The serene mountain forest was alive with birdsong and floral fragrance, while the cool air by the mountain stream brought soothing comfort.

A group of people bustled about, cheerfully assembling tents and building a campsite. This was a privately organized camping trip by company colleagues - naturally all youngsters, as carrying tents and equipment for mountain trekking proved too strenuous for older members.

Though initially hoping for company-sponsored camping, the employees opted for self-organization this year. Tired of the annual tour-bus trips with guides, they entrusted several outdoors-experienced colleagues to lead this mountain expedition.

Ji Yuan, with his raven-black hair intact after two years at the software company, naturally fell into the youth category. Having finished tent setup, he was now mobile-gaming with a colleague.

"Ji Yuan! Ji Yuan! Give me the ult! Give me the ult!!!! Ah!! I'm dead!"

"What's the point feeding you? You'd die in two seconds anyway. Should've kept it myself to escape. Now we've gifted them a double kill bot!"

"My bad! Next round you play ADC, I'll support!"

"No thanks, I'd rather get a random support."

Despite their mountain surroundings, the cell tower visible on distant peaks ensured smooth gaming with minimal latency as they hunched over their phones.

Though signal-dead zones still existed in China, most had grown accustomed to ubiquitous connectivity - this infrastructure confidence made people forget about signals altogether.

Their tents stood on a relatively flat hillock beside a crystalline stream - perfect wilderness camping grounds.

Of the dozen-strong group, most were busy photographing the scenery while others adjusted tents. Only Wang Gang, Ji Yuan, and Li Jun seemed unoccupied.

Wang Gang surveyed the campsite while preparing stone blocks for a barbecue pit. Spotting the two idlers, he barked: "Ji Yuan, Da Jun! Quit gaming and gather firewood! Unless you want cold canned food for lunch!"

The shout came from a colleague further away. "Got it!!" "Alright!" came their synchronized replies.

Exchanging wry glances after being flamed by teammates, Li Jun and Ji Yuan quit the game without ceremony.

They rose and headed towards adjacent woodland, entering denser canopy shadows.

Dead branches littered the mountain woods. Li Jun dragged a large bough while brandishing it like a staff, shouting "Hya! Hah!" - appearing utterly foolish to Ji Yuan.

Fearing contagion of idiocy or accidental strikes from Li's "mad demon" staff techniques, Ji Yuan quickly distanced himself.

Like most contemporary youths, Ji Yuan belonged to China's one-child generation - though his grandfather had numerous siblings, and his father (while an only son) had several sisters.

Perhaps scarcity bred preciousness. The Ji family's naming tradition evolved from blunt appellations like "Golden Flower" or "National Prosperity" to poetic refinement. Consulting a feng shui master uncle, the grandfather settled on the single-character name "Yuan" (缘 - destiny's thread), much to the family's delight.

"Ah! Mountain air truly refreshes! Scenic spots like this are where travel belongs!"

Ji Yuan mused aloud, opting to stroll through the woods first rather than immediately collect firewood - planning to gather branches on his return for efficiency.

After barely a minute's wandering, Ji Yuan stumbled upon several colossal trees whose girth dwarfed surrounding timber by magnitudes.

"Da Jun! Come see these giant trees!!" Ji Yuan shouted towards the staff-wielder. Receiving no response beyond continued whooshing sounds, he resolved to investigate alone first.

At closer range, the trees' majesty became overwhelming. The outermost specimen's exposed roots formed thigh-thick serpentine patterns across the forest floor.

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Whoa! Such ancient trees exist here? Though Ox-Head Mountain wasn't famous, its picnic-going visitors should've made these arboreal giants social media stars.

Dismissing the thought, Ji Yuan rounded the trunk to its obscured side. "Huh?!"

His exclamation echoed through the clearing. Beyond more ancient trees stood a tree stump serving as chessboard pedestal amidst the giants.

Compelled forward, Ji Yuan reached the stump. No warning signs or players accompanied the chess set.

Black and white stones intersected in classic weiqi patterns - the black formations resembling battle arrays, white stones coiling like dragons frozen mid-game.

Could this be tourism development? Yet the board lay buried under decaying leaves and bird droppings - clearly untouched for ages, whether as art installation or abandoned game.

His gaze then caught something peculiar behind the chessboard - a severely corroded object swollen with rust beside an ancient tree.

Approaching, Ji Yuan discerned what might've been an axe - now monstrously rusted. Wait! Could this be... the legendary Rotten Axe Chess Game?!

The notion amused him, yet the setup's verisimilitude piqued his curiosity.

Returning to the board, the amateur player suddenly perceived flaws in white's dragon formation - a missing connection point left it vulnerable amidst black's chaotic encirclement.

Compelled by obsessive discomfort at the incomplete dragon, Ji Yuan's eyes darted to wooden stone containers. Almost involuntarily, he reached for a white stone.

The piece felt paradoxically metallic yet ceramic. After furtive glances, he placed it on the central intersection - the weiqi "Tian Yuan" (Celestial Pivot).

"There! Finally looks right!"

Brushing his hands, Ji Yuan retrieved his phone to document the discovery before summoning others.

But repeated button presses yielded no response. "What the hell? Out of battery?!"

The device remained dead despite charging attempts, briefly vibrating before dying again.

Though at 80% battery earlier, it had mysteriously drained.

Seeing no sign of staff-wielding Li Jun, Ji Yuan resolved to fetch his power bank.

But within paces, he noticed the oddly dimming sky.

Minutes later, confusion struck - the familiar stream and hillock remained, but the campsite had vanished.

No colleagues. No tents. What sorcery was this?

Not April Fools', and dismantling the laboriously built camp made no sense.

Spotting two uniformed figures resting by the stream, Ji Yuan approached urgently.

"Excuse me! Did you see where the campers went? We just set up!"

The men startled violently, turning to gape at the seemingly materialized speaker.

"Camping? Recently?" One instinctively replied. "Ox-Head's had no campers lately - everyone's searching for a missing person."

"Huh?" Ji Yuan's confusion deepened. "Someone's missing here?"

They'd checked safety reports before coming - clear weather, no incidents.

"A Ji Yuan vanished fortnight ago during company camping. Wait, who are you with? Didn't hear about the search?"

As rescuers scrutinized his familiar features, Ji Yuan froze at hearing his own name.

Missing? Myself? Half a month?

First came disbelief, then creeping unease.

Before he could speak, violent vertigo struck.

Darkness swallowed his vision. His legs buckled as debilitating weakness overwhelmed him.

His body withered visibly, lips cracking like sun-baked clay.

"Sir?! What's wrong? Careful!!"

"Support him! Support him!!"

"Emergency!!! Call reinforcements!!!"

Ji Yuan's final earthly sounds were the rescuers' distant-sounding exclamations.