"For us, if we were just visiting an ordinary mountain village, renting a bus would’ve sufficed; and yet, we’ve gone through great lengths to find five off-road vehicles. It’s clear that the place we’re heading to must lack proper roads, at least not any decent ones. It seems the situation there is much worse than I had anticipated."
Hearing your words, the driver, who had been wearing sunglasses and driving all along, couldn’t help but laugh, "Young man, growing up in a big city from childhood, you might find it a bit hard to adjust to the countryside, right?"
"It’s not that I can’t adjust, it’s just... never mind, forget it."
Originally, you thought that if it were just an ordinary mountain village with residents, it would an that the place might simply hold so relics; but if it were a deserted place, then the mysteries within would run much deeper.
Looking up at the towering mountains that were drawing ever closer, for so reason, you felt an increasingly heavy sense of burden.
Just as you expected, the vehicle quickly hit the mountain road.
At first, the Students of the Eastern Sea in the lead could be heard shrieking with excitent due to the thrilling mountain paths, but after more than an hour, the road beca rougher and the off-road vehicles’ capabilities were finally put to the test.
The road went from cent to asphalt, then from asphalt to gravel, and finally transford into the bumpy mountain path that lay before you now.
The off-road vehicles’ speed gradually decreased, and the slower the car moved, the heavier your heart beca, knowing that the place they were heading to was completely uninhabited. Conducting an excavation in such a place was undoubtedly very difficult.
After bumping along the mountain road for nearly two and a half hours, the vehicles finally ca to a slow stop in a relatively flat hollow.
Before even getting out of the car, you couldn’t help but cover your head.
When you first heard about Gourd Mountain Zhao Family Ditch, you thought it would at least be a village, but now upon seeing it, this was no village at all – it was a ruin! A ruin that had been desolate for at least a hundred years!
So of the ruined houses still retained their shape, but they were covered in climbing vines, surrounded by overgrown weeds, and most bizarre of all, near the entrance of the village, not far from where you parked, there grew an ancient locust tree, at least a hundred years old!
Locust tree, locust tree.
The character for locust, when broken down, is composed of ’ghost’ and ’wood’; the ancient people of China had a reason for every character they created. The locust tree is one of the five Yin trees, thus there’s a saying, "Don’t plant locust trees in front, nor mulberries at the back." Locust trees are usually not planted in front of villages and hos, yet this village had done just that, and right at the head of it.
Seeing you continuously staring at the old locust tree, Du Xishan smiled and said, "This old locust tree must be at least a hundred years old."
"Lao Du, how long has this village been abandoned?"
Seeing your usually playful and smiling deanor turn somber, Du Xishan spoke earnestly, "Old Sun must’ve investigated this, let call him over."
Soon enough, Du Xishan brought Sun Lin over.
Sun Lin asked you, "Little Li, what’s wrong?"
"Professor Sun, I was wondering how long the Zhao Family Gully has been abandoned?"
After thinking for a mont, Sun Lin said, "About a hundred years or so. It’s said that the water sources here dried up back then, and the villagers had to leave this place they relied on for survival."
"So this old locust tree must’ve been planted when they left."
Sun Lin stepped up and deliberately walked around the old locust tree, then nodded at you, "That’s right, this old locust tree should have been planted when they left; the timing matches perfectly."
"Professor, what are you two discussing?"
It was that Xu Junjie again, the little brat from Eastern Sea with a mind as tricky as his backside. He now sauntered over with his hands in his pockets.
Xu Junjie squinted his narrow eyes at you, then addressed Sun Lin, "Professor, it’s getting late. Why don’t we set up camp here? This big tree is good, it can provide shelter from wind and rain."
"No," you imdiately objected, "we must be at least seventy ters away from this locust tree."
"Oh my, oh my, this student, you wouldn’t be trying to convince , a follower of the Catholic doctrine, to believe in the ghost stories you use to pick up girls and scare people, would you?" Xu Junjie walked over to the locust tree and, with a condescending air, said to you, "Co on, that old trick is so out of date. You really should co up with sothing new."
As he spoke, Xu Junjie turned around and kicked the lush, old locust tree.
Just as his foot had landed, the old locust tree suddenly trembled all over, and imdiately after, a large mass of black matter along with clumps of fallen leaves dropped down on him from above.
This sudden onslaught made Xu Junjie emit a shrill scream akin to that of a woman being miserably wronged!
Amid the plethora of falling leaves, he wrapped his arms around his head, squatting on the ground and screaming non-stop, howling for help, "Save ! Save ! Don’t eat , don’t eat , I’ll give you money, lots of money!"
You shook your head slightly and turned away from the man, fetching the package from the off-road vehicle.
You glanced at Fan Yi and said to her, "Let’s go set up the tent."
"Okay."
Fan Yi nodded.
Although the true nature of this abandoned village wasn’t yet apparent, you always trusted your instincts.
Similarly, Du Xishan also felt sothing was off about this place. After consulting with Sun Lin, everyone pitched their tents about a hundred ters away from the village, in a relatively flat area, and there was a clear stream nearby, convenient for washing and boiling water.
Five off-road vehicles had returned before nightfall. Fortunately, since there were many people in the expedition team, no one felt lonely, even deep in the mountains.
For many of the students from the Archaeology Departnt of Eastern Sea University, this was more like a camping trip.
"What’s the matter, sothing on your mind?"
Seeing you sitting alone on a large rock at the edge of the campsite, looking up at the setting sun gradually dipping behind the mountains, Du Xishan walked over with a roasted chicken leg and handed it to you.
You didn’t stand on ceremony and started nibbling on the chicken leg right away.
"Lao Du, do you ever get a feeling,"
"What kind of feeling?"
"A feeling of being watched."
Hearing this, Du Xishan was startled. Just as he was about to look around, you quickly whispered, "Don’t move, no need to look intentionally now because they are very well-hidden. We can’t find them at all."
"Are you sure there’s soone lurking around watching us?"
"Yeah, even though they’re well-hidden, I still caught on."
If you told soone that with the Magic Seal activated your left eye could see clearly a font size of one milliter from a kiloter away, anyone would say you were bluffing.
Of course, this was your secret, and you would never share it with anyone else.
"Well, in that case, let’s call the police and get them involved."
"No, let’s not rush into action," you and Du Xishan tried to appear as if you were just making casual conversation, keeping your expressions relaxed and occasionally breaking into smiles, "We still don’t know what these people are after. They wouldn’t be tracking us or, I should say, surveilling us for no reason. They must want sothing, and I have a feeling it might have to do with Shitou Zhang’s death."
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