The mountain forest at night was heavy with humidity, and the grass and trees were covered in dew. Before long, I felt my clothes were soaked by the dew.
After walking for about half an hour, we arrived at the entrance of a tiled house. Mao Dadan told us that according to the rules, only one of us three could go to "eat the feast," while the others had to wait here.
Song Bing glanced at me, seemingly asking for my opinion.
As it was my first time attending such a feast, I was quite curious and wanted to experience it, but at the same time, I was a little worried.
After all, compared to Song Bing, I was utterly defenseless. If anything happened, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to handle it.
"How far is the place where we eat the feast from here?" Song Bing asked.
Mao Dadan replied, "Not far, just about ten li."
Song Bing came up to me and slipped a bag into my hand. "Young Brother Xiang, if you want to go, then go. We'll wait for you here."
I felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation. It seemed Song Bing had seen through my desire to join the excitement.
He added, "When it comes to antiques, I don't understand them as well as you do, so it's more appropriate for you to go."
His words made it sound almost as if I had to go.
I said, "Alright then, I'll go take a look."
After the decision was made, Mao Dadan didn't accompany me. Instead, he handed me over to the person who was guiding me.
As I followed that person into the mountain forest, I reached back and felt the bag Song Bing had given me.
Inside was a dagger, already sharpened and wrapped in cowhide.
With this item, I felt much more at ease.
Next, I took out my phone and checked it. The battery still had more than half left, but the signal was a bit weak.
A weak signal was better than no signal at all. I believed that as long as I called Song Bing, he would come looking for me without a second thought.
After following the person for over forty minutes, we didn't rest along the way, and he didn't speak.
The shadows of the trees in the forest were dappled, and from time to time, there were rustling sounds. I didn't know if it was pheasants or something else, which made it quite eerie.
Soon, we passed through a small path, and I saw some firelight not far ahead.
When I got closer, I saw clearly that five people were sitting around a bonfire. Their attire varied; some looked like fishermen, while others appeared to be businessmen.
If I guessed correctly, these five people were also here to "eat the feast."
Not far from the bonfire was a tomb-robbing hole, with a lot of soil piled up beside it, suggesting it had been dug out not long ago.
The guide arranged me by the bonfire, then went to the entrance of the tomb-robbing hole and shouted something inside. Soon, a bearded man emerged from the hole.
It was hard to tell the man's age. He had a pair of triangular eyes. Perhaps due to years of grave robbing, he exuded a somber aura.
"Are we all here?" the bearded man asked.
Everyone looked at each other. The bearded man took out a piece of paper from his pocket and said, "Those whose names are called, please respond."
Then he began to read out names, but they weren't real names, but rather code names.
When we were coming, Song Bing had told me that his code name for paying the deposit was Pigeon.
After confirming that everyone was present, the bearded man walked over with a kettle and handed each of us a porcelain cup. "It's quite cold in the mountains. Please have some hot tea first. I've just checked, and the opening of the tomb will still take some time."
"How much longer? It's almost dawn. Are we going to wait until morning to start the feast?" a middle-aged man with a receding hairline asked impatiently.
"That's how these feasts are. We can't control the time. It mainly depends on the host. We're just the waiters," the bearded man replied.
The "host" he mentioned was the tomb owner. Grave robbers called themselves "waiters."
What he meant was that when entering a tomb to retrieve items, the time was not controlled by them, and the situation was unpredictable, let alone the exact time.
"What's the background of this host?" someone asked.
"He should be an official from the Song Dynasty," the bearded man replied.
"The Song Dynasty? Then it's worth waiting," the receding-haired man's tone changed.
Soon, the bearded man poured some hot water into each of our porcelain cups. The tea was loose-leaf and not particularly good, but drinking hot tea in the cold weather was indeed warming.
After a few sips, I placed my porcelain cup on the ground beside me and started squatting by the bonfire to warm myself.
"Friend, I see it's your first time attending a feast, isn't it?" a voice sounded beside me.
I turned and looked. I saw a fellow who looked not much older than me. He was wearing a leather jacket, casual pants, and a pair of high-top leather boots.
"I've attended a few times before."
I didn't want to reveal myself, so I casually lied.
He smiled and handed me a cigarette. I took it, roasted it over the bonfire, and took a puff using a burning branch.
He said, "Your clothes and pants are wet from the journey. Clearly, you weren't prepared."
Saying this, he pointed to not far away. I looked over and saw several raincoats placed there.
At that moment, I realized with sudden clarity that these guys were indeed well-prepared.
"When entering the forest at night, there's bound to be some dew. Anyone who comes to a feast usually prepares a little," he said.
I gave a wry smile. "I've learned my lesson. May I ask for your name?"
He shook his head helplessly. "You still say it's not your first time... The rule for attending feasts is not to ask for the names of those present. That's a major taboo."
Hearing this, I remembered that there was indeed such a rule.
I gave an embarrassed smile.
"It's much luckier for you to attend a Song Dynasty feast on your first try. When I attended my first feast, I got a worthless item. Not only did I lose a lot of money, but I almost lost a person as well," he said with a smile.
"Just now, I heard the waiter call out names. Your code name is Pigeon, right?" he asked again.
I nodded, remembering his code name. He seemed to be called "Owl."
"See, among the six of us, only you and I have wings. The others are all crawling on the ground," Owl said.
When I thought about it carefully, it was true. I was Pigeon, and he was Owl. The other four were called Wild Boar, Donkey, and the remaining two were Elk and Long Worm.
"This can be considered a connection," Owl said with a smile. "How about this, if you're unsure about something later, you can ask me. I can take a look for you."
I thought this fellow was quite interesting. If even I couldn't be sure about an item, you would probably have a hard time.
I cupped my hands in greeting. "Then thank you very much."
He smiled. "It's nothing. I just feel a special affinity when I see you, as if I'm seeing my past self."
My past self?
I scrutinized this guy. He was only a year or two older than me, so why was he acting like an elder?
After about ten minutes, a voice suddenly came from the tomb-robbing hole. The bearded man went to the entrance to look, his expression lit up, and he turned to us saying, "Gentlemen, you're in for a treat. Today's feast has a main dish!"