On the ground were a few clumps of weeds they had trampled earlier.
"What’s going on? Weren’t we just walking straight ahead? How did we end up back here?" a young man with glasses asked in confusion.
"Did we go the wrong way?" another girl whispered.
Guide He’s expression soured, but he held his temper. He only said in a low voice, "This shouldn’t be happening. I’ve walked this path hundreds of times—I could do it with my eyes closed. Let’s try again."
He apologized to Professor Zhou and the others, then once again led the team into the untouched region.
This time, he moved more slowly and deliberately, periodically checking his position against trees, rocks, and other landmarks.
However, five minutes later—
They were back at the boundary entrance once again!
It was as if an invisible circle had trapped them, keeping them near the entrance.
"What is your problem?"
The young man with glasses’s tone turned nasty. He glanced at his watch and then at the nearly identical scenery, growing agitated.
"Are you just leading us around in circles? Our time is valuable!"
"Exactly. Don’t tell me you’re going senile. How can you mess up something as simple as leading the way?"
A slightly chubby young man beside him muttered in agreement. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the silent forest.
Guide He’s expression changed instantly, and his grip on his trekking pole tightened.
"What did you two just say?"
Professor Zhou scolded them sharply. "Apologize to Guide He at once! He has been working in these mountains longer than you’ve been alive! Mind your manners!"
After being yelled at by the professor, the two young men flinched and reluctantly lowered their heads, mumbling a "sorry."
Professor Zhou turned to Guide He and said sincerely, "Guide He, I am truly sorry. These young people can be thoughtless. Please don’t take it to heart."
"It’s nothing."
Guide He waved a hand. His expression remained stern, but his tone softened slightly.
"However... Professor Zhou, something is seriously wrong. I’m certain I didn’t misremember the path. There are no forks here. If we walk in a straight line, it should be impossible to circle back in just five minutes."
He gazed at the seemingly ordinary, yet subtly eerie, primeval forest before them, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"Here’s the plan: you all wait here. I’ll go in alone to check it out. I can move faster by myself, so I’ll see what’s going on."
Hearing this, Professor Zhou, though concerned, knew it was the best solution at the moment.
"In that case... Guide He, please be careful."
Guide He nodded, took a deep breath, and strode into the untouched region alone.
Professor Zhou and the others remained outside the boundary line, watching his figure disappear deep into the forest.
The seconds ticked by.
Four minutes... four and a half... five minutes...
Just as everyone thought Guide He had successfully ventured deeper—
Guide He’s figure emerged once again from the bushes to their front and side!
His face was a mask of confusion and disbelief. He looked at the equally stunned Professor Zhou and the others, opened his mouth, and finally managed a wry smile.
"This is just plain weird..."
"I walked straight the whole time. I didn’t make a single turn. But after a while, I looked up, and there you all were again..."
...
...
The mountain wind rustled through the treetops.
At the boundary line, the members of the research team and Guide He stared at each other. An eerie silence descended upon them.
The confusion on Guide He’s face gradually gave way to an indescribable gravity.
He had been navigating these mountains for almost thirty years. He was familiar with every animal trail, every spring, and even the age of many of the trees.
’Getting lost?’
’For him, that was practically impossible.’
But what had just happened completely overturned his understanding of this place.
"Guide He... what in the world is going on?"
Professor Zhou couldn’t help but ask, a hint of unease in his voice. "Could there be some kind of special magnetic field around here? Or are we all collectively experiencing some kind of spatial disorientation?"
He was trying to find a scientific explanation.
Guide He shook his head, his gaze returning to the primeval forest that looked ordinary but now seemed to hold some kind of invisible barrier.
"A magnetic field? I don’t think so. I’ve been in and out of this area countless times and never run into anything like this."
"Spatial disorientation... It’s impossible for all of us to get it wrong in the exact same way, three times in a row."
He paused, then lowered his voice. "Professor Zhou, to be honest... this feels a bit like what the old-timers call a ’ghost wall.’"
"A ’ghost wall’?"
A young female graduate student repeated the term reflexively, her voice trembling slightly.
"Ahem, that’s just superstitious nonsense."
The young man with glasses cleared his throat, as if trying to dispel the unease creeping into his heart. "If you ask me, it’s probably just that this forest is too dense and the terrain is flat, so there are no clear landmarks. Add to that our own anxiety, and it’s led to a collective misjudgment of our direction."
"Let’s try one more time. This time, we’ll use a compass and a GPS, and we’ll mark the trail at regular intervals!"
He pulled a compass and a handheld GPS device from his backpack.
Guide He glanced at him but didn’t argue. He just said, "Fine. We’ll try again. But... I don’t think it’ll make a difference."
The group got into formation once again.
This time, they were fully prepared.
They switched on the GPS to record their track, used fluorescent marking tape to tag tree trunks along the path, and everyone held a compass, their eyes fixed on the needle.
"Let’s go!"
For the third time, the team stepped into the untouched region.
This time, everyone’s concentration was at its peak.
The sounds of footsteps, breathing, and the occasional beep from their instruments were startlingly clear in the silent forest.
Guide He walked at the very front, each step exceptionally deliberate.
He no longer relied solely on his experience, instead cross-referencing with his compass and the track line on the GPS screen.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes...
The track on the GPS screen showed them moving steadily northwest, now over two hundred meters from the entrance.
"See? We’re not doubling back!"
The man with the glasses smugly brandished the GPS in his hand.
Guide He, however, said nothing, his brow still deeply furrowed.
His gut told him things weren’t that simple.
And sure enough, as they reached the fourth minute, something strange happened again.
Professor Zhou, who was in the middle of the group, suddenly let out a "Huh?" and pointed to a nearby fir tree.
"Didn’t we just mark this tree a moment ago?"
Everyone followed his finger and saw, tied conspicuously around the trunk of the fir tree, a bright, fluorescent orange marker!
"Impossible!"
The man with the glasses cried out, "But our GPS track clearly shows us moving forward..."
He glanced down at the GPS screen, and in the next second, his voice died in his throat.
On the screen, the line representing their path had, at some point, bizarrely connected its start to its end, forming a perfect, closed circle.
And the spot where they now stood was the exact starting point of that circle.
Right back near the entrance!