106 The Lost Village (10)

◎What is the truth?◎

Xu Meng's body stiffened, casting a shadow on the wall. She slowly turned her head and saw an old man standing quietly behind her.

The loose flesh on his face had completely drooped, and blood-colored worms were wriggling in his eyes, completely covering his normal eyeballs, leaving only the worms.

After seeing Xu Meng, he opened his mouth and countless insects poured out of his mouth, struggling in the air like tentacles.

Afen’s husband should be Lao Du.

Xu Meng met Lao Du without any warning. Even though she had been in the Class A contaminated area for so long, she was still affected. Her right hand reacted faster than her and had already reached for the gun on her waist.

Xu Meng really hates bugs.

It's hard to control yourself from shooting this thing.

"Captain?" Zhu Ning's voice suddenly appeared in his ears, mixed with the sound of electricity. The channel between them was not disconnected, so Xu Meng heard Zhu Ning's voice clearly.

"Captain?" Zhu Ning called again.

Lao Du's body was squirming. He was wearing an old man's shirt, which was bulging underneath, as if there was not flesh under the clothes, but a bunch of squirming worms.

Old Du opened his mouth wide and pounced on Xu Meng the moment she hesitated.

Xu Meng frowned and chose not to shoot. The timing was not right and shooting might alert other pollutants.

Lao Du's body was really made up of insects just as Xu Meng had imagined. When he pounced, a few insects even fell out of his trouser legs.

He was obviously very close to Xu Meng, and Xu Meng should not be able to dodge him. But the moment his hand touched Xu Meng, Xu Meng suddenly turned into a shadow, like a pool of flowing liquid, and then disappeared into the wall.

Old Du bumped his head against the earthen wall in the backyard. Because he hit it too hard, his forehead was broken and a bunch of tiny red worms fell out. He touched his forehead and could no longer find Xu Meng.

Zhu Ning had just shouted twice and was still wondering whether he should go back to rescue the person.

"Captain?" Li Nianchuan looked behind Zhu Ning.

Xu Meng suddenly appeared from the roof and jumped off the roof neatly and swiftly, like a light cat, without making any sound from beginning to end.

Li Nianchuan had worked with Xu Meng before at the Mechanical Oceanarium, but at that time she behaved very normally, but now it seems really unusual.

What an elegant landing posture.

Xu Meng knew that if she used her special powers, she would have to explain to the cleaning center when she returned, but she no longer cared about that. Between going back to be investigated and dying here, she chose the former.

Xu Meng skipped the pleasantries and didn't explain how she got out. She handed the paper ball to Zhu Ning and said bluntly, "The old lady next door is called Shengxin. Ah Fen had given her the news before. She must have known about the parasites in advance and either hid or ran away."

Zhu Ning opened the paper ball. This was the really useful thing Xu Meng found from Afen's house. Just as Xu Meng said, Afen had been passing messages to Shengxin.

She discovered very early on that there was something wrong with her partner, Lao Du.

Zhu Ning found it a little hard to imagine that after knowing his partner for his entire life and wanting to grow old together, he suddenly discovered that there was a worm living in his ear.

The person you see every day is not the real him. He has the same face but is not the same person.

You're wondering if Lao Du is ill. If he is, then he should go see a doctor. If he can't be cured, then his life has already passed and he's about to be buried. Since we agreed to sleep together in the afterlife, he can only continue to live on.

Maybe one night when everyone was asleep, Afen quietly got up in the middle of the night while Lao Du was sleeping. She tried to pull the bug out of her husband's ear. The bug didn't hide or bite you, and it would let you pull it.

Then you pull it like a piece of wool, it gets longer and longer, and there is no end. Later, your body is covered with bugs and you are wrapped in bugs.

Those bugs drilled into your body from Lao Du's body, starting from your nose, mouth, and ears.

You have become like what is written in many romance novels, two people who have become one and are inseparable.

Later, you really had the same goal and became conjoined twins because you had the same kind of parasites.

Before you die, you are sure that you don’t have to sleep together after death, and you have reached your peak state.

Zhu Ning looked up and saw Afen still lying in front of the glass window with a very satisfied smile on her face. For a moment, Zhu Ning felt a little complicated.

The Afen who passed the note to Shengxin was definitely not the same Afen in front of him. Shengxin would definitely find it hard to accept if he found out.

Xu Meng paused for a moment, "Shengxin is likely the source of the pollution."

Li Nianchuan asked: "Why?"

Xu Meng: "She has been monitoring the village, but the people she monitors have gradually become puppets of the parasite. They seem to be one and the same."

Xu Meng paused and looked around. The village road had changed since they came here, and human shadows appeared in the houses on both sides of the road.

This place looks like a scene from the previous world, with villagers watching them.

Xu Meng: "During the surveillance process, she discovered that she was the one being monitored."

Shengxin was entrusted by Lao Zhang to monitor the villagers, but strange things happened one after another. First it was Old Man Wu, and later it was the old lady next door, Afen.

Before she completely lost control, Afen passed a message to Shengxin, and then she became someone Shengxin didn't recognize at all.

Shengxin realized that the villagers were controlled by parasites. The controlled people seemed to have collective memory. They shared one eye and one brain.

Shengxin has changed from a monitor to the monitored, and all the villagers have become puppets of the parasite. Normal people would go crazy if they knew this truth.

"So the desire to win is the source of pollution?" Li Nianchuan asked.

Xu Meng: "I guess so, but not necessarily."

Li Nianchuan: "Are we so lucky? We walked into the pollution source's home for the first time?"

There were so many houses at that time, and Zhu Ning just picked one and walked in, and immediately stepped on the source of pollution. His luck was too good.

Li Nianchuan asked: "Where is she going now?"

People began to appear in these houses one after another. The villagers stood in front of the windows, their noses pressed against the windows, looking over with smiles on their faces.

But Shengxin's house is empty, but in the first world, there are people living in the house of this grumpy old lady named Shengxin, and Zhu Ning and the others have seen them.

Li Nianchuan noticed that Zhu Ning hadn't said anything during this process, so he asked, "What do you think?"

Zhu Ning did not refute Xu Meng's words. Xu Meng's logic was very smooth. If Shengxin was the source of pollution, then it made sense why there was no one at home, because pollution sources are good at hiding themselves.

But I always feel like something is wrong. Why?

Pollution sources usually have strong obsessions. Would that old lady who can hunt and has a bad temper go crazy and become a pollution source for this reason?

The impression she gave Zhu Ning was that of a grumpy old woman who would rather kill everyone in the village than give in.

The system prompts Zhu Ning to find the secret of the abandoned village. What is the truth?

Zhu Ning: "You'll know once you find her."

Regardless of whether Shengxin is the source of the pollution, finding her can at least reveal part of the truth.

Zhu Ning: "I'll contact Cui Kai."

Old Man Wu’s house is quite far away, so it’s okay to walk there, but there are people there now, so Zhu Ning plans to ask about the situation before making any plans.

Cui Kai has not passed on any information. Logically speaking, the garrison troops have strong survival capabilities in the wild and are more likely to find clues. Old Man Wu is a key figure, and his family must have some information.

Cui Kai hasn't contacted her for such a long time.

Moreover, the sound of the electronic piano has disappeared for a long, long time.

Ever since Zhu Ning and the others entered Shengxin's house, the clumsy piano music disappeared. Were they murdered?

…

There was someone playing the piano in the deserted village, which seemed very out of place in the deserted village.

The three-man team of the garrison troops are Jiang Ping, Cui Kai and Xiao Yilei.

They found a house by the sound of the piano, and saw an old man playing the piano from the window with his back to the window.

You can see that his fingers are clumsy, as if they had just grown out. When he plays the piano, his whole body is particularly stiff, and he doesn't look like he is enjoying the music at all.

It was as if there was an invisible person holding his neck, forcing him to practice the piano.

The door was ajar, and they just knocked on it symbolically, saying that a repairman was coming to repair it. There was no refusal, so Cui Kai opened the door and went in.

After he entered, the sound of the piano suddenly disappeared, and there was no old man playing the piano in the room.

"Where are he, the others?" Xiao Yile asked.

People's instinctive reactions are similar. Their first reaction is to look back. There is no cleaner on the road outside the house. It is a deserted road.

After several attempts to enter and exit, they finally confirmed that they had entered another world.

Cui Kai: "Search this house."

Jiang Ping and Xiao Yile went to look for clues. Cui Kai received a call from Zhu Ning, asking about the progress. Zhu Ning seemed to have encountered the same thing.

They all entered another world. According to Zhu Ning, the owner of this house was called Old Man Wu.

Zhu Ning also shared the log records he found, which showed that strange things had been happening in this village, and Old Man Wu was the first one to return after disappearing.

This was very useful information. Cui Kai even wanted to look up to Zhu Ning and his team. This team of cleaners was of high quality and completely broke their cognition.

Cui Kai and Zhu Ning contacted each other after the appointment, and then cut off communication.

Xiao Yilei found a calendar and said, "Captain, look."

The elderly are old and their memory is not very good. They still like to use the oldest paper calendar. This calendar should be specially made for the elderly. It has large fonts, lots of blank spaces, and a special note area next to it to make it convenient for the elderly to take notes.

It's like a memo.

November 9, 2010 in the Gregorian calendar.

Go see a doctor and don't let anyone know that you are sick.

November 8th was the day when Old Man Wu returned after his disappearance. He might have just returned home and was required to go to the village doctor for check-ups every day.

It is normal for Old Man Wu to record that he is going to see a doctor, but what does the sentence at the end that says he doesn’t want others to know that he is sick mean?

November 10th, Gregorian calendar year 10.

Go see a doctor and play the piano.

Don't let anyone know that you are sick.

November 11th, Gregorian calendar year 10.

Don't let anyone know you're sick! Don't let anyone know you're sick! Don't let anyone know you're sick!

He then repeated this sentence over and over again, and his handwriting was extremely ugly, like that of a beginner who had just learned to write.

Moreover, Old Man Wu seemed to be possessed by a demon. He could only write this sentence over and over again, and then it filled up the entire calendar, with every corner filled with densely packed small characters.

This doesn't seem to be a calendar book, but a calligraphy book.

Xiao Yilei: "Is he crazy?"

It was normal to find crazy people in a polluted area. Xiao Yilei asked again, "Is he the source of the pollution?"

Cui Kai shook his head. "I don't know. There are too few clues."

Xiao Yilei: "He looks like someone who has just been parasitized and is not used to it, practicing."

Xiao Yile expressed his inner thoughts. It seemed as if Old Man Wu was possessed by something, or taken over by another body. He was not familiar with this body and was afraid that he would make mistakes, so he recorded it in the calendar over and over again and played the piano again and again, trying to play the role of Old Man Wu.

Xiao Yilei was thinking the same thing as Cui Kai, but what was parasitizing him? A parasite?

People who have lived outside the wall for a long time can easily associate it with this aspect.

"Jiang Ping," Cui Kai asked, "What did you find over there?"

Jiang Ping had his back to Cui Kai and did not participate in their discussion from beginning to end. Not only did Jin Tao and the others think Jiang Ping was weird, but Cui Kai also thought this team member was very strange.

Xiao Yile had told himself privately before that he was a little afraid of Jiang Ping.

Now Jiang Ping stood in front of the electronic piano with his back to them. From the back, it was impossible to see Jiang Ping's movements at all. It seemed as if it had nothing to do with him and he didn't care whether he could get out of the contaminated area or not.

Jiang Ping gave Cui Kai the illusion that he had become one with the place.

"Jiang Ping?" Cui Kai asked.

"Huh?" Jiang Ping turned his head. "I didn't notice."

It's normal not to find any clues. Some pollution sources will hide their clues. It would be a surprise to find any clues. Cui Kai asked, "What's that in your hand?"

Jiang Ping exclaimed, "Music score."

Cui Kai: "What's inside?"

Jiang Ping: "It's just the music score. I don't understand it."

Cui Kai stared at him: "Let me see."

Jiang Ping pressed the music score under his palm and said, "I think it will be mentally polluted if you read it."

His action was so strange that Cui Kai spoke word by word: "Let me see."

Jiang Ping had no choice but to hand over the score. Many people would write or draw on the music score, or record something in the blank space. Written records are very important in this polluted area.

That's why Cui Kai insisted on looking at the music score. He opened the score and found a long, thin red worm inside.

The moment the music score was opened, the insect fell to the ground with a snap. The insect was so long that half of its body was on the ground and the other half was still hanging in Cui Kai's hand.

Cui Kai has lived in the wild for many years and is not afraid of insects in the wild. He knows not to struggle when encountering insects, and the insects cannot break through the defense line of protective clothing.

But Jiang Ping's behavior was very much like that of a mischievous child.

Why didn't he want Cui Kai to read the music? If such a long worm were to inhabit the human body...

Cui Kai couldn't believe it. All the people in this village were parasitized?

Cui Kai didn't even dare to move, as the bugs fell off his body and hit the floor.

Jiang Ping chuckled: "Just tell me not to look."

Cui Kai took a deep breath and felt that Jiang Ping was becoming more and more weird. When he first joined the garrison outside the wall, Jiang Ping was still a normal person, but now he was like a difficult and naughty boy.

He is really abnormal.

Cui Kai: "Why did you provoke those people just now?"

He could only ask Jiang Ping these questions after avoiding the cleaners. He would save face for the team members in front of outsiders. Now it was a closed space, which was just right for handling housework.

Jiang Ping kept provoking Jin Tao with words, telling Zhu Ning that the cleaner might go crazy and that his actions could easily cause mass panic.

Jiang Ping smiled and said, "I don't think you like them very much either."

When the big yellow flower appeared, Cui Kai shouted loudly not to shoot anyone who showed up. Later, he said seriously that he would not lead the team back until all the contaminated spores were contained.

"Aren't we all the same? Do you like those cleaners?" Jiang Ping's voice was indifferent. Their garrison didn't like witchers and cleaners very much.

People who usually live inside the wall cannot understand them at all.

"Jiang Ping," Cui Kai asked in a deep voice, "How long has it been since you last checked your mental state?"

Jiang Ping: "My mental health report is normal. You've seen it."

Cui Kai had indeed read the report and was mentally stable, but now Cui Kai suspected that Jiang Ping was crazy, and he was very stable in his madness.

Cui Kai: "You can take a month off after you go back. You don't need to come next month."

"Captain," Jiang Ping raised his eyes to look at him, "Are you dismissing me?"

Xiao Yilei couldn't bear to listen any longer, "The captain asked you to take a vacation and come back in a month."

Jiang Ping placed his fingers on the electronic keyboard keys. The keyboard had no power, so it could only produce some silent music. This meaningless action seemed extremely strange when combined with Jiang Ping's words, "But I don't like being inside the wall. I feel very comfortable outside the wall."

If possible, he would like to stay outside the wall forever.

Something was very wrong with Jiang Ping. Cui Kai frowned. His next move was quite risky, but Cui Kai felt that it would be even more dangerous if the problem was not resolved.

The real danger may not be this village, but your teammates!

Cui Kai suddenly raised his gun and pointed it at Jiang Ping. This was so sudden that Xiao Yilei, who was standing next to him, was completely caught off guard. Xiao Yilei shouted, "Captain! What are you doing?"

Jiang Ping was very calm, his fingers pressing on the keys, "Yes, Captain, what are you doing?"

Cui Kai: "Take off your protective helmet!"

Xiao Yilei took a deep breath. What had he heard? Cui Kai told him to take off his protective helmet? Isn't this a life-threatening situation? This is a Class A contaminated area. How is taking off the helmet any different from committing suicide?

Xiao Yilei didn't know what had happened between Cui Kai and Jiang Ping, but he still tried to mediate: "Captain, let's talk it out nicely."

Jiang Ping looked at Cui Kai calmly: "Captain, you are crazy."

"I'm not crazy!" Cui Kai said, "Take off your helmet."

Jiang Ping turned to look at Xiao Yile, as if Cui Kai had gone crazy. He would not waste time talking to a madman anymore. He wanted to find someone he could really talk to.

Jiang Ping said to Xiao Yilei, "The captain has gone crazy. Should we work together to control him?"

Xiao Yile had never thought of this direction, and for a moment he didn't even know what to say. Jiang Ping said that there was something wrong with the captain, but Jiang Ping himself was not normal either.

Xiao Yile didn't move. He felt like he was walking on the edge of a cliff. There were dead ends in front and behind him. No matter which way he went, it would be wrong. It would be better to stay put.

Cui Kai: "During the last mission, in the Dark River, all the cleaners were wiped out, and you were there."

Jiang Ping: "You were there too."

It is very normal to have losses during missions outside the wall, and it is common for the entire army to be wiped out. They are used to it, and if they don't look specifically, no one can notice anything.

Now the whole thing seems bizarre.

Cui Kai: "During the mission two years ago, at the huge rock by the wall, half the crew died, and you were there too."

Before Jiang Ping could speak, Cui Kai said directly: "I was not there that time."

Jiang Ping: "What do you want to say?"

Cui Kai: "Don't you think your appearance rate is too high?"

"This..." Xiao Yilei was confused. "Captain, what do you mean?"

Cui Kai ignored Xiao Yilei and just looked at Jiang Ping: "Aren't you going to explain?"

Jiang Ping: "I don't think there's anything to explain."

Cui Kai: "Okay, take off your protective helmet."

Jiang Ping didn't move, and Xiao Yile beside him didn't dare to breathe.

"This is an order," Cui Kai said, "Take it off!"

Orders, you can't disobey the captain's orders when you're out. Jiang Ping sighed, "Is this really necessary?"

Cui Kai: “Take it off!”

Cui Kai suspected that Jiang Ping had been contaminated. No, his behavior was more like he was parasitized by something, just like the villagers.

If Jiang Ping was a normal person, he would rather shoot and disobey orders than take off his helmet. After all, no one wants to die.

"Hey," Xiao Yile tried to stop her, "this isn't good..."

Jiang Ping didn't care at all. He unfastened the secret buckle of his protective helmet.

With a snap—

After this sound was rang out, Xiao Yile did not try to stop it anymore. The fully enclosed space had been broken, and Jiang Ping actually opened his helmet. He was likely to be infected next.

The moment Jiang Ping opened his helmet, he became the enemy.

Xiao Yile also raised his gun and pointed it at Jiang Ping. Now he was being pointed at by two guns.

Jiang Ping seemed not to see the muzzle of the gun and took off his helmet calmly. When he took off the helmet, it was like a diver who had been on a mission for too long and returned to the ground to breathe air.

"Do we really need to do this?" Jiang Ping asked.

Cui Kai took a deep breath. After the helmet was taken off, Jiang Ping's true face was revealed. One of his eyeballs drooped, and countless wriggling worms crawled out of it.

Jiang Ping continued to ask, "Do you really want to do this?"

…

"Hello? Cui Kai?"

Zhu Ning's voice came from inside Cui Kai's helmet, "Cui Kai?"

Jiang Ping looked at the two corpses on the ground. Their helmets were scattered aside, and wriggling red worms had crawled into their eye sockets and noses.

A worm wrapped around Cui Kai's spine, and his body began to struggle violently, like a newly infected zombie.

Old Man Wu stood by and watched. His body was made up of countless tiny red worms. The worms crawled out from the gaps between the houses and regrouped to form the body of Old Man Wu.

Cui Kai is worthy of being the captain. He immediately discovered that there was something wrong with Jiang Ping and acted decisively. Logically speaking, he and Xiao Yile could easily subdue Jiang Ping.

But Cui Kai didn't know that Old Man Wu was there at the time, and thought that he had two people and was sure to win.

These insects can easily drill into the corners of the wall, which is where insects should live.

Jiang Ping glanced at the window and saw his reflection. His eyes had fallen out. He stuffed his eyeballs back in, and then reluctantly stuffed the bug back in as well.

"Cui Kai?" Zhu Ning's voice came again.

Cui Kai stood up and answered the question under Jiang Ping's instruction. His voice was exactly the same as usual. "Zhu Ning, we are fine."

"Yes, we found a clue here," Cui Kai said, with insects crawling in his mouth. "Okay, should we meet up?"

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or provided nutrient solution between 2022-10-31 20:43:34 and 2022-11-01 21:01:06~

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