Chapter 361 Sun Source Ceremony

When Chen Chuan drove to the scene, Ren Shu and his team had already arrived. They also met an officer sent by the Government Affairs Office who was in charge of this matter.

This person heard that Chen Chuan came from the central city and was an executor of the General Administration. He behaved very politely and said that the scene was under good control. It had been blocked by the local security team since the incident was reported, and no one had entered until now.

After talking with him, Chen Chuan asked Ren Shu and others to wait outside, and then he went into the hotel where the expedition team was staying temporarily.

The twelve members of the expedition team were divided into five rooms. The team members lived in four of them, the wealthy businessman who provided the funds had a separate room, and the two security guards lived in one. For the sake of protection, the two rooms were next to each other.

I don't know if it was a coincidence, but twelve years ago, a wealthy businessman also came here with two private security guards and nine expedition members. So when these three people first appeared, no one thought it was wrong.

After all, they all wear goggles, and in the eyes of many people, foreigners all look exactly the same.

If it weren't for the strange incident that happened later, no one would care about what happened to them. After knowing the truth, they would just treat it as a strange story at most.

Chen Chuanxian walked around the rooms of all the missing members of the expedition team and found no signs of the second me becoming empty.

Next, he focused on checking the three people who had turned into dry bones. There was nothing found on the two team members. However, when checking the rich businessman's things, he suddenly felt something was wrong. At this time, the second me showed faint signs of weakness, but this kind of weakness almost did not cause any harm to the human body.

He flipped it over and found that the source of this sign was an amulet, which depicted a statue with folded arms, squatting, wearing bird feathers on its head, and a sun behind it.

He was unsure of the origin of this thing, so he put it aside and checked other objects. However, one thing he found very strange, because there were almost no written records left by the entire expedition.

This is a bit unusual. For an expedition like this, in addition to recording the location, feature type, size, shape and other information of the cave, you must at least record the path and environmental conditions, as well as any noteworthy points. At the very least, you need a map and relevant reference materials.

But now there is nothing. Could it be left in the cave?

He checked carefully again and finally found something unusual on the waterproof bag he was carrying. He turned it over and found a series of swirling patterns inside. An idea came to his mind. He sorted his things out, walked out, and said to the officer:

"I need this personal information, including the information about the expedition team from twelve years ago."

"no problem."

The clerk agreed readily and soon handed him the organized information.

Chen Chuan looked through it and found that the investor of the expedition team this time was the son of the wealthy businessman from twelve years ago.

The relationship between these two people as father and son is definitely not a coincidence, but rather an inexplicable connection.

Therefore, this abnormal situation is most likely not a strange story, but rather some kind of esoteric ritual.

He couldn't make a complete conclusion, but fortunately there were professionals, so he immediately called Director Lei using the hotel's phone and explained the situation here.

After listening to his analysis, Director Lei said, "Your guess makes sense. I'll bring someone over right away."

After waiting for more than an hour, people from the Esoteric Censorship Bureau arrived and took over the entire matter.

Director Lei glanced at the amulet and the waterproof bag that Chen had handed over and said, "Student Chen, you are right. These people are indeed followers of the Esoteric Buddhism.

The Frobergian religion they believe in, translated as Yang Worship, is an orthodox belief permitted abroad, but it is strictly prohibited in China.

"Baiyang Sect?" Chen Chuan pondered for a moment. "This cave is called Luoyang Cave. Is there any connection between the two?"

Director Lei said in a deep voice: "These people are likely trying to use this place to hold a Sun Source Ceremony."

He explained, "The so-called Sun Source Ritual is based on the belief of Yang Worshipers that the sun reincarnates once every twelve years, and during this reincarnation, one can steal the power of life and true nature from the dark places where sunlight cannot reach.

This sect's followers highly revere the number twelve, and the team formed this time is exactly twelve people. However, the ritual requires life sacrifice, so many of them are likely used as sacrifices for the ritual."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Among the people who came up this time, only the wealthy businessman and his two security guards are here. If that's the case, then the other explorers are the sacrifices?"

Director Lei said, "Judging from the number of people involved and the structure of the ritual, this is likely the case. This time, they likely made a mistake during the ritual, or were affected by some other factor, which led to the problem. Not only did they fail to gain the power they desired, but they also ended up dying."

At this point, his expression became serious. "But if it were just this, it would be fine. There is another issue that needs special attention. Whenever a Sun Source Ceremony is held, a special ritual material must be carried. This material is very important and is the core of the ceremony. It is called the Sun Stone.

This item is extremely valuable, and its export is prohibited in all countries. Its specific purpose is unknown, but it is dangerous and will have a serious impact on nearby people and animals. So, if possible, we must find a way to get it out. If we can't find it, we must find a way to seal off this area and report it to the higher-ups for handling."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment, then looked up and said, "Director Lei, this cave is extremely dangerous. It's notorious in Yangzhi. It's difficult for ordinary people to enter and exit normally. Let me handle this."

When walking in underground caves, you will encounter many dangerous situations. Most people will be injured or even killed if they are not careful, but these are not difficult for him.

Director Lei thought for a moment and said seriously, "Okay, Xiaochuan, I won't be polite with you anymore. I'll leave this matter to you."

He knew that this was the right thing to do. His team was very professional in esoteric rituals, but if they entered the cave to look for things, they would be no different from ordinary people. It would be better to ask Chen Chuan for help. The survival ability of a third-level fighter was definitely not comparable to that of ordinary people.

If Chen Chuan can't do it, then almost no one in Yangzhi City can do it.

He quickly took out some papers, wrote down the possible composition of the ceremony, as well as some points that needed special attention, and handed them to Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan took it and wrote it down carefully, then made some preparations, mainly bringing some water and nutrient paste, as well as a lighting lamp and necessary tools, and then walked into the cave under the gaze of everyone.

He had been to the first section of the road a few days ago. It was relatively wide, the gravel on the ground had been cleared, and the light was still bright. But after passing this section, the road became narrower and narrower as he went further in. The light gradually dimmed, making it difficult to walk, so he turned on his headlamp.

Because so many people had been there before, and the traces of people's footsteps were very obvious to him, so he just had to follow them.

He had originally made all kinds of preparations to overcome difficulties, but when he actually started to do it, he found that it was unusually simple. There were places that required climbing that he could just jump up, high places that he could jump down, and corners that he could just turn around lightly. It was not an obstacle at all.

In fact, the biggest difficulty is the lighting problem.

Not to mention the searchlight, he also possessed sharp senses. Even without using his eyes, he could feel the way forward based on temperature, airflow and sound feedback, not to mention any traces left by humans. Therefore, he moved extremely fast and penetrated more than two miles in less than five minutes.

He found several man-made rest stops on the road and also found a package discarded at the bottom of a pothole. He found some information inside. He didn't have time to look at it carefully, so he took it with him and continued exploring.

After going deeper for about two kilometers, he finally came to a fairly spacious cave. The ground here was relatively flat, the top was about seven or eight meters high, and the space was roughly three to four hundred square meters.

After just scanning the area with the headlight, he looked in the middle with a slightly fixed gaze. There were people kneeling there in a circle, about twenty in number, and there were also many scattered bones on the ground.

He walked over there and found that most of the kneeling people were mummies. Only three of them were breathing so weakly that it was difficult to detect, just like animals in hibernation. They were wrapped in a layer of cloth with dense ritual symbols painted on it with bright red paint.

He ignored the three people and looked directly at the enclosed ground, which also had ritual symbols on it. By comparing it with the temporary drawing given to him by Director Lei, he could confirm that this was the "Sun Source Ritual".

In the very middle, there is a pit on the ground with a strange stone in it. The stone is red, but more like a crystal. When light shines on it, it seems that the inside of it is also glowing slightly. It should be the Sun Stone that Director Lei mentioned.

Chen Chuan took a quick look, confirmed the surrounding situation, and then walked over there.

As he approached the ritual circle, especially the Sun Stone, he began to show signs of becoming hollow. The closer he got, the more hollow he became. By the time he reached the center, the degree of impact he received was no less than that of an ordinary ghost story.

Just as he was about to pick up this thing, the Xuejun Sword he was carrying began to vibrate slightly, and at the same time, wisps of white mist emerged and surrounded the red stone. However, this situation only lasted for a moment, and the mist quickly retracted.

At the same time, Chen Chuan noticed that the originally strong signs of emptiness had suddenly weakened, almost to a harmless level.

…

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(End of this chapter)