Chapter 144
Mountain villages are the pain point for every official.
Twenty years ago, strange creatures and playgrounds had just appeared in this world. As the saying goes, no spirits are allowed after the founding of the country. At first, no one thought these were really scary things, and most people wanted to shoot "Science Approaches".
Later, it was the occultist Shen Wei who saved the situation, saying that this might be a terrifying force that humans could not handle.
But even so, few people really believed that the playground and strange objects existed until the mountain village incident broke out.
The Shancun incident caused an uproar throughout the officialdom.
Specifically: Every year there are some disappearing mountain villages. Most of these mountain villages are isolated from the world. The small villages are hidden in the mountains and there is very little population mobility. Even if they disappear, they will not be easily discovered. Until a mountain village collectively supports a college student, and the college student returns to his hometown to visit his relatives, only to find that the village has disappeared.
The mountain village incident was exposed to the authorities for the first time when college students went to report the case.
Later, during the official sorting and confirmation, they found that three villages would mysteriously disappear every month, disappearing without any trace. Because that was 20 years ago, there were so many backward villages that they could not be sure how many people were in the village or why they disappeared.
Later, Shen Wei found one of the missing villages and determined that this was a large-scale special and strange erosion of reality event.
More than 20 years have passed, and the mountain village incident is still difficult to deal with. Some mountain villages are still disappearing steadily. However, with the modernization of the country, the authorities have the addresses and residents of all villages, and the information is clearer than before. If a village disappears, it can be confirmed at the first time.
"Media is the playground of the entity, belonging to the same category as trains. Mountain villages are a type of playground that we have yet to address," Huang Yihua said. "We have spent twenty years analyzing the laws of the game, and so far we have only found one."
"What?"
"Isolation, villages, and preference for boys over girls." Huang Yihua held up three fingers. "Even now, in the new century, we still haven't been able to solve these three problems. The world is simply too big, and we can't tell everyone about the existence of the playground. Even if we did, we wouldn't be able to control everyone."
Huang Yihua sighed, "So apart from the village that was first found by Shen Wei, we can't identify any missing villages."
Shen Yunzhe thought for a moment and said, "You didn't go in to take a look? I mean the village."
"Before leaving, Chen Wei summarized the patterns of the mountain village. The village would stop moving in February, April, and August. If you want to know what's going on inside, you can only study it during these times." Huang Yihua sighed, "But what Chen Wei summarized was only half of the pattern. Occasionally, the village would also take action during these three months."
"This is also the reason why Wu Yan, who is also a mystic, disappeared."
Shen Yunzhe opened his phone and looked at the calendar. "It's February now."
"Yes, February is mostly around the New Year, which is right now," Huang Yihua said. "In previous years, the authorities would send people to check on the mountain villages during these three months, but after this incident this year, the authorities can no longer send personnel to conduct inspections."
Li Yuluan and Shen Yunzhe both knew what Huang Yihua meant.
This accident that swept all players caused the number of players to plummet. Most of the official members were players, so it was hit hard.
Half of the people who could give orders died, and Qiao Dong, a professional overtime worker, had to work even more overtime, feeling like he was dying every day.
Huang Yihua then began to recruit Shen Yunzhe and Li Yuluan for the official. The two immediately decided to leave and would not join the official, absolutely not!
After leaving the official headquarters, the two waited outside for the car to arrive. As they walked, Li Yiluan asked him, "Are you going to the mountain village?"
"Why go? Just because the mountain village is a place Shen Wei has studied?" Shen Yunzhe played with his phone as he walked, "Besides, it's very dangerous to go to such a place alone. I'm not stupid, and I haven't lived enough."
Li Yiluan nodded. "Normal people certainly wouldn't run to dangerous places, but I always feel like you're a strange person."
Shen Yunzhe turned to look at him, "I'm weird?"
"It's quite strange. I always become a different person. Then I may not want to go anymore." Li Yiluan nodded, "But don't drag me along. I'm not going."
Shen Yunzhe tilted his head and continued to look at him.
"I've had so many people asking me for fortune-telling lately that I don't have time to go out." Li Yiluan opened his phone to show Shen Yunzhe his full chat box with friends, and also showed him the dozens of requests he had rejected. "300 yuan per person, and some people tell fortunes for several people at once. It's quite profitable."
"Why don't you tell my fortune with me?"
Shen Yunzhe looked at him and asked, "Do I look like a fortune teller to you?"
"You don't have a job, do you? You can start from scratch with me." Li Yuluan said, as if he was serious but also joking. "Then I'll give you half of my clients."
Shen Yunzhe smiled and said, "Under normal circumstances, I would definitely be very grateful to you."
Forget it now, he is not short of money anymore.
Li Yuluan shrugged. The bus he was waiting for arrived. He waved to Shen Yunzhe and got on the bus. Shen Yunzhe waited for a while. The bus heading to his home finally arrived. Shen Yunzhe got on the bus. There were not many people on the bus. There were two young men in the front, whispering about what had happened recently.
"Really? That guy in our neighborhood suddenly jumped off a building a while ago without any warning. Everyone said he was a gamer."
"And a lot of people disappeared in the past two days, these are the people."
"So scary, are there really ghosts?"
"I haven't seen it, but since it's like this, there should be one."
Shen Yunzhe glanced ahead, then lowered his head and continued to look at the phone screen. At this time, he was staring at the chat history.
The person with the Virgin Mary portrait who was added before stopped sending him messages after he came back from the game field. Just when Shen Yunzhe felt that this person might have had problems in the game field, today, just as he walked out of the official gate, the news came.
[It has reached the most critical moment. The game field is undergoing a qualitative change. The disappearance of the live broadcast audience has accelerated the approach of the Virgin Mary statue.]
[The best approach now is to put aside our differences and cooperate.]
Shen Yunzhe looked at the message, thought for a moment, and replied: [You should go to the authorities and tell them this.]
【I’m not an official.】
The other party was typing very quickly and sent a message after a long time.
The fundamental conflict between us and the authorities stems from our desire to save as many survivors as possible, while the authorities hope to preserve most, or even all, of them. This is simply the reality. Twenty years ago, Shen Wei never denied our intentions.
[But Shen Wei also did not agree with us. After the cooperation failed, he left.]
Shen Yunzhe looked at the message and typed slowly, [Where did he go?]
【Mountain Village. 】
【Why a mountain village? 】
The mountain village is the earliest recorded case of bizarre erosion, and is likely the source of the playground's erosion of the real world. The Madonna statue Shen Wei saw was identified through the mountain village, so it's no surprise he went there. However, no one from the beginning to the end has ever left the mountain village alive.
[He is the same.]
Shen Yunzhe looked at the message silently. After a moment, he frowned and turned off the phone screen.
He always felt that everything was leading him to this place called the mountain village.
Li Yulun said that he would go to the mountain village in the future. Huang Yihua said that he met Shen Wei in the playground. Now the people in this organization told him that Shen Wei went to the mountain village before he was confirmed missing. It seems that the mountain village is the starting point and the node of many problems.
But Shen Yunzhe didn't want to go at all.
It's not that he doesn't want to end a lot of things, he just knows how dangerous this place is and how reluctant he is to be alone.
Even if he possessed a parallel world system, countless isotopes, and now possessed several special abilities, so what? No one dared to underestimate the playground. How many people had been killed by a train? How many people had been swallowed up by a strange erosion event that had existed for more than 20 years?
"New Year's Eve is coming soon, are you going to go out and get together then?" The people in front were still chatting.
"Forget it. There shouldn't be many stores open. There aren't many open right now."
"What a shame, this kind of thing would be better if it were over quickly."
Shen Yunzhe walked over and pressed the reminder bell. When he arrived at the stop, he got off the bus and the vehicle drove away quickly.
It was still a bit cold outside, so Shen Yunzhe put his hands in his pockets and walked home.
"System, do you know the mountain village?"
[The mountain village, a special playground, is the starting point for the strange erosion of reality. All parallel worlds are gradually eroded behind the mountain village.]
"There are mountain villages in other places? How do they deal with it?"
[Among all the parallel worlds, only one successfully penetrated deep into the mountain village, while the others were unable to break through the periphery.]
Only one parallel world has managed to enter, which sounds increasingly dangerous.
"Do you think it's necessary to enter the mountain village?"
[It depends on your perspective. As the starting point for the strange erosion of reality, the mountain village has great value, but I don't recommend heading there so soon. The mountain village is connected to the core of the game field. Even Codename Hope can only compete with the core of the game field, achieving a balance where neither can destroy the other.]
[In other words: Even Codename Hope might not be able to save you.]
【but……】
"but?"
[The only person who entered the mountain village is also your peer. With his experience, you might be able to avoid some harm, but there is still a chance.]
This is a bit of an advantage.
No, Shen Yunzhe pressed his forehead.
He shouldn't think of going to the mountain village. Dangerous places should be avoided. This is the logical thinking of a normal person. How can he go to a dangerous place?
Get a good night’s sleep tonight, I’m going to see Shen Xinlu tomorrow.
…
When Shen Yunzhe came to the hospital, he found that Shen Xinlu had been discharged. She did not tell him, but just left him a letter.
She survived the first game field, and even accidentally entered not the novice game field, but the more difficult level 4 game field. After surviving, she decided to return to the workplace and participate in official work, because she did not want to accept the ending that the dean and the orphans disappeared in the game field together.
She wanted to try hard, try to get them back together.
After leaving the orphanage, Shen Xinlu knew that Shen Yunzhe had not joined the official organization at all. He went in just because he wanted to save them. So Shen Xinlu didn't want to make things difficult for Shen Yunzhe, so she didn't tell him. She hoped that Shen Yunzhe would not think too much and he could live according to his own ideas.
Shen Yunzhe was not surprised by Shen Xinlu's decision, because she was a police officer and had such a sense of responsibility.
"She's looking for her family." Shen Yunzhe sat outside the hospital and read the letter. "She's much more humane than me."
Shen Yunzhe has no home. He has lived in an orphanage since he was a child but he does not regard the orphanage as his home. The director and Shen Xinlu are just closer than ordinary friends. Now that he finally knows that he has a father, he has no feelings for this father.
He seemed to find no reason in this world to take risks.
He had no reason to go to the mountain village, because Shen Wei was not yet to the point where he could sacrifice his life for him. Shen Wei was just a noun in the mouths of others and could not be his father.
[Codename: Hope.]
"What?" Shen Yunzhe was stunned.
You once wanted to take on a code name in the hope of returning home, and for this reason you agreed to save the world.
"You said I should put the code name Hope on the same level as my life?" Shen Yunzhe began to think.
The system did not answer, and Shen Yunzhe did not continue to ask. After thinking for three minutes, Shen Yunzhe suddenly nodded.
"It seems that it is not impossible?"
It's not that he doesn't want to go to the mountain village, but rather that he can't find someone who would risk his life to save him. He is really a guy who lacks emotion and is sometimes too rational. He doesn't want to act if he can't find a reason, but now, he finally found a reason.
He had never seen Shen Wei so he couldn't act for Shen Wei, but he had seen Codename Hope and knew that Codename Hope was locked up in there, and he had made a promise to Codename Hope.
That's it!
[Rather than saying you love Codename Hope, it's better to say that Codename Hope is a good fit for you, right?]
"Can't this be called love?" Shen Yunzhe said doubtfully, "He has become a reason that can convince my instincts."
“For me: this is already love.”
This concept is completely different from that of normal people, but it doesn't seem surprising when it comes to Shen Yunzhe. He and his peers are very human in some aspects of their concepts.
Thinking of this, Shen Yunzhe turned on his mobile phone with satisfaction. He dialed a number, but this time it took a long time for the other party to answer.
"Hello?" Qiao Dong's voice was weak. "I've been working overtime for two days and two nights. I'm almost dying. Give the new job to another colleague. Don't come looking for me!"
"It's me." Shen Yunzhe said.
Qiao Dong paused for a moment. He picked up the phone and glanced at the person he was talking to before speaking, "Shen Yunzhe, what's up?"
"The address of the mountain village." Shen Yunzhe said: "Also, send me the information."
"Mountain village?" Qiao Dong's voice was filled with doubt. "Why are you going to the mountain village? It's not a good place. So far, no one has come out alive. Even if the mountain village is in a stagnant period now, we can't rule out the possibility of sudden activity there."
Shen Yunzhe said, "It is said that the mountain village is the source of the strange erosion of reality."
Qiao Dong's voice paused for a long time before he spoke, "Who told you? The one with the Virgin Mary's head?"
"Are you really not going to let me go to the mountain village? Perhaps, Chen Wei left me something related to the mountain village." Shen Yunzhe guided the conversation, "Haven't you always wanted to know what Chen Wei left me?"
"That's not the case..." Qiao Dong frowned and stopped talking halfway through.
Because he knew very well that Shen Yunzhe was easy to talk to, but once he made a decision he would not change it.
There are so many people in the officialdom. Even if Qiao Dong rejects him, he can find someone else. Not everyone in the officialdom wants to protect his safety.
Not to mention those who have been eyeing Shen Yunzhe for a long time. By then, I'm afraid even their information will be changed.
"Okay." Qiao Dong said, "It just so happens that the authorities will send two people to survey the mountain village tomorrow. You can go with them, but don't run around." Qiao Dong said, "The mountain village is very dangerous. Many people disappear there every year. You must pay attention to your safety!"
After hanging up the phone, Shen Yunzhe received the mountain village information sent by Qiao Dong.
Qiao Dong was a nice guy. He wrote all the points that needed attention in bold red letters so that he could see them.
"Should we bring Li Yuluan and Huang Yihua here?" Shen Yunzhe murmured.
"Forget it, it's better not to drag them into such a dangerous matter. It's fatal."
He also didn't want to let the two people he could finally consider his friends go to a dangerous place.
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