Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The tour guide was going to spend the night here, setting up tents and lighting a bonfire. After dinner, we would have a campfire party. The temperature here was quite low, especially at night, and it dropped significantly, likely due to the high altitude and proximity to the mountains.
As I took in the beautiful scenery, I suddenly felt that Stone Cheng wasn't so unbearable after all. I helped Liu Yiyi set up her tent and suggested that we could sleep together for company.
Of course, Liu Yiyi refused.
The others from the company were also having a relaxed time. Liu Yiyi had formed this new company herself, and the management team was relatively young; the oldest among them was only about thirty-five, with most under thirty.
Everyone was busy, which indeed helped strengthen our bonds. The tour guide didn't engage us in silly games like singing or playing tricks; instead, he encouraged everyone to share stories.
The first night ended perfectly, and we continued deeper into the mountains on the second day, where the scenery became even more beautiful.
Originally, this trip should have been quite perfect, but on the second night, while we were setting up tents and cooking around the bonfire, Liu Yiyi suddenly asked while eating the fish I had grilled for her, "Hey, where did Zhao Yin and Yuan Chao go?"
At her question, everyone else fell silent. I looked around and indeed couldn't see those two. It was getting dark; surely nothing had happened to them?
Liu Yiyi picked up her phone to call them. I said, "Don't bother; there's no signal here at all. We can only search for them. Did anyone see which direction they went?"
Zhou Ruyun stood up and said, "Liu Zong, Brother Song, I saw them this afternoon. They were holding hands and walked over that way towards a field. They went to dig some taro; I don't know if there’s any left in the ground now."
Taking advantage of the fading light, I got up to look in the direction Zhou Ruyun pointed out. Through the thin mist, there were indeed several terraced fields, and further back was a village known as Village.
I frowned slightly. "Do you think they went into that Village?"
Stone Cheng and the tour guide stood up as well. Stone Cheng checked the time and said, "It's still an hour until dark. It's really hard to navigate these mountains once it gets dark. How about this: Liu Zong, I'll go with you to that Village to look for them."
Liu Yiyi hesitated; she wanted to refuse but felt awkward saying so. I quickly interjected, "Mr. Shi, Liu Yiyi is exhausted from today. If we try to catch wild chickens in the mountains and fail, we'll be completely worn out. Time is tight; Mr. Shi can go with your staff alone. Bringing Liu Yiyi along might not allow enough time to return."
Liu Yiyi nodded immediately, saying, "Mr. Shi, thank you for your concern. I should be responsible for my employees' safety, but I'm just so exhausted."
Stone Cheng had no choice but to agree. He and his employee headed towards the village on the other side of the hill.
At that moment, none of us took it seriously. The mountain scenery was beautiful, and looking out, there seemed to be no danger at all. I figured Zhao Yin and her boyfriend were probably caught up in some activity and lost track of time, or perhaps they were being warmly hosted by the Tujia people.
The ethnic minorities were indeed quite hospitable, as long as you didn't violate their taboos.
Moreover, there were rumors that the Miao people were skilled in witchcraft, but it wasn't as terrifying as it sounded. They simply had a richer variety of herbal medicine, and many Miao doctors were adept at using insects and snakes for healing, which only amplified the tales of witchcraft. While there were indeed witch doctors, they were quite rare. As for the Tujia people, they were even more welcoming. So overall, there wasn't much danger here.
Stone Cheng and his employee went to look for Zhao Yin while we stayed behind to continue eating.
An hour passed, and we had all set up our tents, but Stone Cheng and his group still hadn't returned.
I frowned; once it got completely dark, this place wouldn't be very safe. After all, we were in the mountains! It wasn't just the possibility of wild animals lurking about; the mountain paths themselves were difficult to navigate.
"Song Fei, why haven't they come back yet? What if something happened?" Liu Yiyi leaned against me, looking somewhat worried.
I replied, "They should be fine. Let's wait here; worrying won't help now that it's dark. We can't go out looking for them either; that would only make things more chaotic. How about we keep the bonfire going? If they return, they'll be able to see us."
"Okay." Liu Yiyi instructed someone to continue gathering firewood.
Another two hours passed, and it was completely dark, yet no one had returned. At this point, we all felt something was wrong.
"What should we do?" Liu Yiyi looked at me, and then all of her company's employees turned their gazes toward me.
In that moment, I felt a bit overwhelmed.
After thinking carefully, I could only suggest, "Let's wait. Everyone should try to get some sleep. Tonight we'll have three people keep watch by the campfire—one to ensure the fire doesn't go out and another to listen for any sounds outside. At this point, we need to stay calm; we can't let things spiral out of control like in a movie where everyone ends up lost."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
I said, "Arrange for someone to keep watch. From nine to midnight, and then from midnight to two, I'll take the last shift until morning. Liu Yiyi, you find someone for the other two shifts."
Liu Yiyi nodded and assigned two men to keep watch.
"Can you handle the majority of the night alone?" Liu Yiyi asked as she sat beside me. "Should I assign another person?"
"No need," I shook my head and smiled at Liu Yiyi. If it were an ordinary person keeping watch during the latter half of the night, I would genuinely be worried. The eerie energy was too heavy before dawn, and in these mountains, I feared something might happen.
With four people mysteriously gone missing this time, I had a bad feeling about it.
Seeing my determination, Liu Yiyi didn't insist further. Everyone was too preoccupied to sing or tell stories; after sitting quietly around the campfire for a while, they returned to their tents.
I lay in my tent, unable to sleep. My phone was useless since there was no internet connection. As I lay there thinking about today's events, I slowly closed my eyes.
New Horizons Travel Company had only recently opened, and perhaps they hadn't done enough preparation work. For instance, during this trip, although their staff had come here to survey the area beforehand to ensure safety and avoid exhaustion-related incidents, they merely walked through without conducting a thorough analysis of the surrounding environment.
What if there was something strange about this place? What if it had once been a massive pit filled with thousands? What if ghosts roamed freely and wolves lurked nearby?
Lost in thought, I eventually drifted off to sleep.
In a daze, I heard someone calling my name, "Song, Song..."
I opened my eyes to see an employee from Liu Yiyi's company rubbing his eyes. He whispered, "Song, it's two o'clock."
I sat up. "Oh, okay. Thanks, Brother Liu. You can go back to sleep; I'll take over."
Brother Liu nodded at me. "I think we should keep watch together; it's really dark here, and being alone is quite frightening—especially in the latter half of the night."
I smiled at Brother Liu. "No need; really. Don't forget what I do. I'm here to deal with ghosts; you should get some rest."
Brother Liu was quite responsible; he nodded at me and then went into his tent to sleep.
I put on a thick coat and sat by the campfire. It was past two in the morning, and to be honest, the humidity was heavy and it was quite cold, especially with the mountain wind blowing; it felt like winter had returned.
I warmed my hands and stoked the fire a bit more.
With nothing else to do, I took out a Traditional Chinese Medicine Book and began flipping through it by the firelight.
After about an hour, I felt my neck getting a bit tired. I tilted my head back, and suddenly, in the distance, a pair of green glowing eyes flickered in the darkness.
"What the hell!"
I instinctively stepped back, and my book slipped from my hands and fell into the campfire.
As I retreated, the book ignited violently, flames shooting up high.
The pair of green eyes in the darkness suddenly vanished.
My scalp tingled as I sat there, not daring to retrieve my book.
What was that? Could it be a wolf?
But wolves usually travel in packs; it shouldn't be one alone. Besides, if it were indeed a pack of wolves, we would be in serious danger.
I stoked the fire even more and grabbed two large sticks to keep nearby. I considered whether I should tie some clothing to one of the sticks to make a torch; that way, if a pack of wolves really did come, I could use fire to drive them away.
I returned to the tent and pulled out my bag. From inside, I retrieved my Glock Pistol. Holding the handgun made me feel a bit more secure. I also took out a piece of cotton clothing and tied it to one end of a stick. After placing that stick in the fire to burn, I fashioned a simple torch. With one hand holding the torch and the other gripping the pistol, I slowly approached the spot where those green eyes had appeared.
To be honest, it would be a lie to say I wasn't scared. While I wasn't afraid of any evil spirits or anything like that, I did fear wolves. As for lions or tigers—well, those were unlikely encounters. A leopard might be possible though.
I cautiously moved closer to where those green eyes had been.
When I got near, I extended the torch forward, wanting to see what was really going on.
Nothing lay ahead.
I swallowed hard and continued to move forward. Under the light of the torch, I noticed that some of the weeds in that area had been flattened.
Sure enough, there was something!
I crouched down and scanned the surroundings; it seemed safe. I then held the torch closer to inspect the flattened grass. It had a distinct pattern, pressed down in a line rather than by four hooves.
Seeing that patch of grass, I immediately understood. It was a snake!
The area where the grass was flattened indicated a snake about as thick as an arm!
Comment 0 Comment Count