I came to find Uncle Seven to inquire about the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace.
Now that Uncle Seven is dead, the clues I have are naturally gone.
I was worried that the people of Ping'an Village would use the news of Uncle Qi's death to drive us all out. Since things had already come to this point, I thought it would be better to find out what happened in Fengmen Village first, so that I might be able to get some useful clues.
With this in mind, Wei Shengnan and I hit it off immediately, and we decided to go to the village in the willow forest together to find out what was going on.
Although Uncle Qi's death had made me feel uneasy, Ping'an Village was our only clue to investigating the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. In order not to let all my efforts go to waste, I overcame my fear.
The method Wei Shengnan and the others used to travel through the woods was told to them by Uncle Qi's son, which was the same as what Aunt Qi had told us. The fact that we hadn't encountered any danger while walking through the woods for so long meant that the route was correct.
With the cooperation of both sides, we quickly arrived at the center of the village.
Looking out, there was a village in the distance that was about the same size as Ping'an Village, with high walls surrounding it. Under the moonlight, it looked like a chess piece magnified countless times.
To avoid being spotted, none of us turned on our flashlights. Monkey stared at the village for a while, then asked in a low voice, "Young Master Duan, shall I sneak over and take a look?"
"I'll go."
One of the young men from Wei Shengnan's side stepped forward and took out a headlamp-like device resembling a fishing rod from his bag.
Wei Shengnan also took one out of her backpack and handed it to me: "A thermal imager, do you know how to use it?"
I took it and looked at it, then shook my head: "This is the first time I've seen this."
Wei Shengnan didn't say much, but turned on the instrument and handed it to me.
She modified this thermal imager herself, and it was a bit bulky to wear. Looking out through the monocular lens, I discovered that the thermal imager had night vision capabilities, and I could clearly see the young man walking in front of me.
Because of limited equipment, our group was only allocated this one piece of equipment.
The young man who had taken the initiative to scout the way walked to the outside of the city wall, nimbly climbed over, and about five minutes later, I saw him reappear on the city wall, making a few hand gestures.
"Safety confirmed, we can set off now."
Seeing that everything was alright, Wei Shengnan was the first to walk over.
After we got close, the young man swung a rope down.
Wei Shengnan was the first to climb onto the wall and asked the young man, "How is it? Is anything unusual?"
"The biggest anomaly is the absence of an anomaly."
The young man squatted on the city wall and explained softly, "I just went into the village to patrol, but I didn't find anything. The houses here are very dilapidated and must have been neglected for years! And I didn't see a single person during my patrol."
Upon hearing the young man's explanation, the monkey asked me, "Young Master Duan, wasn't this village in the willow grove supposed to be a forbidden area of Ping'an Village? How could such an important place not even have a single guard? Could we have fallen into some kind of trap?"
Song Laosan also said to Wei Shengnan, "The situation here is indeed not right. Uncle Qi died mysteriously, and we have come to an empty village. I think it is unlikely that we can find any useful clues in this so-called forbidden area. I suggest we stop exploring and leave this place as soon as possible."
Wei Shengnan turned her gaze to Qu Ruilin: "Brother Lin, what do you think?"
Qu Ruilin turned his gaze to the village and said in a deep voice, "Ping'an Village is located in Baizhidi and is not particularly special. However, the area we are in is surrounded by several dragon veins. I don't believe that their choice to build a village here is a coincidence. There must be a reason, and that reason is very likely this so-called forbidden area."
Not wanting to waste time, I cut to the chase: "Regardless of what you think, I must enter this village."
Let's go together.
Qu Ruilin wasn't speaking to me, but to Wei Shengnan: "Too many strange things have happened tonight; we can't waste any more time."
"The situation here is unclear. Since we've decided to go down, we're all one team."
Wei Shengnan looked at me earnestly: "I hope that no matter what happens, we can help each other."
There are only three of us here, so we're already at a disadvantage if we encounter any danger. Seeing that Wei Shengnan had said that, he generously said, "Of course. To us, you are always more trustworthy than those strangers."
Seeing that I nodded, Wei Shengnan was the first to go down the stairs.
Upon entering the village, I smelled a musty odor.
It wasn't the rotten, moldy smell, but rather the smell of decaying wood.
Under the moonlight, the wooden houses in the village were stacked one on top of another. Even though my thermal imaging camera had night vision, I couldn't see the environment very clearly. Most of the surrounding wooden houses were severely damaged, and some houses had lost their windows and doors, like gaping mouths.
After walking a few dozen meters, I noticed that most of the buildings in the village were dilapidated and looked like they had been abandoned for many years.
After walking a distance, Wei Shengnan stopped at a crossroads: "Isn't this supposed to be a forbidden area of Ping'an Village? But to me, it just looks like an abandoned village."
Qu Ruilin didn't say anything. He walked to a courtyard by the roadside to check it out, and then came out and said, "It's just an ordinary house, but apart from the frame, most of the things are rotten. It has been abandoned for at least a hundred years."
"It will probably take more than a hundred years."
I rummaged through the roadside ditch and found a broken rattle drum: "It's a Qing Dynasty style. The people here probably wouldn't need to fake it, so this village has a longer history."
"I thought this so-called forbidden area must be hiding some secret, but now it seems to be just an ordinary abandoned village."
Wei Shengnan's face showed disappointment: "Could it be that many years ago, a plague broke out in Ping'an Village, and the villagers moved to a new site to prevent the spread of the plague, leaving this place abandoned? The reason it was designated as a forbidden area is to prevent people from bringing the plague back?"
“It’s possible, but the chances are extremely slim! As you can see, this is a village entirely made of wood. If it were truly abandoned because of the plague, it could have been burned down. Why leave it here? Moreover, according to the rules of Ping’an Village, only the clan chief and elders are allowed to come to this place. They are all highly respected members of the village. Why would they come to a place like this just to die?”
I scratched my forehead: "I think there must be an even bigger secret hidden here!"
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