The phone call was from Wu Jian, who asked if Huang Xiaolong"s phone was disconnected. When he learned from me that I couldn"t get through to He Xiaoyong"s phone either, he seemed a little worried and told me we had to go to Xi Shan to look for them.

Wu Jian was a cop, and his sense of justice could help him forget his fears, but I couldn"t do that. I hung up the phone and gave Lulu a begging smile.

Lulu took one look at me and turned around. "Lulu, save my life!" I cried after her.

"Your life is still here," she said. "My life is gone."

I paused for a moment, thinking Lulu was still angry with me, and then said, "Lulu, my friend is in trouble in Xi Shan. I need your help."

Lulu slowly nodded, saying, "Well, then, you must go, and remember to ask for leave. Arriving late and leaving early will be noted as absenteeism!" She seemed to be almost talking to herself.

I didn"t know what to say, so I turned to Xiao Lingdang, who was having a secret snack. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, "Brother, I"ll go and ask Sister Tan for help!" With that, she bounced away.

Sister Tan? What the h.e.l.l? And then I thought, wasn"t that the ghost for whom Xiao Lingdang asked me to help look for a sacrificial scapegoat? But someone who needed help finding scapegoat was certainly weaker than Lulu, so I resumed pointing my best puppy eyes at her with renewed determination.

Lulu, who was looking for something to do, seemed to be overwhelmed by my onslaught. She said, "With Sister Tan"s help, what else could you want?"

Lulu knew the hanged ghost and she at least seemed to think that Sister Tan was quite powerful.

Just then, Xiao Lingdang brought the hanged ghost over and formally introduced us. The ghost"s surname was Tan and her given name was Meinü, she was a genuine beauty.

Xiao Lingdang and Sister Tan seemed to have a good relations.h.i.+p, I could tell because after just a few words, Sister Tan promised to help.

Just then, Wu Jian called me again. He said he was standing outside the ghost house and wanted me to go out to see him as soon as I could.

I was careful to ask Sister Hua for a leave and took Sister Tan and Xiao Lingdang out of the ghost house. Sure enough, Wu Jian"s car was waiting at the gate.

I was very gentlemanly in opening the door of the back seat and let the two women get in before I sat in the pa.s.senger seat. For a while, Wu Jian didn"t drive. I looked at him strangely, only to find Wu Jian looking at me strangely right back, his eyes occasionally darting to the rearview mirror. I slapped my forehead embarra.s.sedly. What I did must have frightened him because he could not see the two ghosts, which was really difficult to explain to him.

After a moment"s thought, I told Wu Jian, "I asked some friends for help."

Wu Jian glanced at the empty back seat through the rear-view mirror and smiled, "Great help."

After that, he started the car and turned around on Kaoshan Road, driving off in the direction of Xi Shan.

On the way, I explained the situation to Sister Tan. She did not respond but looked very relaxed, and my nervous heart was eased.

Xi Shan was a little far, but it wasn"t long by car, especially when there was no traffic. Soon we had arrived in the parking lot at Xi Shan.

Looking at the looming, dark shape of Xi Shan before us, I asked Wu Jian, "Where do we go from here?"

Wu Jian seemed dispirited as well. Xi Shan was a small mountain, but for some people, even a whole day"s trek was not enough to summit it.

Seeing Wu Jian stay silent, Sister Tan said, "Let me ask."

As I nodded, I saw Sister Tan waving to an old man who was walking slowly down the road in his birthday suit and ask, "How many strangers have come by here?"

The old man, who was evidently a ghost, lifted his hand and pointed slowly to the distant forest, his hoa.r.s.e voice replied, "Over there."

Sister Tan thanked the old man and I hastened to lavish my grat.i.tude upon him as well. The old man started to slowly raise his head, but hearing Sister Tan"s cold hum, he lowered his head again and ponderously went on his way.

I realized that I was being a little bold. After working in the ghost house for so long it seemed I had not only built up a tolerance to ghosts but also a dangerous sense that ghosts were harmless, which clearly had to change. However, this incident also told me that Sister Tan was quite reliable.

I was about to tell Wu Jian to start the car but I noticed his Adam"s apple bobbing up and down nervously. Despite listening to the girls speak in the car, he obviously still had not adapted to their presence. Now he was hearing even more ghosts. He was having a hard time processing it all.

I had a well-intentioned bad idea: "Brother Wu Jian, how about waiting for us here if you"re afraid?"

Wu Jian immediately puffed up his chest, "Impossible! I"m a police officer! Let"s go." He marched off.

To be honest, I knew that Wu Jian was so scared he would never want to be left on his own. Even if he was a police officer, he felt fear like any normal person would. But this was not the right time to talk about that.

After calling back Wu Jian, who had gone in the wrong direction, we started walking toward the dense forest the old man had pointed to, with Sister Tan in the lead.

The forest was thick and Wu Jian and I had to constantly push branches aside and test the ground with our feet. Progress was slow. This woodland was clearly a virgin forest, with no traces of human intervention.

Gradually, we ended up in more open terrain. I gasped as I saw, though unclear in the gloomy moonlight, what were obviously graves scattered on the rolling hills before me. At a glance, they were innumerable.

Wu Jian came up behind me with a flashlight and was visibly startled. His voice cracked, "Xi Shan"s ma.s.s graves… are real."

I hesitated for a moment. I was also a native of the region, but I had never heard of the Xi Shan ma.s.s graves. I was about to ask, but then I heard a familiar voice in a distance.

"Grandpa, what"s going on?"

Wu Jian and I looked at each other and exclaimed together, "Huang Xiaolong!"

He seemed to notice us in the distance. Huang Xiaolong"s voice came to us from afar: "I don"t know which friend has come here, but Huang Xiaolong is pleased to meet you."

"What the h.e.l.l!" I muttered and ran off in the direction of the voice. I stumbled upon a group of people standing in the dark. Although their expressions weren"t pretty, they looked fine. At the back of the group was Huang Xiaolong, who was standing in front of a grave and throwing something to an old man with a bare upper body.