Free Web NovelChapter 1068: Chapter 736: Living Dead_2
The mountain was cold at night, not just because of the low temperature, but because it was permeated with a bone-chilling coldness. Yang Xiao huddled in a warm sleeping bag, watching the firelight dance from the corner of his eye, and fell asleep heavily.
He didn’t know how long had passed when he felt a slightly cool hand touching his face. Upon waking, he vaguely saw Tong Han’s face; it was very dark around, the fire had gone out, leaving only specks of embers.
Tong Han traced his fingers over Yang Xiao’s lips, and Yang Xiao instantly understood something was wrong. Tong Han was warning him not to make a sound.
Slipping out of the sleeping bag, at this moment Cen Fengyang and Chai Yong had also been awakened. The five of them gathered together, each guarding a different direction.
"What’s going on?" Yang Xiao asked in a low voice. It was very dark around, and without the flashlight, he could hardly see anything.
"Fog is rolling in from that direction," Tong Han raised his hand, pointing into the dark.
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao frowned. The direction Tong Han pointed to was precisely the location of the supernatural signal, even though they were supposedly still 3 kilometers away from the danger’s edge. How could...
Within just a few minutes, a swath of white mist drifted from the direction Tong Han pointed, quickly enveloping Yang Xiao and his party.
Yang Xiao sniffed lightly, catching a faint fishy odor. Before he could discern it closely, suddenly, a rustling sound came from the depths of the fog ahead.
Already, some people couldn’t hold their nerves. Lina reached into her bosom, while Chai Yong pulled out a coiled Nine-section Whip from behind.
"Don’t make rash moves," Yang Xiao warned in a low voice.
Before long, several figures emerged from the fog; it was a team of people equipped for the outdoors.
They discovered Yang Xiao and the others first, greeting them while quickly approaching. Leading the group was a middle-aged man who introduced himself as Professor Yuan, a university professor, and those behind him were his students.
Cen Fengyang and Lina realized these people were peculiar. It was deep in the mountain at night, pitch dark and isolated, yet this group had neither flashlights nor lighting equipment, discovering them hidden away first, as if they were targeting them.
Among the group, Yang Xiao was most shocked, for he knew this professor, not only his surname Yuan, but also his full name, Yuan Liguo, a well-known botany professor.
Before coming, the tech department provided information on this person. Seventeen years ago, a research team led by Professor Yuan Liguo, consisting of five people, disappeared deep within Mute Mountain, neither found alive nor dead, and their several positioning devices lost signal. The tech department concluded they encountered supernatural incidents.
Seeing people missing for seventeen years suddenly alive before them, Yang Xiao confirmed they had been influenced by supernatural power.
Yang Xiao discreetly communicated with Professor Yuan Liguo, who soon shifted the topic, mentioning they were temporarily residing in a hidden mountain village and invited them to sit together, speaking of the simple folk customs.
"That sounds perfect. To be honest, we’re here for an adventure but accidentally got lost." Yang Xiao feigned weakness, knowing the supernatural root was in Ten Thousand Immortals Village.
After a few polite exchanges, Yang Xiao and his team packed up, following Professor Yuan and his group. On the road, Professor Yuan and a male student led with Yang Xiao at the front, students flanked each side of the group, and a silent female student closely followed at the rear.
The five students surrounded Yang Xiao and his team tightly. Lina’s face looked uneasy, feeling a peculiar gaze constantly staring at her from behind.
She regretted taking this job, finding this place eerier than her previous experiences.
On the way, Yang Xiao paid attention to the direction, knowing it was the direction of the supernatural signal they were being led.
Walking for less than twenty minutes, they emerged from dense forest into an open view, a small village nestled by the mountains and water before them. The sky was already brightening, and cooking smoke rose from the village.
"We’re here," Professor Yuan sighed with relief, and the silent students showed long-missed smiles.
Before coming, Yang Xiao had carefully studied the mountain map, and this place was not on it. The mountain’s contours and the river’s location were all wrong. The supernatural power’s distortion in this area was frighteningly large. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Yang Xiao and his team were led into the village by Professor Yuan. Soon, an elderly white-haired village chief came with villagers’ assistance.
According to the chief, this place was a lavishly built resort, themed on original ecology, devoid of high-tech electronic devices, fully restoring ancient living conditions and schedules. He warmly invited them to stay and experience for free, suggesting to promote it if satisfied after they leave.
This caught Yang Xiao off guard, making him gasp. This Ghost seemed tricky, able to read and learn from the memories of swallowed people, showing progressive abilities.
The villagers’ attire varied, with some wearing modern outfits like Professor Yuan, others in dark blue work clothes, Republic-style outfits, and even people with braids or ancient top-knot attire, spanning over centuries.
The villagers warmly invited Yang Xiao and his team to tour while preparing a sumptuous meal. However, adept at spotting the oddities here, Yang Xiao’s party dared not eat lightly, using the excuse of unaccustomedness to the local environment, consuming only their own food and bottled water.
The villagers didn’t mind and remained warm, each face showing an innocent smile that, after prolonged viewing, seemed eerie, like painted false faces.
Only when villagers went home for lunch at noon did Yang Xiao and his team manage to gather and relax together.
Yang Xiao had the others keep watch while he quietly took out the signal machine. As expected, even with the tech department’s machine, signals were completely blocked, its mechanical dial spinning wildly.
"Have you noticed? The time here doesn’t seem right," Cen Fengyang raised his head, gazing at the sky, dimly revealing a sun’s outline behind the gray sky, unmistakably noon.
"The time flow here is off. We arrived when villagers had breakfast, at most 3 hours passed, and it’s already noon," Yang Xiao explained.
"Since the fog enveloped us, time warped. I checked the time when the fog began to appear; it was 2:40 a.m. We only walked for less than 20 minutes, and the day broke," Tong Han pulled out his phone, finding all electronics had failed.
"What... what do we do next?" Chai Yong, despite his rough appearance, had a small heart, panicking, "This place is too strange. Look at their expressions; they look mass-produced, their corner mouth curves identical when smiling."
"Don’t panic, let’s wait and see. First, we find clues; if unsuccessful, I know the way back," Yang Xiao reassured everyone.
Lina swallowed, asking softly, "How?"
Yang Xiao didn’t hide from them, readily shared a simple story recorded in ancient books, suggesting maintaining calm and insist on leaving should prevent rough obstruction, just like the sole escapee woodsman who did this.
"But if that’s true, why did the professor and his students stay?" Lina raised a pointed question, "Don’t they want to go home?"
Yang Xiao’s guess was temptation. Villagers would use various ways to tempt them into staying, but once a particular time passed, like when fog outside vanished, they could never return.
Each supernatural signal lasts briefly, corresponding to a few days in reality, while this eerie fog serves as a bridge linking reality and the supernatural world.
