The light in the cellar was too dim; those two small green lights flashed once and vanished. My head grew hot, and without thinking much, I quickly jumped off the earthen kang, pushed aside the hanging guests dangling before me, and rushed into the gap beside the wall. There, I saw the "Immortal Maiden" that had slipped from our grasp, clinging to the wall with its front paws, peering into the room through a crevice.
The room behind the wall was also a large underground chamber, but instead of hanged people, a row of already stiff Yellow Weasels was suspended there. The legend of Yellow Weasels trading lives with humans has existed for a long time. It is said that Yellow Weasels are part of the Immortal Family, skilled at causing trouble and misfortune for people, or confusing their minds. However, their cultivation is limited; even an Old Yellow Weasel that has cultivated for hundreds of years becoming a spirit is difficult, as spirits in the mountains achieving sentience is not easy. But this so-called "becoming a spirit" is merely gaining sentience over time—for instance, being able to understand human speech or imitate human forms and behaviors. Yet, humans are born human, so even a Yellow Weasel that has become a spirit is still much lower than humans, the spirit of all things. No matter how powerful it is, it cannot easily take a human's life. If it desires someone's life, it must find a Little Yellow Weasel from its clan to hang itself with that person. Many people have heard of such things, but no one can clarify the exact details. Perhaps Yellow Weasels deceive people through a special scent they secrete, which has a hypnotic effect on them.
Yanzi, who grew up in the mountains, knew these things best, followed by Fatty. Before Liberation, Fatty's father had participated in bandit suppression work in the Northeast and knew a lot about the legends of the deep mountain forests there, having told Fatty some of them. Among the three of us, I was the most ignorant; I didn't know much about Yellow Weasels at the time. However, seeing the "Immortal Maiden" lurking suspiciously behind the wall, I knew it was likely up to mischief. I rushed over and caught it. Holding it up by its hind legs, I saw that the wire around its leg was still attached, and its mouth was still stuffed with "Muggles." "Muggles" are a type of wild plant found in the mountains that has an anesthetic effect on the tongue. If you stuff a "Muggle" into a captured beast's mouth, it can't cry out, and its tongue is paralyzed, preventing it from opening its mouth to bite.
Fatty followed me in from behind. I handed the "Immortal Maiden" over to him; this time, I couldn't let the Little Yellow Weasel escape. I looked at the Yellow Weasels hanging in the back room—there were exactly seven. Three of the corpses were still warm, having died not long ago; they must have been the three intending to trade lives with us. The other four corpse bodies were shriveled and hard.
I suddenly remembered something. I turned back to look at the bright little eyes of the "Immortal Maiden" in Fatty's hand, then glanced at the spot where we had just hanged ourselves. I thought that when my mind was confused by the Yellow Weasel, I had stuck my head into the rope loop and blown out the green Ghost Fire in front of me, which saved my life. Thinking back now, that wasn't a Ghost Fire at all, but the Yellow Weasel's eyes. When I blew on it, it blinked, breaking the soul-capturing spell. I couldn't let those thieving eyes open again, so I took out a remaining Sticky Bean Bun, broke off a piece, and glued over the "Immortal Maiden's" eyes. Only then did I feel truly at ease.
In this back room, everything was symmetrical to the front room, including an earthen kang. At the head of the kang was an Ancient Painting. The paper had turned dark yellow, and the colors on the painting were blurry, but one could still make out a human figure dressed in ancient female attire but possessing the face of a Yellow Weasel, exactly like the clay sculpture on the altar table in the temple. This must be the portrait of the Yellow Great Immortal. However, near the Immortal Maiden's feet in the painting, there was also a strangely shaped Box. That part of the image was exceptionally blurry, impossible to make out clearly no matter how long I looked. Local legends say the Yellow Great Immortal has a Box filled with treasures; could this be the box depicted in the painting?
Fatty and I didn't hesitate at all; we immediately began searching through every cabinet and drawer in the room. The Secret room in the cellar beneath the Yellow Great Immortal Temple intentionally mimicked human dwellings but in a very bizarre manner, exuding Evil Aura everywhere. For example, the entire room was divided in two, yet it used completely symmetrical arrangements: one half hung with dead people, the other half hung with dead Weasels from the wooden beams. All these inexplicable things were vastly different from the ordinary. We truly wanted to see what was inside the box, so we had no choice but to Brace ourselves and ignore those details.
But the inner and outer rooms of the cellar were just that small; we had already turned everything over during our search, and there was no sign of any boxes or containers. Fatty and I couldn't help but feel a bit dejected. We heard rustling sounds intermittently from the beams above the ceiling. We shone our Oil Lamps upward; the ceiling of the cellar had several crisscrossing wooden beams, and the dome higher up was riddled with large Holes one after another. I suddenly realized: judging by the direction and distance, this cellar, which slanted down from the Yellow Great Immortal Temple, had reached beneath that large mound of the Yellow Weasel Grave. The things scrambling and making noise above must be some Little Yellow Weasels, and the cold wind in the cellar was also pouring in from the Holes above.
I said to Fatty, "It seems that box definitely contains something good. The four hanging in the outer room were probably people who wanted to dig for treasure but fell into the Yellow Weasel's trap and died in vain. Perhaps they never understood what happened until their deaths. Fortunately, since we captured the Immortal Maiden capable of Demonic Art beforehand and tormented her until she was barely clinging to life, we avoided being killed by her. If we don't take this golden opportunity to find that box and open it, wouldn't that be a waste of this great chance? However, there is one worst-case possibility: that group has other accomplices. They let a Hanged Ghost go first to test the waters, and then they reaped the benefits, digging up that box already. In that case, our excitement would be for nothing."
Fatty said dejectedly, "What good things could possibly be in a box guarded by big and little Yellow Weasels? Could it just be a pile of chicken feathers and bones? Is it worth all this trouble? In my opinion, let's burn this haunted place down and hurry back to eat." Yanzi had long wanted to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible, and she also advised me, "I heard that the box hides something belonging to the Mountain God; mortals who see it will invite disaster. Hasn't the Yellow Great Immortal Temple already been buried by a Landslide? What are you still looking for? Let's hurry back to the Forest Farm."
I listened to the nagging of the two of them, but my mind was constantly turning. After they had mostly finished speaking, I said to them, "Don't let your morale Waver. I remember Yanzi just said that the gold veins in the mountains all belong to the Old Yellow family of the Yellow Great Immortal. I think the most likely thing stored in that box is gold, and..." At this point, I looked around the walls, paused, and continued, "And these four walls in the room are empty; only the inside of the earthen kang could possibly hide a box or container like that."