Leaving Buwentang, we all felt a little heavy-hearted.
In those deep mountains and forests, anything strange can happen; it would be a lie to say you're not afraid.
"We've just escaped one danger only to fall into another, but we chose to enter this tiger's den ourselves."
Luo Tianhe gave a wry smile and rubbed his temples.
"Alright, go back and get some rest. We can't just let Doctor Sun go by himself; that would be like watching him die."
I yanked open the van door and sat down in the back seat.
"Hey, I'm telling you, do you expect me to drive?"
Luo Tianhe was immediately displeased.
"Li Huai and I are both injured, and Li Huai doesn't even have a driver's license, so of course you were the one driving. Hurry up and go back to rest; I can barely keep my eyes open."
I waved my hand in response. Luo Tianhe had no choice but to climb into the driver's seat and start the car while cursing.
Li Huai stood to the side, head down, not daring to say a word.
Otherwise, the two of us would scold him again for not learning to drive.
It's not that he doesn't want to learn, but he really doesn't have the time. We've been as busy as ants on a hot plate lately.
It was already past midnight when we returned to Luo Tianhe's house from Buwentang. We were so exhausted that we felt like our bodies were falling apart.
After a quick wash, we went straight to sleep, only to be woken up by hunger when the sun was high in the sky the next day.
After quickly eating a few bites of lunch, we started preparing.
When going to dangerous places, you can't leave out things like yellow talismans and cinnabar threads.
I assigned Li Huai to purchase dry food, water, and some basic medicines.
After all, it's hard to say what the situation is like in those deep mountains and forests. If there isn't even a reliable doctor, then we're doomed.
Bring some common medicines, so you won't be caught off guard.
After a busy afternoon, we were finally ready to leave when I discovered that Luo Tianhe had somehow gotten hold of a secondhand SUV with a higher chassis.
I went up and knocked on the car, then looked at Luo Tianhe and asked:
"Why aren't you driving your Wuling Hongguang anymore? Have you changed your mind?"
Luo Tianhe spat at me and cursed angrily:
"Change your mind my foot! That place is nothing like the places we went before; it's a real deep mountain forest. A Wuling Hongguang would be too much of a stretch there. This SUV has a higher chassis and more power!"
As he spoke, Luo Tianhe patted his car window, seemingly a little proud.
"Okay," I nodded, throwing all the bags into the trunk of the car. At least this used SUV had more space than that Wuling Hongguang.
The journey was even more bumpy than I had imagined.
We hadn't driven far out of the city when the paved road turned into a gravel road, and eventually even that disappeared, leaving only dirt roads full of potholes that nearly shook my backside to pieces.
The most absurd thing was that, towards the end, the cell phone signal was intermittent, and the navigation became useless. They had to rely entirely on the map that Luo Tianhe had prepared and their intuition to get forward.
"That's not right, we should have arrived by now." Luo Tianhe looked at the map with a worried expression and said somewhat guiltily.
"Brother, are you lost? There's no signal in this godforsaken place. If we die here because we're lost, it'll be a laughing stock," Li Huai asked, trembling with fear.
"Don't worry, even if we get lost, we won't die here. I have two large barrels of oil in the carriage, enough to last five or six days. I don't believe we can't get out of here. How many days will the rations I asked you to prepare last? You didn't prepare too little, did you?"
Luo Tianhe was not intimidated at all, and instead asked Li Huai.
Upon hearing this, Li Huai felt more confident and spoke up:
"Don't worry, I've prepared enough water and dry food for us to last a week."
"Alright, then it's fine. But if we get lost, we won't be able to help with the village's affairs, and we won't be able to explain it to Doctor Sun."
As soon as I said this, Li Huai and Luo Tianhe fell silent. After all, we weren't here to play around, but to help solve the strange things happening in the village.
So what if you get lost halfway through?
Dr. Sun will be furious when that happens.
Just as we were wondering if we were completely lost, we suddenly heard the sounds of young people laughing and playing guitar strings coming from around the bend ahead.
Turning the corner, I saw a city SUV covered in mud parked on the side of the road, surrounded by three or four young men and women wearing windbreakers and carrying large hiking backpacks.
One of the men, wearing a baseball cap, was holding up his phone and speaking to the camera with an exaggerated expression.
"Did you guys see that? This is what real wilderness survival looks like! Signal? Who needs a signal? We're here to escape civilization and return to nature. We just passed by that run-down village, and they kept spouting nonsense about man-eating vines on the back mountain and saying we couldn't go in at night. Hilarious! What era are we living in? Still clinging to feudal superstitions."
Another boy with dyed blond hair, smoking a cigarette, saw us and whistled at us.
"Hey, another carload of thrill-seekers. Dude, are you here to check out that ghost village up ahead too?"
We stopped the car, and Luo Tianhe rolled down the window, frowning.
"Ghost Village?"
The "ghost village" they mentioned should be Dr. Sun's hometown.
Although we were a little annoyed by their slander of Dr. Sun's hometown, we didn't show it.
That's good news, at least we didn't get lost and we should be close to the village.
"It's not far ahead, it's not even marked on the map, I think it's called something like Mu Rong Village?" A girl with a ponytail chimed in. She seemed more reliable, at least not like the two boys who were so loud and boisterous.
"We saw someone mention it on an outdoor forum, saying that the scenery here is pristine and there are quite a few strange rumors, so we organized an adventure camping trip. What about you? Are you also outdoor enthusiasts?"
"More or less. I heard there were some unusual things here, so I came to take a look."
I gave a vague answer, my gaze sweeping over the group of people.
They were professionally equipped and their faces were full of excitement, completely disregarding the unknown dangers.
"That unusual thing, hahaha, is it some kind of shamanistic ritual?" The boy in the baseball cap leaned closer, grinning mischievously.
"That old man from the village was spooky! He said there would be crying at night, livestock would turn into mummies, and he warned us never to camp near the village. But we're not going to! We're camping right here on the riverbank next to the village to see what's going on! Anyone want to come? The more the merrier! We can have a bonfire and story time tonight, tell ghost stories and stuff, it'll be so much fun!"
Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but twitch my lips.
What kind of campfire storytelling session is this?
Let me tell you ghost stories, and I'll scare them to death in no time.
And I'm not telling a story, but something that actually happened.
“I advise you not to be so rebellious. The people in the village have no reason to lie to you. You’d better stay away from here. This place is really eerie,” Li Huai couldn’t help but say a few words of advice to them.
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