Chapter 29: Innate Goodness (1)

  The dinner was sumptuous, with sliced beef in bags, pickled pig's feet, and chicken meat brought by Chen Long that had been stewed into a soup. There were also canned bamboo shoots, and even a hedgehog, which Jiang Feng had caught while climbing mountains with Chen Long when he was bored, no longer caring whether it was a protected animal or not, as long as it could be eaten.

  Sometimes, after a few days of hard work and exhaustion, eating a delicious meal can make people forget some frightening things, as if those things were far away from them. Even the girls felt comfortable and let out a few burps before putting down their chopsticks, washing away the depression and fear that had been plaguing them for days. Chen Long knew they still couldn't shake off the unease in their hearts, but didn't want to face reality yet. This was good too - life always needed hope, and if everyone could bury their fears deep within themselves, Chen Long felt that finding a way out would be more assured.

  The girls were picking up the leftover food when Chen Long finally spoke out his mind, and in order to make everyone understand better, he spoke very slowly.

  "In the southeast, we've confirmed that there's no way out. So, it's either the big mountain in the west or the desolate tomb in the north. I think the possibility of going out from the west is the greatest, but also the most difficult. As everyone knows, that side has continuous mountains, and even if you go straight for a hundred miles, you'll still need to detour tens of miles before reaching a county town. That means our chances of successfully crossing over are very small. Even if we can make it through, I estimate we'll be in a pretty miserable state.

  So, I propose that we first head to the desolate tomb in the north to search for hidden roads out. Because going past the north side will take us out of the Taihang region after just tens of miles, and there are many mountain villages on that side where we can rest and regroup. Our chances of getting out are great, but it's said that there's no road from this side to the other, and even the local villagers haven't come in from that direction. Therefore, finding a way out will be very difficult."

  Everyone's emotions seem to be low, and the girls are staring at him with sparkling eyes. Chen Long comforted them: "But it's not all hopeless, I've decided that tomorrow, Jiang Feng, Yuan Hua, Yuan Tian, and I will explore that place. As for you girls, just rest here, recharge your energy, and be ready to march in from the west at any time. Although the west is a possible exit route, the journey is extremely arduous, and I'm afraid you won't be able to bear it, so make sure to get plenty of rest. Are there any other questions?"

  "What you said is also my view, going out west is too risky, if we can avoid it, we should. Walking from that direction isn't just exhausting, but also starving and thirsting to death. A girl definitely doesn't have the physical strength for that." Yuan Tian fell silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.

  "I have no opinion." Jiang Feng waved his hand and looked at Yuan Hua, "How about you?"

  Yuan Hua put down the teacup at his mouth and glanced at the three girls with the corner of his eye: "I think it's okay, but I don't know what they'll say."

  "We also agree, we're not kids anymore, we can take care of ourselves." Li Yun pouted, feeling annoyed at being underestimated by a man.

  "We'll listen to you, but you have to come back early." Yin Rou said on behalf of herself and Zhu Xiao Cui.

  "That's it, everyone get ready to rest. The first half of the night will be guarded by me and Miss Yin, Jiang Feng you take the walkie-talkie, we'll keep in touch." Chen Long called out, summoning Yin Rou and Zhu Xiao Cui before they left the door.

  The night wind was cool, but Chen Long enjoyed it, making his mind exceptionally clear. Chen Long wasn't a very smart person, or perhaps not a very clever ghost. After death, people's souls are usually muddled for a while, so although Chen Long had evolved quite a bit, his wisdom was still about the same as an ordinary person. He just wanted to be an ordinary person, marry a wife, have a son, and that would make him very satisfied. Originally, the towel handed over touched the softness in his heart, but when he found out Li Yun understood magic, although it wasn't advanced, he still minded. He didn't want to use his abilities everywhere; increasing his strength was for protecting himself and those around him, not because he liked dealing with fierce ghosts. Honestly, he was still afraid - he knew too much about those things: cruel, evil, bloodthirsty. He didn't want to die, so he had to quickly find a way out and leave this place far behind. Chen Long was an exception among ghosts, different from the others, and even he himself didn't know why.

  The light in the car was adjusted to a soft tone, the air conditioner was turned on, and the chill in the car was driven away. Chen Long leaned back in his seat, smoking one cigarette after another.

  The Long Dragon was good at smoking, but even the best smoke would be uncomfortable if it filled the entire car. So after coughing a few times, Chen Long wisely opened the window, lowering the temperature inside the car significantly. However, he didn't mind; he was there to think and protect those two innocent girls.

  Everyone living in the world has a dark side, and ghosts like this kind of thing. In general, negative emotions and behaviors will attract filthy things. Most of these people also have a way to die, such as obesity, poor quality, Cai Guozhong's infidelity with other women, Jiang Feng's involvement in the underworld, Zhu Xiaocui's shameless prostitution, Yin Rou's destruction of others' families, etc. As for Chen Long, although it is not clear, does that person not have a dark side? Even Chen Long himself should not have lived in this world originally, right?

  He was smoking one mouthful after another, and his thoughts were wandering, until he heard Jiang Feng's voice coming from the intercom.

  "Hey, Chen Long, answer me! Are you dead or something?" Jiang Feng yelled into the intercom, seemingly having shouted for a long time.

  Chen Long raised his voice a bit: "I'm fine, I was just a little drowsy earlier. What about you?"

  "What? Didn't you say I'd be on watch for the second half of the night? It's already 12:30, aren't we switching shifts?" Jiang Feng sighed repeatedly in that place, "If not, you can sleep there, but making me run to that car that had a corpse in it so late at night is really spooky."

  "Alright, alright!" Chen Long cursed with a smile. "Hurry up and die for me, I'll be right back." After finishing speaking, he opened the car doors on both sides to disperse the smoke. He took a look at the other car and saw that Yin Rou and the others were all sleeping soundly, so Chen Long put his mind at ease and headed back.

  The lights in the stone house are shining brightly, and the humming of the generator can be heard from far away. On the road, Jiang Feng ran into Chen Long, who said discontentedly: "You've turned on all the lights, how am I supposed to sleep? Such a loud noise will affect them too!"

  Jiang Feng sneered a few times, then said: "What opinions can they have? As long as it's safe, that's all that matters. I've had Yuan Tian and Yuan Hua sleep in the main hall, only Li Yun sleeps inside, now you can rest assured, right? If anything happens again today, that would be a real ghost!"

  "Hmm" twice, Jiang Feng finally put away his smile and turned into a bitter melon face: "I'm telling you, brother, there's nothing going on over there, right?"

  "Don't worry, what's going to happen? If you're scared, just shout into the intercom from time to time and let me know you're not dead." Chen Long scolded with a bad tone, then ignored him and walked towards the stone house, patting his butt.

  The East is Red, the sun rises, China has produced a Mao Zedong, He works for the people's happiness, he is the people's great savior, He loves the people, he is our guide...

  Chen Long was driven to tears by his loud voice and shook his head in exasperation.