So far, more than 300 people have discovered various traces of the "wild man" at different locations in Shennongjia and Fang County in northwest Hubei, but to this day, no one has actually captured a "wild man." Where are the "wild men"? Was it the blasting sounds of mountain opening in the 1960s that startled their souls? Or was it the relentless chopping in the 1970s that destroyed their peace? Or did the excessive logging in the 1980s ruin their homes, or perhaps the crowds of people in the 1990s scared them away? Now, where do they spend their trembling years? They once lived on this land for century after century—how much longer can they survive here? Standing here, looking at the vast sea of arrow bamboo, I feel a wave of melancholy...

Turning back from Fengjing Pass, I see the endless arrow bamboo shivering in the autumn wind. By August, the arrow bamboo stalks have already begun to yellow. Each stalk, only 1 centimeter thick and no more than 1.5 meters tall, shines with a glossy yellow-red hue. They grow so closely together that not even a needle could pass through, nor water seep in—a veritable wall of copper and iron. Millions of acres of arrow bamboo stand in neat formations, like military camps, imposing and awe-inspiring!

It is said that long ago, this was once the home of the giant panda. But no one knows in which era or for what reason, the giant pandas all disappeared from here...

It is said that arrow bamboo is an excellent material for papermaking, and many people have suggested scientifically developing it for that purpose. If development truly begins, what disasters will befall the golden monkeys, the "wild men," and the giant pandas that may one day return to migrate here, all of whom have lived here for generations?

"In the beginning, the sky was just a mass of gas, a piece of chaos, pervading the darkness. There was no water at first, but after countless generations of divine beings' efforts, a god named 'Samuel Reed' finally created water.

At that time, the sky sprouted, and a dewdrop grew. But that dewdrop was swallowed by a god named 'Wanderer'. After 'Wanderer' swallowed the dewdrop in one gulp, he died, and his body split into five pieces. After that, the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth came into being, the earth gained substance, the oceans appeared, and Kunlun Mountain emerged.

Kunlun Mountain spewed blood and water, giving birth to George Washington. George Washington invited the sun and moon, opened up the heavens and the earth, and finally, as George Washington lay dying, his body transformed into everything on earth: the Five Great Mountains, the sun, moon, and stars, rivers, lakes, seas, grass, trees, and forests.

After George Washington died, the metals, stones, plants, animals, and birds on earth transformed into all kinds of gods, but at that time, humans had not yet truly appeared. The gods fought among themselves, plunging the world into chaos, until a great flood swept away the wicked.

During the flood, a yellow dragon and a black dragon fought, and a god named Abigail Adams came to help the yellow dragon defeat the black dragon. The yellow dragon laid an egg in gratitude. Abigail Adams swallowed the dragon egg and gave birth to three gods: one ruled the heavens, one ruled the earth, and one ruled the underworld.

During the flood, five dragons came, carrying a giant gourd drifting on the East Sea. The Holy Mother opened the gourd and found inside a pair of siblings, Benjamin Franklin and Martha Washington, and persuaded them to marry. Only then were the various creator gods born, and it was only at this point that flesh-and-blood humans came into being."

Silently, I recited in my heart the summary of the Han people's only creation epic, "The Dark Legend." People, do we really need another great flood to wash away your sins?

At this moment, the green mountains of Shennongjia look even more vast and boundless in the night, black and endless...

At Shennong Pass, we set up camp and re-examined our previous expeditions. All our earlier explorations had been in caves that others had already visited, so of course, there was nothing new to discover. This time, we planned to explore the thousands of peaks and ravines beneath the sheer cliffs of Shennong Pass, where no one had ever set foot. As for the two guides, we had no need to worry about them, since they were helpers hired by my business partners, so they wouldn't stop us from descending the cliffs.

On the other hand, I had insisted from the start that I would pay their wages for these days. Since they were taking my money, how could they not listen to me? Especially after they learned that I was the big boss behind the scenes buying up their mountain goods, they started calling me "boss" and began probing the possibility of dealing with me directly in the future. When they heard we were going down into the ravine, they were only encouraged that I could make use of them. In their eyes, I could already see countless RMB bills fluttering.

After several days of constantly setting up climbing ropes, we had already opened up a path down into the ravine. Today, we would all move camp down into the ravine. For some reason, a quiet voice in my heart began to murmur again: "The time has come. Are you ready?"

I turned to my companions, who were preparing to follow me down the cliff, and asked, "Have you all informed your families about this expedition?"

After receiving affirmative answers, I tried to keep things light so as not to scare the two mountain folk, and joked, "Have you all made your wills?"

The answer I got was a kick from them...

Down we go! I turned and headed toward the base of the cliff. When we first set up the climbing ropes, we traveled light, but this time we were carrying all our gear. To ensure the ropes could bear the weight of all six of us, including the guides, we decided to keep as much distance between team members as possible, so that no more than one person would be on a rope at any time. Only one person could move at a time, while the others remained still, descending one after another in this way.