As dusk fell, the setting sun turned molten gold.
The open field puffed like an ox, bending over, carrying his unconscious friend, struggling to climb up the ridge. Looking up ahead, the scene finally opened up, no longer interminable dark mountains, but replaced by a vast barren wilderness of gray earth.
A slanting river flowed across the wasteland, glittering under the afterglow of the setting sun, a scene of peaceful serenity.
Admiring such beautiful scenery, Yuan Ye let out a big sigh of relief, showing a slight smile, but this trace of smile quickly faded, as he squatted down gently placing his unconscious friend on the ground, checked his forehead temperature and pulse, and sighed silently.
Their hiking trip had encountered an accident.
He was studying abroad in Nagoya, Japan, and had just started his sophomore winter vacation when his childhood friend and high school classmate, the silly Meng Ziqi, excitedly flew over to visit him—visiting in name, but actually taking the opportunity to travel. Meng Ziqi, a lively little fat boy studying at a domestic university, had long wanted to come to Japan for some fun.
More than a year had passed since they last met, yet there was no awkwardness between them. They laughed and flipped through each other's dark histories while wandering around Nagoya for five or six days, then Meng Ziqi, feeling bored and thinking Japan wasn't as interesting as in anime, wished to see some natural landscapes, visit Ise Mountain, snap some photos, and brag back home. But as soon as they entered the mountain, they were caught in dense mist.
The mist was so thick that one couldn't distinguish people or animals from a meter away, and sounds from three meters away were heard but the person unseen.
They had never seen fog this dense, and within it, they heard the roar of thunder, with flashes of lightning seeming to strike down, causing them not to dare stay still for fear of an unfortunate heavenly penalty, forcing them to move and thus causing the accident—Yuan Ye was probing the way forward, stepped into air, and it was only thanks to Meng Ziqi throwing himself forward to pull him that his neck was not broken. But Meng Ziqi wasn't so fortunate, pushing too hard, and crashing into…something unclear in the fog, possibly a rock, and fainted on the spot.
Yuan Ye barely managed to find a relatively safe and flat open space and waited for the mist to gradually dissipate, but Meng Ziqi still didn't regain consciousness, so he could only abandon most of his personal belongings, leaving only a backpack with emergency supplies, some food, and water strapped to his chest, carrying Meng Ziqi and began the journey of self-rescue.
It was tough, as he couldn't find the mountain path they took earlier and had no phone signal to call for rescue, he had to roughly judge the direction and forcibly cross the rugged terrain.
It took almost an entire day, with twists and turns, staggering along, exhausted legs trembling, sweating profusely, breathing like an old ox, nearly desperate, until finally seeing a glimmer of hope at dusk.
But, as long as there is hope!
He slightly calmed his gasping, checked on Meng Ziqi to ensure his injuries hadn't worsened, then carried him again, heading down the mountain directly into the dense forest.
He needed to get Meng Ziqi to a hospital quickly, hoping the kid would be okay, otherwise, he'd be regretful for life, having no face to return home!
...
Descending was easier, Yuan Ye walked much quicker. As the trees thinned and the terrain started to level, the mountain breeze swirled around him, making his ears perk up, faintly hearing singing.
He cursed under his breath, finally someone here, speeding up with some extra force quickened the pace downhill. But upon exiting the forest, before he could call out for help, he abruptly stopped, joy instantly vanished.
This was a natural platform midway up the mountain, in the center stood a massive black rock, now a group of oddly dressed dwarfs surrounded the rock stomping feet and clapping hands, seemingly dancing and praying. In front of the rock, stood a person swaying, singing a strange chant with drawn-out notes, and most importantly, there lay a person on the rock, seemingly a live sacrificial offering.
Frankly, the scene was somewhat underworld, quite fitting in a horror movie.
Yuan Ye didn't dare to proceed for the moment, slightly adjusted his unconscious friend on his back, eyes alert and deepened.
He wasn't unfamiliar with Japan's multitudinous bizarre cults, end-of-the-world beliefs, eternal life beliefs, as well as numerous evil god and demon worship, often leading to fatalities. Now he encountered one, here in the wild mountain, he'd have nowhere to lodge a complaint if buried along with Meng Ziqi. He couldn't help but be wary.
Yet, his hurried emergence from the forest made quite a noise, causing one of the dwarfs, wearing a helmet and holding a bamboo stick, to turn and look, quickly shouted, and at once, the entire group of dwarfs turned to look at him.
Faced with all eyes on him, Yuan Ye raised his brows, expression increasingly calm, gaze increasingly deep, one hand steadying his unconscious friend, the other tightly clutching the electric stick inside the mesh pocket of his backpack—legally purchased, as a foreign student wandering this foreign land with a foolish friend who didn't speak Japanese, he had to carry something for self-defense, to avoid being easily preyed upon—hesitating whether to slowly retreat back into the woods, but fearing retreat would backfire, agitating the cultists and escalate the danger.
Mainly, he wasn't confident about escaping in this unfamiliar forest, especially as night fell, with him exhausted and carrying a little fat guy, from such a large group of people.
He didn't speak for a moment, thinking rapidly in his mind about a strategy to respond. The group of people opposite him also didn't speak, just stared at him blankly, while only the cold wind blew through, causing the miscellaneous trees to wail softly on the scene.
...
Juubei was bewildered. He was just singing a lament, praying to the mountain god for compassion for his companion, wishing that he could escape the clutches of illness and return to health. Suddenly, two people came down from the mountain, both clearly not ordinary figures.
The person being carried wasn't very visible, but the one carrying was extraordinary, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, handsome looks, and a tall stature, definitely over six and a half feet (each foot approximately 0.269 meters), maybe even reaching seven feet, looking extremely powerful.
He also had very neat, clearly meticulously trimmed short hair, and although his skin wasn't as fair as that of the noble ladies from the city, it was quite radiant, suggesting that he was pampered from a young age, always well-fed.
His attire was a bit strange, but the fabric looked fine and luxurious, reflecting a little in the sunset, even more beautiful than hemp (a coarse silk), definitely something not ordinary people could possess, something even ordinary local lords couldn't possibly have such beautiful, exquisite clothes.
Juubei dared to swear by his more than ten years of service at Hosokawa Castle that the person before him was absolutely a significant figure, perhaps even on the level of nobility or courtiers, definitely not someone from his kind of ordinary household servants and Lang faction he could afford to offend.
Juubei stared for a moment, suddenly realizing with a tremor in his heart that the "important figure" was staring coldly at him with an unhappy expression, seeming to blame him for lacking courtesy, for daring to stand foolishly without greeting or salutation. He quickly stepped forward, skillfully knelt down, deeply bowed his head and said, "Forgive my rudeness, sir. I am Juubei, head servant of Hibi Village. May I ask if you need my services, sir?"
Yuan Ye was even more bewildered for a moment. Japanese people indeed love to kneel, but he had never seen someone bow their head upon first meeting, and this person's attire...
Taking a closer look, this old man seemed to be over fifty years old, very short, estimated at only about 1.45 meters. He wore a faded coarse cloth short robe and a deep blue short haori with six white rings printed on it (resembling a long vest), with a black narrow coarse cloth belt at his waist, at an angle tucked with a more than thirty centimeter long short knife. Below were wide hakama reaching to his calves and bare feet in Blessing Grass Shoes.
What could I say?
This old man sure had a good physique, Nagoya winters are not very cold, usually around four or five degrees, not much wind either, but it's still four or five degrees, and he's barefoot wearing just a short robe with a vest and having his calves exposed—how resistant to cold can he be?
Moreover, this short knife was quite suspicious, not only lacking a scabbard, but the blade had numerous fine nicks and black grime, clearly having suffered violent collisions with other ironwares, looking increasingly like a murder weapon the more you looked at it.
The old man's hairstyle was a bit strange too, the front either shaved bald or naturally bald, in any case, half bald, with the remaining hair tied into an n-shaped bun hanging at the back with cloth strips, it was definitely attire from the Japan Middle Ages museum exhibits.
The words weren't very clear either, felt heavily accented, only catching the words "sir" and "need," with other words sounding somewhat vague…
Yuan Ye was puzzled in his heart, glancing at that distant group again, discovering their attire was similar to the old man's, except lacking the short haori with the "six white rings," but similarly worn thin and old, and they were all very short, anyone over 1.55 meters was considered tall.
This didn't quite feel like COSPLAY of ancient people, but rather too dedicated, too real, too immersive, without the slightest flaw!
Yuan Ye looked at everything in front of him, adjusted the friend he was carrying on his back, thinking about all the strange phenomena encountered after encountering fog and lightning in the mountain—
Ise Mountain Range is a fully developed modern hiking area, and has popular tourist spots like retirement hot springs, Shuten Doji, the mountain inns, spa hotels, homestays, and hiking checkpoints should be abundant, moreover, tourists should be everywhere, yet he had been wandering the mountain most of the day carrying his silly friend without seeing a single living person!
Not only did he not see any living people, but he also kept encountering various wild animals.
Rabbits and pheasants running and flying everywhere, herds of deer roaming about, even saw what looked to be piles of dung made by wild boar herds in the valley, and his phone completely lost signal, passing several pine forests continuously finding large quantities of superior pine mushrooms unpicked, flocks and flocks of white egrets flying towards Lake Biwa…
At that time he was exhausted from mountain climbing with a person on his back, almost out of breath, not thinking much, but now reviewing everything in detail…
He felt an ominous premonition rising in his heart, hard to believe yet feeling there was no other explanation—rather than comforting himself with a large-scale live-action show and some TV station randomly messing with tourists, he'd prefer to believe he had traveled through time.
But he's carrying his unconscious silly friend, just traveled through unknowingly?
Where had he traveled to?