Chapter 95 Hanging Coffin
The hidden Xiao Du and his companions knew that based on the simple ground markings, they would soon be discovered.
However, people on site felt that with Mr. Chen present, all plans and actions had to be carefully considered.
After all, he's not as tough as them; if he were to accidentally hurt someone, it wouldn't be a trivial matter.
Brother Du made several hand gestures to Brother Meng and another person lying in ambush, meaning that if anything unexpected happened, the three of them should come out to obstruct the view so that the other comrade could take him away.
The comrade nodded to indicate that he understood, and soon the leader in the crowd noticed the anomaly.
"Captain, the marks below indicate that there are no more than six people here. The footprints show four adult men and one elderly man."
"Everyone, split up and find him."
"Remember, bring that old man back to me safely."
As he ran with the wind, seeing the person getting closer and closer, Xiao Du suddenly made a hand gesture, ready to rush forward and attack.
Meng Shaoyuan and another person also set their sights on people in their vicinity.
Old Chen sensed something was wrong and saw that someone else had picked him up and was running downhill.
The old man was both anxious and annoyed, he really didn't know what kind of nonsense these people were thinking.
Everything's in complete chaos!
"Put me down."
"There are sounds of fighting coming from the Northeast!"
"There are voices coming from the west!"
In the blink of an eye, people from the vicinity rushed over, and the people exposed at the scene surrounded them.
When the captain saw Old Chen, he immediately gestured to the people around him.
The man saw that people were surrounding them, and soon Yi Shida's mission target was them.
He was clearly of no value, so he was just like Old Chen on his shoulder.
"Quick, they're trying to kidnap someone!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs.
A flock of birds suddenly took flight in the forest, and the two sides locked in combat immediately understood what was happening.
They all wanted to hurry up and get ahead of them.
However, as they continued to exchange blows, the two sides seemed to have reached a stalemate.
No, this is the same as my attack/defense mode. Could it be that the other side is also a soldier?
"Cough cough, that's enough, that's enough!"
When the old man heard that roar, he was truly convinced.
Helpless, he could only speak up to stop them, "Group leader, stop right now."
After giving the instructions, Old Chen told him to put him down immediately, as carrying him on his shoulder was extremely uncomfortable.
"Whoosh~"
"Whoosh~"
During the battle, the man activated several sound effects in succession, and the scattered people quickly gathered around him.
Then Xiao Du, Xiao Meng, and the others rushed over as well.
"Yunnan Province Ailao Mountain Third Special Operations Group, all members reporting to Elder Chen!"
"Good morning, leader!"
The unified sound echoed through the air.
Only Xiao Du, Xiao Meng, and two other comrades were stunned at the scene. They looked left at Old Chen and right at the group of people.
So they really are colleagues. But where is this special operations team from?
Their strong sense of belonging prevented them from asking any questions; they simply followed behind Old Chen obediently, watching him skillfully converse with the man, talking about topics they couldn't hear.
It was at this moment that they realized the true purpose of their trip to the southwest might be about to be revealed.
Of those involved in this operation, only these four knew the truth.
"Okay, I understand. Now let's hurry on our way and make sure we enter the Ailao Mountains before the end of the month."
"Yes, we can set off immediately."
Before the team was fully assembled, they noticed that the other party had deliberately erased some traces at the scene.
They went on to leave as few traces as possible along the way.
Even though it involved many more steps than traveling alone, each action was incredibly smooth, without any mistakes.
You can tell at a glance that he's an expert in this field, so what exactly is Ailao Mountain?
What do they need to do inside?
Therefore, Elder Chen needed to deliberately leave Elder Xia and the others behind and go alone with another group of people.
Unable to figure it out, the two comrades turned their attention to Xiao Du and Xiao Meng.
They seemed to understand something, but seeing the equally unpleasant expressions on the faces of the two men, their hearts sank.
Oh no, this doesn't seem like a good place!
"Hey, Brother Meng, have you ever heard your elders mention that place before?"
Meng Shaoyuan nodded, then shook his head.
"I don't really know the specifics; there probably aren't any survivors. All I can offer are warnings and cautionary tales!"
Du Yuetian, unlike his usual carefree and playful self, now had an unusually serious and calm expression.
"It's the same in my family; we almost never talk about this."
When asked about the Ailao Mountains, the sorrow in his eyes was impossible to hide.
"I thought we wouldn't run into this this time, but I never expected them to be so bold, going into the Ailao Mountains of the Ten Thousand Mountains just like that. And judging from the situation, the higher-ups must have been prepared beforehand. I really wonder if they've discovered anything yet?"
Du Yuetian was both curious and nervous. He felt a sense of exploration for the unknown area, but he also remembered his elders' warnings to be careful of several restricted areas, as he knew he wouldn't be able to get out once he entered.
But now, they've actually followed them inside.
Old Chen, could this fortune teller be even more powerful than they imagined?
But I've never heard any of the elders in my family mention him. Could it be that this old man has some hidden identity?
Old Chen noticed several gazes sweeping over him, so as to give them an explanation, the old man said domineeringly, "What are you looking at? Hurry up, you guys. If you're still so lax when we get there, I can't guarantee your safety."
"Alright, just listen to me from now on, and you'll all be safe."
For a long time afterward, the old man spent his time communicating with the leader of the third group.
They hurried along the way, climbing countless mountains, crossing countless rivers, and wading through countless streams.
When a strange airflow fluctuation occurred, Chen Dong suddenly called a halt!
"Wait a minute, wait a bit!"
As soon as Grandpa Chen stopped, the group immediately stopped moving and stood still to watch him.
Then, following his gaze into the distance, they saw a monument standing not far ahead beside a patch of low grass.
As we approached Old Chen, we saw that the stone tablet was covered with moss and vines.
The lower half appears to be deeply embedded in the mud, while the upper half has also been eroded considerably. On the bluish-black stone slab, traces of oxidation, drawn with cinnabar, are the words "Forbidden Land of Ailao Mountain!"
"This is the Ailao Mountain. It's true what they say, seeing it in person is believing."
Du Yuetian looked at the vegetation and trees on the other side of the stone tablet with a mixture of tension and amazement. The tall trees there, layer upon layer, covered, overlapped and squeezed together, presented a sense of chaotic dance.
The strange, bizarre branches, the towering trees reaching into the clouds, and the perennial miasma and fog with excessive concentrations all looked much stranger than what they had here.
Just standing outside the stone tablet, they could feel the oppressive atmosphere emanating from the mountain.
Few people dared to go inside.
"The Ailao Mountains, it really does smell like this again!"
Grandpa Chen took a deep breath and felt that the smell seemed stronger than it had been ten years ago. He wondered if the situation inside might have worsened.
He asked the third group leader to bring out miasma pills and give one to each person to prevent them from getting infected.
Then he led his people inside first!
On the other side, when they returned to the Tian family courtyard with the aunties, they found that the two elders and everyone else were gone.
Looking around, I found that no one else was there, but a few children were playing tag not far away.
The three sisters realized something was wrong and rushed over to inquire, only to find out that they had gone to the village entrance.
"Go to the village entrance, do you know which way to go?"
"Where did they go? Did everyone go?"
"Who else from the village went along? Did the village chief and the others go too?"
The children got annoyed by the questions, pointed to the village entrance and ignored them; if asked again, they would run off.
Luo Yin wanted to catch one of them and get some answers, but the person ran faster than an eel, and they were still playing tag with each other.
The laughter was so cheerful, but Luo Yin thought it wouldn't do.
"Never mind, they must have found something in the village. Let's go check it out."
You Lizhu thought it made sense, so the three of them quickly ran towards the village entrance.
Following the footprints at the village entrance, we discovered they had gone to the left, while they said they were taking the path on the right.
"Is there something different here?"
The three stared at the clearly different soles of the shoes on Xiao's feet, which were exactly the same as the ones on their feet. After verifying that the number of people matched, they confirmed that the shoes matched.
The three moved quickly forward, scouting and assessing the situation as they went. After walking for about ten minutes, they discovered movement ahead.
"Found it!"
Hearing exclamations and conversations not far away, the three quickly realized that they seemed to have found another path to climb upwards.
The three of them followed the marks above, crawling through the natural crevice and climbing up step by step. When they saw their friendly colleagues, they were stunned by the scene before them before they could even feel happy.
On a natural stone wall, numerous coffins are embedded in the wall.
There are at least a hundred of them if you look at ten thousand, but if you look up again, you can see that they are neatly arranged in rows and columns.
"This is a hanging coffin in a cave!"
"How many people must that be? It must be a family cemetery," Sister Xiaofang exclaimed.
Luo Yin was equally stunned. "This is the first time I've ever seen anything like it. It's truly breathtaking."
"Hey, what brings you all here? Hurry up and come over, we've got some work to do."
Upon seeing them appear, Comrade Xu quickly greeted the three of them.
Seeing that they hadn't quite processed the look on their faces, Xu Hongze quickly explained, "We just happened to be talking about the crying sounds coming from the stone valley at midnight. They said the place was eerie, with cries of babies and screams of women heard every night."
"The village chief brought us here. It's said that it's been here since they lived here, and they discovered it by chance."
"Ah. Comrade Xu, is this for real or fake?"
What do you think?
Comrade Xu countered with a question, and then continued.
"Alright, that's not the point right now. Quickly grab some paper and pen and follow me to make rubbings of all these things. Professor Shi said these are all cultural relics with great research value, and we can't miss this opportunity now that we've come across them."
"ah?"
"No, these are from what era? How can we just touch them?"
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