Chapter 88 (Background)
As the crying grew louder, even the person involved quickly realized that he had embarrassed himself in public!
Dalai looked embarrassed and annoyed, not understanding why he had revealed the matter to outsiders.
She even burst into tears in front of several strangers.
How embarrassing!
How embarrassing!
Perhaps noticing the various expressions on his face, the older comrades exchanged glances and quickly realized that he had come to his senses.
She then took out her handkerchief and handed it over. "It's alright, we're all family here, don't worry about anything else."
Dalai waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need it, and wiped it off himself, quickly calming down.
"I'm alright now!"
He said he was fine, but his red eyes showed that he had been crying.
Moreover, the three veteran comrades were well aware of the extent of his distress.
"Shall we continue with your story?"
Yes, they haven't finished explaining their main point yet!
"Yes, yes, because there have been so many unexpected incidents in the village, many people have begun to suspect that it is the work of some kind of ghost or something unseen causing trouble?"
After all, we've lived peacefully for so many years; who would have thought such a sudden change would occur?
"And then what?"
"Later, hahaha, later the village chief stepped in and stopped us, saying it was just an accident and that we shouldn't spread rumors and should just be more careful in the future." As he said this, his emotions were clearly filled with resentment again. It's no wonder he remembered it for so many years; he would repeatedly recall these fragments every now and then.
That honest and loyal face kept appearing in his mind.
The old village chief—a position with immense power of life and death in a closed-off village.
The right to exercise power was terrifyingly great, so terrifying that the village chief's shadow haunted his nightmares.
"But it turns out that some people in the village had been conspiring with the village chief to do evil. They believed the hunter's words, saying that if they wanted to be strong and young again, they had to try eating things that contained spiritual energy. Can you guess what they ate?"
Dalai stared at them with his swollen, red eyes, not blinking.
There was not a trace of panic in his eyes, but rather a strong sense of emotion.
“They don’t eat wild animals or medicinal herbs that grow on the mountain, but instead they’ve set their sights on the villagers. They even built a house near the foot of the mountain, which is filled with jars and pots of all sizes.”
"Opening the lid a few times a year, preparing at fixed times and locations... Ugh~~~"
Before he could finish the second half of his sentence, Dalai vomited out in disgust.
Upon hearing the commotion, the three people's expressions changed drastically, and they all saw the words "I knew it" in their eyes.
The nausea he felt made him hunch over, and Lao Shi, who noticed the situation, rushed to help.
"Have some water first!"
"Come and help! Don't sit down!"
Old Xia and Old Zhuang stood up as well, and the clattering noise inside the room quickly startled the people outside.
"Hey, what happened inside? Are they alright?"
"What are you worried about? There are guards over there. Don't worry. By the way, what exactly is that guide hiding?"
Since everyone was around the same age and worked together, they were clearly very interested in these topics.
"I don't know, but we hadn't noticed it before. But thinking about it carefully, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. Have you noticed anything unusual about him?"
The person next to him pondered for a moment, then shook his head to indicate no.
"I don't know, I haven't noticed anything wrong either, but could it be that they haven't made their move yet?"
"That can't be right. We don't have anything to do right now. Besides, we still have Captain Huo and Captain Jiang, don't we?"
The man thought about it and realized he was right.
"Forget it, these aren't expensive, we'll take care of them. So, where do you think the tunnel ends up leading to?"
It's not just them who are interested in this; even Luo Yin and the others couldn't help but wonder about it.
Especially Luo Yin, whose eyes lit up with surprise after hearing Xiao Fang's speculations and doubts that there might be some hidden treasures and artifacts.
"Sister Xiaofang, do you think there might be any new bronze artifacts discovered?"
"Not necessarily, but this trip will definitely be worthwhile!"
"Really? That's fine!" Luo Yin looked around, then asked her in a low voice, "Sister Xiao Fang, I have something I want to ask you."
"Sister Xiaofang, are you a college student?"
Yuan Fang nodded. "Yes, I'm an archaeology major in college."
"So, are many people on our team from archaeology backgrounds?" She wanted to ask the professionals, hoping to get some unexpected insights.
Yuan Fang looked around and carefully examined her colleagues. "They're all pretty much the same. Many of the people I know are archaeology majors, and some are related to archaeology, such as architecture or cultural relic restoration. There are even several graduate students among them. Very few of them are self-taught."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the two self-taught individuals in front of her, Luo Yin and You Lizhu, looking at her with smiles.
"Ahem, I was just stating the facts, I wasn't talking about either of you."
Fearing her friends might misunderstand, she quickly began to explain.
"Sister Xiaofang, don't worry, I'm not angry." After all, I'm probably the only one here with only an elementary school education.
Well, it's a little embarrassing to say this, but she won't admit it in public.
Seeing that the two of them looked normal, he calmed down.
"I'm not angry, after all, I am indeed self-taught." But she has her own sect's lineage, which she doesn't need to reveal.
"Hehe, I'm not good with words, but after spending so much time together, I know you all have your own abilities. Our team is so successful because everyone in it is very useful. After all, Elder Xia wouldn't let us suffer losses!"
"Haha, I love hearing that. Sister Xiaofang, please praise me some more."
Luo Yin was flattered by her praise and begged to hear it again.
Seeing her funny expression, Sister You knew something was wrong. She glanced around and sure enough, quite a few people were staring. "A lot of people are looking this way, behave yourself!"
Xiao Fang was amused by her and also heard what You Jie said.
"Come on, let Sister Xiaofang take you to the side to talk."
The two whispering to each other was quickly noticed by those around them, but everyone laughed and didn't pay much attention.
The commotion inside the house finally subsided. After Xia Lao and the others comforted him, they heard more untold stories of the mountain village, stories filled with blood and tears that he had been recalling day and night for more than ten years.
How much of it is true and how much is false, they cannot know.
But many of the details revealed shocked the three of them.
Especially when it comes to the things in the pickled jars, their appearance, color, and taste are almost all perfectly prepared by each of them.
"It's utterly absurd, it's all nonsense, it's all fake."
"Yes, what era are we living in? Eating human flesh is not only illegal, but it can also cause serious diseases. These things should not be touched."
The group couldn't hold back any longer and angrily denounced the so-called brainwashing rumors.
Hearing Dalai next to him constantly agreeing, he was right, that's what he thought too.
Although he wasn't as eloquent as them, he knew that someone was on his side, and at that moment, Dalai seemed to have found his backbone and gained confidence.
"Yes, but at that time, there was no law enforcement in that place, and because of the geographical location, we rarely saw government officials, so no one knew about these things." His appearance was only the result of a miraculous escape.
"So, how is Comrade Dalai's village doing now?"
The three elderly comrades looked serious. They had hoped for a good outcome, but reality told them that it probably wouldn't.
"I don't know, it's been more than ten years since I left."
A decade or so is enough time for a boy to grow into a man, and it can also cause a closed and decaying village to wither or become even more closed and cruel.
"Did they leave an address? Could you tell us where it is so we can figure out how to handle the follow-up matters?"
“That’s right, we old guys still have some connections. You can tell us secretly.”
"Yes, and also, you really can't eat human flesh. It's not as clean as regular meat. If people eat it, they'll develop all sorts of infectious diseases. Dalai, you really have to be careful."
Seeing that he became agitated when the topic of the village came up, Lao Shi simply said this.
"Of course I wouldn't. I've never touched that thing. That's why I don't dare say I'm a Qiang person, just in case..."
"Alright, alright, we'll remember this and won't bring it up again."
After chatting for a few more minutes, Old Xia soon called over some helpers and began to outline their next steps in the plan.
They made two preparations for the original route: some people would need to go back to Wufeng Mountain to guess the location and measure it, while others would need to go down into the tunnel in the crevice to see what was down there.
Disrupting the plan in this way is actually quite risky.
However, the plan was not only approved by the three veteran comrades, but also by Captain Huo and Captain Jiang, and the remaining research assistants also gave their approval.
They planned to stay for another day and a half, during which both sides not only needed to complete their respective tasks, but also return to the small temple by tomorrow evening to summarize and share the results of the operation.
With the planning in place, the next step is to select team members. Once the main responsibilities are determined, the rest will be selected from the passageway area. Because the conditions there are quite demanding, almost all those who were previously screened have been selected this time.
Therefore, the three beauties all followed this time down the tunnel.
Old Xia, along with Old Chen, the guide, and Team Leader Jiang, headed to Wufeng Mountain.
The remaining people were led by Elder Shi and Elder Zhuang. Having learned from his previous experience, Captain Huo was more careful when allocating manpower this time. He not only left enough people outside, but also prepared a lot of things for when he went in.
"We've given you ten hours. If we're not back within ten hours, you can come back in then depending on the situation. Remember to be careful; we'll be keeping several people on standby inside, understand?"
"Captain, I know. Don't worry about the rest."
Captain Huo patted the vice-captain's arm, glanced at the few people left outside, and knew what was going on.
"Okay, let's agree on a time now, and remember to tell everyone to guard the outside."
"Captain Huo, don't worry."
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Author's Note: Two chapters owed
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