Neither the chubby guy nor I immediately agreed; it was certain that Qin Qianqiu's three underlings wouldn't survive, and it seemed that they had taken an interest in us. But I didn't like the idea of working for someone, and I felt uncomfortable relying on others.
We stayed in the cave for four days, and the big black snake was completely eaten, leaving only its head, which I kept. After all, it was a mountainous creature and its venomous fangs, especially the horn on its head, might be worth some money.
Our injuries were not fully healed, but they were much better than before. Besides the fractures, Qin Qianqiu's body had more or less recovered. Only then did the three of us leave the cave. We couldn't return to our previous village now; Ling Qian had probably already summoned people, and based on the time, her people may have already arrived in these days.
Considering my concerns for the little monk, we decided to hide in the village at the end of the mountain road to assess the situation.
We continued down the mountain road and after walking for about two or three miles, we came across a small village surrounded by forests. From a high vantage point, it only seemed to have about a dozen or so households and wasn't very prosperous.
The three of us entered the village and found several hunters at the village entrance, looking at us strangely. This kind of village usually had little interaction with the outside world and there were no nearby tourist projects, so few outsiders came into the village by themselves.
"Excuse me, have you seen a little monk around here?"
The chubby guy approached and asked, but the hunters first shook their heads and then looked at us with vigilant eyes, showing a strong sense of exclusion.
"They all claim to have no idea. What should we do?"
The chubby guy shook his head and said.
"Let's split up. You go and find the village chief or someone in charge, and Qin and I will separately search for the little monk. Once we find him, we can figure out a way to settle him down. We'll hide for half a month to see how things turn out..."
I gave them some simple instructions and Qin Qianqiu and the chubby guy raised no objections, so we all went our separate ways.
The village was really small, only about a few hundred meters from end to end, but it seemed mostly populated by hunters. Some of them had deer hides hanging at their doorsteps, and there were also a few hunting dogs. I wandered around the village but didn't find any trace of the little monk. Just as I was starting to wonder, someone suddenly called out from behind me, "Who are you? I've been watching you for a while. Why are you wandering around in our village?"
The young man in front of me was carrying a bamboo basket on his back, looking at me with a somewhat suspicious look, as if trying to catch a thief.
"Excuse me, have you seen a little monk around here? He's only about seven or eight years old, and about this tall," I gestured. But the young man immediately started yelling, "We don't have any monks in our village. You better leave, if you have any evil intentions, I won't go easy on you!"
I thought it wasn't worth arguing with him, so I just smiled and walked away. When I returned to the village entrance, I could see Fatty and a few old men heading this way from a distance. Fatty was quite skilled in interpersonal communication; whether it was with old or young, as long as they didn't have a grudge against us, he could turn them into friends with just a few words.
As they approached, one of the old men shook my hand and said excitedly, "You must be Comrade Xiaoshan. I heard that you are here for a survey, to build a logging yard in our area. That's great, we will definitely support it!"
I was taken aback and looked at Fatty, who winked at me. Apparently, this guy was exaggerating, portraying us as investors who had come for a site survey.
"Yeah, that's right..." I had to go along with Fatty's lie, "The forest cover around here is quite extensive. I think it would be nice to build a logging yard nearby. By the way, I saw a temple on the mountain, is there a monk in that temple?"
"A monk? Yes, there is, and there's also a little monk in our village."
As the village chief spoke, I suddenly felt happy, and hurriedly asked, "Where is the little monk?"
"I saw him yesterday. He talks nonsense and is a bit crazy. He said there's a monster in the temple on the mountain and asked us to save it. We are not going. Let me tell you, Comrade, that temple on the mountain is not effective, and it doesn't bring us any fortune. The old monk also doesn't welcome us. It's better to demolish the temple and develop tourism here, that's where the money is."
When people start pursuing money, they will gradually give up some things. This was probably the situation in front of me. "I want to meet that little monk," I said. The old men looked at me with suspicion, but Fatty quickly intervened, "We hope the little monk can be with us. After all, those who do business seek wealth, and it's not good to anger the Bodhisattva, right?"
"Yes, yes, let's go find him..."
Ten minutes later, the small, mud-covered, somewhat thin and anxious monk was brought to me. I could hardly recognize him; he looked like a homeless child I had seen in my childhood, sunken cheeks, tattered monk's clothes, red eyes, looking like a malnourished child.
"Little master, it's me," I said, patting his shoulder.
The little novice looked at me for a few seconds, then suddenly burst into tears. He stumbled and ran to me, hugging me tightly.
"Don't cry, don't cry..." I said, feeling a bit at a loss as I tried to console him in a low voice.
"Sir, Master, please..." Before he could finish, I covered his mouth. The old men around us looked even more suspicious, and Fatty quickly said, "We just arrived, do you have a place for us to stay? We need to settle down. It will probably take a few weeks for the survey. Then we will draw some pictures and take them back to our company in Shanghai for research."
The people in the mountain area weren't very educated, but Fatty was excellent at boasting, and with a few words, he managed to persuade the old men.
We were given a small house in the village, not very big, but it was a place to stay. That night, inside the house, the little monk was crying as he ate, "Sir, is there no hope for my master? Let's go back and save him."
I sat at the table, sighed, and said, "I don't even know your name yet."
"My name is Huizhi. The master said I have the root of wisdom, and also said that in the future I will be able to comprehend profound Buddhist teachings. Master, master, sob..."
After all, he is still a child. One can imagine that these days he has not had an easy time in this exclusive village. As he spoke, he began to cry again.
"About that monster, did your master tell you about it before? What is the origin of your little temple, don't you know?"
When the young monk stopped crying, the fat man next to him asked.
Huizhi wiped away his tears and said after a moment, "My master didn't tell me anything. I also don't know why there are so many snakes."
"You don't know at all? Did those senior brothers tell you anything before?"
I asked.
"Senior brothers..." Huizhi held a piece of pastry and thought for a moment before continuing, "I remember the last senior brother who left told me the day before he left to grow up quickly and leave as well. He said there is a forbidden place behind our temple, and there's a monster inside. I thought he was scaring me, and the master never told me about these things."
It seems that the monks who left the temple before must have known some secrets of the temple, so they chose to leave the secular world to escape. The young monk didn't know, and the old monk didn't explain clearly, so he knew nothing.
While we were talking, the door opened, and Qin Qianqiu walked in from the outside and sat down, taking out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, making me and the fat man stare at him with wide eyes.
"Qin brother, where did you get it from?"
The fat man asked with a smile.
"The old village chief outside gave it to me, probably to please us," he said as he lit a cigarette.
"Okay, let's get to the point. I just took a walk outside and used a special method to send a message to my friend outside. There's no phone in this village, and it will probably take a few days to get a reply. Let's just stay here for now..."
This "staying" lasted for three days. The fat man dealt with the village chief and the villagers every day, and we were treated as wealthy gentlemen, getting delicious food and drink every day. I recovered quickly, and after three days, there was basically nothing wrong. Qin Qianqiu's hand also recovered about sixty percent. At noon, the three of us gathered together, and Qin Qianqiu took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me.
"What is it?"
I muttered, taking it over and opening it. When I glanced at the note, my expression changed instantly.
The note read "The help of the Lingqian gang has arrived, the master of the Sanshan Mountains has come in person, be careful."