Chapter 215 Jinjiang
Because the southern area is some distance away from Binhai City, and they set out late, even though the Taoist priests of Haiyun Temple hurried as fast as they could, they were still much slower than the rescue team.
Taoist Wang saw the lights of the guesthouse area outside the mountain from afar, and he muttered in dissatisfaction: "If I wasn't afraid that the abbot would look for me, I would really like to learn from Taoist Song Yi and run over here directly."
Taoist priest Ma beside him laughed: "Come on, Taoist priest Song's method is only fast when there is a traffic jam in the city. Isn't the plane better?"
Because the official person in charge had contacted Master Ma before and told him about the situation in the homestay area, the survivors had been rescued and the seriously injured had been sent to the nearest city hospital for treatment in time.
Therefore, the Taoist priests, despite their anxiety, also felt a little relieved.
"Fortunately, Junior Brother Yan is here this time, otherwise I don't know how anxious I would be."
Taoist Wang smiled bitterly: "If Taoist Ma's problem is Wild Wolf Peak, then Nanming Mountain... is my obstacle."
Even after so many years, Taoist Wang still cannot forget the tragic scene of the dead bodies all over the village next to Nanming Mountain and the expressions of the surviving villagers who rushed to the mountain ready to die.
The old lady who was in the lead at that time had an even more solemn expression.
It was as if she knew what kind of existence she was dealing with, but still had the courage to kill a god.
Taoist Wang didn't know what had happened in the village, but the old lady saved him out of kindness and pushed him away from South Village.
But it has since become a mental obstacle for him.
He will always remember that time when he failed to protect anyone.
He deserted the battlefield.
So, this time when he learned from the abbot that the incident with the program crew was related to Nanming Mountain, Master Wang didn't even have to think about it, he knew he had to make this trip.
Since this is destined to be his dojo, how could he retreat?
Taoist Priest Wang looked at the lights and Ren You not far away with a firm gaze.
When the Taoist priests entered the homestay area, they were immediately greeted by a rescue team member who explained the situation to them in detail and led them to where the official person in charge was.
"etc."
Taoist Wang's eyes suddenly focused, and his attention was drawn to the shadow next to him.
The others didn't understand what was going on, so they saw Taoist Wang walk to the corner of the homestay next door, squatting down and carefully examining the withered branches and flowers in the corner.
He reached out his hand and carefully crushed the withered petals, and found that these were actually chrysanthemums that were supposed to bloom in autumn.
Taoist Priest Wang raised his head, frowned and looked around, and found that it was not only next to this B&B building, but also next to other B&Bs.
Everything looks withered and lifeless.
But suddenly, Taoist Wang's eyes flashed.
He discovered that outside a homestay not far away, there were yellow and white chrysanthemums in full bloom, swaying in the wind and not withering.
This season in the southern region...is not the blooming season for chrysanthemums.
Taoist Wang casually asked the person next to him, "Which B&B is that?"
The staff looked in the direction that Taoist Wang pointed, and nodded in admiration and understanding: "The Taoist master is really amazing. He found it at a glance."
Taoist Wang frowned and looked at him, not knowing what the other party was talking about.
The staff member didn't notice the look in Master Wang's eyes, and said to himself: "The only survivor who was not seriously injured that Master mentioned before is the proprietress of this B&B. The person in charge is also there."
Upon hearing this, Taoist Master Wang looked solemn.
Is it a coincidence? The only survivor, the only flower that didn't wither.
When the Taoist priests walked into the homestay, their attention was immediately drawn to the official person in charge sitting on the sofa.
There is no other reason.
The person in charge is in really good shape.
Anyone who has dealt with special departments knows how busy they are on a daily basis. It is no exaggeration to say that they have to fight for time even to breathe.
The official leaders that the Taoist priests usually see often have frowns on their brows and look so busy that they have no time to spare. One can tell at a glance that they are tired and exhausted.
There was endless work piling up in his mind at every moment, making it impossible for him to relax.
But now, the official person in charge was smiling easily, as if nothing could worry him, and his brows were relaxed.
When the Taoist priests were spotted, the person in charge waved and said hello: "It's cold outside, would you like some hot water to warm yourself up?"
A strange feeling emerged in Taoist Wang’s mind.
The person in charge was not unaware of what happened in Nanming Mountain, and this time, everyone was worried about whether the tragedy of decades ago would happen again. Everyone was on high alert, and the abbot and many Taoist priests who were still seriously injured in Haiyun Temple were so anxious that they could not sleep all night.
But why didn’t the person in charge’s first sentence express his concern for the situation in Nanming Mountain, but instead made these useless greetings?
Without waiting for Master Wang to ask, Master Ma looked at the person in charge and asked in surprise, "Is your stomach okay?"
"Didn't you have stomach discomfort in the past few days? I was worried about you."
Taoist Priest Ma looked the person in charge up and down and said, "Just tell me if it hurts. Don't just pretend. We have worked together for so many years, and I know your stubborn temper too well."
Seeing that the Taoist priests had already arrived, the rescue team could also go to the mountain to find out what was going on in the longevity village. The person in charge immediately put down the water cup in his hand, stood up, and said to the Taoist priests with a smile: "Don't worry, I'm really fine."
Glancing at Master Ma's suspicious eyes, the person in charge patted his stomach to prove himself, indicating that he really didn't feel any pain.
After so many years of cooperation with the official person in charge, Master Ma and the other party have long since gotten rid of the official attitude and have become good friends in private.
Therefore, even though the official person in charge had already left the B&B and started organizing people outside to prepare for entering the mountains, Taoist Master Ma still frowned and was full of worry.
He was well aware of how bad his divination lessons were - even though the "bad" control group consisted of extremely talented people like the old Taoist priest and Yan Shixun.
Taoist Master Ma, who was afraid that he had made a mistake in telling the fortune for his friend, quickly grabbed the Taoist Master Wang's robe and whispered to him to tell the fortune for the person in charge.
Taoist Wang lowered his voice and said, "The magnetic field near Nanming Mountain is chaotic. Even divination may not be completely accurate. This has been verified decades ago. All schools of thought have no way to deal with such a chaotic place of yin and yang."
"However, when I met the person in charge earlier, I actually helped him to tell fortunes out of habit."
Master Ma was originally looking disappointed, but he didn't expect that Master Wang would actually gasp for breath while speaking.
He quickly asked, "What do you mean?"
Taoist Wang stared at the back of the official leader as he walked towards the rescue team. The other person's figure was hidden in the semi-darkness, walking towards the darkness with his back to the light, as if there were ghosts hunting in the darkness, quietly waiting to swallow the leader into his stomach.
Taoist Wang frowned and whispered, "According to the hexagram, his stomach is indeed not in good condition. Although I didn't calculate it carefully at the time to see the extent of the condition, he shouldn't look as relaxed as he does now."
Taoist Priest Ma stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "It's more than just relaxing, it's simply full of vitality."
If the previous person in charge was a plant that was wilted by insect pests, then the current person in charge is full of water and is green and vibrant under the sun.
The sharp contrast between the two levels of reversal made several Taoist priests feel puzzled.
During this period, something happened that they didn't know...
However, because they were in a hurry to get into the mountains, the Taoist priests did not bother to worry about the physical condition of the person in charge, and quickly counted the people and supplies to be brought into the mountains.
The longevity village is located deep in the mountains. While it is pollution-free and suitable for living and recuperation, it also has another drawback.
The transportation is extremely inconvenient.
When entering the mountains, the program crew had to abandon the vehicle and walk into the mountains. After experiencing the difficulties of wading through rivers and ditches several times, they finally entered the Changshou Village.
Now, the rescue team is no exception.
Taking into account the cold and unknown weather in the mountains, we prepared sufficient food and clothing, and we also brought medical supplies in case someone in the crew got injured.
Everyone's backpack was bulging, as if it was carrying dozens of kilograms.
Even the official heads were carrying heavy backpacks.
The people around him were worried about him and asked if they could help share some of the weight.
After all, there are dozens of people going into the mountains this time, so there is no need for the person in charge to carry all these things.
The person in charge smiled and rejected the other party's kindness.
"Don't worry, I'm not that fragile."
The official person in charge smiled and waved his hand, signaling everyone to hurry up and get on the road: "The sooner we get to the Longevity Village, the sooner the program team can escape danger. Let's not waste time."
The person next to him responded, but the more he looked at the person in charge, the weirder it seemed.
Why did he feel that... the person in charge had a sense of urgency?
But he quickly shook his head and denied himself.
What is he thinking? The person in charge must be worried about the program crew, so of course he would be eager to go into the mountains.
However, the terrain leading into the mountain was treacherous, and the conditions were even worse in the pitch darkness. It was impossible to discern what was happening farther away, and conventional methods of finding the way were ineffective due to the chaotic magnetic field nearby. So both the rescue team and the Taoist priests were extremely vigilant.
The program crew was able to enter the mountains smoothly because they had a guide who was familiar with the terrain leading the way.
But they didn't.
After all, the officials in the southern region are already so busy that they naturally have no energy to pay attention to details like helping the rescue team find a new guide.
Officials in the southern region did not expect that the first tourism cooperation would turn out like this. They were shocked for a moment. They didn’t know why the longevity village, which was praised by everyone who visited and came back, was related to the tragic Nanming Mountain decades ago.
However, because of previous contact with them by official leaders, they are also investigating the whereabouts of those who claimed they were going to settle in the longevity village.
Whether it's surveillance, all traces of chip usage, or visits to the villages that must be passed before leaving the mountains...
They responded quickly and began investigating immediately.
The result surprised them.
——According to the elderly people in the longevity village, those who left because they could not stand the bitter cold in the mountains had actually never left the mountain once.
Not only that, they also found that the settlers seemed to be acting according to a set pattern.
They first go into the mountains, and then between three to nine months, around the four solar terms each year, they will come out of the mountains and happily tell everyone around them that they are going to settle down in the Longevity Village and take care of all the trivial matters outside the mountains.
Then they would go back into the mountains.
No news from him since then.
However, from the screenshots of surveillance videos, or the selfies and interviews of the settlers themselves, officials in the southern region discovered one thing.
After these people came out of the mountains, their faces were filled with happy smiles, which made people feel good and sincerely felt that they had truly found happiness.
However, if you compare them through software, you will find that the smiles on their faces are exactly the same, even down to the curve, and the wording is exactly the same.
As if they were made from the same mold.
The entire process is precisely similar down to the smallest detail.
Once doubts arise in your mind and the seeds of suspicion take root and sprout, things that were originally overlooked when you let your guard down will no longer be able to escape detection.
The further you look into the southern region, the more frightened you become.
They replied to the official person in charge, saying that they seriously suspected that there was a cult hiding in the mountains, and that the settlers behaved in this way because they had been brainwashed by them.
However, there are still some doubts in the southern regions.
Because among those settlers, there are many relatives and friends who come to look for them.
But no matter how hard the relatives and friends searched, they kept circling outside the mountain. They couldn't even find the entrance to the mountain, let alone meet those people again.
Although this made many people on the Internet sigh at the time, saying that Changshou Village is a veritable paradise, people who are not destined to be there cannot even walk into the mountains.
But looking at it again now, it seems extremely strange.
Although it is known that the magnetic field near Nanming Mountain is chaotic, people in the southern region still cannot understand why there is such a precise coincidence every time, causing all relatives and friends who want to go into the mountain to look for the people they care about to return empty-handed.
It was as if... there was some force preventing them from meeting each other.
After receiving a call from officials in the southern region, the person in charge was speechless for a moment.
He stood on the road leading into the mountain, looked up at the dark, starless night sky, and felt his throat sore and his eyes hot.
The person in charge is well aware that many of these people are suffering from serious illnesses that are difficult to recover from and have to give up treatment due to financial and family constraints.
They cannot afford hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in medical expenses, nor do they want to use up their family's time, energy, and even love to take care of themselves.
There will be no filial son by the bedside of a patient who has been ill for a long time, and the same goes for family members.
They don't want the originally harmonious family to become quarrelsome all day long and eventually fall apart because of them.
Looking at their young wives and children, and their aging parents at home, they finally gritted their teeth and made the decision.
——Go to the longevity village and try for the last chance of survival.
Perhaps the rumors on the Internet are true, and they can really be healed because of the unique natural environment and soil of the longevity village.
In that way, they can return to their families in good health and continue to live happily with their families.
It doesn't matter even if it's fake.
If the longevity village can't cure them, then let them die in the longevity village deep in the mountains... die out of the sight of their families.
This way, family members won’t worry too much.
Those people enter the longevity village with such ideas, and their families believe that they will live healthily in a place where they cannot see them.
However, those family members who were filled with hope and longing did not know that the person they thought was living happily...
Never coming back.
I'm afraid they are already dead.
The person in charge blinked his eyes, and before he could say anything, tears started to flow down his face.
The people around who heard the voice on the phone were also silent.
No one laughed at the tears of the man in charge.
Put yourself in their shoes. The family members they loved so much and thought were still alive had already died in the mountains.
Just thinking about it was enough to make them feel heartbroken. How could they laugh at the person in charge's uncontrollable sentimentality?
"Hmm... maybe the magnetic field of Nanming Mountain is too special. After all, even the expedition team couldn't find the place before."
The person in charge sniffed, but his voice was still filled with the nasal sound that he couldn't suppress: "As for the situation you mentioned, it is indeed possible. We will pay attention to it after we enter the mountain. Thank you for your hard work."
After all, this matter has fallen into the category of special events. Therefore, even though the person in charge knew that the other party's guess was not correct, he did not point it out, but just went with the flow and agreed to it.
After hanging up the phone, everyone was silent for a long time.
Taoist Wang sighed heavily.
Poor bones by the Wuding River...①
Decades ago, hundreds or even thousands of corpses floated on the river from Nanming Mountain.
During the live broadcast of the program, rotting corpses appeared repeatedly.
These corpses are probably those of the settlers.
On one side, there is joyful waiting and anticipation, while on the other side, there are dead bodies sinking to the bottom of the river, lying cold and rotting without ever seeing the light of day.
Everyone felt bad.
Several rescue team members who have families were so upset that they choked up just thinking about what might have been the missing people being their family members.
However, the official responsible person was the first to cheer up.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the tears in his originally red eyes disappeared, and the sadness on his face was completely suppressed, leaving only a smile.
"Let's go, the dead are gone, and we can't change the past. But."
The person in charge said with a firm look: "The members of the program team are still here, they are still alive. We need to go there quickly so as not to repeat the tragedy in the B&B area. We need to rescue them before any danger occurs."
Everyone nodded repeatedly at what the official person in charge said, forced themselves to cheer up, put on their heavy backpacks, and started to head towards the route into the mountain that the proprietress pointed out to them.
However, even though they had made sufficient mental preparations, after stepping into the mountains, they still found that the situation was far more complicated than they had imagined.
——The river water in the mountains has risen.
There are no stars or moon tonight, and the sky is pitch black.
When in the homestay area, you can still see the terrain clearly with the help of the surrounding light.
However, after entering the mountain, they felt like they had entered a sealed, dark box, where they could not see their hands in front of them. Even with a strong flashlight, they still could not accurately judge the complex and dangerous terrain.
What worries everyone the most is that the river water is rising violently, flooding a lot of land that was originally passable, forcing them to give up the easy road and take a detour to a more dangerous place.
At night in the wilderness and deep in the mountains, coupled with the chaotic magnetic field, conventional means are ineffective, and even the most experienced wilderness survival experts dare not act rashly.
After all, in this environment, it is easy to lose direction.
And once you get lost... hypothermia, hunger, wild animals, slipping, and other adverse situations that may lead to death would be the most likely outcome.
However, when everyone was nervously confirming each step, afraid of missing a step and slipping, the person in charge seemed to be extremely at ease.
He felt as natural as if he had come home.
While the Taoist priest was holding a compass and making hand gestures, carefully and seriously identifying the direction and route, the person in charge was walking in front of everyone else with big strides, as if the branches and slippery pebbles lying across his feet had no effect on him at all.
Taoist Priest Ma was shocked: "When did you learn wilderness survival skills? How come I didn't know about it?"
Hearing this, the person in charge turned around and looked at Taoist Ma in surprise: "What are you talking about? Isn't this easy to see?"
The person in charge pointed ahead and said, "This road is so obvious that you can tell at a glance that it is the road to Changshou Village."
Taoist Priest Ma exchanged glances with the staff member next to him: Did he get some information that we don't know about? How can he be so sure?
The staff member hesitated: Did he see it on the live broadcast? After all, the production team also live-broadcasted the entire process when they entered the mountain at noon. Perhaps the person in charge wrote down the route?
Seeing the person in charge look so confident, some people couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that the person in charge did his job so meticulously? He even memorized the route for the program team to enter the mountain?
In order to avoid the divination results being affected by the chaotic magnetic field, Taoist Wang calculated repeatedly dozens of times. The result he finally got was similar to the route taken by the person in charge.
"this……"
Taoist Wang was stunned.
The person in charge didn't pay attention to the expressions of others, but just led the way at the front.
However, in some places where the mountain roads were flooded by rivers and required a detour, the person in charge stepped directly into the river and naturally waded to the other side.
I don't know whether he was eager to enter the longevity village or he was no longer wary of the river, as if he was nostalgic and accustomed to it, like a child returning to his mother's arms.
"What are you standing there for? Come over here. The river is not deep."
The person in charge turned around with a smile and waved to everyone.
In the dark forest, the branches were slanting, and under the light of the flashlight, they cast shadows that danced wildly like ghosts.
There was a hint of blood in the smiling eyes of the person in charge.
In the distance, there was a faint rustling sound.
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