love on the turquoise land

Chapter 2

No one died, and a boulder in Yan Heshan's heart fell. He roared with even more vigor, "Damn it."

***

When Lin Xirou came over, she heard Yan Heshan giving a skeptical lecture to the group.

"In the books, it's clear that there are no ghosts in this world. Li'ergou is illiterate; don't any of you know how to read? Where are the ghosts? Call it out, and let me see!"

A newcomer, Zhang Xinzhi, cautiously explained, "We can't call it out; it's said that ghosts exposed to sunlight turn into water."

Oh, being considerate even about ghosts?
Yan Heshan was annoyed, "All of you jabbering on, did you all see it? It's really something. What do ghosts look like?"

Surprisingly, someone answered.

Mao Wang: "Pale, I didn't see it clearly, it disappeared with a swoosh."

Sun Gui: "It makes sounds; I heard humming noises."

Han Defu: "I brought two melons down, and both melons disappeared!"

Yan Heshan sarcastically said, "Even after becoming ghosts, you're still thinking about eating melons?"

Lin Xirou's heart stirred. She pulled Yan Heshan's sleeve and took him aside, "Could it be Li'ergou?"

As a person born in the 1960s, just like Yan Heshan, she received solid Marxist education and always scoffed at supernatural beliefs. When she heard about an anomaly in the mine, her first thought was about a person.

—Li'ergou left in the middle of the night, without taking any clothes, supposedly wearing just a white undershirt and black underwear. "Pale," isn't that describing a white undershirt? In the pitch-dark tunnel, a white shirt would certainly stand out.
—Since Li'ergou couldn't be found anywhere else, what if he hid in the mine tunnel? "Both melons disappeared," there was nothing to eat in the mine; he must have stolen them.

Yan Heshan saw through it instantly and slapped his thigh, "It's him, no one else!"

With a determined mind, he turned around, speaking more firmly, "Alright, I'll go down and check this 'ghost' myself."

Most of the miners were illiterate rough men, challenging them with materialism was difficult. The most effective way was to show them, break this "ghost" under everyone's gaze.

Unfortunately, no one was willing to go down, not even for a reward of twenty yuan.

Better not to have anyone go down, Yan Heshan thought. He reconsidered, feeling that going down alone to drag Li'ergou out would be more imposing. He wanted the miners to see that as a mine owner, he wasn't just for show — establishing authority for future commands.

He sarcastically announced to everyone, "None of you dare? Just wait, and see how I, Yan Ge, bring it out to bask in the sun."

Comparatively tall and imposing, Yan Heshan stood out even more among the downtrodden workers. Lin Xirou felt proud of her man until Yan Heshan's figure was about to disappear into the mine entrance. Only then did she remember to caution him, "Don't use too much force."

Yan Heshan had a history of street fighting in his early years, being tough and ruthless. Lin Xirou feared he might lose control and harm Li'ergou.

***

In a large, well-established coal mine, there are elevators, mine carts, and various facilities. Yan Heshan's mine was smaller, so they kept it simple. They had a few sets of makeshift pulleys at the pit entrance, and everyone used monkey bags hung on the pulleys to move up and down.

The so-called "monkey bags" had two holes at the bottom of a sack. When a person sat inside, their legs dangled out through the holes. Then, through the pulley system, they descended to the bottom of the mine. Due to the low safety factor, everyone had to curl up and try not to move during the entire process, looking somewhat like a silly monkey.

Although it was clearly a bag for lifting people, it was oddly called a "monkey bag."

Yan Heshan greeted the person on duty at the pit entrance, got into a monkey bag, and descended into the mine.

He had taken over this mine from the previous owner. It was second-hand, and the condition he received it in was how it remained. If there was anything special about it, it was its depth — exceptionally deep. Perhaps due to this depth, there were more supernatural rumors circulating about this mine than others. For instance, Li'ergou spread rumors that this mine was the entrance to the eighteen layers of hell. He even confidently claimed to have seen a demon with green face and fangs — complete nonsense. If it were indeed the entrance to hell, why would Yan Heshan bother running a mine?

He could sell tickets for sightseeing; with a population of 1.3 billion in China, he would have plenty of visitors.

Descending to the bottom of the mine, Yan Heshan picked up a pickaxe, took his mining lamp, and entered the intricately woven and complex mine tunnels.

He wasn't familiar with the lower tunnels; it was inevitable. Small coal mines rarely bothered with detailed tunnel maps. Moreover, the randomness of manual mining, occasionally feeling uneasy about a section and fearing a collapse, led to haphazardly reinforcing with a stick and changing positions for further digging. Over time, the mine resembled a chaotic maze, with no visible pattern or remembered paths.

Yan Heshan continued shouting, "Er Gouzi, come out on your own, aim for lenient treatment."

The tunnel was exceptionally dark, with the mining lamp's light flickering, illuminating only a small area the size of a table each time. However, Yan Heshan wasn't afraid at all. Born courageous and indifferent, he found no reason to fear anything. As for ghosts, where in the world do they come from?

After about fifteen minutes of shouting, Yan Heshan's throat was hoarse. No sign of Li'ergou confessing, which frustrated him. Considering another tunnel, he suddenly stepped on something.

It was slippery, causing him to lose his balance unexpectedly. With an "ouch," he slid a few steps and then fell backward, the impact making his vision black out momentarily. The glass cover of the mining lamp cracked in several places.

It took Yan Heshan a good five seconds to recover. Holding the mining lamp, he quickly identified the culprit: a piece of watermelon rind near the stem. No wonder it was so slippery.

"Damn it, who the hell threw this?" Yan Heshan cursed. Just as he was about to get up, he froze.

Not far away, at the end of the dimly lit tunnel, there were a pair of feet, slender and fair. Clearly not a man's feet.

Could there be a woman down in the mine? Subconsciously, Yan Heshan raised the mining lamp higher.

In the pitch-black silhouette, he saw a woman, naked and curled up in the corner, with thick and dense hair covering her face and most of her body. Her eyes, hidden in the disheveled hair, stared at him without blinking.

It's peculiar; these eyes, aside from being brighter, more beautiful, and deeper than the average person's, don't seem particularly special. Yet, the first adjective that popped into Yan Huan's mind, unrelated to brightness, beauty, or depth, was "new."

Clusters of new eyes, unused, like those of a newborn.

Yan Huan stared at these eyes.

He realized he couldn't move.

The woman was crawling toward him.