"What's the point of reporting it? It's a gift from God; once we see it, it's ours."

Before the clan elders could speak, the young people in the ancestral hall couldn't wait to jump out.

Some of the people present knew a thing or two: the gold and silver on the table were the dowry of women in ancient times. If Xiang Yu could plunder tombs so extensively, why couldn't they?

Things belonging to the dead are for everyone who sees them!

Seeing the crowd's agitation, the brigade leader's conflicted expression vanished. After pondering for a long time, he slammed his fist on the table and made a decision: "Each family should send one male to go up the mountain, and the harvest will be distributed among the whole village."

Firstly, few elderly people in the three northeastern provinces, the birthplace of shamanism, do not believe in gods and ghosts.

Secondly, it's also true that the law doesn't punish everyone. Once the news gets out and reaches the higher-ups, the money will have already been distributed and spent. Can the police really arrest the whole village and put them in jail?

Cheers erupted from the ancestral hall, growing louder and louder.

The captain gestured for him to stop.

"Give more of the things to these children's families, no objections, right? Also, the women in each family are not allowed to participate."

The villagers objected to giving more of the spoils to the family of the good-for-nothing who went up the mountain to scout the way and got beaten, but the village was ruled by the village head's family, so they had to keep their opinions to themselves.

As for not allowing women to participate... they don't understand. Is it because they're afraid of tiring out the old women at home? That doesn't make sense!

The brigade leader's daughter was the first to stand up, pouting and questioning her father unhappily, "Why can't women participate? I wanted to personally pick out a few items as part of my dowry."

Upon seeing his daughter, the captain's fierce expression softened considerably. He took out a cigarette and lit it. "My grandfather, your great-grandfather, once told me about something he witnessed..."

"It tells the story of an ancestor who was a scholar who passed the imperial examinations. On his way to the capital for the examinations, he saved a nobleman, who then rewarded him with a pair of jade horses."

When the pair of jade horses were passed down to their descendants, your great-grandfather said that the jade horses were alive; not only could their eyes move, but if you placed them on a display shelf, they would move a little distance the next day.

The villagers' eyes lit up when they heard this.

No one can resist a story with a touch of fantasy.

Some people have raised questions, such as, "How could the jade horse move on its own? Someone must have moved it."

The girl urged, "And then? And then?"

The captain chuckled, “It wasn’t moved by someone. The jade horse really could move. Later, when your great-grandmother was cleaning the room, she wiped the horse with her hand, and the horse died and never moved again.”

"Huh?" The girl's mouth dropped open. "Why? Grandmother killed Jade Horse? And now where is Jade Horse?"

Seeing everyone scratching their heads, eagerly awaiting what would happen next, the captain sipped a mouthful of water and shook his head.

"I don't know, but your great-grandfather said that a woman's menstrual blood is unclean, and touching the spirit jade during that time will cause the spirit to lose its spirituality."

It's just a story; listen and forget it, don't tell it outside.

"Where's the horse? Where's the horse?" The girl shook her father's arm. The captain, unable to resist her pestering, snorted, "Who knows? It was lost during the war."

Perhaps they were swept away by the Japanese.

After hearing this little story, everyone understood the captain's intention in not allowing women to go up the mountain to participate.

Early the next morning, the men gathered in the village, led by Zhang San and four hooligans, set off to join the treasure hunt in the mountains.

The women eagerly awaited.

They all dream of getting rich.

Can……

An hour has passed...

Two hours have passed...

Half a day passed, and no news came back from the mountains.

Some people are already getting restless.

The captain, who was overseeing things from the rear, remained relatively calm. "Don't panic, it will definitely take time to open the coffin."

Even as the sun began to set, no sound came back from the mountains. Not only the waiting wives and elderly, but even the brigade leader became uneasy.

The constant stream of pessimistic and worrying voices around him was driving him crazy, and he could no longer sit still.

They organized the men from several households in the village who had not participated, along with some strong women, to search.

The result was predictable.

Not found.

Not only were the hundred or so living people nowhere to be found, but even the red coffin that Zhang San mentioned was nowhere to be found...

The group searched the entire back mountain, even venturing into the deep mountains, but found no trace of a living person, only a forest of rubble struck by lightning.

The fact that neither the person nor their body could be found threw the entire Baishi Village into a panic!

The news was reported up the chain of command, covering the Third Division stationed in Liaoning Province.

More than a hundred villagers have disappeared without a trace, neither alive nor dead. The news has been taken very seriously by the military, who suspect they were chased into the deep mountains by wild animals.

Soldiers were immediately organized to carry out a rescue operation.

And then... something went wrong again.

Otherwise, the Third Division would not have requested reinforcements from both the First and Second Divisions at the same time.

The news that just came back even made Feng Guang, a veteran general who had been through many battles, change his expression slightly.

It is said that the Third Division dispatched a soldier armed with guns and cannons for the rescue, and a total of 120 armed soldiers, half of whom went into the mountains to rescue people, while the other half remained on standby.

The force composition, enough to fight a small battle abroad, saw half of them disappear without a trace, just like the villagers, after entering the deep mountains.

Before anyone could take over command, the deputy company commander, who had been organizing people to search the mountain, made his move, and the climax was about to begin...

A white mist suddenly rose from the village, and the villagers who should have disappeared into the back mountain appeared one after another in the mist.

They appeared out of nowhere in their respective homes in a way that is incomprehensible to ordinary people.

Some people open their eyes and see their husbands sleeping beside them, but before they can even feel their excitement, they reach out to touch them, only to find nothing...

Someone huddled in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), watching with wide eyes as the child's father sat on the edge of the kang washing his feet...

Men appear in various forms, yet they are all the same—visible but untouchable.

The village was instantly filled with the screams of women and children, accompanied by several gunshots.

The platoon leader, his forehead covered in cold sweat, aimed his gun at a villager who had walked straight through his body, his teeth chattering.

The deputy platoon leader ordered, "Fire!"

With a bang, the platoon leader pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew through the shadows, disappearing into the distance.

The shadows vanished in an instant, and before the soldiers could even feel a surge of joy, these intangible things re-emerged in an incomprehensible way.

The deputy company commander's face was already ashen.

"Xiao Zhang and Xiao Tan, leave the village immediately and report what happened here. The rest of you, escort the villagers out of the village."

"Deputy Company Commander!" Xiao Zhang and Xiao Tan were unwilling to leave first.

The deputy platoon leader shouted sternly, "This is an order..."

So, when Ruan Xianxian and her "troublemaking team" were lying in front of the county office making a scene, crying, shouting, and threatening suicide, a phone call from the capital city contacted Fan Caicai.

After hearing the whole story, his face turned extremely ugly. "Reporting to the leader, Comrade Ruan is still a newcomer and cannot independently carry out a Class B mission."

I request that a more experienced person from the institute be assigned to carry out this task.

After hearing what was said on the other end of the phone, Fan Caicai gripped the receiver tightly, her voice low, "Okay, I understand. I'm just relaying the message. Whether she goes or not is her choice."

When the jeep arrived at the county office, Ruan Xianxian was snatching the stamped document approving the road construction for the Shili Mountain Brigade from the Feng brothers and Qi Guofu.

When Fan Caicai pulled the person into the car, their mouth was slightly open, and their expression was one of astonishment. "On a B-level mission? Me?"