Zwilling

Kapitel 4

This means that, barring any major unforeseen circumstances, he will be appointed as the new director of the S Art Museum next year.

This appointment came as a surprise to many. Originally, Li, the deputy director of the S Art Museum, thought that he had it in the bag.

"That kid..." Deputy Curator Li cursed angrily, "He came up with a surprising trick!"

The younger generation surpasses the older generation. This time, Deputy Director Li made a decision-making error, and the claim that Director Chen has an exhibitionist tendency came from his mouth.

It seems we can only wait for a miracle, which is---

The newly appointed acting curator also went streaking.

"Zhang Ling, courtesy name Daoling, a native of Pei during the Eastern Han Dynasty, once served as the magistrate of Jiangzhou. Later, he resigned and went into seclusion, entering Longhu Mountain to study alchemy and talismanic arts, attracting many students."

Zhang Daoling, who was later revered as Zhang Tianshi (Celestial Master Zhang), is said to have become an immortal after his death, hence Longhu Mountain is considered the birthplace of Taoism. The Shangqing Palace, where Zhang Daoling resided, enshrines Yuanshi Tianzun, Taishang Daojun, and Taishang Laojun, collectively known as the Three Pure Ones. Therefore, this mountain, located at the border of Yushan and Dexing counties in northeastern Jiangxi Province, is also called Sanqing Mountain. The local government has vigorously developed it as a tourism treasure, and it is now listed as a national scenic spot.

As the cable car carrying Nono ascended over the first mountain ridge, she could see the end of the cableway through the glass windows. Rows of cable car cabins, painted in different colors, hung there like strings of colorful lanterns, moving neatly along the cableway. The surrounding peaks were layered upon each other, with strangely shaped rocks standing out prominently, truly magnificent. But for some reason, Nono couldn't feel excited. The descending cable car cabins lined up and passed right before her eyes, all empty. Where had all the tourists gone?

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Section 9: How did the fire at Sanqing Palace start?

Even in the off-season, it won't be so deserted that there's not a single person there!

As she watched the empty cable car cars line up and pass by, Nono muttered this.

Stepping out of the cable car station, there was finally some life around. Several waiting mountain folk rushed forward, vying to be her guide. Nuonuo remained silent, smiling and shaking her head, refusing them all. As a girl in her early twenties, following a strong mountain man through the mountains, if he had any ulterior motives, she would either have to obediently comply or jump off a cliff.

Nono rented a sedan chair and was carried by two local villagers. They traversed a steep, winding path with a gradient of about 70 degrees, resembling a narrow gorge, for over an hour. Nono didn't rest; she pulled out her Sony digital camera and snapped photos along the way. Sanqing Mountain is renowned for its unique mountains, strange rocks, clouds, and beautiful pines. The tourist map indicates four main scenic areas: Wanshou Garden, Nanqing Garden, West Coast, and Sanqing Blessed Land. However, according to the villagers, since the Sanqing Palace was closed after a fire last year, only three areas are actually open to visitors.

Nono had booked a hotel online called "Goddess Hotel," but upon arriving at the door, she discovered it was nothing more than a shabby mountain inn. Nono felt a pang of regret, regretting being misled by its catchy name. At the worn-out reception desk, a female attendant in a dirty uniform unfolded an equally dirty guestbook, asking Nono to write down her name and ID number. As she spoke, she kept cracking sunflower seeds, spittle flying from between her teeth along with the shells. Nono could clearly see them swirling in the air and quickly dodged to avoid getting them on her face.

"During peak season, you might have to sleep on the floor or in your own tent."

The waitress, speaking with a heavy local accent, seemed to be mocking Nuonuo: "People are happy to see there are few tourists, but you seem quite disappointed. Do you want three people to squeeze into one berth?"

"But... even though it's the off-season... it can't be so deserted that there's nobody there, can it?"

Nono always felt there were other reasons.

The waitress sighed, looked at Nuonuo, and blurted out, "Don't you know what day it is today?"

What day is it?

Today is the winter solstice.

winter solstice?……

Actually, the Winter Solstice, like Qingming Festival, is a Chinese ghost festival. But Nuonuo only knows that Qingming Festival is for visiting the graves of deceased relatives and has no concept of the Winter Solstice. This is understandable, as every year during Qingming Festival, a massive army of grave-sweepers sets off from Shanghai, heading straight to the neighboring provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu, lighting countless "beacon fires" in front of their loved ones' tombstones, wailing with the force of Meng Jiangnu's lament that brought down the Great Wall. Qingming Festival is celebrated so grandly that the Winter Solstice has been overshadowed and almost forgotten. Now, Shanghainese people's concept of the Winter Solstice is only "you must go home for dinner, eat your fill, and eat well," and no one cares about whether it's a ghost festival or not.

Seeing Nuonuo's blank expression, the waitress was too lazy to explain and simply said:

"After the winter solstice, the number of tourists will gradually increase. If you stay here a few more days, you'll see it."

The waitress tossed the room key to Nono. Nono glanced at the key and thought, "The room must be filthy. The bedding and pillows are greasy and shiny. There might even be rats..."

She didn't take the key; she didn't plan to enter the room. She'd avoid it during the day, except when sleeping at night. Nono had decided to hurry and finish exploring the remaining attractions, then check out and leave immediately after watching the sunrise the next morning, taking the cable car down the mountain. She didn't plan to eat there either; the bread, biscuits, tea, fried potato chips, bottled water, and carbonated drinks in her backpack were enough to last until she boarded the return train.

Nono took out a guide map and asked about their current location and the route to the West Coast Scenic Area. The so-called "West Coast" is not the sea but a sea of clouds. Watching the clouds is a must for tourists climbing Sanqing Mountain. The sound of pine trees in the valleys and the vast sea of clouds are absolutely breathtaking.

After receiving the waitress's explanation, Nuonuo thanked her and turned to walk out the door.

"Hey!" the waitress called out to her, giving her a strange look, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Is something the matter?" Nono asked.

"If someone calls your name from behind, never turn around," the waitress said, throwing out a seemingly nonsensical remark.

Nono blinked, she heard it clearly, but didn't understand it.

"That's a mountain monster. If you turn around, it will eat your head."

The waitress's expression was serious; she didn't seem to be joking.

A mountain monster?

"What is a mountain monster?" Nono asked in a low voice.

"It's a monster from the mountain!" The waitress rolled her eyes, seemingly mocking her ignorance.

"But... this is Sanqing Mountain! The ancestral home of Taoism, where immortal energy gathers. How could there be any mountain monsters here? Would it dare to run rampant here?" Nuonuo argued.

The waitress chuckled and asked Nuonuo in return:

"If that's the case, how did the fire at Sanqing Palace start?"

Nuonuo was speechless. Yes, if even the place where immortals live can catch fire, it means that the immortals must not be at home. They are either traveling around or have been demoted to do hard labor in the human world.

"Anyway, I warned you. If you look back, don't regret it. Don't forget what day it is today."

The waitress stuck out her tongue and licked around her lips, collecting the sunflower seed crumbs stuck to them. Then she did something unbelievable: she licked the tip of her nose with the tip of her tongue.

As Nono left the Goddess Hotel, she subconsciously stuck out her tongue, trying to imitate the waitress by licking the tip of her nose, but she couldn't reach it at all and only licked her upper lip.

...Her tongue is really long!

It is the winter solstice after all; we can't see it at other times, but we can see it today.

The strangely shaped rocks and peaks of Sanqing Mountain truly live up to their reputation. The giant stone pillar called "Giant Python Emerging from the Mountain" is 120 meters high and is said to be one of the representative features of Sanqing Mountain. From a distance, it looks like a giant python standing upright, ready to launch a lightning-fast attack on its prey. Nono pressed the shutter button more than ten times for this rock alone.

If you're shooting like this, a 128MB memory card definitely won't be enough; you should bring a 256MB one.

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Section 10: If something is "strange," it must have something special about it.

The West Coast Boardwalk is a reinforced concrete viewing corridor, about three or four kilometers long, built from a cliff at an altitude of 1600 meters. It winds its way along the mountainside like a snake. It is said that before its completion in June 2002, few people had seen the scenery of the West Coast. Now, one can easily travel back and forth via the boardwalk, with towering cliffs on one side and a vast sea of clouds on the other. Leaning on the railing and gazing westward, the mountains are a deep blue-green, the pines graceful, and one feels like an ethereal being, with clouds like galloping horses. Nuonuo was captivated by this ink-wash landscape painting, forgetting the simplicity of the inn, the eeriness of the winter solstice, and the gossipy waitress. She frantically snapped photos with her Sony digital camera.

A wind picked up, stirring up clouds that surged towards the mountain path. Nono felt a chill; she was wearing an Adidas down vest over a long-sleeved T-shirt and a thick wool sweater. Although it was the winter solstice, it was a mild winter, and Nono was usually a girl who wasn't afraid of the cold. But this place was different from Shanghai. Perched on a mountain path over a thousand meters above sea level, the sea of clouds carried gusts of cold air that seeped through the wool fabric, penetrating her skin and chilling her to the bone. Nono couldn't help but shiver.

Nono had brought a multi-functional jacket and put it in her backpack; now it was time to take it out. Nono took the backpack off and first used her back muscles to push against it. The NIKKO bag bounced on her back like a mountain, almost crushing her.

With the multi-functional jacket at the bottom of the bag, Nono had to take out the items one by one: an aluminum water bottle, a Superb flashlight, a raincoat, a DV camcorder, mosquito repellent, Danone biscuits, bottled oolong tea... and set up a stall on the boardwalk.

Fog began to rise around them, gradually enveloping the boardwalk in white mist and reducing visibility. Nono had always thought that fog only appeared in the early morning or at night, but it was afternoon now, so why was there such a thick fog for no reason? Moreover, this fog was a bit strange; it didn't seem to be drifting in from afar, but rather it seemed to be seeping out from the cracks in the cliffs, which was a bit eerie.

Outside the plank road, a vast sea of clouds stretches out; inside the railings, a thick fog blankets the landscape, almost merging with the clouds, making it impossible to distinguish anything clearly. Wow, this must be the ethereal beauty of Sanqing Mountain!

Nono suddenly became excited. She wanted to shout, to shout at the vast sea of clouds, at the layered peaks, at the thick fog. She already knew what to shout—

"Anna! Fuck you!"

Anna is Nono's boss, a twisted woman who has been divorced twice and is currently fighting her third divorce. After working under her for a year, Nono has aged five years. She's had enough, and today she can finally shout out her anger with a clear conscience.

Nono cupped her hands into a trumpet shape, gathered her inner energy, and was about to shout—

"Nono."

Someone is calling her.

Nono froze for a moment, the words she was about to say stuck in her throat, making her want to cough.

...Is someone behind me?

I was clearly the only person on the boardwalk.

Nono held her breath and listened intently.

"Nono."

The person called her a second time, and this time Nuonuo heard it clearly; it was a woman's voice, slightly hoarse.

Nono shuddered.

Nono's full name is Qiao Jianuo. "Nono" is her nickname, which is only used by her parents and boyfriend Sanwen. Very few people know this nickname; none of the girls at school or her colleagues at the shop know it.

Therefore, there is definitely something wrong with the person behind you.

Wait a minute, can I be sure that what's behind that is a "person"?

Oh dear! How stupid of me! How could I forget the waitress's warning? Could it be that mountain monster?

Nono was wearing a pair of NIKKO hiking boots with rubber soles more than an inch thick. She could clearly feel a chill seeping through the soles and her terry socks, invading her body from her feet, running up her spine to the top of her head, and radiating outwards through her woolen hat. Goosebumps rose all over her body.

Don't look back! If you do, it will eat my head!

Nono commanded herself in this way, and this command was like a lock on her muscles, snapping shut on her neck.

"Nono."

The voice called her for the third time, slowly and clearly, showing great patience, as if to say, "I'll keep calling you if you don't turn around."

Nono suddenly felt that the voice sounded familiar, like... it was her own voice!

What exactly happened? Let me take one last look, just one look.

The lock around my neck opened, my neck muscles started to move, my feet moved too, and my body turned 45 degrees backward...

STOP!

Another voice echoed in her mind, instantly transmitting through her central nervous system to all the muscles in her body, quickly pulling Nono's body back to its original position.

Since it's a mountain monster, it can definitely mimic the voices of all kinds of people. It uses every trick in the book to try and lure you to turn around. By the time you regret it, it's too late. What awaits you is a gaping maw that will hold your head in its mouth and tear it apart from your neck, surrounded by foul-smelling saliva. Deep in its throat, you can smell a stench of decay that has lingered for thousands of years...

Like watching a movie, dozens of frames flashed through Nono's mind in just a few seconds.

Hmph, I'm not turning back, let's see what you can do to me!

Nono stood motionless, her ears, like radar, searching for any faint sound from behind. The vast walkway was utterly silent. A soaring eagle swept across the cliff face, disappearing into the surging sea of clouds. Above the clouds, amidst the mist, a young woman from Shanghai stood alone on the cliffside walkway at an altitude of 1600 meters, frozen in place. This seemingly beautiful scene concealed an unforeseen danger.

I called it three times, but it didn't respond. It must have given up and left.

If that's the case, then I might as well look back...

Damn thought! Why is it here again? It's probably just standing there calmly, waiting for me to turn around.

Hmph, let's see who can last the longest and have the longest endurance.

Nono glanced at the items scattered on the ground, among which was a Swiss Army knife. It was her only weapon, and she wanted to take it, but dared not. Could a small knife possibly deal with a mountain monster? A "monster" must have some special characteristics, such as thick, armor-like skin. Besides, if she bent down to pick it up, wouldn't it preemptively attack? That was the last thing she wanted.

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Section 11: Could there really be immortals on the mountain?

But if we want to return to the hotel, we'll have to turn back...

Sigh! The word "turn around" is a double entendre, meaning both to go back and to lose one's head.

Nuonuo's tears were about to fall. She cursed herself fiercely. Why did she have to take a vacation at the end of the year, on the day of the winter solstice, to climb Sanqing Mountain? And then, on the deserted plank road, she encountered an extremely patient mountain monster. Damn it! (Shanghai curse) Why am I so unlucky!