The morning dew wets everything first, then takes away all the noise of last night with the evaporation as the sun rises.
Brother Pang Jin's family got up early to start tidying up the hostay that hadn't been attended to for a long ti.
Tan Wenbin also woke up early to help Brother Pang Jin clean up, and chatted casually.
Recently, Brother Pang Jin's soon-to-be father-in-law fell ill and was hospitalized, with the hospital even issuing a critical illness notice, so Brother Pang Jin temporarily put aside his business to visit the hospital with his parents.
The good news is that the mont Brother Pang Jin visited the hospital, his future father-in-law's condition imdiately improved, as if he turned back at the Ghost Gate.
It should have been a great thing, but Brother Pang Jin's ten-year-old little brother-in-law, who is his soon-to-be daughter-in-law's younger brother, sohow heard a customary tale and ran into the mountains alone to pray for his sick father.
The intention was understood, but the person couldn't be found.
The reason Brother Pang Jin hadn't been able to return for so long was that he had taken his parents to join his partner's relatives in searching for the kid in the mountains.
Upon hearing this, Tan Wenbin looked through the window of the hostay's room towards Yulong Snow Mountain in the distance.
In the past, kids running in the mountains were not a concern; after enjoying themselves, they would return. But today's kids don't have such skills.
After searching for many days, several tis they were close to giving up, even the soon-to-be mother-in-law was ready to accept the outco with tears. Yet, every ti when they were about to abandon the search, they found bits of the child's clothes or his safety lock.
Brother Pang Jin couldn't understand how a ten-year-old child, without bringing any food, could have run so far and deeply into the mountains.
Eventually, in a cave, Brother Pang Jin found the child asleep and carried him back to join the search group, and they descended the mountain.
Tan Wenbin noticed that Brother Pang Jin's speech was sowhat hesitant and his gaze flickered when he talked about this.
Upon Tan Wenbin's specific inquiry, Brother Pang Jin couldn't avoid it and had to put aside his work, leading Tan Wenbin to the second-floor ventilation, each lighting up a cigarette:
"Brother, since you want to listen, I'll tell you. Believe it if you want, if not, just treat it as a story from our tour in Lijiang."
Originally, Brother Pang Jin was searching the mountain with everyone, but one day, he saw a tall figure holding a small boy's hand, standing on the opposite mountain peak watching him.
The boy's figure closely resembled his little brother-in-law's.
Brother Pang Jin ran forward, waving and calling to others, suddenly realizing his companions were gone and the big and small figures were nowhere to be seen.
Pang Jin, who was supposed to find soone, got lost himself, unable to contact others.
It's unimaginable because he played in the mountains often as a child and after entering the tourism industry, he frequently guided tourists for mountain hikes.
Originally, hiking was part of Tan Wenbin's travel group's itinerary too, and not on paved or stepped tourist routes but new paths created and explored by guides themselves.
Brother Pang Jin said he completely lost his sense of direction, even standing on a slope to look around didn't help, everything felt unfamiliar—the sky above and the surrounding mountains.
Fortunately, he had enough food and rich wilderness survival experience, so he continued searching for his little brother-in-law while finding his way out for himself.
Later, at dawn or night, he would see the large and small figures watching him from afar.
He started to fear, but had no other choice, simply following the directions indicated by their presence each ti.
Eventually, he entered a valley, where a broad upward staircase ascended; above was a misty haze, unclear if it was snow or clouds.
At the lowest corner of the stairs, there was a stone temple. The temple door was small, only allowing soone to squat inside. The interior was tall, housing a slender stone statue resembling a man with a long beard, but with a tail behind.
His little brother-in-law was lying asleep beneath the statue.
He picked up the child, carried him away, and during their departure, he occasionally saw the tall, slim figure standing afar and followed in their direction. Soon he was back in the familiar mountain surroundings.
The figure appeared one last ti as he kneeled towards the direction with his little brother-in-law, bowing repeatedly.
The little brother-in-law said he had a long dream, where Lord Mu took him to many places, giving him food when hungry and a bed when tired, with no suffering.
After Brother Pang Jin finished telling, Tan Wenbin laughed and asked:
"Usually, after these stories, there should be so gifts, like a golden axe or silver axe?"
Brother Pang Jin hurriedly waved his hand and said, "How could there be? Being able to safely retrieve soone is already thank heaven and be grateful enough."
Tan Wenbin knew he was lying, assuming he received or found sothing.
People's unwillingness to share could be understood.
After finishing the conversation with Brother Pang Jin, Tan Wenbin imdiately went to report to Brother Yuan.
For now, staying at the hostay without leaving was indeed the correct decision. After the first round of broken jade competition ended, Brother Pang Jin indeed brought back new clues.
The staircase extending to the heavens, regardless of being a real construction or a mirage, is where we will go next.
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