The fog in Jinzi Mountain was not ordinarily thick; once inside, visibility was basically limited to less than five meters.
In addition to the dense fog, there were also dense bushes and various snakes, insects, rats, and ants.
Navigating through here was pure torment. After less than three hours, the fog grew thicker, and visibility eventually reduced to just one or two meters.
"We can't go on. We need to find a place to settle down first," Ah Shui said, taking out a hemp rope and having us hold onto it so we wouldn't get separated if the fog thickened further.
We soon found a tree hollow, though we didn't know if it was natural or the habitat of another animal.
We lit a bonfire at the entrance, which helped drive away much of the dampness. After eating something, we stayed in the tree hollow.
The tree hollow was relatively dry. Although the space was not large, it was thankfully sufficient for the three of us.
Ah Shui told us that Jinzi Mountain was vast. Although they had stayed there for a considerable time last time, they could only distinguish a general direction. Finding the old man living there would likely be difficult.
"We are only on the outskirts now. Moving further in, towards the depths of Jinzi Mountain, we'll have to be careful. There are many man-made mechanisms and traps here. Once you trigger one, it's trouble," Ah Shui warned us.
I took out a box of cigarettes, handed one to each of them, and lit one. "Brother Shui, have you seen that old man who lives here?"
"Of course, I have. If it weren't for Ghost Master falling into a trap, I would have almost captured him."
"Where is that person from?"
"Can't tell. That old man was disheveled, with a long beard and hair, you couldn't see his face at all," Ah Shui said, exhaling smoke. "Actually, I have my own reason for coming with you this time."
"What reason?" I asked.
He sneered, "That old man made me suffer last time. This time, I have to let him know my power!"
I hadn't expected Ah Shui was thinking of coming back for revenge.
"Ghost Master said the Golden Buddha is in the hands of that old man. Is this reliable?" I asked.
Ah Shui replied, "Of course, it's reliable. We saw it with our own eyes, how could it be wrong?"
According to him, when they came to Jinzi Mountain to seek refuge, they found a wooden house, and it was in that wooden house that they saw the Golden Buddha.
Naturally, they wanted to take possession of the Golden Buddha and prepared to leave with it. It was from that moment on that they were repeatedly attacked by the mysterious old man.
"Do you still know where that wooden house is?" I asked.
Ah Shui sighed, "If I knew, I would have brought people to kill him long ago... The fog in Jinzi Mountain is too thick, making it difficult to discern directions. We can only rely on our senses."
I felt a sense of doubt. Who exactly was that mysterious old man?
What was his purpose in hiding in Jinzi Mountain?
Most importantly, where did he obtain the Golden Buddha?
If An Ying and the others were looking for the Golden Buddha, would they come to Jinzi Mountain?
We stayed in the tree hollow for over twenty hours. It wasn't until noon the next day, when the fog had reduced considerably, that we continued our journey.
We wandered in Jinzi Mountain for three days like this. Forget the wooden house, we didn't even see a ghost.
Fatty had been bitten by leeches so much that he looked sallow and his arms were covered in bumps.
I wasn't any better; my skin was itchy and painful.
As for Ah Shui, he seemed used to it and didn't take it seriously at all.
After wandering inside for another two days, we still found nothing. Fatty couldn't take it anymore and suggested we leave first and figure things out outside.
I was still a bit unwilling. Ah Shui was indifferent; if he found the person, that would be great, but if not, he had still completed his mission.
After much deliberation, we decided to try for one more day. If we still couldn't find anything, we would go back.
If this were a normal forest, it would be fine to stay for ten days or half a month. But this was a tropical rainforest. Spending an extra day here felt like losing a bit of life.
Around four in the afternoon, we found a clearing to rest.
Fatty, bored, sat by the campfire, swatting leeches. He used a stick to pick up the leeches that fell off his body and threw them into the fire.
This had been his routine for the past few days. Who knows how many leeches he had burned.
Ah Yuan, on the other hand, was sharpening his dagger with a stone.
Looking at them, I sighed, feeling an indescribable emotion.
After finally finding some information about my father, we hit a snag at such a crucial moment. The frustration was imaginable.
I took out my backpack, intending to look at my father's notebook again.
As I was searching for the notebook, I saw something – the treasure map that Ni Li had given me.
When I first received the treasure map, I hadn't looked at it closely and had just stuffed it into my backpack.
I had meant to find time to look at it properly, but so many days had passed in the blink of an eye. If I hadn't rummaged through my backpack, I might have forgotten about it.
I took out the treasure map and began to examine it. I couldn't understand the writing on the map at all; it was likely a foreign language.
However, the route map was more or less the same, marking many key routes and the final treasure location.
Ni Li said this treasure map was about a treasure in Jinzi Mountain, but my knowledge of Jinzi Mountain was not extensive. So, I called Ah Shui over, asking him to see if he could find the place marked on the map.
He took it and looked at it, frowning, "I think I've been to this place marked on the map..."
He pointed to a large rock on the map and said, "Didn't we just pass by this place yesterday? There was also a large rock like this there."
His words made me recall that there was indeed such a place.
"And this, this tree, we stayed in this tree hollow before."
Now that we couldn't find the person and I was unwilling to go back empty-handed, I thought about going to the place marked on the treasure map.
So, I asked Ah Shui if he could find the location marked on the map.
He replied, "If what's drawn on here is correct, we should be able to find it."
"Alright, then we'll go to this place tomorrow," I said.
Fatty knew about this treasure map. When he heard me say we were going to the treasure location, he became excited and came over, saying, "I almost forgot, Brother Xiang, you have this map... Let's go check out this place tomorrow, it won't be a wasted trip."
Ah Shui didn't know this was a treasure map and didn't ask further.
After making the decision, I simply handed the map to Ah Shui, telling him to plan the route carefully and lead us to that place tomorrow.