Chapter Fifty-Seven Down the Mountain

  We walked around the mountain in circles with metal detectors, and the data showed exactly the same as before. It was still the size of the previous tomb, without a larger range. This was expected from the beginning. The boss dug a shovel on the back of the mountain, touched the soil, patted his hands and stood up.

  The soil is nothing special either. If you must say something different, it can only be said that it's particularly humid. This place has a lot of rain, and humidity is a given, which doesn't explain anything.

  The old man rubbed his temples and said, 'I need to find something, I need to find something now to prove that I'm right. What is it? Where did things go wrong?'

  Seeing Lao Da like this, I suddenly thought of Uncle Cheng.

  Cheng Shu had also said something similar in the coral cave. When he realized his mistake, Cheng Shu seemed to have said something similar.

  Thinking of Uncle Cheng, I suddenly remembered a sentence he said: 'Legends are sometimes more reliable than archaeological data.' Suddenly, I had an idea.

  "Boss, shall we go down the mountain for a trip?"

  "Going down the mountain? What's the point of going down the mountain?"

  I remember there's a village at the foot of the mountain, right?

  The boss thought for a moment and nodded, saying "Yes, there is a village"

  "That village is an old village, right? I mean, their ancestors have been living there for generations?"

  "I don't know, but it should be, in a place like this, who would move their household to such a remote area"

  That's it, we're now completely clueless and it's hard to make a move based on guesswork. If the villagers have been living here for generations, they must know something about the mountain. Why don't we go down the mountain and stay for two days, ask around and gather some information from the villagers? Rumors or superstitions can also serve as a direction.

  The boss thought for a moment and still had some doubts. 'Just afraid that this rumor is too groundless, and it will confuse the direction instead.'

  Lu Huan said, 'Anyway, we haven't found anything on the mountain so far. Why not go down and ask around? Whether it's a good direction or a bad one, at least it's better than just standing here.' After saying that, he winked at me.

  It seems that Lu Huan couldn't stay on the mountain any longer, and my suggestion hit his weak spot.

  The boss thought for a moment, 'Don't think I don't know what you two are thinking, isn't it just to go down the mountain and relax? It's tiring to take such a big detour.' After finishing speaking, he turned around and left.

  I'm really being wronged a bit, I don't have any ulterior motives at all.

  Lu Huan walked with his head hung low, and I followed behind him reluctantly. The eldest turned back after walking two steps and said 'Go back and pack your things quickly, leave before nightfall'.

  Lu Huan happily raised his head and jumped up, bumping into me.

  We returned to the camp, and Lu Huan excitedly shouted at Cao Kerui. I crawled into the tent to gather my things, and after packing up the boxes, I suddenly remembered the tent and stuck my head out: "Boss, are we going to take down the tent later?"

  "Received"

  Just as I was about to crawl out of the tent, Lu Huan came running over, panting.

  "Sun Yige, where's Kui Rui?"

  I patted the dust off my shoes. "Older brother said we'll be taking down the tents soon, you should hurry up and pack your luggage, or it won't be finished before dark."

  "I said Kui Rui is gone" Lu Huan really insisted, usually when I lie to people, if they don't believe me the first time, I just laugh it off.

  "Alright, alright, I believe you, hurry up, or Old Zhang will scold again." I said to get rid of him.

  Lu Huan stood in front of my tent, unmoving. I looked up to see a drop of cold sweat trickle down his face. He was panting heavily, looking like he was really anxious. I furrowed my brow, and Lu Huan nodded. It wasn't until then that I realized he wasn't joking around, and quickly ran out of the tent.

  After searching around, Cao Ke Rui's shadow was indeed nowhere to be found in the campsite. Her belongings were all still inside her tent, and more importantly, her phone was also there. This means she didn't go down the mountain.

  Looking down again, Cao Kerui seemed to be boiling water before he left. The branches were almost burned out, and the flames only remained in a few scattered spots. The water had also lost its heat. Judging from the situation, Cao Kerui must have disappeared for at least an hour.

  The boss was still there, fiddling with the tent. "Boss, Cao Ke Rui is missing!" I rushed to the front of the boss in a hurry.

  The boss rolled up the tent and pulled it hard. Without even raising his head, he said, 'This time you two are fooling me, right?'

  I rubbed my temples, can't the three of us have some basic trust? Lu Huan and I stood there silently, while Lao Da threw down his backpack, put his hands on his hips, panting heavily, and asked "Really gone?"

  I nodded, and Lao Da's face changed instantly, looking flustered. 'Then hurry up and find it, what are you standing there for?'

  We searched around the campsite for a few rounds but didn't see anyone's shadow, and I started to get a little nervous.

  Must find her before dark, after dark it will be even harder to find. Anything can happen in one night's time, if she really disappears like Zhang Yaoyang for a few days, I'm afraid she'll also have more bad luck than good.

  According to Cao Ke Rui's personality, if he was kidnapped, he would definitely make a big fuss. But there is no sign of struggle in the campsite at all. Is it possible that Cao Ke Rui left on his own? Where did he go then? Could it be that he went to the toilet and got lost?

  Just as I was at a loss for what to do, Lu Huan's voice came from the foot of a hill: "I've found her over here."

  I found the source of the voice and rushed down. In between, Cao Kerui was lying in the bushes, already unconscious.

  I picked him up and said to Lu Huan, 'Hurry up and tell Lao Da that we've found him, then go back to the camp to get our luggage.'

  "Ah" Lu Huan quickly ran to find the boss. Before long, the two of them brought over our luggage, and the three of us hastily rushed down the mountain. When we were halfway down, Cao Kerui in my arms coughed.

  I lowered my head to look at her and saw that her eyeballs rolled around, excitedly shouting "Cao Ke Rui, Cao Ke Rui" still without any reaction.

  I quickened my pace and soon I was running with sweat dripping down. Slowly, I felt something was off, Cao Ke Rui's hands which were originally hanging naturally slowly wrapped around my waist. I tried to call out again, but the person in my arms still didn't react. I stopped and gave Lao Da a signal, Lao Da immediately understood 'Sun Yi you're tired, let me hold him for a while'.

  Cao Ke Rui immediately opened his eyes and said 'no need' then immediately realized it was inappropriate, and slowly lowered his head again, weakly saying 'what I mean is, no need to trouble yourself, I'm fine like this'

  I helplessly loosened my hand, and Cao Ke Rui let out a cry as she fell down. I stood with my hands on my hips and asked her, "Speak up, when did you wake up?"

  Cao Ke Rui smiled and said 'I don't know either, when I woke up I was already being carried away'

  The boss knocked her on the head and said 'What's wrong with you? Why are you lying there?'

  Cao Ke Rui seemed to have remembered something and said with a lingering fear 'Did you guys come back in the middle of the road?'

  "There isn't," said Lu Huan.

  "That's strange, I was boiling water at the time and heard someone calling me from behind. When I went over, there wasn't a single person, and then for some reason I fainted."

  "Is there anyone else on this mountain besides us?" Lu Huan asked.

  "Even if there was someone else, what's his goal in shouting Cao Ke Rui's name?" I think this point is a bit hard to explain.

  "That voice is just like your speaking voice!" Cao Ke Rui pointed at me.

  What? How could I be like that? I absolutely didn't go back halfway, even if I did, why would I sneakily call Cao Ke Rui's name.

  "It can't be that you misheard, right?" I'm certain I've never come up before, the only reasonable explanation is that Cao Kerui misheard.

  Cao Ke Rui scratched his head 'Is that so? Maybe I misheard then'

  The boss said, 'As long as you're awake, let's hurry down the mountain. It won't be good to walk when it gets dark later.'

  We rushed down the mountain before it got dark.

  Looking at the forest again at the foot of the mountain, it is even denser. Every tree rushes straight into the sky, looking very majestic. I suddenly understand why this place is called Ghost Valley Swamp. This large piece of forest is like a whirlpool, always feeling that it wraps up countless secrets and swallows countless treasures.

  After coming down the mountain, the most worrying thing is where to stay. It's impossible to find an inn in this place. After researching, we decided to find a fellow villager's home to stay in and then pay them rent. We played rock-paper-scissors to see who would go knock on the door. The eldest was annoyed that we were all useless, so he went to knock himself.

  The door was opened by a young woman, and I thought she looked somewhat familiar.

  Isn't that the woman holding a child I met on the train! PS: Don't forget to vote after reading, at least let me know you're watching, okay? Ah~