“I’m not worried about them at all. Everything is going well.”

“Yes, Kay is the kind of woman who continually gets happiness.”

In the place next to the tofu shop, three men in black invited Mrs. Yi and her husband to the top of Blue Mountain to “discuss matters of vital importance.” They also gave Mrs. Yi a map of Blue Mountain, and told the couple to follow the map after getting off the bus. After they left, Mrs. Yi and her husband stood there for a long time reading the map. The map didn’t show any mountains, but only a few tangled dotted lines and black dots, and neither of them could guess what the pattern meant.

“Is this some kind of humor?” she said, laughing.

After going home to pack food, water, and flashlights, they set off on the long journey.

Sitting on the bus, Mr. Yi appeared very nervous, while his wife was calmly enjoying the scenery outside the window. They exchanged a word or two now and then.

“It’s getting dark,” the husband said.

“It may rain. Or maybe not,” said Mrs. Yi.

“It’s hard to climb a mountain on a rainy day.”

“Once we reach the foot of the mountain, we should be able to climb it. Isn’t there a shortcut?”

“Oh, I forgot about that. I can’t wait to get there,” Mr. Yi said.

Before long, the bus stopped at the foot of a mountain. Mrs. Yi and her husband knew this wasn’t Blue Mountain, yet all the passengers got off the bus.

“Don’t you want to get off?” the driver asked.

“We’re going to Blue Mountain. Can we get there from here?” Mrs. Yi asked.

“Sure, it’s just the same. Didn’t you notice that it’s raining? There’s a pavilion ahead where you can shelter from the rain.”

A heavy rain was falling. As if escaping from a disaster, the couple dashed to the pavilion at the foot of the mountain. A man was sprawled asleep on the ground in the middle of the small pavilion, so Mrs. Yi and her husband could only huddle at the edge. Whenever the wind blew, the rain drifted over to them. Mr. Yi squatted down and tried to wake the man up, but the man was still sound asleep. Fortunately, the rain didn’t last long, and suddenly the dark clouds dispersed. They heard people making a lot of noise.

The man yawned and sat up. He looked at them for a few seconds and suddenly laughed.

“You two,” he said, “have heard the noise, and you’re not following it?”

Mr. Yi blanched. Taking Mrs. Yi’s arm, he scurried out. But the crowd in front—about a dozen people—moved faster and disappeared into the mountains. Mrs. Yi noticed that she and her husband were on an indistinct path spiraling up the mountain. She wondered if they should choose a direction. When she looked around, roads seemed to be everywhere, but she couldn’t be sure that they were really roads.