Last Bus of Route 13

The sight of the white bones lying in the old man’s bedding sent a shiver down my spine, leaving me drenched in cold sweat. Before I could gather my thoughts, a hand suddenly patted my shoulder from behind. I turned around abruptly, only to find Old Zhang in his mountaineering suit standing there.

“Young man, looking for me?” he asked with a smile.

I frowned, eyeing him warily, and after a moment, pointed to the side and whispered, “There’s some noise in the bushes over there. I thought we should wake everyone up to be on guard.”

Old Zhang chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. “No worries, that was just me answering nature’s call.”

His words left me puzzled. The grass over there wasn’t tall enough to hide a person; I should have seen him if he was there. Something felt off. Gathering my courage, I pointed at the tent and asked, “Then what’s going on inside your tent?”

“Oh, you mean this?” he said, ducking into the tent and pointing at the skeleton lying in the bedding. “That’s my late wife. She’s been gone for over twenty years. I carry her with me wherever I go. Sorry if I startled you.”

What? His wife? I’ve heard of some bizarre stories, like those people who keep their deceased spouses’ bodies in their homes, but carrying around a skeleton? That’s a whole new level of creepy.

Seeing the sweat on my forehead, Old Zhang handed me a tissue. “I should’ve warned you all beforehand. Didn’t mean to scare you. Here, wipe your sweat.”

I didn’t buy his story, but I took the tissue without a word and returned to my own tent. Inside, I couldn’t shake off the chilling image of those white bones. “What a load of crap about his wife!” I cursed inwardly. This old man had been acting suspiciously since we got on the bus, and now he was trying to play the role of a devoted lover!

I couldn’t let this go. I quickly shook Old Liu awake. He woke up, thinking something was wrong, and asked anxiously, “What’s going on?”

I leaned in and quietly recounted what I’d seen and what the old man had said. Old Liu was just as shocked, and after a moment of thought, he grabbed his stick and headed to Old Zhang’s tent to investigate.

Old Zhang seemed unfazed, inviting us into the tent. The white bones lay there, untouched. Up close, the skeleton was complete from head to toe, a fully intact human skeleton. I couldn’t help but gasp, imagining the old man carrying these bones around and cuddling them at night. It was downright eerie.

Old Liu examined the bones closely and asked softly, “Older brother, when did your wife pass away?”

Old Zhang replied, “She fell ill and passed in ’77. I’m a sentimental person and couldn’t let her go, so I buried her clothes and kept her bones with me.”

Old Liu nodded and gestured for us to leave the tent. Was that it? Once outside, before I could ask, Old Liu whispered, “It’s just a regular set of bones. Don’t make a fuss. Get some sleep.”

With that, Old Liu crawled back into his tent, leaving me standing there, still trying to process everything.

Old Liu seemed to take it in stride, but I just couldn’t. Even if what the old man said was true, in China, we believe in resting in peace. The thought of him sleeping next to bones every night, occasionally talking to them, gave me goosebumps. I had been a bit sleepy, but after this bizarre incident, there was no way I could fall asleep. Not only did I have to be on guard against wild animals outside, but I also had to keep an eye on the old pervert’s tent.

When morning came, everyone got up. Bai Fan noticed my weary state and asked what had happened. I didn’t want her to stumble upon the old man’s bones and get scared, so I prepared her mentally and told her about it. To my surprise, Bai Fan wasn’t frightened at all. Instead, she praised Old Zhang as a rare good man and said she envied the passionate love story he and his wife must have had when they were young. Women really do think differently from men; her words nearly floored me.

After breakfast, we packed up the tents and continued our search for Red Leaf Valley. The weather was nice today, with plenty of sunshine. We followed the main path that was marked on both maps and walked for another morning. This route was a shared main line on the maps, so it should be correct. When we reached the fork, we sat down to drink water and discuss our next steps.

I was leaning against a big tree, drinking water, when Old Zhang deliberately sat next to me. I glanced at his large backpack and couldn’t help but shiver. I said, “Uncle Zhang, the weather’s nice. Aren’t you going to take the bones out to sunbathe?”

Old Zhang chuckled and replied, “Can’t do that. The sun’s too strong today; I don’t want her to get sunburned.”

His response was sharp. If those bones really were his wife, I’d genuinely admire him. But from the start, he hadn’t left a good impression on me. I always felt he was hiding something sinister behind his smile, not like a good person at all.

Seeing I wasn’t interested in talking, Old Zhang soon went over to discuss the map with Old Liu. His disciple, who also knew about the bones being revealed, noticed my attitude and came over, saying, “Brother, don’t be afraid of the bones my master carries. I can vouch for it; that’s really my master’s wife. They were very much in love, but she passed away when I was very young.”

This kid was in cahoots with Old Zhang, so I couldn’t trust his words. I just nodded politely. He then went on about how virtuous the master’s wife was when she was alive and how deep their love was, blah blah blah. I didn’t take any of it to heart.

After resting, we finally decided to follow the direction marked on Old Liu’s map. We picked up our gear and set off again. Changbai Mountain was vast and sprawling; the deeper we went, the harder it was to find our way. We walked and stopped intermittently, and before we knew it, the sun was setting, and it was getting dark again.

I was worried that Bai Fan might not be able to handle it, so I carried her luggage as well. Just as we reached the second fork on the map, a sudden gust of wind arose, sending leaves swirling everywhere, making it hard to keep our eyes open. Honestly, strong winds are more common in plains and hills, but in this forest with such tall trees, encountering such a fierce wind was a first for me.

The wind grew stronger, making it difficult for us to stand firm. Even though we each held onto a tree, it seemed like the wind was about to sweep us away. Old Zhang glanced into the distance and shouted to his disciple beside him, “Xiao Zhou, light the incense!”

The man quickly took off his backpack, pulled out a stick of incense, and lit it with his back to the wind using a lighter. Once the incense was lit, he hurriedly handed it to Old Zhang. With the disciple’s support, Old Zhang braved the wind and walked to the crossroads, where he planted the incense into the ground, muttering something under his breath.

Strangely enough, as soon as the incense was placed, the wind stopped almost instantly. Bai Fan clung to my arm, trembling with fear, still shaken. Old Liu, seeing the wind had stopped, approached and asked, “Old brother, what’s with this strange wind? Is there some kind of explanation?”

Old Zhang brushed off the leaves that had blown onto him and replied with a smile, “Encountering this wind is a good sign; it means we’re on the right path.”

“What do you mean?” Old Liu asked.

Old Zhang continued, “The route to Red Leaf Valley often changes, but I’ve heard that if you’re on the right track, you’ll experience both wind and rain. In the forty years I’ve been coming here, I’ve only encountered such a strong wind once. I didn’t expect to experience it again today.”

Old Liu nodded, trusting Old Zhang, and urged everyone to continue on. We followed the path marked by the incense and arrived at a rare, wide-open space. Seeing that it was getting late, we found a suitable spot to set up our tents for the night. After what happened last night, I deliberately pitched my tent with Bai Fan far from Old Zhang’s.

Old Zhang didn’t seem upset by this; he just nodded and smiled at me. Once the tents were set up, we gathered around like the previous night, eating dinner and chatting. Bai Fan, ever curious, eagerly asked Old Zhang about his and his wife’s story. Old Zhang seemed happy to share, reminiscing with a smile.

Their youthful tales captivated us, and if I hadn’t pinched myself, I might have been completely taken in. Bai Fan, being emotional, was already moved to tears. To avoid being further swayed by Old Zhang, I got up to clear my head.

Though it was getting dark, there was still some visibility in the forest. I didn’t dare wander far and found a large tree to relieve myself. Suddenly, I noticed a middle-aged man in casual clothes ahead, gesturing anxiously for me to come over.

Having trekked through these deep mountains for two days, it was the first time I saw another person. I quickly pulled up my pants and walked over. The middle-aged man glanced behind me and whispered, “Hey, are you guys also here to find Red Leaf Valley?”

I nodded and asked, “Are you?”

He nodded, explaining that he’d been following us and only approached because he saw I was alone. Puzzled, I asked, “Why follow us from behind? Why not join us?”

The man pursed his lips, nervously saying, “With that old man in the mountaineering suit traveling with you, I didn’t dare come closer.”

I asked, “What’s there to be afraid of? What do you mean?”

The man sighed, rummaged through his backpack, and pulled out a newspaper. He pointed to a news section for me to see. The newspaper was from the day before we set off for the mountains. I took it and looked closely. The headline read: “Tourist Minibus to Changbai Mountain Crashes, Two Dead, Several Injured.”

Looking more closely, I saw a black-and-white photo of the crash site, with a minibus overturned by the roadside, blood everywhere, and two bodies lying nearby. Although their faces were pixelated, I recognized their clothing and builds-it was the old man in the mountaineering suit, Old Zhang, and his disciple!

A chill ran down my spine. I turned sharply to look back at the tents, where Old Zhang was chatting with Bai Fan, pulling out those eerie, sinister White Bones piece by piece from his backpack!