Chapter 14: Human-Faced Tree Root

Shen Peirong and her team headed straight for Kongping Mountain from the airport, where the Anshi Investigation Team had already established a temporary base, with a group of people gathered around several computers to monitor what was happening.

When they saw Shen Peirong and the other person arrive, they felt that their worries were finally relieved a little.

“Director, you’re finally here. You have no idea how terrified we were last night, fearing that the roots of the human-faced tree would suddenly mutate.”

Shen Peirong said thank you for your hard work, walked to the monitor and asked the human-faced tree root inside, "Give me the data from last night to this morning."

The woman in casual clothes quickly handed a typed report to Shen Peirong.

"When we finished our call last night, the wood molecules in the roots of the human-faced tree remained at around seven or eight. Then at three or four in the morning, the value rose to fifteen. Then at six in the morning today, the number soared to twenty, and just now it jumped to thirty."

Shen Peirong looked at the data carefully. The changes in the values ​​showed a slowly increasing trend. If it had been discovered a little later, the current state of the human-faced stone would probably have reappeared in a few days.

The matter was urgent, so Shen Peirong immediately took out a mask and put it on, and hung the sword she carried with her around her waist.

After opening the box and pressing the fingerprint, a shovel emitting green light appeared in front of the group of people.

The shovel was only as big as an adult's palm. When people touched it, they immediately felt their tired brains refreshed as if mint had been sprinkled on them.

Shen Peirong took a bag of soil wrapped in a plastic bag from Shen Lingyu, tore open the bag and poured the soil onto the shovel, then closed the lid and waited for a moment.

A minute later, she opened the lid again and saw that the soil she had just thrown in fell to the bottom of the box, and the shovel that was glowing green was now standing up.

The two men did not hesitate any longer, put on bulletproof vests and various equipment to protect their vital parts, and set off under the worried gazes of everyone.

......

The silver-white sedan drove into the set without disturbing anyone. It stopped and a man wearing a black baseball cap got out of the car.

He was wearing a grey casual outfit, holding a bunch of bright white roses, and walked under the director's parasol, quietly watching Qiao Ying who was smiling and frowning in front of the camera.

The man looked up, his peach blossom eyes full of smiles. He changed the bouquet to another hand and took out his cell phone to take several photos.

Lin Jin's heart trembled. This man was the man who appeared at Ran Ran's funeral that day. Judging from Cheng Lillian's tone, this man seemed to be the company's boss.

Thinking of the gossip the girl had just told her, she packed up her things, and under the pretext of leaving the scenic area, she took her tools into the woods and put them into the space.

Lin Jin walked around in the woods for a few rounds and waited for a few minutes before coming out.

This time she did not return to the original place, but found a place with higher terrain to stay.

This place is very close to the film set, and you can clearly see the filming situation below and hear Wen Siqi talking.

He seemed to be very familiar with the director. The director next to him saw the visitor and was very respectful to him. The assistant beside him also eagerly served him tea and water.

Wen Siqi remained aloof from this, but there was always a smile on his face as he stared at Qiao Ying, who had no idea of ​​the situation, and laughed.

Cheng Lilian also saw Wen Siqi.

Her expression twisted unnaturally, then she quickly covered it up as if nothing had happened, and trotted over to Wen Siqi and asked.

"Mr. Wen, why are you here?"

Wen Siqi raised his eyebrows, lit a cigarette and exhaled a puff of smoke, "So it's Yingying's agent. Is there anything wrong with me visiting Yingying?"

"No problem, of course. It's Yingying's honor that you come to visit her." Cheng Lilian shook her head like a rattle and denied repeatedly.

Wen Siqi snorted softly, and when he saw that the filming on the set was temporarily over, he stood up and walked towards Qiao Ying with a rose in his arms.

Qiao Ying finished the first half of the shoot and rubbed her stiff face as she walked towards the parasol. Before she saw her assistant coming forward to hand her water, she saw a bouquet of roses walking towards her.

She stopped where she was, staring blankly at Wen Siqi behind the rose.

"Mr. Wen? Why are you here?"

The man's eyes were full of tenderness, and he gently handed the rose to Qiao Ying, "I came to see you, how are you? Did the filming go well today? Did the director scold you?"

His voice was so gentle that it gave Qiao Ying goose bumps on her arms.

Qiao Ying took two steps back in shock, "Thank you, President Wen, for your concern. The director was very nice to me and everything went smoothly during the filming."

Wen Siqi's expression remained unchanged. He took two steps towards Qiao Ying and handed the rose to her again. "Really? But I heard that the director seemed to be in a bad mood."

He said this with a smile, but there was no smile at the corners of his eyes.

He stared at Qiao Ying closely, his black pupils were dark and his eyes reflected Qiao Ying's pale face.

Qiao Ying's heart skipped a beat and she looked at Cheng Lilian for help. She saw that she nodded eagerly, obviously not wanting to get into trouble.

She thought for a while, suppressed her fear, and reached out to take the bouquet.

"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Wen, but you must have heard it wrong. Director Wang just praised me for getting it right in one take."

Wen Siqi let go of his hand and suddenly realized something. This time, the corners of his mouth raised a little, "Maybe I heard it wrong just now."

He turned back to where he was and waved his hand. Several assistants behind him came down pushing a cart full of coffee and cakes.

"Thank you for your hard work. This is Yingying's kindness. Please take good care of Yingying."

Director Wang quickly thanked Wen Siqi and Qiao Ying.

After Wen Siqi finished speaking, he was about to leave. When he passed by Qiao Ying, he winked at her playfully.

Seeing Qiao Ying's body tremble, he chuckled, put on sunglasses and left.

Lin Jin hesitated for a moment between Wen Siqi and Cheng Lilian. Reason told her that she should chase Wen Siqi and see if he was the person in Ran Ran's letter.

But as soon as she made this decision, a voice in her heart told her not to go. She had the illusion that she would discover more information if she stayed with Cheng Lillian or in this place.

For a while, Lin Jin was in a dilemma.

......

Shen Peirong and Shen Lingyu climbed up the hillside of Kongping Mountain carrying their boxes.

The two men changed their previous Tai Chi uniforms and this time wore a gray jacket, a pair of brown combat boots, and several iron plates tied to their knees.

Both of them were carrying at least 20 kilograms of weight, but neither of them felt tired. It only took them ten minutes to reach the destination from the base, and they moved lightly without even taking a breath.

The roots of the human-faced tree had long been fenced off, with only infrared rays used as warnings nearby.

When several cameras hidden on the ground saw the person coming, a red dot flashed and the infrared rays were turned off immediately.

Shen Peirong walked to the edge of the infrared ray, took out a black walkie-talkie-style machine and started measuring at the roots of the tree.

After two beeps, the number fifty appeared on the screen.