Sleeping Valley (I)
Gulong Village is nestled in the mountains and beside the water, with beautiful natural scenery. Many people come here to visit every year, especially around the Mid-Autumn Festival. The Gulong River Valley is a great place for camping and moon-viewing.
"Is the scenic area haunted?" Yu Shu muttered to himself as he flipped through the information.
The scenic area manager poured hot tea and said cautiously, "It's not haunted. It's just that there haven't been any accidents in the scenic area over the years. Only a few tourists got lost when it first opened."
The staff avoided the main issue and did not deny that tourists were missing in the scenic area. Instead, they attributed the problem to the tourists themselves.
Yu Shu pushed the tea away unnoticeably and did not respond.
It's not that I don't give you face. Even a thousand-year-old fox would have to come later when necessary. Otherwise, the scenic spot would want to suppress the matter for the sake of revenue. If I continue the topic according to the attitude of the person in charge, I won't be able to get any useful information and it would be a waste of time.
He looked at the person in charge indifferently, with a calm yet cold look in his eyes, as if saying, "It was your superiors who asked me to handle this matter, don't play guessing games with me."
Seeing that Yu Shu was not easy to talk to, the person in charge glanced at Jiang Yu beside him and said bitterly: "I have said everything I need to say."
Jiang Yu's skill in ignoring people was superb, as if he treated the person in charge as a piece of air, without even blinking an eye.
Before meeting the person in charge, Jiang Yu agreed to give the entire negotiation task to Yu Shu.
He just sat there drinking tea and eating snacks, acting like a hands-off boss, and even called it observing and learning the art of socializing and chatting.
"Our scenic spot has been open for many years and has a great reputation. However, some tourists refuse to listen to our warnings and ignore the warning signs that say tourists are not allowed to enter. Instead, they climb over the fence and go to places they shouldn't go. We can't do anything about it."
This is not a helpless thing, it is obvious that they are afraid that he will be held accountable and lose his job.
Yu Shu's aversion to stupidity suddenly kicked in. When they met, he showed the relevant documents and explained clearly who asked them to come. This person in charge would not listen to a word.
He knocked on the table, his eyes cold. "I made it very clear when we first met. It was the big boss of the scenic spot who asked us to come here to solve the problem. Forget it, since you don't want to talk about it, I won't make it difficult for you. Let's stop here today."
If Yu Shu continued to talk with this person in charge who was not very smart and had no idea how he got to the top, he would be so angry that he would faint. After saying that, he pulled Jiang Yu and was about to walk out.
"Can we blame our scenic spot if they insist on being so mean? Besides, who can guarantee that you won't tell anyone? If you let it slip and I lose my job, who will be responsible?" The person in charge was also furious and refused to give in.
This person in charge is stubborn and impossible to communicate with.
“What a shame for such a nice place~”
A cool breeze passed through his chest, and Yu Shu opened his arms to breathe in the fresh air that mixed with the scent of grass, trees and stream water.
"You are wasting money." Jiang Yu pointed it out mercilessly.
Yu Shu kicked the gravel on the riverbank and said, "That's not normal. People always strive for higher goals. When living, we should look forward and also look at money. If we can't get along with money, we can't get along with ourselves."
He sighed: "You haven't experienced life without a job, with little savings, and having to pay off a loan. Anyway, I am afraid of it."
"When I first got out, I lived in a dark and damp basement and ate a pack of instant noodles a day."
"You're capable, but you don't have many colleagues. As for me, I'm a deputy chief physician, but in reality, I'm just an employee. The young master's lover died unexpectedly from an immune rejection reaction after surgery, and I lost my job and can no longer work in the medical field."
Jiang Yu's long legs seemed to be a little unsure where to put his feet. This was the first time he heard Yu Shu talk about the past, and he realized that he didn't know much about Yu Shu.
He turned his head and looked at Yu Shu. Yu Shu was very calm. The calmness that came from being forced to let go of everything was heartbreaking.
Yu Shu withdrew his gaze and smiled in relief: "So I can actually understand the motivations of the person in charge. Adults often carry a lot of things, and once they lose their job, the pressure is enormous."
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's take a break and try looking for someone else."
Jiang Yu nodded in response, his eyes flickering, as if he was thinking about something.
Yu Shu took out his cell phone and repeatedly watched the photos of the three families getting on the bus and the photos provided by the police.
"Look here!"
Yu Shu put the phone in front of Jiang Yu's eyes and pointed at the uncle at the back of the line.
If you don't look closely, you really can't tell that there is a child behind the uncle.
The girl hid behind the uncle, with only a small part of her skirt and pigtails showing. Judging from her height, she looked very young, probably only six or seven years old.
Jiang Yu swiped the picture and flipped to the back.
The same is true in the following photos. A part of the skirt appears, but the person is almost invisible.
But they looked into the information of three families, and none of them had daughters that young.
The last photo is of the bridge in the scenic area. The little girl has half of her body exposed. The strange thing is that the details of her clothes are clearly visible, but the little girl's face is blurry, as if it was artificially mosaiced.
"No." Jiang Yu frowned and pointed at a tree trunk far away from the team.
If you don't look carefully, it's hard to see clearly. There is a little boy about the same age as the little girl in red. He is wearing an old-fashioned button-down shirt that has faded to white.
Yu Shu instantly thought of the little girl in red who was widely circulated in Taiwan.
"Could it be this little girl who lured them away?"
Jiang Yu didn't dare to draw a conclusion based on the photos alone.
If it was really the ghost of the little girl in red, this scenic area would certainly not be so clean and easy to find. But it was strange that this scenic area was ridiculously clean, and there was even a bit of spiritual energy similar to that on Yu Shu.
Jiang Yu looked at it for a long time before taking a breath and saying, "Let's go over there first."
If they walk three or four kilometers from their current location, they will reach the bridge in the photo.
They took photos and compared them while looking for a location.
Jiang Yu paused as he thought of something. "The last photo was taken inside the scenic area. Logically, someone must have seen the three families yesterday, but this photo was taken by the police."
All the photos had a source. When the police officers handed them the photos, they briefly explained the situation, but not this one. They only mentioned that it was probably newly collected and hadn't been entered into the database yet. He pointed to a sign on the bridge: No staff or tourists allowed.
In other words, staff and tourists are not allowed to step onto this bridge. So who took this photo?
It is not ruled out that there are some disobedient and stubborn people. The messy trees opposite have obviously not been maintained for a long time, and it is unknown what dangers the lush jungle may hold. Few people would joke about their personal safety in such a place.
"Why didn't you ask at that time?!" Yu Shu's raised voice could be heard very far on the empty bridge.
"Who knew that photos were taken in this restricted area?" Jiang Yu said as a matter of course.
That's true, but when I looked at the photos I thought it was taken from the perspective of a normal passerby. Only when I arrived at the scene did I realize that the shooting location was a messy and dense bush inside a restricted area.
"Let's go back and check the surveillance here first." Yu Shu suggested.
"OK."
The two of them came here to scout the place first, planning to notify others to come and work after finding useful information. Now they feel a little regretful. If they had brought a few more people with them, they wouldn't have to make the trip back and forth.
Yu Shu had not taken a few steps when he heard a rustling noise coming from behind. Thinking that some dangerous wild animal had jumped out, he suddenly turned back alertly.
However, what caught my eye was the little boy in the photo.
He crawled out from the dense green tent. The moment he saw a stranger, a brief look of confusion flashed across his face and he quickly crawled back in.
Jiang Yu's brows jumped: "Is that a living person?" He couldn't feel any negative energy or resentment, even the misty Ruyi disk hanging around his neck as a decoration didn't move.
The little boy soon disappeared. Yu Shu was so anxious that his face turned red. He took a step forward to catch up with him, but then paused. He then reached into Jiang Yu's trouser pocket and fumbled around.
Jiang Yu coughed dryly: "Don't touch me, what are you doing?"
"I'll get some talismans for emergency use. You go back and look for the surveillance. I'll go after that little boy first."
Jiang Yu held Yu Shu's wrist and said sternly, "No, even if he's alive, you can't go over there. The green gauze curtains are too high and too dense. Who knows what's over there? What if it's a trap? What if you get knocked unconscious and then have him disemboweled and sold for his organs?"
The lengthy speech actually expressed Jiang Yu's concern, which made Yu Shu a little dazed. He really hadn't thought about those questions, but he still decided to chase after him.
"It's okay. You said she would come out if there's any danger." Yu Shu pointed to the Eternal Life Knot on his chest and continued, "I believe you, so don't worry."
Yu Shu touched the talisman and ran away. In the blink of an eye, he ran three or five meters away.
He turned around and said, "I'll be careful. Call me if anything happens!"
Jiang Yu shouted at Yu Shu's back, "Okay, I'll be back soon."
On the way back, Jiang Yu went in to greet the boss and told him about his communication with the person in charge.
When we met again, the person in charge had a different attitude.
Jiang Yu was a little angry when he saw this. Yu Shu tried to talk to the person in charge in a nice way several times but it didn't work. As a result, the boss changed his attitude after just a few words.
"Surveillance footage from the area around Gulong Bridge over the past three days."
Jiang Yu was too lazy to waste time talking to this man. His cold and commanding tone forced him to follow his orders.
However, surveillance footage showed that only Jiang Yu and Yu Shu had been to the bridge in the past three days, with no signs of anyone else.
"Replay the part where Yu Shu and I just talked." Jiang Yu continued to direct.
Even stranger things happened. The facial features of the little boy in the surveillance video were clearly visible just now, but when I watched it again, the little boy in the surveillance video became blurred, just like the little girl in red, only his face became a mosaic.
Jiang Yu was just wondering when the operator who was adjusting the surveillance camera spoke up: "Isn't this the same clothing as before?"
The central control pressed the pause button and pointed at the old-fashioned button-down shirt on the little boy and continued, "There's a museum in the scenic area that records that the villagers in this area all wore this kind of clothing, but it was a long, long time ago."
The person in charge nodded in response. "Yes, it is indeed the clothing of Baishui Town in the past, but everyone in Baishui Town moved away a long time ago. The sign on the bridge prohibiting passage is because they are concerned that overdevelopment will damage the ecology."
Jiang Yu didn't believe it. If they really wanted to protect the ecology, they shouldn't have built that bridge. There must be something over there that affected subsequent development, so they had to resort to this desperate measure.
"Okay." Jiang Yu kept the words in his stomach and didn't say them out loud.
He left the monitoring room and immediately made a phone call, wanting to tell Yu Shu that the place was not safe and to come back quickly.
But all I could hear was a cold voice: "Sorry. The subscriber you dialed can not be connected for the moment, please redial later."
Jiang Yu's heart was in suspense, and a chill penetrated deep into his lungs.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com