professional team

In the afternoon, the five of them gathered in the study to read the messages sent by Cen Ting.

Qin Ming: "Today is their third day in Yanmen Village. From the village chief, villagers and some tourists, the only two pieces of useful information they have found through on-site investigation are the legend and the Wu Family Manor that we just mentioned. Because I have sent them all the cases and reports of Taoyuan Village, they have focused on studying whether there are any situations in the village that do not conform to the public's beliefs."

Qian Fei asked impatiently, "Is there?"

Qin Ming: "There is no river god worship in this village, and the villagers are all normal. There have been no frequent deaths in recent years, and there is no problem of many orphans. If we have to say that there is a connection, then Yanmen Village only had a mountain god."

Lin Chaoying asked in confusion, "Mountain God? Is there a temple or a celebration?"

Qin Ming shook his head and continued, "Legend has it that decades ago, skeletons were found in the back mountain of Yanmen Village. The bones were scattered everywhere. After the police had a forensic doctor piece them together, they found that it was a father and son. However, after extracting DNA, no one in the country could find the identities of the deceased or their families. Then, the story spread inexplicably. The villagers said that the father and son were not human, but the mountain god was reminding Yanmen Village to handle family relationships properly, otherwise they would die without a complete body."

? ? ? ?

This legend left not only the listeners completely bewildered, but Qin Ming, who was reading the message, was also filled with questions.

Qian Fei asked, bewildered, "Am I not understanding the logic? What does this mean? Isn't it just a father and son who didn't leave their identification information at the police station suddenly dying on the mountain? What does this have to do with family?"

Lin Chaoying gave a thumbs-up and said, "You're right, no problem."

Kong Yue: "Yeah, there's absolutely no logical connection between the beginning and the end?"

Jiangchuan Valley: "Isn't this situation something that someone is deliberately guiding?"

Qin Ming continued scrolling down, saying, "Here's the key point: every year since then, unidentified corpses have appeared on the back mountain. This continued until 20 years ago when the Wu family from Yanmen Village returned to live there. After that, no more remains were found on the back mountain. The villagers believe it's because the Wu family's ancestors upheld filial piety and kindness as their ancestral precepts, possessing a pure family tradition and profound blessings, which enabled them to suppress the evil mountain god..."

The five people exchanged knowing glances.

Jiang Chuan Gu sneered: "I think I know who's behind this?"

Kong Yue asked, "And then? The Wu family became the new faith?"

Qin Ming shrugged and said helplessly, "That's all. The villagers don't have much contact with the Wu family, and there's no phenomenon of them idolizing them. The Wu family hires temporary workers every month, paying them twice the market rate, and the villagers are very willing to do it. Moreover, they can occasionally see members of the Wu family buying vegetables at the market. That's all..."

"That's strange." Lin Chaoying felt something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "The Wu family seems to have a high status in the village, but they're actually very down-to-earth. Could it be that they're just after a good reputation?"

Qian Fei was discouraged. "We're not rich, how would we know what they're thinking?" He turned to Jiang Chuangu and said, "You're the richest one! What do you think they're up to?"

Jiang Chuangu couldn't understand it. He wasn't short of money, but he didn't value it that much either. He could only think of the capitalists and investors he had met at the dinner table over the years and say, "I only know that rich people don't do useless things. They value goals and results the most. If the rumors were really spread and guided by the Wu family, it means that the Wu family's presence in the village and the Wu family in the villagers' mouths must be what they want to see and that it is profitable for them."

Kong Yue: "Cultivate a prestigious yet approachable reputation? Shouldn't large families be thinking about inheriting the family business and making money?"

"I understand!" Lin Chaoying slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "Public appeal!"

She said, "If you apply this formula to celebrities, it's like seeing a movie star who appears on the big screen every year suddenly find himself bargaining with you while buying vegetables on the street! Doesn't that create a sense of closeness? If it's a persona created by the company, the celebrity's purpose in doing this is to improve public image and win favor with the general public. So, the Wu family is trying to get closer to the villagers, and not just the villagers, but also tourists. To put it bluntly, their goal is likely people."

Kong Yue: "Another person? Are they also trying to create new superhumans?"

Qin Ming: "The second document is about Cen Ting and the others entering Wu Family Manor, and there's also a map."

Five people were hunched over the table, looking at the map of Wu Family Manor. The entire manor consisted of four sections: three large courtyards, a pavilion, and a garden. In total, there were 11 small courtyards and nearly a hundred rooms, covering an area of ​​at least two thousand square meters.

Cen Ting marked on the map: Qingfeng Courtyard and Haitang Courtyard are not open areas. The remaining Cuihua Courtyard is the area where the Wu family currently lives. The garden on the west side connects to the West Mountain of Yanmen Village. In other words, the back gate of Wu Family Villa Garden leads directly to the legendary location of the mountain god on the back mountain.

The three of them entered the resort as a group of travel bloggers and had just checked into the main courtyard in the north of Cuihua Courtyard today.

The Wu family is now sparsely populated. Currently, only the three family members, along with the housekeeper, nanny, driver, and bodyguard, live in the villa.

The person in charge is Wu Liang, the eldest son of the Wu family. The mistress's surname is Tang, and the child is named Tingchun. The other four people are all strange in their own way. The housekeeper is a woman wearing a suit and rimless glasses, who speaks coldly like a robot. The nanny is a middle-aged woman in her forties who doesn't speak to anyone and is secretly monitoring them. The bodyguard also wears a suit, but he looks unusually thin, unlike the physique of a typical bodyguard. The driver has not yet been seen.

Wu Liang spoke kindly and was very excited about promoting the resort, so he cooperated fully.

Cen Ting concluded by writing: "There are people with supernatural abilities at Wu Family Manor. Their compasses are behaving strangely. The specifics are still under investigation. I suggest you enter in three days, using an identity that can help promote the manor. Currently, Yanmen Village is not suspicious, but Wu Family Manor is highly suspicious."

Qin Ming: "What identity can we use?"

Lin Chaoying: "To be honest, if there are superhumans in the manor, and they are from the Ghost Gate, then Jiangchuan Valley will easily expose us. The Ghost Gate people all know that the case of Li Chao was ultimately taken over by the people of Twelve Streets, which means that as long as he appears, the Ghost Gate will definitely have suspicions about the people around him."

Jiang Chuan Gu reacted strongly, "Don't you want me to go again?"

Qin Ming wanted to speak up for him, but hesitated.

Just as Lin Chaoying was about to speak, Jiang Chuangu came up with a new idea, saying resentfully, "I have a way! You can't stop me from going!"

"Ouch." Qian Fei slumped onto the table, utterly bewildered. "What solution? Plastic surgery?"

Jiang Chuan Gu: "Everyone knows who I am, so let's use my identity to go in! Let's swagger in!"

Lin Chaoying: "What do you mean?"

Jiang Chuan Gu: "I invested in film and television as a producer a couple of years ago. Now I'm openly promoting my on-screen work online. Since that's the case, I'll say I'm trying to switch careers and invest in film production. This time I'm scouting locations and looking for collaborations with the Wu family."

This idea instantly won over everyone present.

He continued, “So, you need someone to act as the director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and one of my assistants. Tonight I’ll buy some lightweight and portable equipment, the cinematographer will take photos of the filming locations, and then I’ll revise the requisition agreement according to the previous contract. The rest will depend on the director and screenwriter coming up with a simple story that can be filmed at the resort, something that will easily fool them.”

The four people argued endlessly about the roles each person would be assigned.

Qin Ming believes he has a high talent for art and takes on the photography job, but Qian Fei and Kong Yue also want to be photographers...

In the end, the group had to draw lots, and the result was that Qin Ming was the director, Kong Yue was the screenwriter, Qian Fei was the cinematographer, and Lin Chaoying was the assistant.

With just three days of free time, the group began some basic training according to their assigned roles. Qian Fei searched online for female photographers' outfits while simultaneously figuring out the power button on his Sony camera; Qin Ming bought a bunch of hats and wigs and started frantically studying film composition and atmosphere; Kong Yue got a few black-rimmed glasses without prescription lenses and spent time typing out a story similar to "Thunderstorm" on her laptop...

The next day, Lin Chaoying and Jiang Chuangu saw the homeless man Qian Fei, Qin Ming with his long flowing hair who insisted on wearing a hat, and Kong Yue, who was originally well-behaved, now dressed like a primary school student. The two of them felt dizzy.

Lin Chaoying looked up to the sky and roared: "We're not playing Miracle Nikki! Aren't you guys dressed in such a stereotypical way!"

When Jiang Chuan Gu saw this chaotic script outline, he almost fainted and complained, "Don't exaggerate like this. Even Qin Ming probably couldn't understand this outline, right?"

Qin Ming, munching on an apple, said, "I understand it; it's about the relationship between ethics and love."

"You've been talking nonsense!" Jiang Chuan Gu sighed. "The focus of this script is entirely on the characters. Whether we shoot at the villa or not doesn't matter, does it?"

Kong Yue had a new idea, "Then I'll go and copy the Imperial Advisor's big red lantern!"

"Stop!" Lin Chaoying called out to her, exasperated, "Before copying, shouldn't you have asked your director and cinematographer if they've seen this film?"

Qin Ming and Qian Fei shook their heads frantically.

Despite the sweltering heat, Qian Fei, wearing long sleeves and constantly drinking water, asked in confusion, "The big red lantern? Aren't we filming a mountain villa movie? I know about the Detective Conan's 'Snowy Mountain Villa Murder Case'..."

Jiang Chuan Gu snatched the computer and said helplessly, "Let's discuss a simple plot and outline together. That way, even if we're separated when we go to the Wu family, no one will gossip."

"Before we discuss this, everyone can just wear their normal clothes!" Lin Chaoying reminded everyone. "Most of the crew members wear short-sleeved shirts and shorts. Nobody dresses like a mop every day, and nobody has a mop on their head!"

After changing back into their clothes, the three of them chose two movies about ancient houses to watch, which combined to create a new plot outline and character settings, which they memorized like they were reciting a book.

On the third day, the five people began to build relationships with each other again, so as not to give away any clues.

As the chief investor, Jiang Chuangu naturally holds the highest position in the entire team. His assistant, Lin Chaoying, needs to stay by his side and obey his every word. Director Qin Ming needs to respect Jiang Chuangu but cannot lose his own sense of artistic pursuit. Cinematographer Qian Fei and screenwriter Kong Yue are considered the director's subordinates and need to obey his every word.

However, for Lin Chaoying, Qian Fei, and Kong Yue, who are powerless employees, it is crucial that they maintain a state of complaining towards their superiors.

Qin Ming felt even more exhausted than during the assessment, and collapsed onto the bed...

He took out his phone and texted Cen Ting: "We're going to Yanmen Village tomorrow. How's it going on your end?"

That's strange.

In the past, even if there were no new messages, the other party would reply within half an hour. This time, he waited until dawn, but there was still no response.

Qin Ming had a bad feeling...