The furrows were neat and orderly. From roots to stems, to leaves and grain, the crops shone brightly like gold ornaments, glittering in the pitch-dark depths of the mountains, draped in a mysterious aura.
Everyone present was captivated by Feng Yian's words. Golden crops in the dense, fog-covered mountains? What a sight that must be.
"Who's farming it?" Xu Yueping asked.
Feng Yian shook his head. "A patroller who had gotten lost stumbled upon the place by accident but hadn't dared to approach. They immediately reported it. Higher-ups arrived to investigate, but no matter what they tried, the field was never found again."
Old Liu, over seventy years old, sighed, "The night is boundless... In the deep mountains and vast marshlands, there are far too many unknown things. The expansive no-man's land is extremely dangerous; even the governor of a great city would struggle to venture deep inside."
"Grandpa Liu, have you experienced strange things too?" Qin Ming asked.
The old man nodded, his eyes reflecting distant memories. "Not just in the wilds. Even near where we live, there's something odd."
He recalled being a boy, flying kites with friends near the village entrance. When reeling the kite in, he found the string sticky. The kite itself was bloodstained.
"Right at our village entrance?" Yang Yongqing was stunned and instinctively glanced out the window into the night.
Qin Ming hesitated, then said, "Could it have been an injured bird that collided with the kite?"
"Maybe," Old Liu said. "But when my grandfather saw the bloody kite tail, his face changed instantly. He told me to keep quiet about it forever. Now, decades have passed."
Having something like that happen right at the doorstep always leaves a lingering unease.
"Let Brother Feng continue telling us about the mountains," Xu Yueping said.
"Have you ever heard of mountain beasts mourning at graves?" Feng Yian asked, cautiously, reverently, his expression complex.
"What kind of graves?" someone asked. These were mountain folk who'd roamed the wilds for years, but they'd never encountered such a thing.
"Beast graves," Feng Yian answered.
"Beasts... do burials?" Xu Yueping was dumbfounded.
Feng Yian nodded. "The fog-covered no-man's land is full of awe. Strange things happen there all the time."
One day, the old leader of the patrol group sensed something was wrong in the mountains. He feared some mysterious beings were about to evolve further, possibly triggering disaster, so he crept closer in secret.
"He wanted firsthand intel, to find out what kind of 'rare insect' or 'notable beast' was transforming, so we could prepare defenses and targeted countermeasures."
Each mutated being had unique abilities. To fight them, one had to tailor the approach.
Midway, the old leader suddenly realized the strange noise wasn't just an unusual movement. It was crying. Still, he pressed on. What he saw next was a white-furred old beast sobbing quietly at a grave in the dead of night. It was eerie beyond words.
"The dilapidated grave was at least a thousand years old," Feng Yian said. "The ancient cypress growing atop it had to be that old at the very least."
The white-furred mountain beast knelt like a human and wept. From above, a rain of radiant light fell, illuminating the dark forest. Then, a fierce bird of prey descended from the sky. From the swamp, strange creatures emerged onto land, all to join in the mourning.
At this point, Feng Yian paused.
"And then?" someone urged.
Feng Yian continued, "The old leader risked getting closer, trying to get a good look at the beast's features so he could later consult the records and devise a plan."
The white beast bowed its head, shed tears, and then began to mutate. Mourning the grave seemed to be some kind of ritual, one that elevated its life force to a new level.
The old leader quietly withdrew, but on the way back began coughing up blood. His body itched all over. Though he survived long enough to report what he saw... his flesh soon rotted away, and he died a horrible death.
"A massive force was deployed to enter the mountains and fight. Fortunately, the alert came in time. If that white-furred beast had fully evolved, it could've brought catastrophe."
The mood in the room grew heavy. Life outside the mountains might seem peaceful, but in the hidden places, dark forces stirred while some risked their lives to guard the borders and battle in silence.
Old Liu, wrinkled and white-haired, sighed, "There's more than one story like the old leader's. When I was young, a close friend of mine spent his life in the mountains, holding off dangerous mutants. In the end, when he got old, he simply disappeared, probably died in the mountains and was never seen again."
Feng Yian nodded. "Most of our patrollers have been seriously injured. Some meet tragic ends. Some don't even leave behind a corpse."
He gave an example—his old leader's master. "That old man was a legendary figure. Highly skilled, deeply respected. He had already retired with honor after losing an arm. But when he heard a mountain monster had appeared, he feared the young ones couldn't handle it. He stopped others from going and went alone, dragging his broken body back into battle."
In that one fight, he severely injured the mountain monster but also died a gruesome death. All that remained was a massive bloodstain and half a broken blade.
"That old man's greatest wish was to be buried outside the mountains, beside his deceased wife and children," Feng Yian said, shaking his head. "But in the end, his soul was lost in the black wilderness, his wish unfulfilled."
Years ago, his wife and children had died prematurely during a mountain monster incident. After that, he never remarried. The patrol group brought his bloodied, broken blade back and buried it beside his family's grave.
Qin Ming listened to all this, and suddenly even the fiery old liquor had no taste. He sat in silence.
Feng Yian's mood turned low. "In the end, patrollers either end up maimed, dead, or driven mad. Lost in the mountains like wild beasts, eating raw meat, fur and all, drinking blood. They become monsters themselves... Who knows what fate awaits us? Perhaps... the mountains are where we'll all end up, too."