Volume One: First Scroll
Understood
“Lin Yan, I’ve understood. What about you?”
It was just as that police station chief had said; once out of Wuli Town, it was all mud roads.
The mountain road twisted and turned endlessly1, with the turbulent river rushing by on one side and towering mountains on the right. The one driving was a police officer from the Wuli Town police station. To prevent any danger on such a road, the car’s speed was kept very slow.
The scenery on both banks was beautiful, to be sure, but no one was in the mood to appreciate it; the whole group was jolted until they were dizzy and disoriented.
Lin Yan patted the car door, signaling the driver to stop.
Just as the car came to a steady halt by the roadside, she pulled open the door and jumped out. Song Yuhang followed closely behind, handing her a bottle of mineral water and some tissues.
She hadn’t eaten much for breakfast to begin with, and now she had thrown it all up. Song Yuhang watched her squatting by the roadside, her face pale, and gently patted her back, feeling a pang of distress.
“Here, drink some water. Just hang in there a little longer, we’re almost there.”
Lin Yan took the bottle; the cap had already been loosened. A faint smile touched the corners of her lips, then was quickly suppressed.
“I’m fine. Let’s go.”
The group proceeded in fits and starts. By the time they reached Xiaohe Village, the sky had already darkened. The police officer leading the way parked the car by the roadside and pointed towards the mountainside.
“Captain Song, that’s Xiaohe Village up there.”
The village on the mountainside twinkled with scattered lights, looking from afar like stars that had fallen into the mountains.
Duan Cheng stared, dumbfounded: “How can there be a village built on a mountain?”
The police officer, smoking a cigarette, let out a “Hah”: “Poverty, what else? The young and capable ones have all gone out to find work. Only the older generation is left, stubbornly holding onto their own little plot of land2. They can still get a bit of a harvest each year. If they don’t live on the mountain, where would they live? Decades ago, the tin mine had its moment of glory. Later, there was a mining accident. Experts came, did an assessment, found it didn’t meet safety production standards, and it was shut down. Even these electric lights were only connected the year before last.”
The police car definitely couldn’t make it up such a narrow mountain path. The group followed him, trudging with difficulty3 upwards.
Song Yuhang reached out to brush aside the thorny brambles4 that brushed her face, and also plucked a handful of fruit. She peeled one and turned to hand it to Lin Yan: “Try it. Its scientific name is Cherokee Rose fruit5. It’s very sweet.”
“What is this… Can you eat it?” Lin Yan looked somewhat disdainfully at the unremarkable fruit in her palm, hesitating to take a bite.
Song Yuhang didn’t turn back. While climbing, she plucked some more for the others.
“It’s edible. My mom used to make wine with it often. It can also be used as medicine.”
The police officer in front laughed: “I didn’t expect Captain Song to know so much.”
Hearing this, Lin Yan cautiously took a small bite. The sweet and sour taste instantly melted on her tongue, and the discomfort from motion sickness also lessened considerably.
Her eyes curved into a smile, and she swallowed it all. Her mouth watered, and delight was written all over her face.
Song Yuhang timely handed over another handful of peeled fruit: “Don’t eat too much. Share some with the others.”
Lin Yan said “Oh,” and reluctantly shared them.
As Song Yuhang climbed, she would share any tasty wild fruits she found with them, while chatting idly with the police officer.
“It’s so remote here. How often do you guys usually come?”
This question made the police officer a bit embarrassed: “O-once… a month… It’s not that we don’t want to come… You’ve seen it too, the road is terribly difficult to travel, and there aren’t many people in the village. Every time we come, it’s to deal with petty thievery6. Last month, we even solved a case of a stolen chicken. Guess who the suspect was?”
Song Yuhang didn’t really mean to blame him, and smiled: “A weasel, perhaps.”
“You’re really smart!”
The police officer slapped his thigh. He looked younger than her and had a more lively personality. After climbing a small earthen slope, he wanted to turn back and pull her up. Unexpectedly, Song Yuhang didn’t need his help at all. She placed a hand on a tree, took a long stride, and was up. Then she turned around and pulled her team members up one by one.
“I can do it myse—” Lin Yan hadn’t finished speaking when Song Yuhang’s hand was already on her arm, and another hand landed on her waist, essentially half-supporting, half-carrying her up.
Lin Yan gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, “Song Yuhang, are you addicted to carrying people now?”
Song Yuhang blinked her innocent eyes, an “I don’t know what you’re talking about” expression on her face, then reached out to help Fang Xin, but this time she was very proper and well-behaved, only holding her arm, her hand not even brushing against her.
“Is everyone up?” Once everyone had gathered, she glanced down at the dark patch of low bushes and turned to leave.
“Captain Song, Captain Song, I’m still here…” Zheng Chengrui was at the bottom, hugging a tree, waving his thick arms vigorously, panting heavily, looking like he could collapse at any moment.
Song Yuhang jumped back down: “Come on, help out.”
Several male criminal police officers also went down.
Lin Yan stood on the flat part of the earthen slope, watching them—some pulling, some pushing, some hauling—tormenting a two-hundred-jin7 fatty until he was suffering a living hell8.
Fang Xin: “Who gave Old Zheng the courage to come up with us?”
Lin Yan: “Liang Jingru9, probably.”
Qing’an County.
The streets were nearly deserted late at night, with only two or three drunkards, arms around each other’s shoulders, staggering across the road.
The wind knocked over an aluminum can at the corner of a wall, which was then kicked aside by someone.
The private clinic hidden in the alley was also preparing to close. The young doctor yawned, and just as he pulled down the rolling shutter door, something metallic and iron-like pressed against his lower back.
He swallowed hard: “Who? R-robbery? I… I don’t have any money…”
A mask covered most of his face; the man only revealed his eyes. His voice was exceptionally low and fierce: “Open the door.”
The young doctor, trembling, fumbled in his pocket for the keys. Inadvertently, he glanced back and saw what was pressed against his waist. His knees instantly buckled, and a scream, still stuck in his throat, was silenced as he was knocked unconscious with a gun butt.
The man pulled up the rolling shutter, dragged him inside, and tied him to a chair. Then he went out and supported someone from the street corner into the clinic. The rolling shutter clattered down, and darkness engulfed everything.
Even though Lin Yan’s stamina was better than most girls, the combination of motion sickness and high-altitude climbing was still making it hard for her to cope, let alone the people walking behind her.
“How much longer?” She leaned against a tree, panting.
“Soon, soon, about one kilometer left.” The criminal police officer in front switched on his flashlight and looked at the map.
Song Yuhang turned back, took Lin Yan’s investigation kit and slung it over her own shoulder, then reached out to support her.
“Are you holding up?”
Lin Yan clutched her hand, stepping on withered branches and rotten leaves as she climbed another steep slope.
“I’m okay, let’s go.”
Song Yuhang squeezed her hand; her palm was sweaty.
“If you can’t manage, just say so. We can stop and rest for a bit.”
“No need…” Lin Yan pulled her hand away and reached for the investigation kit on Song Yuhang’s shoulder: “I’ll carry it myself.”
Song Yuhang dodged her and went to pull the others up. Lin Yan’s lips gradually tightened, a hint of displeasure on her face, yet a faint warmth flowed through her heart.
Who doesn’t like to be taken care of? Even the strongest women are no exception.
“Strange, I clearly remember it was here last time,” the police officer muttered, turning in a circle in the woods with his map and compass.
Song Yuhang walked over: “What’s wrong?”
“The compass is broken.”
He tapped the instrument and then shook it, but it remained motionless.
“Old Zheng.” Song Yuhang called out. Zheng Chengrui answered readily, but it took him a long time to climb up, panting.
“Pinpoint our current location.”
Before they came, fearing they might get lost in the deep old mountain forests, they had specifically prepared a double backup: a paper map and GPS coordinates.
He sat down cross-legged, opened his laptop, and entered the coordinates. Several small red dots blinked on the map—their location. The destination was not far to the southwest.
Song Yuhang gazed at the canopy in the woods to find her bearings, then touched the bark of a large tree beside her, pondering for a moment: “Let’s go that way.”
Lin Yan reached up to wipe the beads of sweat from her forehead: “How—”
She looked up. The forest, already dim, had now turned completely dark. A gust of wind blew, the trees swayed, and raindrops were already pattering down.
In high-altitude regions, the weather changed in an instant10, catching everyone off guard. Seeing the equipment getting wet, Zheng Chengrui quickly packed it up and hugged it to his chest; this was his lifeline11.
Duan Cheng also took off his camera bag and covered it with a plastic bag, shouting through the pouring rain12: “Captain Song, are we still going?!”
Song Yuhang climbed a few meters higher, wiped the rainwater from her face, and found a sheltered platform under an overhanging cliff.
“We’re not going. Come over here to take shelter from the rain. Wait for the rain to stop.”
The group squeezed in one by one, three women and five men. Looking at each other, all soaked to the bone like drowned rats13, it was somewhat comically pitiful, a moment of finding joy amidst hardship.
The police officer: “Usually, we’re the ones rescuing lost tourists. Today, we’ve become tourists ourselves, ha.”
“Here, the cigarettes can still be smoked, they didn’t get too wet.” A criminal police officer took out a pack of cigarettes and passed them around.
Duan Cheng was the youngest among them. When it was his turn, the officer took the cigarette back: “You, you can skip it, you’re underage.”
A burst of laughter. The police officer took a lighter, lit his cigarette, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring: “I was about this age when I first started working. Half my life is almost over, and I’m still in this remote mountain nook14…”
…
The rain outside grew heavier. The few of them chatted idly. Lin Yan sat hugging her knees by the edge of the pass, neither taking a cigarette nor speaking. Usually, she was the center of attention in a crowd, the most boisterous one.
Song Yuhang knew that with Li Bin dead, her lead was gone. She was heartbroken and couldn’t be boisterous, but she wouldn’t say it.
She scooted closer and draped her own jacket over Lin Yan’s shoulders: “Are you cold?”
“No,” Lin Yan said, pulling the jacket off and moving a bit further away.
Rainwater dripped down from the trees. Song Yuhang pulled her back again.
They were already a bit far from the main group. Lin Yan struggled, lowering her voice: “Song Yuhang, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Song Yuhang draped the jacket over her again: “I’m concerned about you. Don’t always reject my good intentions.”
“I. Don’t. Need. It,” Lin Yan said, word by word.
Song Yuhang glanced back. Seeing no one was looking at them, she reached out and pinched Lin Yan’s nose: “You’re just being disingenuous15.”
The gesture was too intimate, making Lin Yan’s face burn, and she felt even more uncomfortable.
Fortunately, someone came to her rescue.
“Captain Song isn’t married yet, right?” The local police officer was still somewhat curious about the female leader from the city.
Song Yuhang sat back again: “No.”
The man laughed: “I figured as much. Those who are married, with families to support, how many are still willing to work on the front lines?”
“What about Forensic Doctor Lin?”
The topic somehow shifted to her. Throughout the journey, this female forensic doctor hadn’t spoken much, but her appearance made it impossible for anyone to ignore her presence.
The police officer racked his brains but couldn’t think of an accurate adjective. Then, a flash of inspiration16 struck him, and he suddenly thought of a phrase common in wuxia17: an ice beauty18.
Unexpectedly, Lin Yan turned her head, a smile playing on her lips, yet it carried a touch of dazzling charm.
“Nope, but I do have several boyfriends. They’re always fussing over me with concern19. Monday, Wednesday, Friday at his place; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, switch to another. It’s quite annoying.”
The moment her words fell, the branch Song Yuhang was using to poke at the mud snapped with a “crack” in her hand.
The police officer’s smile froze on his face: “Hehe… hehe… Forensic Doctor Lin is truly… truly…”
He couldn’t figure out “truly what” for a long time.
Duan Cheng, however, pricked up his ears: “Listen, what’s that sound?”
Everyone held their breath. Heaven and earth were deathly silent20, with only the pitter-patter of rain hitting the tree branches.
They were huddled in a mountain hollow. Outside, it was pitch black, so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face21.
Fang Xin felt her heart pounding with fear22; it was her first time spending the night in the wilderness.
“Wh-what sound? Why didn’t I hear anything?”
Just as she finished speaking, a series of loud wolf howls suddenly echoed through the mountain forest, one after another, making their hair stand on end23.
It was the first time Duan Cheng had heard the howls of an animal he had only seen on TV and in zoos at such close range. Goosebumps24 rose all over him.
Following the wolf howls, a rustling sound came from the nearby mountain forest.
Lin Yan stealthily reached for the mechanical baton at her waist.
Song Yuhang pulled her back a bit, chambered a round25, and, crouching, walked out: “I’ll go take a look.”
Lin Yan tried to pull her back but couldn’t, instantly feeling both anxious and angry: “Song Yuhang!”
Song Yuhang, flashlight in hand, plunged into the mountain forest without looking back.
The others remained where they were, waiting anxiously. The rain grew heavier. Lin Yan stood at the mouth of the hollow, wiped the rainwater from her face, clutched the mechanical baton in her hand, and stared intently in the direction Song Yuhang had gone.
The rustling sound in the forest grew louder. The beam of the flashlight swayed back and forth. About a few dozen meters away, her figure was already obscured by the trees. Vaguely, they heard her say something, and then the flashlight beam abruptly went out.
Lin Yan shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow26.
“Song Yuhang!” she shouted, her voice raised.
Song Yuhang was pelted head and face by rain and branches. Wiping the mud from her face, the flashlight beam illuminated Lin Yan’s anxious face above.
She picked up a stone and hit a tree with it, making a sound to attract her attention: “I’m here. An old villager is also trapped. Go get help.”
Lin Yan shone her flashlight downwards. In Song Yuhang’s arms was an old woman of seventy or eighty, leading a goat.
The commotion just now must have been caused by this person and the goat. They had thought wolves had come.
Lin Yan really wanted to curse her: “Will you die if you don’t meddle in other people’s business?”
That sheltered platform was narrow; one more step back and it was a bottomless abyss27.
Song Yuhang just smiled: “Alright, I’m fine. Go quickly.”
The rope was quickly brought over. The old woman was hoisted up first, then the goat, and finally Song Yuhang.
Lin Yan hadn’t wanted to lend her a hand, but seeing her struggling with the rope, she reluctantly extended her hand.
Song Yuhang used the leverage and vaulted up. The recoil made both of them stumble back a few steps, resulting in a situation where she was essentially holding Song Yuhang, or Song Yuhang had crashed into her arms.
Her heartbeat was as loud as the sound of the rain.
Lin Yan pushed her away with both hands and turned to leave.
“Hey—Lin Yan, listen to me.” Song Yuhang touched her sidearm, relieved to find it still there. Seeing Lin Yan walking away, she quickly followed.
The old woman was muttering unintelligibly in the local dialect. The group listened, completely bewildered; even the police officer didn’t understand and scratched his head.
She then tugged at Song Yuhang, handed her the rope tethering the goat, and jabbered a few more sentences.
Song Yuhang understood: “You want us to go with you?”
The old woman looked at the uniform she was wearing, nodded, and gave a thumbs-up. Song Yuhang then gestured for the others to follow.
The local indeed knew the way like the back of her hand28. The group walked in the rain for a short while before the terrain flattened out. After passing a bamboo grove, they arrived at the old woman’s home, a small thatched hut.
There were many of them, and the old woman seemed a bit embarrassed, speaking and bowing and clasping her hands29. Song Yuhang quickly helped her up.
“Thank you, elder, for taking us in. Otherwise, we would have had to spend the night outside in the heavy rain.”
Song Yuhang herded the goat into the fenced enclosure and closed the wooden gate.
The old woman was elderly, and her legs were a bit stiff. She limped out of the house with a towel and handed it to her, gesturing for her to wipe her face.
The towel was so dirty its original color was indiscernible. Song Yuhang didn’t show any disgust, took it, and was about to wipe her face when she suddenly seemed to think of something and handed the towel to Lin Yan.
Lin Yan took a step back, disdainful: “Wipe it yourself.”
Song Yuhang didn’t get angry. Only then did she wipe her face and smooth back her short hair. Her wet black hair clung neatly behind her ears, and the uniform, plastered to her body, further accentuated her well-defined physique and muscles.
The old woman brightened the kerosene lamp in the house, started a fire, and gestured for them to come in and sit.
The room was small and drafty from all sides. A small dining table, also pitch-black and grimy, was placed outside. A few of them selectively sat down. There weren’t enough stools, so the old woman brought in some dry straw.
The group thus sat on the ground to warm themselves by the fire.
The old woman stammered for a while, then went out. The others didn’t understand her intention. Fang Xin, worried, followed her out. After a while, she came back and said, “Someone come help with the fire.”
Only then did it dawn on them. Duan Cheng rolled up his sleeves and followed: “I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”
Weary from the journey30 during the day and climbing the mountain in the rain at night, the group was already utterly exhausted. But hearing there was food, they all got excited. Even Lin Yan felt a small flicker of anticipation.
But when the food was served, she was dumbfounded. She stirred the crude and unappetizing rice paste with a spoon; vegetable leaves and things she couldn’t name floated in it.
“Pig slop?”
Duan Cheng gave her an indescribable look but still picked up his bowl.
Song Yuhang took a sip: “Try it, it tastes pretty good.”
Lin Yan sat back down: “No thanks, you guys eat.”
Just as she finished speaking, her stomach let out a timely rumble.
Lin Yan turned her face away. Song Yuhang shook her head, somewhat helplessly.
Seeing she wasn’t eating, the old woman became anxious, hovering around her and jabbering something Lin Yan couldn’t understand. Lin Yan turned a deaf ear.
The old woman ladled another bowl and offered it to her, her aged hands holding the bowl trembling.
Lin Yan grew a bit impatient and brushed it away with a sweep of her hand: “I said I’m not eating, so I’m not eating. Take it away!”
Song Yuhang took the bowl from the old woman’s hand and steadied her: “Lin Yan, what kind of young miss tantrum are you throwing now? If you don’t want to eat, then don’t eat. Is this necessary?!”
Lin Yan held back her anger. The old woman, instead, came over to placate Song Yuhang: “Ah… ah…”
Only then did Song Yuhang sit down again and drink the congee sullenly.
Lin Yan, also in a foul mood, took her mechanical baton and went to the doorway to listen to the rain.
After a while, Song Yuhang accompanied the old woman to the kitchen to clear the bowls and chopsticks. The two of them stood at the doorway, saying something Lin Yan couldn’t hear. The old woman pointed towards the back mountain, and Song Yuhang then picked up a sickle and went out.
Lin Yan, hugging her mechanical baton, shifted her position, leaning against the doorway, not wanting to pay Song Yuhang any mind. She didn’t notice when she returned.
About half an hour later, the male criminal police officers had all squeezed into the woodshed to rest. Lin Yan reached into her pocket; her cigarettes were all wet and wouldn’t light. She listlessly tossed the lighter up and down.
Song Yuhang came over and pulled her: “Come with me.”
As soon as they entered the kitchen, it was warm and cozy. The old woman was squatting in front of the stove, poking the embers with a fire tong, and pulled out two golden-yellow roasted sweet potatoes.
A sweet, glutinous aroma wafted out.
Lin Yan swallowed, but didn’t step forward.
The old woman’s face had the ruddy complexion of high altitudes from years of sun exposure. Her silver hair was wrapped in a cloth, her skin wrinkled, and she was so thin she was skin and bones, with a gap in her front teeth. Though plain-looking, her smile was so genuine and beautiful, carrying the warmth of an elder looking at a child in the dim candlelight.
Lin Yan felt increasingly embarrassed.
Seeing her motionless, the old woman took the roasted sweet potato, made a peeling gesture, and made “tsi,” “tsi” sounds with her mouth.
Song Yuhang pushed her over, took the roasted sweet potato from the old woman’s hand, and tossed it back and forth: “Sss… so hot. Are you going to peel it yourself, or should I peel it for you?”
Lin Yan snatched it away, her fingertips turning red from the heat, and immediately stamped her foot. Song Yuhang and the old woman just watched her and laughed.
She sat in the kitchen, taking small bites of the roasted sweet potato. Song Yuhang poked at what was left in the embers. The old woman was at the doorway, tidying up the firewood pile, bringing the rain-soaked wood inside to dry.
Song Yuhang glanced at the old woman: “What we ate today might be half a month’s rations for the old lady.”
Lin Yan choked a little. The sweet, fragrant roasted sweet potato suddenly became somewhat difficult to swallow. She held it further away: “Then where did you get this one?”
“Dug it up from the field on the back mountain. The old lady grows them to sell for money and can’t bear to eat them herself.”
She was still poking at the embers. Lin Yan glanced at the old woman sitting at the doorway, chopping pig feed.
“Are there more?”
Song Yuhang pulled one out from the earthen stove for her: “Yes. Not enough for you?”
Lin Yan picked it up, not caring about the heat, padded it with a layer of straw, walked to the doorway, and placed it on the old woman’s apron.
“Eat.”
She only uttered a single syllable. The old woman didn’t understand, and quickly pushed it back to her: “You eat… you eat…”
This time, Lin Yan understood her.
But she had never been good at haggling or reasoning with people and got a little worked up.
“Just eat it when I tell you to eat!”
Song Yuhang couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing31.
Lin Yan shot her a cold glare, then resolutely stuffed the roasted sweet potato back into the old woman’s arms. After walking a few steps, she turned back, took all the money out of her pocket, and stuffed it into the old woman’s hand.
The old woman, holding the damp money, became even more alarmed, her face filled with trepidation.
Song Yuhang stood up to reassure her: “It’s alright, please accept it. She has a lot of money, she won’t miss that little bit.”
Lin Yan didn’t say anything, squatting on the ground, head down, gnawing on the sweet potato like a child who had done something wrong but refused to admit it.
Song Yuhang watched, amused. How could there be someone so stubborn, so disingenuous, and yet so adorable?
After the old woman left, a warmth spread through her heart. She offered Lin Yan the only low stool in the kitchen, gesturing for her to sit, while she herself squatted down in front of her.
Their eyes were level. Song Yuhang looked up at her, her pupils a light, translucent brown, like clear, sparkling glass beads. Her fluffy head was close to Lin Yan, her smile gentle and serene.
For a moment, Lin Yan even felt that this person had been born as the wrong species; she should have been some kind of large dog, right?
Lin Yan was taken aback. Song Yuhang had already spoken: “Is it good?”
Lin Yan lowered her gaze, avoiding eye contact: “Mm.”
“I’m not full,” Song Yuhang said honestly. “You gave mine to the old lady.”
“…”
Lin Yan stretched out her arm and handed her the half-eaten roasted sweet potato: “I’m full.”
But her eyes clearly still lingered on it.
Song Yuhang couldn’t help but smile, and didn’t refuse, taking it. Lin Yan opened her mouth, said nothing, and swallowed her retort.
“Here, I’ll share half with you. Now, it’s fair.” Unexpectedly, Song Yuhang broke off half and handed it to her.
Lin Yan paused, the corners of her lips curving up. She wanted to smile but held it back.
Song Yuhang pressed the half piece of roasted sweet potato into her hand: “You, ah, when will you ever be a little more honest?”
Lin Yan savored the soft, glutinous sweet potato flesh, which brought physical satisfaction on this cold, rainy autumn night. And perhaps because Song Yuhang was too gentle, understood her well enough, and tolerated her willfulness and all her bad tempers, having such a person by her side was also incredibly pleasant mentally.
She unconsciously crinkled her nose slightly, revealing a touch of girlish coyness, a speck of sweet potato still clinging to the corner of her lips.
“Me? Didn’t you say it? The words ‘honest’ don’t exist in my life’s dictionary…”
The end of her sentence was swallowed by Song Yuhang’s sudden movement.
In Lin Yan’s pupils, that face grew larger and larger, until the wind blew through the candle flame, and everything returned to silence.
Her lips were touched, lightning-fast, by someone else’s. That tiny speck of sweet potato was gone.
Song Yuhang blushed. The person who had navigated the world of romance for years also blushed.
“Lin Yan, I’ve understood. What about you?”
LP: Re-translated on May 08, 2025
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