Chapter Nineteenth Corpse's Ashes for the Second Diamond

  My phone rang with a text message, Kakaxi shouted on the other end: "Sister 41, I've sent you a satellite image."

  At such a close distance, the mobile phone signal is poor, but Bluetooth can still be used.

  I pulled out my phone while saying, "Actually, it's not as dangerous as you think. Just now, I and the boss also took a look at the situation on the other side of the village. There is a piece of land that already has signs of being dug up, and even ash has been mixed in, looking like they're preparing to plant something. It seems that this area should have people active around here."

  I pulled out the satellite image and looked at the clear picture on it: "You see, there's a village not far from here. It should be people from that side who come over to farm. With someone around, it shouldn't be as dangerous as you said."

  "What land is being opened up and what land is being planted?" he asked in puzzlement.

  I walked out from behind that big tree and pointed to the village on the other side: "It's just over there in the village, I'm not even sure which direction is east, south, west or north."

  "Which direction is several o'clock?"

  "Hmm, I'd say it's about 10:30 in that direction. Just a rectangular piece of land. If you're planting vegetables, it might be a bit big; if you're planting crops, it might be a bit small. Hey!"

  He had already taken big strides in that direction before I could finish my words. I also hastened to follow his footsteps: "Hey, it's almost dark. By the time you get there, it'll be completely dark."

  At this time, the sun had already set completely behind the mountain, and the light in the sky was getting weaker. In such a remote mountainous area, it is estimated that half an hour later, it will be pitch black.

  He didn't speak, feeling like a silent barrel, and wouldn't say anything unless necessary. I could only run a few steps to keep up with his pace. Fortunately, on the way here, they were driving, and I was sleeping horizontally in the back seat, so my physical strength is not bad now.

  More than ten minutes later, we returned to that piece of land that had been dug up. He squatted down and scooped up the mud with his hands. The mud still contained black ash. I don't know why, but he actually started digging up the mud with his bare hands. However, I also noticed that the mud underneath contained even more ash. And this ash extended all along the small path on the side.

  I said: "It's probably people from that village over there who carried ash here and scattered it all the way."

  "No!" he said firmly, twisting open his flashlight and walking down that small path.

  I thought he would leave me here, and I'd be in trouble. It's already dark now, and if I go back to find Kakashi and the others, it'll be even more troublesome. Unexpectedly, he only took two steps before turning around and yelling at me: "It's getting dark! Hurry up and follow!"

  I was secretly delighted that he didn't leave me behind, but I still muttered under my breath: "I'm not your soldier, why are you yelling at me?"

  And then I followed him, he did something that made me very surprised, that is, he reached out and held my hand. My heart was racing, a bit nervous, and didn't understand what he meant. The feeling he gave me wasn't like the kind of man who would hold a girl's hand.

  We continued walking along that small road, the black ash on the road was still spreading. The light was insufficient, and we had to carefully identify whether the ash was still there or not.

  I whispered: "Maybe we can go to another village."

  "No!" he said, "That's not where anyone was farming, that pit I remember, it was when we first arrived, the people above told us it was infectious disease, even the medical team died inside. I don't recall the specifics. But I know, I wore protective gear to move corpses, poured gasoline and burned them, right in that pit!"

  My footsteps froze, he pulled me back and I turned around. That means those black ashes were not the plant ash used by some farmer to change the soil for planting, but... human remains ash.

  "These lands..."

  "Although I don't remember what happened afterwards, but I'm sure that according to the military's handling methods, this should be deeply buried and not let out. How could there still be ash floating up? Even ash spreading along this road."

  "Who dug up that hole and stole the corpses? What do they want these corpses for?"

  Su Haicheng paused for a moment before saying: "Perhaps it's not stealing corpses."

  I still wanted to continue but my stomach wasn't cooperating and growled loudly. It's already time for dinner, but what can we eat here now?

  He stopped in his tracks: "You didn't eat anything just now either?"

  "Oh, it's okay, I... lost weight. Hehe."

  He stuffed a flashlight into my hand and then dug out a military compressed biscuit from his backpack, handing it over. "I only have this to eat."

  Look at that cookie, I hesitated for a moment and said: "I think I'd better starve. It's really okay."

  He seemed a bit stunned, probably because of my answer, and felt very surprised. With an angry look, he stuffed the cookie into his bag and then continued walking forward.

  I followed him and he stretched out his hand towards me: "Give me your phone, I'll take a look at the map."

  I handed him the phone, he looked at the picture and made a decision: "Let's walk a bit further forward, we should be able to reach the lake shore. We'll spend the night by the lake tonight."

  "What about the boss and them?"

  "Call them and tell them to come over tomorrow." He stared at me, as if I had asked a strange question. Upon hearing his response, I also felt that my question was strange. What's weird is that their phones have signal, but mine doesn't here, which is why it didn't occur to me to call, such a simple thing.

  I looked around, it was pitch black, and vaguely looking were all trees, front and back left and right were all. The small road on the ground also had to be carefully identified in order to recognize it. I really don't know how he calculated that walking a little further would see the lake.

  Just as I was waving my flashlight around, a "hissing" sound came from the left.

  Su Haicheng quickly stood behind me, grasping my hand and shining the flashlight towards where the sound came from. But I struggled and said: "Let go of me!" His posture was just like hugging me from behind, his breath enveloped me all at once, making me very uneasy.

  "Shut up! There's something." At the same time, his other hand drew a dagger from the package tied to his left leg.

  I ignored his order and turned off the flashlight directly. He roared in my ear: "What are you doing?"

  "That thing is in the grass, judging from the sound it's an animal, and on a night like this, it should be nocturnal. Nocturnal animals hate it most when someone shines a strong light into their eyes. They are the indigenous people here, we are outsiders, so let's show some respect."

  "What if they attack us?"

  "No, since there are people living nearby, the animals around here won't be that fierce. Look, it's gone now. It gave us a detour." The sound in the grass had already faded away. "It feels like it should be a snake, a pretty big one. Snakes have spiritual energy. Can you let me go now?" I turned on my flashlight.

  He also let go, only taking the flashlight from my hand, "With your kind of thinking, you can't survive in the forest at all."

  "No way, my grandfather taught me these things, he's been walking in the mountains for years and nothing has ever happened."

  He didn't say another word and pulled me along as he quickened his pace forward.

  As expected, he was right, half an hour later, we finally walked out of the small path, walked out of the forest, and what appeared in front of us was a round lake surrounded by mountains.

  The lake is beautiful, with gentle ripples on its surface, and the moonlight in the sky is reflected in it. Everything here feels so serene, and the scenery is uplifting to behold.

  "Beautiful!" I blurted out, "but it feels like there's something wrong."

  Su Haicheng pulled me behind a large rock by the lake and asked, "What's wrong?"

  "This place is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with no airflow, and the water is stagnant. Logically speaking, it should be murky and smelly, but instead it's so beautiful."

  "This is often seen in the wild, nothing wrong with it."

  "It's not right! In Feng Shui, it's essential to gather energy, and the surrounding mountains embracing the moon is excellent. The moon-embracing shape must also have a place to gather energy. Here, all around are mountains, completely enclosing this area, with no way for energy to enter. Dead energy plus dead water should be stinky."