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Chapter 026: Wawushan
There was silence for a moment, then a calm voice came through: "It's me, I'm at Wawushan."
It was Lime! Hearing that ethereal voice made my spirit tremble, and I excitedly asked, "What is your exact location? I'll come find you!"
"Dao," he said before hanging up. I didn't think about how he knew my number; instead, I immediately searched for "Sichuan Wawushan Dao" online. To my surprise, the search engine quickly returned numerous results, and after clicking on several links to read more, I couldn't help but smile wryly.
Though it's referred to as Dao, it would be more accurate to call it a "tang." Wawushan is located in Meishan, Sichuan, and it is the largest area of virgin forest in China. The most famous feature there is a "tang," which is said to be a place from which ordinary people cannot escape. Many explorers have gotten lost inside and even starved to death.
"Tang, the most mysterious of mysteries; entering it is not easy for survival." This saying did not come from nowhere. Due to its mysterious and terrifying nature, the local government had no choice but to designate Wawushan as a tourist exclusion zone during resource development to prevent visitors from accidentally wandering in. Moreover, the most astonishing fact is that the geographical location of the tang coincides with that of the Bermuda Triangle in the same latitude, earning it affectionate nicknames like "Death Latitude Line" and "Bermuda Triangle on Land"!
I don't need to explain what the Bermuda Triangle represents. I was surprised that Lime went directly from Heizhugou to Wawushan; he seems to head toward danger wherever it lies! Of course, I admit that strange places often hide unknown secrets, and these secrets might very well be what we are searching for—this is what they mean by "no pain, no gain."
After resting at a hotel for a while, I went to visit Dabao's parents. Although they seemed fine, I imagined that losing a child must be incredibly difficult; after all, Dabao was so young and had died because of me.
"Auntie, I might leave here tonight. Please don't be too sad; I think Dabao wouldn't want to see you so upset," I said apologetically to Dabao's mother.
"Yes," she nodded and looked at me. "I know. Actually, Bao'er has always been by my side. Even though I can't see him or hear his voice, I can feel him with me. Hahaha, although they all think I've gone crazy, you believe me, right?"
Looking at her haggard yet bitter smile, I nodded and hesitantly said, "Dabao has always been thinking about you, but he has to go now; he will leave with me tonight."
"Leave? Why would Bao'er leave?!" Her expression was somewhat agitated, looking at me in disbelief and panic.
"Auntie, Dabao is already dead, but for some unknown reason, hell won't accept him. He has been forced to become a wandering spirit, and Yama doesn't want him either. He can't escape and can only drift around. Do you really want him to continue like this?"
After saying this, I looked at her and saw that she still couldn't accept it. I had no choice but to speak more harshly: "Auntie, you need to understand that ghosts do not live forever; they too will have their day of death. We don't know when Dabao might suddenly die and completely disappear from this world. Have you thought about how terrifying it is to completely vanish? To be entirely gone from the Six Paths of Reincarnation? Spirits like him find it very difficult to meet a Bodhisattva, and even if they want to turn over a new leaf, it's not easy. So I want to help him. Although my power is small, I at least want to do my utmost to protect the last bit of dignity he has."
Sure enough, after hearing this, her mother became frightened and nervously grabbed my hand, asking, "What should we do? Can you help Bao'er? I don't want Bao'er to completely disappear; he must be very scared. No, I want to go accompany him..."
Seeing her becoming increasingly incoherent and even thinking about self-harm, I felt even more guilty and remorseful. After all, everything I said about Yama not accepting him and the Six Paths of Reincarnation was just nonsense I made up to prevent any accidents from happening if Dabao's mother were to find out he was gone. So I held her hands tightly and looked into her eyes with determination, assuring her: "Auntie, don't worry. Dabao can still be saved. I have a friend who is very powerful; I'm going to find him now, and Dabao will definitely be saved!"
"That's good, that's good. You must find him..." She repeated this phrase wearily and haggardly. I comforted her a few more times and made significant promises until she finally felt reassured and prepared for the possibility that she might not feel Dabao's presence anymore in the future. Then I bid her farewell and left.
I waited for Dabao at the intersection where I first met him. The sky gradually darkened, and my head became increasingly muddled. At that moment, Dabao suddenly jumped out and startled me. I glared at him and said irritably, "I've already talked to your mom; don't you want to go back and see her one last time?"
Seeing that I was startled, Dabao seemed very happy and accomplished; even his tone was much more cheerful as he said, "No need! I just went back to say goodbye to Mom. By the way, where's my little house?"
"Here." I took out two cylindrical glass bottles from my pocket—one large and one small—and opened the corks, saying, "You can choose one."
Dabao immediately froze in disbelief as he pointed at the small glass bottle and exclaimed, "I'm such a big person! You actually want me to fit into something so small? Are you even human?!" He complained disdainfully while measuring with his thumb and index finger, looking at me with contempt. "This is discrimination against ghosts!"
I shrugged helplessly and said, "I can't help it; I can't carry something so big around everywhere. Just don't complain too much; at least you'll have a place to sleep. If it gets cold, my body heat can keep you warm." I grinned mischievously.
"Ugh! Can you stop grossing me out?" Dabao pretended to gag a few times but despite saying that, he pointed at the larger glass bottle with resignation on his face and said, "Fine then! I'll let you off easy this time since you look so pitiful; I'll just make do with this."
After chatting with him for a while, I took a taxi to the airport. Having money is great; I didn't have to take a train or wait around. It was much simpler to just fly there. But Dabao couldn't go with me. I wasn't sure if he could board the plane, so I had to let him crawl into a small glass bottle and carry it with me to avoid losing him.
Since Meishan doesn't have an airport, I had to first fly to Chengdu and then transfer from there. After nearly two hours of flying, I arrived in Chengdu and then continued on to Wawushan, which took about three and a half hours by car. By the time I finally reached Wawushan, it was already around four o'clock.
So, I started calling Lime, but no one answered. Being alone at night made it impossible for me to venture into the mountains, so I had no choice but to find a public bench to lie down on and began to sink into deep thought...
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