ID No. 019 - Chapter 12.1

Chen Yang’s face was drained of color. Trembling, he backed away, hoisting Chao Jian onto his back as he broke into a run—faster than that time they dodged dandelions.

Chao Jian leaned back, avoiding the hair whipping across his face. “Why the rush?”

Chen Yang panted, “We’ve been spotted!”

“They won’t catch us anytime soon,” Chao Jian replied calmly. “Put me down and take the thorny path Zhou Xiaoxiao showed us this morning.”

Chen Yang lowered the young man onto the ground. “I really hope all the clues we need are in the mountains so we don’t have to go back down. That place is just too horrifying.”

Just then, his expression changed. “Oh no, I don’t remember the path! When Zhou Xiaoxiao led us this morning, it was barely light out. I didn’t pay attention to the surroundings.”

Chao Jian adjusted the height of his crutches and led the way. “Follow me.”

They arrived in front of the stone cave without further incident.

Chen Yang peered inside; the cave looked just as it had that morning.

Chao Jian didn’t seem surprised, as though he’d expected this all along, which put Chen Yang more at ease.

“Let’s just stay out here for now. We’ll be able to spot anything coming our way.” Chen Yang sat down on a rock, bending over to wipe the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and picking out the thorns and bits of leaves clinging to his clothes. On the way, he’d been careful to cover their tracks, constantly glancing back to ensure no trace was left behind.

Even Zhang Yan and the others, who’d been here before, would have a hard time finding them.

For now, they were safe.

Chen Yang looked at the young man, whose cold had only worsened, and his mind flashed back to the scene they’d left behind in the foot of the mountain. Their teammates weren’t in that mound of bodies, but he couldn’t tell if they had been captured or had died.

Their situation was bleak.

“Mrs. Liu’s younger son ate fertilizer for days before he finally died, yet Madam Li went from eating fertilizer to burying herself in just a few hours. As for Old Madam Qi, she hadn’t even died before beggarticks started growing on her,” Chen Yang muttered, rubbing his damp face. “Now there’s a new category—not human, but neither does it turn into a plant. It just leaves behind a puddle of green juice when it dies.” He added, “This curse doesn’t follow a fixed set of rules. There’s no way to dodge it and once you’re cursed, it’s just a matter of time.”

Chao Jian’s answer was a cough, harsh and grating, that sounded as if it might bring up blood.

Helpless, Chen Yang could only focus on analyzing the situation, gathering as many clues as possible. The sooner they uncovered the truth, the sooner they could leave.

If they could make it back, the cold would heal and maybe the curse would be lifted.

Chen Yang moved a bit closer to the young man, his hand idly toying with a twig. Trying to sound casual, he asked, “What do you think that creature was eating?”

Chao Jian coughed, his voice raspy as he said, “You already know.”

Chen Yang’s hand jolted and a thorn pricked his fingertip. A small bead of blood welled up, bright red. He lowered his head and sucked it away, falling silent.

The sun played hide and seek behind the clouds.

Chen Yang had dozed off, and when he woke, he saw Chao Jian scrolling on his phone. Curious, he craned his neck for a look and noticed that the battery had only drained a single bar.

“What kind of phone is that? The battery’s so durable,” Chen Yang said in surprise.

Chao Jian glanced at him. “It’s a custom model. Takes a while to get one.”

Chen Yang only blinked, puzzled.

Chao Jian mumbled something too low to catch, then used his crutch to clear a patch of dirt. He picked up a stick to start sketching.

Chen Yang watched as he worked.

On the ground, Chao Jian had drawn an arrow labeled ‘70’ pointing upwards between two points marked ‘Li’ and ‘Stone.’ A downward arrow labeled ‘45’ pointed the other way.

Understanding dawned on Chen Yang and he watched in silence, glancing occasionally at Chao Jian with mixed feelings. He wondered when the man had recorded the duration of the travel on his phone. Chen Yang hadn’t noticed, and it was likely the others hadn’t either.

However, it made sense. Zhou Xiaoxiao had been jumpy and kept dragging her feet on the way there, which, combined with their unfamiliarity with the route, had added extra time. The return trip was bound to be faster.

Chao Jian drew two stick figures next.

Chen Yang noticed that next to the shorter one, Chao Jian had written ‘180,’ and next to the taller one, ‘190.’

“Really?” Chen Yang muttered. Did he think Chen Yang was so dim he couldn’t tell who they were without the heights labeled?

After Chao Jian finished marking the heights, he drew an arrow labeled ‘stone,’ and added ‘65’.

The duration was within Chen Yang’s expectations. Restoring the trampled plants and undergrowth along the way would take time. He remained silent.

Chao Jian tossed the stick aside, coughed a few times, and rasped, “The day Zhou Xiaoxiao and Huang Qing disappeared, it was around 8:30 in the morning when we split up after breakfast.”

A thought occurred to Chen Yang and his pulse quickened. “Are you trying to estimate when Xiaoxiao and Huang Qing entered the cave?”

But Chao Jian only said, “Not really. Just writing for fun.”

Chen Yang swallowed back everything he was about to say.

Chao Jian rubbed his thumb across his phone screen. “It’s 9:45 now. We were in the cave three minutes ago, but nothing unusual happened. Let’s check again at 10.”

Chen Yang didn’t ask any more questions. “Alright.”

Fifteen minutes passed in a flash. Chen Yang felt like he’d just been spacing out through the wait. He stood and brushed the dirt from his clothes and followed Chao Jian back into the stone cave for the second time.

Still, nothing.

Every five minutes after that, Chao Jian insisted they go back inside.

Chen Yang knew Chao Jian had a theory he was trying to test and that there was no other way to do so besides this cumbersome method. So Chen Yang didn’t complain and simply suffered, counting each time they entered.

Fortunately, the cave wasn’t large and it only took a few steps to enter and exit the cave.

On yet another trip inside, Chen Yang held up his phone, shining its light around as he went through the motions. “With how frequent we’re checking this place out, don’t you feel like something spooky is going to happen …?”

He stopped mid-sentence, realizing he could no longer hear Chao Jian’s breathing.

A chill shot down his spine. Heart pounding, he gripped his phone tightly, its beam shaking as he swung it around.

“Chao Jian?”

“… Chao Jian?”

“Chao Jian!”

His hand grew clammy and the phone slipped from his grasp, crashing to the ground. He flinched, eyes wide, and hurried to pick it up.

The cave looked the same as always. A twenty-step walk in any direction, but somehow, no matter how he searched, he couldn’t see any trace of Chao Jian.

The only sound was that of his own footsteps.

Fearing he might actually summon that thing, Chen Yang didn’t dare linger. With his legs shaking, he sprinted out of the cave.