Chapter 166: Jinjiang First Launch
After hearing this, almost all the onlookers laughed. Needless to say, what they meant was that although Qingshui Town was backward, it was also a modern town. How could there be such things as savages? If there really were such things, Qingshui Town would have been famous long ago.
Seeing that no one believed him, the bearded man got anxious. He slapped his thigh and said, "I swear, everything I said is true. If I tell even a single lie, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death! Believe me, I really saw the wild man!"
Seeing how serious he was, the people around him stopped laughing and listened to him quietly. The bearded man took a sip of water and began his own story:
"We were originally three people, me and my two buddies. We had never found a job after graduating from technical school, and we often wandered the streets. We all had the dream of starting a business, and we always wanted to make a big fortune, preferably one that could earn several million at a time, so that we would never have to work again."
"I heard someone laughing at me. What's so funny? Don't look down on the poor youngsters! Although I haven't succeeded yet, how do you know I won't succeed in the future? Look, we have just met the savages, haven't we?"
"We first encountered the wild man about ten days ago. That night, the three of us had kebabs and beer and thought about life together. I was a little drunk, but I still couldn't sleep, so we just wandered around the streets and finally walked to the outskirts of Qingshui Town, at the foot of a mountain."
"It was desolate at the foot of the mountain. There were a few abandoned self-built houses and the fields were overgrown with weeds. It was obvious that the people who lived there had moved away a long time ago. Apart from us, there were almost no pedestrians there. There was only one mobile barbecue truck. When the owner saw us coming, he shouted at us and asked if we wanted beer."
"I was thirsty, so I went to the stall and bought a bottle of cold beer. I drank it and chatted with the owner. I asked the owner why no one lived here. The owner said that there were wild men in the area and the local residents were scared away."
"I got interested the minute I heard about it. Wild men are roaming around. Isn't that a great thing? If we just shoot a short video and post it online, it will go viral immediately. Then we can get advertisements and make a lot of money. So I asked my boss about the details."
"The boss said he didn't know much, he just knew there were rumors about it in the area. Many people saw the wild man, but no one took a clear photo. The wild man moved very quickly, and before people could see him clearly, he ran over. He was also very aggressive, and would pounce on humans if they made a sound. Some people said that the wild man might eat humans."
Xia Mang couldn't help but interrupt: "If it's true as you said, that there are savages attacking humans, wouldn't the local residents call the police?"
The bearded man shook his head and said, "Well, I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just thought it was a good opportunity to make a fortune. I looked around and saw that the self-built houses were very beautifully built. There was no reason for the residents to suddenly move out en masse, unless something happened there. So I guessed that what the barbecue stall owner said was true. There really were wild people here."
"After I finished my beer, the boss advised me to leave early so as not to meet the savage, but I refused. Not only did I not leave, I also wanted to stay and meet the savage."
"I threw the beer bottle and went back to my two brothers and told them what happened. They were very happy too. They wanted to take a video of the wild man just like I did."
"We hit it off right away and decided to stay there. There were a lot of empty houses around, so I just picked one to live in."
Xia Mang rolled his eyes: "Come on, do you have any legal awareness? You are breaking into a private house!"
The bearded man laughed: "Oh, what are you talking about? The owner of the house no longer lives there. I'm going to stay there for a few days. Isn't this a way to recycle waste?"
The crowd made disdainful noises. Everyone was speechless about the bearded man, but the bearded man was very thick-skinned and didn't care at all. He continued:
"We randomly picked a house, broke the windows and moved in. After all, this was at the foot of the mountain and there was no surveillance, so no one could find out what we did. The house was very clean and there were a lot of daily necessities left. We brothers each picked a room. I drank a little too much and fell asleep on the bed. The two of them waited for the wild man on the balcony on the second floor."
"At three o'clock in the middle of the night, I was suddenly woken up by them. They showed me their phones with excitement. The phone captured a blurry back view of a huge creature hiding in the grass, crawling on all fours and moving forward quickly."
"I was very excited and wanted to see more photos, but the two guys told me that they only took that one photo, and before they could take more, the wild man crawled away."
"I immediately became frustrated. What can you tell from just a back view? The outline of this thing is very vague. You can say it is a person or a cow. In short, it is difficult to tell. It has no value."
"I was in a bad mood, so I said a few words to them. These two guys were such losers. They didn't even take the photo when such a good opportunity was right in front of them! They were not convinced, so we started arguing on the spot. They were two against me, and I was defeated. Later, I was so angry that I put on my clothes and left, leaving them there."
"I went home and slept for half the night. The next day, I sobered up and thought about what happened last night. I felt that I was too impulsive and shouldn't have given up the opportunity to observe the wild man. So I went to contact them again to ask what was going on, but this time, I didn't get a reply."
"I had a bad feeling. We brothers have known each other for a long time and we all know each other's tempers. Although we sometimes quarrel, we never resort to the cold violence. We will definitely reply if there is any news. They didn't reply, so there is only one possibility - something happened to them."
"I immediately grabbed my stuff and rushed to the house we built yesterday. The house was still the same, but there was no one inside. I had a bad feeling. Fortunately, our phones had the close contacts function activated. As long as I turned on my phone, I could see their location. I followed the location and found them all the way to the mountain."
"Soon after I got up the mountain, I saw them both lying on the ground. I rushed over to check on them. Fortunately, they were still breathing, so I pinched them hard and woke them up."
Xia Mang was puzzled: "Shouldn't you call the emergency number in this situation?"
The bearded man looked as if he had seen an alien: "Oh, you have to call the emergency number just because you are sick? You are such a big shot! How much does it cost to go to the hospital? You need to draw blood for tests, do a CT scan, and so on. It will cost at least several thousand yuan. We are all children from poor families. How can we afford it? We have always been like this. We just bear with it ourselves when there is something wrong."
Xia Mang curled her lips and stopped talking. The bearded man continued, "My two brothers - I don't want to reveal their real names online, so let's call them Wasabi and Eggplant. Wasabi was the first to wake up. He looked at me in a daze and couldn't figure out what was going on. It was not until he lay in my arms for a while that he gradually regained consciousness."
"According to Wasabi, after I left that night, the two of them felt that they had behaved very poorly. If they wanted to make a lot of money, they should have chased the wild man as soon as he appeared, instead of letting him run away. The more they thought about it, the angrier they became, and finally they decided to go into the mountains to look for the wild man overnight."
"Because they came in a hurry, the two did not prepare any weapons and went up the mountain unarmed. Eggplant cursed as he walked, trying to attract the wild man. Sure enough, the wild man was attracted by him. The wild man was covered with long brown hair, like a giant ape. After the wild man appeared, before they could take out their mobile phones, the wild man pounced on them. At the same time, Wasabi felt a pain in the back of his head and lost consciousness. When he woke up again, it was already the next day."
"After a while, Eggplant woke up and said the same thing. They were both attacked by the savages. This is enough to prove that the legendary savages really exist!"
Bai Mian propped his chin with his fan: "The savages rushed towards your brothers head-on, but you said they were attacked in the back of the head, which means - someone else attacked them?"
The bearded man nodded excitedly: "Yes, Master, you know what I am talking about. They were both attacked from behind at the same time. In other words, there is not just one wild man in the mountains, but a group of them!"
Xia Mang thought for a moment and said, "It seems to make sense. Savages also survive by reproduction, so he doesn't live alone, but with his family."
Bearded man: "Yeah, think about it, a bunch of savages, a bunch of them! If we can catch them and sell them for money, how much money would that make!"
Bai Mian narrowed his eyes: "Oh? Your ambitions seem to have grown. At first you just wanted to shoot a video, but now you want to capture the wild man alive."
The bearded man rubbed his hands and said, "Yes, we were too arrogant at that time. When we were in school, the school was in chaos and students often made appointments to fight. The three of us were not afraid of anyone when we fought, so I thought it would be the same this time. Facts have proved that we were wrong."
“山葵和茄子都醒來之後，我帶着他們兩個回到了自建房裏，我去燒烤攤那買了一把燒烤，又買了幾袋方便面，吃飽以後，我們開始商量下一步對策，首先，他們兩個人看得清清楚楚，山裏的野人是确實存在的，那這件事就值得我們投入時間，其次，野人打暈他們，他們兩個覺得沒面子，想去再挑戰一回野人，把面子找回來，最後，野人打暈他們之後只是把他們丢在原地，就說明野人吃人的事是假的，我們也沒什麽可害怕的。”
“商量一番後，我們決定再次上山，争取捉到一個活體野人，畢竟野人這玩意太稀罕了，如果我們拍視頻發到網上，那早晚會有其他人來捉，與其這樣，還不如我們自己捉，賺他一筆大的！”
“決定好之後，我們就出去采購了一些工具，有刀子和繩子，當時我想，我們有刀，優勢在我們這邊，野人再厲害，也不可能刀槍不入吧？我們又吃了幾袋泡面，就這樣熬到了夜晚，我們再次信心滿滿地上山了。”
白眠皺起眉：“為什麽一定是在夜晚？”
胡子男：“野人只會在晚上出沒，這是燒烤攤老板說的，他以前就住在這一片，所以對野人的事很了解。”
“總之，我們第二天夜裏又上山了，這次我們在山裏等了一夜，野人就是沒出現，我學着茄子的樣子扯開嗓子大罵髒話，喊得我嗓子都啞了，但是草叢裏還是沒動靜，我們就這樣白等了一晚上。”
“等到日出之後，我們回到了自建房裏，這次我們士氣大減，原來野人不是每個晚上都會出沒的，能不能碰見野人也要看緣分，我們沒有別的辦法，只好繼續等待下一個夜晚。”
“第三天的晚餐依舊是燒烤啤酒，吃喝過後，我們帶着工具上山了，這次我們換了策略，是茄子提出來的，茄子說，野人一定也有自己的巢穴，我們不必非要苦等，可以主動去找野人的老巢，找到老巢，其他的事就好辦了。”
“我們轉遍了整座山，在山腰上找到了一處最大的洞穴，洞穴裏有吃剩的食物，還有生活過的痕跡，看來這裏就是野人的老巢了，我們幾個蹲守在洞穴裏，靜靜等待野人回巢。”
“不知道等了多久，我都給睡着了，等我再次醒來的時候，我們三人又被丢到了山腳下，看來野人是回來過了，我叫醒他們倆個，他們也說自己昨夜睡着了，不知道發生了什麽，我們這一晚上又是無功而返。”
“等等，聽你說了這麽多，你似乎并沒有親眼看見所謂的野人，一直都是你的兄弟在給你講述？”白眠質疑道。
胡子男耷拉下了腦袋：“不是的，說來話長，你聽我講，在第三天夜晚結束之後，我也意識到了這一點，我全程都沒有看到過野人，是他們兩個一直聲稱自己看見了，我開始懷疑他們兩個會不會是在耍我，畢竟我們第一天夜裏吵了架，我說了很多難聽的話，或許他們是在用這個方式報複我，讓我白忙一場。”
“想明白這一點之後，我就告訴他們我要退出，不管這件事了，他們兩個挽留過我，但我沒聽，我走了之後，他們仍留在自建房裏，繼續抓捕野人的計劃。”
“本來這件事對我來說已經到此為止了，我回家和父母生活了幾天，但是就在幾天之後，山葵找上了門，他一臉慌張地告訴我——茄子死了！”
衆人聽罷都有點意外，夏芒摸了摸下巴，她本來以為這就是一個普普通通的探險故事，沒想到竟然會死人。
白眠問：“他是怎麽死的？”
胡子男一臉後怕地說：“當時只有山葵和茄子在場，是山葵告訴我的，他說，我走了之後，他們兩個再次回到了那個山洞裏，想要蹲守野人，這次他努力讓自己保持清醒，但還是不知不覺睡着了，醒來之後，他被丢到了山腳下，這次他身邊沒有了茄子的蹤影。”
“山葵努力讓自己保持鎮定，他拿出手機，想通過定位尋找茄子，根據定位顯示，茄子還在半山腰那個洞穴裏，于是山葵就找了回去，當他進入山洞之後，他、他看見——”
說到這裏，胡子男有些說不下去了。
畢竟是多年的兄弟，胡子男眼睛紅了，他顫抖着說：“他看見，茄子被埋在了土裏，整個人就像個蘿蔔，只有頭露在外面，他大着膽子上前扒拉了幾下，居然就這樣把茄子的頭給挖了出來，下面、下面是空的，沒有身體，茄子的身體不見了！”
白眠：“也就是說，在他們蹲守的那個夜晚，山葵睡着之後，茄子一個人遇到了野人，野人把他斬首了？”
胡子男說：“是的，當時山葵捧着那顆頭，整個人都被吓得魂飛魄散，他本能地把頭顱丢了出去，然後連滾帶爬地跑了，等他跑到山腳下之後，又覺得就這樣丢下兄弟的頭顱不太合适，所以大着膽子想要上山撿回頭顱——”
夏芒尖叫着說：“怎麽到了這種時候你們還不報警啊！”
胡子男嘆了口氣：“唉，你聽我說，山葵跑回去之後，發現那顆頭不見了，剛才他挖出來的土坑也不見了，他看見的一切，仿佛都只是一場幻覺，就連他自己也不确定了，他這個人膽子小，拿不定主意，所以就來找我商量了。”
白眠随即問：“那你的建議是什麽？”
胡子男猶豫了一會，開口說道：“我建議我們回到那個洞穴裏，再次捉拿野人！”
衆人都很驚訝，胡子男解釋道：“我當時沒讓他報警，因為頭顱已經消失了，現場連屍體都沒有，報警也只能算作失蹤案，而且一旦報警的話，警方勢必會封山搜查，到那時候一定會驚動野人，那我們這輩子都沒機會再見到野人了！”
夏芒忍不住說：“野人野人野人，都什麽時候了，你還顧得上抓野人？”
胡子男為自己辯解道：“我自然有我的道理，我兄弟是被野人殺死的，我去活捉野人，親手為兄弟報仇，難道不對嗎？”
夏芒笑了：“噗，還說什麽為兄弟報仇，我看你兄弟在你眼裏也沒有多重要，都死了一個人了，還沒喚醒你的警惕意識，你蹲野人就是為了錢吧？”
胡子男也沒否認：“是又怎麽了？人為財死鳥為食亡，我為兄弟報仇和我賺錢不矛盾，我要是能抓到野人，肯定會有無數人出高價收購，我要是直接報警，不就等于直接放棄這個機會了？像這樣的機會，人一生能遇到幾次？”
夏芒懶得與他争辯：“行吧，那你後來捉到了嗎？”
胡子男陷入了沉默，良久，他才開口：“沒有，我不僅沒有抓到，還折進去一個兄弟。”
夏芒很詫異：“你是說——你的另一個兄弟也死了？”
胡子男點了點頭：“那天山葵來找我，我讓他先把這件事瞞下來，不要報警，然後我跟着他回到了自建房，那天夜晚，我們再一次上山，路上山葵哭哭啼啼，他已經被吓破了膽，不想去了，但是我非要拉着他去，其實我自己也害怕，需要拉個人壯壯膽。”
夏芒揉着太陽穴說：“你——你簡直是又蠢又壞！”
胡子男長嘆一口氣：“現在看來，你說得對，我的決定是錯誤的，我們到了山腰之後，山葵說什麽也不敢進洞穴，于是我用了激将法，大罵他是孬種，逼着他走了進去，後來我去別處上了個廁所，我上着上着，頭頂忽然傳來什麽聲音，緊接着山葵就掉了下來，摔死在了我的面前。”
夏芒聽的頭疼：“等等等等，你和山葵同在山腰上，為什麽他會從你的頭頂上方掉下來？”
白眠也聽出胡子男有所隐瞞，于是對他說：“如果你在我面前玩文字游戲，我會取消你本次的診脈名額。”
胡子男滿頭冷汗，他唉聲嘆氣半天，終于說了實話：“當時我在山腳下，山葵在山腰的洞穴中，不知道出了什麽事，他從山腰上掉了下來，正好掉在了我面前。”
夏芒立馬聽出古怪：“不對，你撒個尿，為什麽非要跑到山腳下去撒？直接在洞穴附近撒就可以了啊，你們男的不是平時經常随地大小便嗎？”
胡子男支支吾吾半天說不出話，白眠已經看透了他的表演：“你是以山葵為餌，想要釣出野人，你故意把山葵一個人留在洞穴中，然後自己跑到遠處，一旦野人進洞，山葵必定會尖叫，到時候你再沖進去，直接撿現成的，可是你失算了，山葵不知道為什麽沒有發出聲音，他就那樣安靜地離開洞穴，被人丢下了懸崖。”
夏芒恍然大悟：“诶呀我去，你們這是塑料兄弟呀！你也太狠了吧，為了賺錢，直接拿別人的命當誘餌？”
The bearded man covered his face in pain and said, "Alright, stop talking. I'm already upset enough. Anyway, things have come to this. My two brothers are dead, and the savages haven't been caught. I don't know what to do. Master, what do you say?"
Bai Mian pondered for a while and said, "I need to take your pulse before I can make a conclusion."
As she spoke, she raised her hand, ready to feel the bearded man's pulse. At this moment, Xia Mang suddenly stopped her:
"Master, wait, I have a guess!"
The bearded man raised his eyes in confusion. Xia Mang looked at him and said, "I often read mystery novels. There is a saying in mystery novels: only those who survive are qualified to tell stories."