Xian Qianling swept a glance over the crowd and asked, "What exactly are you guys going to do in Wu Village? Don’t you know that the place is already sealed off by the police?"
Zong Wangyue shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, don’t ask , I simply take money and get the job done, Little Jin was dragged along by ."
"What about you, Xu Jiao?"
Yuhang’s upper-class circle wasn’t large, many of the young masters and mistresses intersected with one another to so extent, and Xian Qianling had t Xu Jiao early on. Although they were not too familiar with each other, they still had so understanding of one another.
Xian Qianling did not know that all along, she had been Xu Jiao’s idol.
Her decisive and direct way of doing things, and her temperant of acting without hesitation, had always been regarded as the gold standard by Xu Jiao.
In front of Xian Qianling, Xu Jiao would not hide herself, and spoke very directly, "I like Hu Jiahui and want to use this journey to change his opinion of . I don’t expect him to like as I do him, I just want us to be no longer strangers, to get more of his attention."
"Little Hu, what about you?"
Xian Qianling mimicked Zong Wangyue’s tone and looked at Hu Jiahui.
Hu Jiahui seed hesitant. After glancing at Zhang Hua a few tis, he finally mustered the courage to say, "I ca to protect Zhang Hua."
"A love triangle, huh?" Xian Qianling was interested as she looked at Zhang Hua and asked, "And you?"
"I’m going ho." Zhang Hua smiled faintly, her smile pure and innocent, as transparent as the spring water by the mountainside.
Xian Qianling was startled and then suddenly said, "Right, your surna is Zhang, there seem to be many people with the surna Zhang in Wu Village!"
Zhang Hua nodded slightly.
"Alright, let’s keep going."
It was ti, so you imdiately stood up, shouldered your backpack, and walked forward.
After another hour’s walk, inexplicably, the clear skies had begun to turn overcast, and the wind started to rise in the forest; branches swayed and rustled.
At this mont, Jin Qi quickly stepped up to your side and whispered, "President, Wu Village should be just ahead. I suddenly have a bad feeling."
Jin Qi’s feeling was not wrong. You had sensed it even before the wind started to blow—not only Wu Village ahead but also the forest you were in was enveloped in a strange atmosphere.
It seed that Wu Village must be hiding so astonishing secret.
"Zongzi."
"Yes?"
Once you called him, Zong Wangyue scurried over enthusiastically.
"Boss, what do you need?"
You took out eight Talisman Block Thousand Paper Cranes you had folded earlier in the car from your backpack and handed them to Zong Wangyue – "One for each person, the old rule, carry it on your person."
Xian Qianling toyed with the Thousand Paper Cranes in her hand for a mont and said with a smile, "I didn’t expect your craftsmanship to be quite good."
"Stop playing with it. This is not a toy; it’s sothing that can save your life."
Hearing you say this, the crazy woman couldn’t help but lean over, grinning, "Hey, fold another one."
"Why do you want another one?"
"Just like you said, one for a critical mont to save my life, and another one for a keepsake."
"In mory of your brother-in-law." You imdiately rolled your eyes at that, too lazy to bother with this foolish woman!
After that was a continuous uphill path, and after crossing over a mountain, you finally saw the houses.
"Wow, so this is Wu Village. It’s much bigger than I imagined," Zong Wangyue exclaid in admiration as he stood on the hillside looking at the village ahead.
Indeed, compared to ordinary villages, Wu Village was much larger in both scale and population.
From your angle, the houses of Wu Village seed to be hidden among the branches and leaves. Most of the villagers’ hos were built along the mountain slope, showing an orderly scattered arrangent.
Zhang Hua, who had been quiet the whole ti, suddenly said, "Wu Village is actually made up of four villages, each one a family clan, and we all worship the sa divine spirit."
"You guys still believe in gods here? Don’t tell there’s a worship ceremony every so often?"
Zhang Hua nodded with a smile, "You guessed right. The reason why I’m in a hurry to get back is that tomorrow is the village’s worship ceremony that takes place once every forty-four years."
"Oh ho, seems like we really ca at the right ti!" Zong Wangyue imdiately bead with joy upon hearing there was sothing fun to be had.
Hearing this, Xian Qianling turned to look at you and asked, "Could these two be related?"
You glanced at Wu Village and nodded, "They should be, but so investigation will need to be done."
"Boss, we’re heading off first!"
While you and Xian Qianling were talking, Zong Wangyue and the other six had already started jogging towards Wu Village.
Ignoring the seven of them, you said to Xian Qianling, "How are those delirious hikers doing?"
"I called the hospital this morning before setting off. They said their emotions had stabilized a bit. But that’s about it; they just weren’t screaming or causing a ruckus. They’re still on the verge of collapse, though—any ti a stranger cos into their field of vision, they go berserk, as if severely triggered," Xian Qianling said, then turned the question back to you, "Is there really sothing unclean on this mountain?"
You shook your head, "It’s not certain yet. But one thing is sure: if we exclude the possibility of those hikers being poisoned, then it can only an there must be sothing frightening hidden on this mountain of Wu Village."
"Looks like we’ll have to go deeper into the mountain to investigate."
"Mhm." You turned your head to look at the mountain range behind Wu Village and noticed that one of the peaks was not only steep but also enveloped in a strange aura.
"Let’s go. First, let’s go down and understand the situation, with the goal of entering the mountain by noon and coming back before evening."
Xian Qianling nodded. In this regard, she had unwavering trust in you.
When you entered the village, you found people of all ages sitting at their doorsteps busying themselves; all their faces were serious, even the naked children sitting on the ground playing with mud weren’t crying or fussing.
At that mont, Zong Wangyue and the others were talking to a middle-aged man. As you approached, the man waved his hand and turned away with an unhappy expression.
"What’s going on?"
You asked Zong Wangyue.
Zong Wangyue shrugged, "Before coming here, Zhang Hua ntioned that Witch God Peak has many beautiful sights and a clear, beautiful mountain lake. We were planning to camp by the lake, but the village chief said today is ’Mountain Retention Day.’"
"Mountain Retention Day? What does that an?" Xian Qianling asked.
You both looked at Zhang Hua, who said impassively, "Mountain Retention Day is the day when the Mountain God counts the trees. No one is allowed into the mountain."
"What does the Mountain God counting trees have to do with us?" Zong Wangyue asked, puzzled.
"Because, like trees, people are children of the Mountain God. Once a person enters the mountain, the Mountain God considers them a tree and traps them inside the mountain, and they can never leave."
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