Chapter 19
That Xie Min was able to find these bleached bones under the yellow mud was entirely accidental, but also fortunate.
She had been on the run in the mountains for 2 days. If it were not for her adaptable nature and tenacious persistence, she would not have been able to hold on for so long, and would have been captured by the police much earlier. However, she also knew that the police net was being drawn tighter and tighter. If she were unable to find Tong Sheng before then, and since the police had no evidence to convict Yao Yuange, she might never have this opportunity again.
She had to find her daughter even at the risk of her life!
That evening, for some unknown reason, she had ventured to the area near Sanqing San (Mount Sanqing)*. She didn’t know whether it was some mysterious force which had drawn her there, or mere coincidence. However, when she saw those three big characters, ‘San Qing San’, she had been struck by a sudden realisation. Thereafter, she had climbed up the slopes like a madwoman, searching, always searching.
*(T/N 三清山 Mount Sanqing is a sacred Taoist mountain located in Jianxi Province. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sanqing for more details)
Later, when she had reached this slope, she saw the bare patch of land which was quite sparsely covered with dead leaves.
All these years, due to her search for Tong Sheng, she had tried everything, and had also watched numerous investigative documentaries. When many people dump dead bodies in the wilderness, they would first dig up the soil, bury the body, then cover it with soil. The result would be a patch of land which would look relatively fresher than its surroundings, as well as more neatly arranged, revealing clear signs of something having been buried there.
She knelt down and touched that patch of soil with fingers that were already heavily calloused and bruised.
Then, she began to dig. She used the crude branches near her, as well as her own hands.