“Did you have a good swim, did you have a good swim?” the old man looked at the dog. “Danny Clark, go for a swim and let’s see.”

The dog was really clever—it actually jumped into the river and swam a lap. When it came back up, it shook off the water and lay down on the ground, panting with its tongue out.

“It’s still too early, the boatman definitely hasn’t started work yet. Let’s rest for a bit and have a smoke.”

I checked my watch. “It’s 2 p.m. and he hasn’t started? What kind of work schedule does this boatman have?”

“There’s only one boatman here, and he’s the best. He starts whenever he feels like it—sometimes he doesn’t work all day, can drive people crazy.” The old man chuckled. “Nothing we can do. The river god only gives him face. Anyone else who goes into that cave never comes out, but he’s fine. If you guys could ride mules, we could go over the mountain and still make it in a day, but look at all your stuff—even all the mules in our village wouldn’t be enough for you.”

“Oh.” As soon as Uncle Samuel heard about the cave, he perked up and took out the translated map. He’d always treated this map like a treasure, never even letting me look at it. As soon as he brought it out, we all crowded around to see, except for that young guy who still sat silently to the side.

To be honest, my Uncle Louis’s two guys are easy to get along with, both straightforward people. But this one is like a mute jar—hasn’t said a word the whole way, just stares blankly at the sky, as if he’s worried it’ll fall down. Super annoying! At first I tried talking to him, but later I just couldn’t be bothered. I really don’t get why Uncle Samuel brought him along.

“There’s a cave, and it really is a river cave, just behind this mountain,” Uncle Samuel said. “So, old man, this cave can eat people?”

The old man chuckled. “That’s just what’s been passed down for generations. I can’t remember clearly. Before the river was opened up, the villagers all said there was a snake spirit inside, and no one who went in ever came out. Then one day, the boatman’s great-grandfather came out of the cave on a little boat, claiming to be a traveling merchant from outside. But who’s ever seen a merchant carrying a boat around? Everyone said he was a snake spirit in disguise. His great-grandfather just laughed and said he bought the boat from the next village, and if they didn’t believe him, they could go ask. So they did, and it turned out to be true. Only then did people believe him, and thought maybe the monster in the cave was gone. But then a few brave young men went to explore the cave and never came out. Since then, only his family can go in and out freely. Isn’t that strange? After that, their family has always done this job, right up to now.”

“The dog’s fine?” I was curious. “Isn’t it used to deliver messages?”

“This dog is also from their family. For other people, not to mention dogs—even cows can’t come out if they go in.”

“With something this weird, doesn’t the government care?”

“Someone has to believe it first.” The old man tapped his dry tobacco pipe on the ground.

Uncle Samuel frowned and clapped his hands. “Danny Clark, come here.”

The dog really was obedient, trotting right over. Uncle Samuel picked him up and sniffed him, his face changing. “No way, is that stuff really in the cave?”

I picked him up and sniffed too, and the stench made me cough. The dog’s owner must be really lazy—who knows how long it’s been since this dog had a bath.

One of his guys, called Peter Clark, burst out laughing. “Trying to copy your Uncle Samuel? You’re not there yet.”

“This damn dog, why is it so smelly!” I grimaced in disgust.

“This dog was raised on human flesh when it was a pup,” Uncle Samuel said. “That’s a corpse cave. No wonder we have to wait for the right time to cross. That boatman, I bet when he was a kid…”

“No way!” I was so scared my hair stood on end. Even the silent young guy’s face changed at those words.

My Uncle Samuel’s other guy is a big fellow—we call him Quentin Clark. He’s as big as a cart-pulling ox, but actually pretty timid. He asked quietly, “What exactly is a corpse cave? Will something happen if we go in?”

“No idea. A few years ago, I found a cave like this in Taiyuan, Shanxi. That was a place where the Japanese massacred people and piled up the bodies. Anywhere there’s a corpse cave, there’s always been a massacre, that’s for sure. Back then, I thought it was interesting, so I did an experiment—put dogs and ducks on a bamboo raft, set up a camera, and pushed it in. The cave was just over a kilometer long, so I prepared a long enough cable. But when the cable ran out, the raft still hadn’t come out, and it was pitch black inside. No idea where it drifted to. Later, I tried to pull the raft back, but after a few tugs, it suddenly flipped over, and then…” Uncle Samuel spread his hands. “In the end, I only saw half a face, but it was so close to the screen I couldn’t tell if it was a dog or something else. To cross a cave like this, in ancient times they’d send a line of dead and living people together. If it’s a living thing, it won’t come out! But I heard that in Shanxi, there’s a place where people feed kids human flesh from a young age, so the corpse energy builds up in their bodies. When they grow up, they’re just like the dead—even ghosts can’t see them. Old man, is your boatman from Shanxi?”

The old man’s expression changed slightly. He shook his head. “No idea, that was his great-grandfather’s time, not even the same generation.” As he spoke, he glanced at the sky and called to the dog, “Danny Clark, go fetch your family’s boat!” The dog let out a whimper, jumped into the water, and swam off toward the back of the mountain.