, feeling curious, leaned in to pet the dog as well. He took a sniff and was immediately hit by a pungent, foul odor that made his eyes roll back in his head; he burst into a fit of coughing.

"Ugh... how long has it been since this dog had a bath?" Wu Xiaoxie jumped back, desperate to get as far away as possible.

He accidentally stepped on something slimy and soft under his feet. Looking down, he realized it was the fish the dog had dropped. His step had burst the rotten skin, causing the internal organs to spill out, and he even spotted a few white maggots wriggling inside.

Wu Xiaoxie let out a cry and covered his mouth, looking for a place to retch. Suddenly realizing that the hand covering his mouth was the same one he had used to pet the dog, he really did throw up.

Zhang Wuxun had known the situation beforehand and naturally didn't join in. Seeing Wu Xiaoxie make a fool of himself, he secretly smiled to himself. Wu Xiaoxie was so amusing at this age.

Panzi laughed out loud. "Little Three Master, you've still got a long way to go if you want to learn that trick from your uncle."

Wu Xiaoxie rolled his eyes weakly.

"Panzi, come over here and take a sniff," Uncle Three beckoned.

Panzi grinned, trying to dodge the task. "Uncle Three, do I really have to?"

Uncle Three put on a stern face. "Stop babbling and come smell this. The scent on this dog is strange."

Panzi had no choice but to walk over with a grimace. He lifted a dog's paw and leaned in to sniff, his expression immediately turning sour. He lowered his voice and said, "This is... this is the stench of a corpse..."

Zhang Wuxun stood to the side, feigning curiosity. "Uncle, what is the stench of a corpse?"

Panzi glanced at Uncle Three, and seeing no objection, turned to Zhang Wuxun. "It’s the smell of bodies rotting and maggot-ridden when they're piled together. Want to take a whiff yourself?"

"Eww," Zhang Wuxun wrinkled his nose, looking both disgusted and curious. "I think I'll pass."

Wu Xiaoxie had recovered by now. Having grown up around antiques unearthed from tombs, he knew a bit more. Seeing Zhang Wuxun’s naive act, he pulled him aside to explain, "Hey, you don't know this, but even though I've never smelled it before, if it's strong enough to accumulate this much of a stench, there must be a large corpse pit or a pile of bodies ahead."

Zhang Wuxun acted frightened. "No way, we live in a society governed by law now. Where would anyone get enough dead bodies to pile up?"

Seeing how pale Zhang Wuxun looked, Wu Xiaoxie quickly laughed it off, patted his shoulder, and comforted him. "It doesn't have to be people. It could be livestock that drowned in a flood or dead animals drifting down the water."

Zhang Wuxun nodded, reassuring himself. "That must be it."

Suddenly remembering something, he turned and glared at Wu Xiaoxie. "That was your right hand you used to pet the dog, right? Did you wash it?"

Wu Xiaoxie thought to himself, *Oh crap, I really did forget.*

Zhang Wuxun saw his expression and immediately moved away in disgust. "Don't talk to me until you've washed your hands." He then pulled a small bottle of alcohol spray from his backpack and sprayed the area Wu Xiaoxie had touched vigorously.

Wu Xiaoxie’s mouth twitched as he silently went off to wash his hands.

Uncle Three also rinsed his hands in the water, shook off the droplets, and lit a cigarette. He said in the Hangzhou dialect, "It’s likely a Corpse-Accumulation Cave ahead. Get all the gear we need."

He then cast a subtle glance at the old man, who was still playing with the dog, and said to Panzi, "Keep an eye on Xiaoxie. That old man is suspicious."

Wu Xiaoxie also took the chance to cozy up to Zhang Wuxun to fish for information. "Hey buddy, where are you from? Are you here for a trip too?"

Zhang Wuxun’s appearance made him look like a college student, and the identity the system had arranged for him during this period was indeed that of a college student—specifically, a junior to Wu Xiaoxie, though in a different major.

"Yeah," Zhang Wuxun nodded. "I studied abroad until I returned for university."

"I figured I'd take advantage of the break to travel around and see the beautiful landscapes of our motherland," Zhang Wuxun said with a smile. "I'm a student at Zhejiang University."

"Oh, what a coincidence!" Wu Xiaoxie exclaimed. "I’m from Zhejiang University too, but I graduated a few years ago. I studied architecture. What about you?"

Zhang Wuxun acted pleasantly surprised. "What a coincidence! I'm in the foreign language department, majoring in German with a minor in French."

He had indeed studied these in the past, and the system had kept it that way when inserting his identity, likely for convenience.

"Wow, you're impressive," Wu Xiaoxie said, even more surprised.

The two traded compliments, and Wu Xiaoxie began to show off his knowledge, telling strange historical stories. Zhang Wuxun listened in wide-eyed wonder, exclaiming repeatedly at how much Wu Xiaoxie knew, which left Wu Xiaoxie feeling quite smug.

Both felt they had met a kindred spirit, and had the timing been better, they might have sworn an oath of brotherhood on the spot.