C35 (1/2)
”Look, my teacher is already angry. Stop messing around!” Faang Zexi told Chen Ya while secretly making a weird sound.
”That's right, Mr.Guo's matter just happened to be right in front of us, so we should still be a bit more cautious.” Zhou Yang also said.
When the topic of Mr.Guo was brought up, the hearts of everyone suddenly sunk, and Faang Zexi no longer made any weird moves.
”Yeah, did you see that? When Chen Ya asked those few people in the town about it, when she mentioned Flower Snake Village, those people's faces turned green with fright, as they might not dare to believe that we were going to explore the Flower Snake Village.” Sun Miao who was at the back said.
”We can't blame them. That village sounds quite strange. In one night, all the villagers had disappeared. The police had searched for a long time, but they could not find any clues. I also heard that someone passed by the village at night and saw the shadows of the trees walking about in the distance. There was also a strange sound. ” Chen Ya said with a serious face.
”Sis Chen, how could you believe something like that that's spread around?” Faang Zexi retorted.
”Xiao Fang, there are some things that you have to believe in.” Lili who had been silent all this time suddenly said this.
Lili's appearance could be considered gentle and sweet, and she looked a few years younger than her actual age of thirty.
”Ah, that's right. Do you know of the island that Mr.Guo and Little Yi went to? There were also rumors of ghosts there, but in the end … Mr.Guo has really met with an accident. ” Chen Ya said.
”Didn't Mr.Guo die because of the toxic water in the mountains?” Fann Wenqiang asked.
”Who knows? I've been exploring for so long, but I've never seen a mountain that could produce toxic water.” Chen Ya replied.
”Well, that's it. Furthermore, there is something you might not have expected, that Mr.Guo and that island that Little Yi went to was not far away, and that there was some connection with Flower Snake Village. It was said that the contours of the two islands were similar to that of a snake, and were extremely close to each other, which was why there were these two names. But the most important thing is that these two islands are on the same lake. ” Sun Miao pushed her glasses up and added.
”I've heard about this before, but I don't understand. Isn't it good to call that island the Great Snake Island? Why change its name?” Zhou Yang asked.
”It was because a certain story had spread that a woman from ancient times had been mercilessly killed by her husband in that place because she had seduced another man. She had even been cut into countless chunks of meat. ”Later on, someone gave that island a new name, the Eternal Hate Island.” Sun Miao replied.
”There's also another set of Small Snake Island. Lili, is there really that island next to the Flower Snake Village?” Zhou Yang asked Lili again.
”Yes.” Lili nodded.
At this moment, they were already far away from Ancient Tower Town, walking on the desolate mountain road. On both sides were dried up branches and broken leaves, and with Sun Miao's information, it was as if a ball of Yin Qi was shrouding them.
Only after around an hour did they return back to the ground from the mountain path. According to Lili's explanation, continuing along the current path was their destination: the Flower Snake Village.
Chen Ya looked at her watch and asked: ”Zhou Yang, it's almost 3 in the afternoon, are we going back to town tonight?”
Zhou Yang stopped, thought for a while and said: ”No need, I'll stay at the Flower Snake Village tonight. I brought a tent with me anyway.”
Hearing that they had to spend the night in Flower Snake Village, everyone's heart couldn't help but sink.
”Sleep in that place?” Faang Zexi was worried.
”What's wrong? Scared? You haven't experienced it, right?” Chen Ya teased.
”What's there to be afraid of? I'm not used to sleeping in the wild.” Faang Zexi explained.
”This is called investigating deeply!” Fann Wenqiang turned his head and said.
”Teacher Fan is right. In the past, the police always went during the day, so they couldn't find any clues. Night may not be the time.” Zhou Yang said.
”Did you hear that? You cowardly person, hurry up and go home! ” Chen Ya took the opportunity to mock Faang Zexi.
”Honestly, if we were to reap some rewards from this expedition, finding the whereabouts of the missing villagers would greatly improve the reputation of our club.” Sun Miao said with a smile.
”That's right. In the future, the scale of our company will only get bigger and bigger. Maybe we'll even be able to list it on the stock market?” Chen Ya said while laughing.
Everyone chatted casually, and the atmosphere became more cheerful at the moment, until Lili stood unmoving, and pointed to a village road to the right, saying: ”We're there, inside is the Flower Snake Village.”
They saw that the village road was not only narrow but also filled with weeds. If not for Lili's reminder, they might have missed this road.
Everyone's mood immediately became heavy. The lively atmosphere from before vanished like smoke in thin air. From here, they discovered that the village road was eerie and discordant.
Zhou Yang thought that perhaps it was a psychological effect, and immediately said: ”Let's go, don't delay any longer.”
The group of people lined up in a row and slowly walked into the village.
After walking for a while, everyone saw two tall and thick ginkgo trees in front of them. When they got closer to the village, there were a few more ginkgo trees. Chen Ya thought it was strange and asked: ”Why are there so many ginkgo trees planted in the village?”
Just as Lili was about to explain, Sun Miao interrupted first: ”I heard that ginkgo is a symbol of Flower Snake Village, it seems to be a rule left behind by their ancestors.”
”This rule is quite strange. Can't you plant some flowers? You have to plant some big and ugly ginkgo trees.” Chen Ya said.
”Eh? Why is there a hole in this tree? ” Faang Zexi seemed to have discovered something as he pointed to a ginkgo tree and asked.
The others surrounded it and saw that there was indeed a small round hole on the trunk of the ginkgo tree.
”This hole was probably cut open by someone?” Zhou Yang touched the hole.
”There's some straw in it.” Fann Wenqiang said while holding onto a straw in his hand.
”Why?” Sun Miao asked curiously.
”It's a feint.” Lili suddenly said.
Hearing that the cave was for feigning death, Faang Zexi immediately retracted his hand and asked loudly: ”Pretending to be dead? Don't fool me! How can you insert such a small hole into it? ”
Xiao Fang, you don't understand this village.” Lili patiently explained, ”There is a custom in Flower Snake Village called tree burial. It is to soak a person who had just passed away in a type of medicinal liquid until their body shrank in size, and then stuff them into the ginkgo tree trunk and seal them away. Furthermore, when soaking the corpse, there would be a special ceremony called … ”Dip the body.
”Ugh …” That sounds so disgusting! ” Faang Zexi shook his head pretentiously.
”What potion did you use?” Sun Miao asked.
”Then I don't know.” Lili laughed as she shook her head.
”If there's a chance, let me see.” When Sun Miao was in university, she had come into contact with a lot of chemical agents, but she had never heard of any that had the ability to reduce corpses.
”Lili, do you know anything about Flower Snake Village?” Fann Wenqiang said.
”It's alright. After all, I've been here before.” Lili replied.
The crowd continued forward.
A few minutes later, they officially stepped into the Flower Snake Village.
The first thing that caught their attention was the roof of every house in the village, which was made of dark tiles. Next were the sudden ginkgo trees, and most of the trees had a round hole in them.
”Lili, I have a question.” Zhou Yang stood in front of a ginkgo tree and asked.
”What is it?” Lili leaned over.
”Did you just say that these trees are meant to be deadly?”
”Well, yes.”
”But why is it empty now?”