Xie Tianlang, of course, did not clasp his hands together and respectfully bow to the sky and the earth.
Because he firmly believes that he is not the unluckiest one in the team, and even if he was before, he is definitely not now.
His inexplicable gaze fell directly on Si Wuyai, who felt a chill run down his spine and then flew into a rage:
"Why are you looking at me like that?! Don't you even know who's more unlucky between us?!"
Xie Tianlang rarely spoke so seriously about one thing: "At least I wasn't left alone in a group of animals and forced to work as a masseur for two months."
Si Wuyai pushed up his glasses and sneered, mentally stomping on that werewolf's head dozens of times: "But three months later I gained a particularly intelligent orange cat. Do you always end up gaining something from every bad time you have?"
"No, you don't. Every time you're unlucky, you can only fight your hardest to survive, or drag your enemies down with you."
Xie Tianlang's lips twitched: "We didn't die together. I survived. All those who opposed me are dead."
Si Wuyai scoffed coldly, resolutely refusing to admit it.
Xie Tianlang's face was also icy cold as he waited for his opponent to admit defeat.
Gou Fugui and Song Sanchuan, who were standing to the side, remained silent.
The comparison and disparagement between these two unlucky people is inexplicably pitiful, but it also reveals their strong determination not to become the kings of Africa.
At this point, as the victors at the starting line, they should offer tolerant words of comfort.
"Alright, alright, neither of you are the unluckiest one, okay? No more infighting! And don't waste time, let's get into the city quickly."
"Yes, it's already 4:40 PM. They need to hurry into town and find a hotel to stay in. Only then can they investigate what's happening in this county or the old town."
Then Xie Tianlang and Si Wuyai each turned their heads away with cold smiles, while Song Sanchuan drove with a smile on his face toward the huge, still-in-use stone city gate.
After laughing, Gou Fugui looked out the car window into the misty distance. When the noise subsided and the argument stopped, the unease that had always welled up upon seeing the city gate, or rather, the city itself, returned. His gaze followed the car's movement forward. As the SUV drove into the somewhat dilapidated stone gate of the city wall, Gou Fugui suddenly frowned—
It was as if they had willingly walked into a trap and cage with its gaping maw.
This feeling was really unsettling. Fu Guiyuan looked at the other three people in the car, but didn't see any excessive warning of danger on their faces.
Is he overthinking it?
Or was he the only one who felt it?
Regardless of the reason, they've already arrived at this place, so they must find something here.
Song Sanchuan had downloaded a sufficiently clear world map onto his laptop, and even at this point, the satellite navigation system was still barely usable.
The car's navigation system emitted a mechanical alert:
[Drive straight ahead for 100 meters and turn left. There is a hotel at the riverside intersection.]
Without the car's hairdryer, the visibility inside the closed vehicle was only about three meters. Obviously, they couldn't see the intersection to the left about 100 meters ahead, nor could they see the hotels in the city.
However, during the hundred meters they traveled forward, Gou Fugui, Xie Tianlang, and Si Wuyai, who were sitting by the window, still managed to get a general look at the environment on both sides of what was considered the main road of the city.
Shuiwu County has transformed the entire city into a tourist area with ethnic and traditional characteristics, based on the ancient city walls.
Inside the city walls, the roads are paved with large bluestone slabs, and on both sides of the slab roads are rows of antique-style houses and shops with wooden brick and tile structures.
If the shops were open, this would probably be another "ancient town" that sells modern handicrafts under the guise of worker bees. But now, with both shops and houses closed and wooden barriers sealing off the shop doors, this ancient town truly has the air of an ancient town shrouded in mist.
However, if it weren't for the fact that the wealthy and beautiful man could still hear children crying and see light shining through the wooden windows of the closed houses, he might have thought it was a dead city rather than an ancient city in such a quiet atmosphere.
The entire ancient city is lined with bluestone-paved roads, with exquisite and beautiful small bridges and flowing water on both sides, and the river surrounds the entire ancient city.
Accompanied by the sound of flowing water, Song Sanchuan quickly drove to the largest inn in the center of the ancient city, as indicated by the navigation.
Here, Gou Fugui squinted and saw the area in the center of the ancient city that resembled a lake, and the huge waterwheel by the lake.
"Water Mist Inn".
Song Sanchuan squinted at the name of the inn on the navigation app: "Not to mention that it's right next to the water and shrouded in fog, the name of this inn is really quite fitting for the occasion. It's just that it's not very auspicious in this kind of environment."
Upon hearing the last few words, the wealthy beauty turned around and glared fiercely at the jinx: "Shut up! Children's words are just that—words. Let's stay here for now; the lights are still on in this inn."
Song Sanchuan chuckled awkwardly, put on his full-body protective suit hood and zipped it up, then rushed out of the car and banged on the door of the Water Mist Inn.
"Is the owner home? We'd like to stay here! Is anyone home? Could you please open the door?"
Song Sanchuan knocked on the door four or five times but received no response, but he did realize that there were people inside the inn.
While he was pondering why his boss wouldn't open the door for him, Fugui Yuanyuan pushed him aside, saying, "How can you knock on the door like that?"
Song Sanchuan was indignant: "Is that my fault? How else can we knock on the door? Do you expect me to take off my protective suit and show them my face?"
Fu Guiyuan gave him a disdainful look, and then banged on the door like Song Sanchuan.
But after he took three photos and said three sentences, the tightly closed inn door was opened.
"Open the door, boss."
"The four of us will stay here for half a month, and we will take care of our own meals."
"My reward is this brick in my hand."
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged couple; the man looked honest and kind, and the woman was warm and generous.
At this moment, the hostess greeted them with a very warm smile: "Oh my, I didn't expect someone to come to our Water Mist City at this time. Come in quickly, you must be tired from the journey?"
"You've come at the perfect time! Our two best suites are currently available, with large bathtubs, 24-hour hot water, and a full set of newly replaced appliances and furniture. Choosing our guesthouse is definitely the right decision!"
The hostess warmly welcomed the guests, while the host stood to the side, looking at Gou Fugui with a somewhat bitter and resentful expression. He was certainly not as shrewd and adept at dealing with people as his wife. He immediately asked, "Is that gold brick in your hand real? Don't try to fool us honest people!"
"And is it true that you're responsible for your own meals? It's not that we don't want to open, but there's really not much food left after the heavy fog. We used to provide food for the guests staying here, but everyone is barely able to fill their stomachs."
With four of you coming at once, we definitely won't have enough food. The rescue team hasn't arrived in our city yet, so everyone has to eat the food stored at home, or go to the back mountain to dig for wild vegetables and pick wild fruits, or go fishing and shrimp catching in the river.
So let me be upfront: we really can't provide you with food. If you can't accept that, please try asking at other inns in town.
When the seemingly honest boss spoke, the woman glared at him, but the fact that she didn't stop her husband from saying what he said meant that she agreed with him.
Gou Fugui had already taken off his full protective gear by this time. He smiled as he looked at the couple who had moved two air purifiers by the door to clean up the toxic fumes.
"Don't worry, we brought our own luggage and food. We came here to investigate the environment and the fog. After all, this is where the fog first appeared, isn't it? We're from a research institute, and we want to find a way to solve the fog problem at its source."
As if echoing what Fu Gui Yuan Yuan said, Xie Tian Lang and Si Wu Ya each dragged two large suitcases in at this moment.
Xie Tianlang pulled open his protective suit, revealing his excessively handsome and imposing face, and said to the couple, "The boxes are full of food, we won't eat yours."
Looking at the largest suitcase, which was full and seemed heavy, the innkeeper and his wife showed a rare relaxed and happy expression.
Even the other six guests who were secretly peeking out from other rooms of the inn to listen to their conversation stared at the two large suitcases with envious eyes.
With the food problem solved, the wealthy beauty tossed the gold brick in his hand up and down: "As for this brick in my hand, you can take it directly into the stove and burn it. True gold is not afraid of fire, and that's not just a saying."
Now the innkeeper and his wife have no more worries.
The proprietress stepped forward even more enthusiastically to help drag the two large suitcases, saying, "I knew handsome guys were reliable! All four of you are so good-looking, if you didn't know better, you'd all look like celebrities from some group!"
The wealthy beauty tossed his long hair and laughed: "Then you're wrong, sister. It's true that some people want me to become a star, but my answer is that I want to do research and serve my country!"
The proprietress burst out laughing: "These days, there aren't many simple and honest girls like you!"
"Yes, yes, then sister, can you tell me about the fog here? What's so special about our Water Mist City? How did it become the first place in the entire Huazhou to have fog?"
Sister, do you think this is particularly accidental or inevitable?
Does our Water Mist City have any legends or special places related to mist?
"Sister, you seem to know a lot. Are you very familiar with everything that's happening in Water Mist City?"
Having paid a high price and brought his own food, plus the wealthy and beautiful woman using his former survival skill of "coaxing people," the innkeeper was completely charmed by this former top hostess in just a few minutes on the road, and she blurted out all sorts of things.
“Young man, you’ve come to the right person! My husband and I are both native to Water Mist City! And there’s nothing that I, Gao Cui, can’t find out!”
"Our Water Mist City has a history of two thousand years! The outer city walls are also two thousand years old! If it's special, it definitely has something special about it, and there are legends about it too, but whether this specialness is related to the mist, I'm not sure."
At this moment, the landlady had already led Gou Fugui to the mist room on the third floor, which had the best view and was the most luxurious room in the inn.
She opened the door with the room key, and Gou Fugui saw the newly renovated luxury suite with a pastoral and light luxury style, just as she had described.
Upon entering the room, the first thing you see is the floor-to-ceiling glass window facing the waterwheel and the central lake. When there is no fog, the view of the lake from here must be quite beautiful.
To the left of the floor-to-ceiling windows is a large bathtub separated by a screen; it looks like a couple's bathtub where two people can lie down together and enjoy the view.
A door leading to the balcony was opened on the right side of the floor-to-ceiling glass window, but it was locked at the moment, and there was an air purifier next to it.
Behind the glass window is a large, luxurious double bed, and behind the bed are a shower room, toilet, and washbasin separated by frosted glass.
Opposite the bed is a computer desk and a wall-mounted TV.
Overall, such a room is definitely considered luxurious and excellent in such a small town.
However, the wealthy beauty's expression was somewhat subtle as he stared at the luxurious double bed. Although he and a certain werewolf had made a promise to travel the world together, had confessed their feelings, and even occasionally cuddled and kissed, they were still together.
However, sleeping in the same bed so openly is indeed a bit embarrassing and makes one's heart race.
Xie Tianlang, on the other hand, stood behind, arms crossed, looking at the large bed with a pleased expression.
Perhaps it was because Fugui'er's gaze at the large bed was too direct and his expression too obvious that the landlady who followed him in glanced at him and thought she understood something. She then slapped her thigh and laughed again.
"Oh dear, look at my memory! There's one more important thing I haven't told you! Let me give you a proper introduction to our bed!"
"This is our latest convertible double bed, which we bought at a high price!"
"If a young couple comes here for their honeymoon, then one bed will definitely be enough. However, if it's a family trip or a group of classmates or colleagues coming together, we can split this bed into two!"
"You see, all you need to do is press a button on the remote!"
As the proprietress spoke, she smiled and picked up the remote control, pressed a button, and then the wealthy beauty watched as the luxurious double bed, which was even wider than a regular double bed, actually split in the middle!
"Our bed can be split up to a meter wide!"
Gou Fugui looked at the double bed that had been split open and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Xie Tianlang, who had just been smiling behind him, quickly flattened his upturned lips as the distance between the two beds widened.
It was as if the remote control the landlady pressed separated not the bed, but his happiness.
"If you need them, there are new blankets under the wardrobe..."
Xie Tianlang finally lost his temper. He snatched the remote control from the landlady's hand and pressed the button to close the double bed again.
With the most serious and earnest face, he said the most shameless things: "No need to bother. We're here to investigate, not to enjoy ourselves. The bed is just a tool for resting, we don't care about such things."
"Oh, okay, then you can sleep in one bed." The landlady was stunned by Xie Langren's cold face, and stood awkwardly in place for more than ten seconds before turning around and walking out.
"Alright, here are your room keys. We'll have porridge and two side dishes for dinner. If you don't mind and don't want to cook, you can come down for a drink. It's your first day, so consider it a welcome dinner."
After saying that, the proprietress left with an awkward but polite smile. At this moment, Song Sanchuan and Si Wuyai were led by the proprietress to the luxurious suite next door.
Gou Fugui heard Song Sanchuan shouting that he wanted to take a bath, and then he felt a heat in his ear as he heard another deep voice ask him with a smile:
"Would you like to take a bath? I'll run the bathwater for you."
The warm breath on her ear almost made Fugui Yuanyuan's fur stand on end.
He hopped forward three times like a rabbit, then, his face flushed, he glared at the lecher and said fiercely, "Don't touch me! Stay away from me!"
Xie Tianlang raised an eyebrow, "Didn't I say we should take a bath together?"
Gou Fugui wiped his face: "Watch your step! We're here to investigate, not to relax! The bathtub is just for relaxation, don't come any closer!!"
In the end, Xie Langren still didn't prepare a bath for his Yuanyuan, mainly because the timing wasn't right. It was only a little past five in the afternoon, definitely not the time for a bath and bedtime.
Moreover, no matter how much Xie Langren didn't want to accept it, the fog outside the double-layered floor-to-ceiling windows kept reminding him that they were still in a precarious situation, and this was definitely not a time for enjoyment.
At worst, I'll settle for sleeping with his daughter Yuanyuan at night.
After packing her luggage and taking a quick hot shower, the refreshed and elegant beauty and Xie Tianlang went down to the lobby of the inn.
Song Sanchuan and Si Wuyai, these two tech geeks, hadn't come down yet. Song Sanchuan was controlling his mechanical little sparrow to wander around and even perch under different eaves in the city to eavesdrop on something, while Si Wuyai was still fighting to the death with the different mutated killer plants he caught on the road.
At this moment, six people were already sitting at the table in the inn's lobby. They were the inn's guests who hadn't had time to leave after the fog appeared.
Four men and two women, two couples who were clearly newlyweds, a photographer carrying a camera, and a medium-length-haired man who looked like an artist.
However, judging from Xie's aesthetic sense, that man with long hair really shouldn't have lowered the overall attractiveness of the "long-haired beauties".
As they came down, they were naturally stared at by the six people, one of whom, the young man from the newlywed couple, even subconsciously pulled his coat back.
Gou Fugui didn't care at all and simply placed the four food containers he was carrying on the dining table.
"The proprietress said we should just have some porridge, but we already said we'd take care of our own food, so we can't just eat and drink for free. Consider these four dishes a food exchange. It's fate that we all met here, so it's good to get to know each other."
The long-haired young man opened the four food containers, which contained braised pork ribs, dry-pot cauliflower, fried anchovies, and stir-fried snow peas.
After the four dishes were served, the expressions of the six people at the table improved significantly, and the two girls even showed expressions of happy acceptance.
"Wow, you even brought such good food! I thought you brought a box of instant noodles and self-heating hot pot."
A young woman with a ponytail and glasses also spoke up: "We've been trapped here for three days. We're afraid of not having enough food, so we haven't dared to eat much. It's been so long since we've had such a good variety of food."
"Yeah, yeah, there are even snow peas! My favorite! Handsome guys, please sit down. How did you get here? The fog is so thick on the road, and the car isn't enclosed and doesn't have air purification. How did you manage to get here?"
"You're here to investigate the mist? I've heard that Water Mist City was the first place in Huazhou to experience the mist, but the appearance of the mist is unpredictable and random. Do you really think you can find anything here?"
Gou Fugui sat down with a smile, just as the proprietress brought over a large bowl of cooked porridge.
When she saw the four extra boxes of food on the table, her smile softened. Perhaps it was because these four boxes of food made the proprietress feel that the wealthy were truly keeping their word, and her goodwill towards them increased even more.
So the proprietress sat down herself, serving everyone porridge as she said, "I also think this messy fog is hard to solve. But since you young men have come all this way, we can't let you come for nothing, can we?"
"Ask me anything you want to know, and I'll tell you everything I know."
"Didn't you ask us before what legends or special features this city has?"
The landlady took a sip of the porridge in her hand and then said, "There aren't any special legends in our Water Mist City, except that there are immortals in the lake in front of our inn."
"Everyone else has a river god, but ours is more like a lake god? Anyway, the legend says that one day a celestial being descended from the sky and landed in the lake. The celestial being thought that the feng shui of our Water Mist City was excellent, so he decided to cultivate in the lake. And whenever the celestial being cultivates, Water Mist City is shrouded in celestial mist."
"That's why everyone says the mist in our Water Mist City is full of spiritual energy, especially good for people!" The proprietress said with a smile, "The girls here are more beautiful than those outside, and the elderly here live longer too!"
"But let's be honest, it's just a legend. Experts came here to investigate before, and they didn't find anything valuable in the lake. And the fog here has also been tested by experts; it's just like ordinary fog with tiny water droplets."
"However, because of the mist and high humidity, at least everyone's skin looks very moisturized, haha."
The proprietress laughed, and everyone sitting around the table laughed too.
This does indeed sound like just an interesting legend.
Just when Gou Fugui thought that today's exchange wouldn't yield any important points, the boss sitting next to the landlady suddenly spoke up:
"Don't even mention the gods in the lake, it's more like water ghosts."
"Since the day the fog started, three children have gone missing in our city, right?! Young man, if you're really doing an investigation, you should also investigate these children. Those three children are all good children."
The proprietress's expression changed instantly, and she even kicked her husband from below.
"I'm not making this up! Those three families are frantically searching for their children! It's causing widespread panic, and nobody dares to go out. Right now, every household still has some food stored up, enough to last. But what if the food runs out in a few days? Then they'll have to go up the mountain or come to the lake to catch fish. If they don't catch any fish by then, their children will be gone too!"
"Young men, you absolutely must not go to the lake! Don't listen to this blockhead! The lakeside is slippery and full of weeds now, you might fall into the water if you're not careful."
"You guys just need to study the fog!"
Gou Fugui looked at the landlady who was patting her husband on the back, then turned to look at the city lake outside the inn, shrouded in mist.
Perhaps, after dinner, you could take a stroll along the lake.
Who knows, you might just bump into a celestial being or a man-eating water ghost?
At this moment, upstairs, Si Wuyai looked at the five different kinds of killer plants in his hand that had the same attack patterns and reaction consciousness. For the first time, he felt that he hadn't learned enough and even doubted his own brain.
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