It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and the winter sky was no longer so bright, but it was not close to evening. The brilliance falls on the ground, and the lake breeze blows gently, making people feel like they are back in the early morning.
The road on the island is indeed not too badly damaged, as the fishman captives said, but some places have cracked due to sun and rain, and some sections of the road have more dirt and dust.
For Jiang Baimian, who was riding a bicycle, a slightly cold wind blew in his face, with a large amount of farmland spreading to the foot of the mountain on the left, and two rows of withered trees on the right, where you could see the vast lake.
This kind of scenery and feeling made her heart open and her spirit relaxed.
If it weren't for carrying a grenade gun and assault rifle, she would have almost forgotten the purpose of this trip.
"It's a pity that it's winter now, and there isn't much green in the farmland and woods, otherwise it would definitely feel better." Jiang Baimian sighed while pedaling on the pedals.
Shang Jianyao tried hard to keep his bicycle from rushing too far, and thought for a while:
"Autumn may be more beautiful."
"Why?" Jiang Baimian didn't expect Shang Jianyao to really choose a season.
Shang Jianyao replied calmly:
"There must be a lot of fruit on the tree."
"......" Jiang Baimian decided not to continue the topic, and instead said, "It seems that the fishmen have evacuated this island, and I don't know if it was the order of the divine messenger, or because it was more than three days, something terrible happened......"
This is one of the precautions given by "Pangu Biotech":
You cannot stay on the island for more than three days.
Shang Jianyao, who was wearing a monkey mask, thought for a moment and said:
"I didn't ask the prisoners at that time."
"I didn't know at the time." Jiang Baimian subconsciously relieved.
When Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong went to inquire about the fishman captive, she was still sick, had not reported the matter to the company, and had not received the precautions for exploring the Forbidden Temple.
The next morning after the "Pangu Creature" called back, Hongshiji exchanged prisoners with fishmen and mountain monsters.
Shang Jianyao, who was trying to control himself and not let the bicycle speed go too fast, glanced sideways at Jiang Baimian:
"I think it should be the command of the divine messenger."
"Oh?" Although Jiang Baimian also judged it this way, he was still quite interested in Shang Jianyao's inference process.
She felt the need to learn alternative ideas and not be complacent.
After all, many awakened people have certain mental problems, and it is difficult to guess the pattern of their behavior with normal logic.
Shang Jianyao said truthfully:
"He and Warning Song have already made friends, and when he mentions the island in the middle of the lake and the Forbidden Temple, he will not fail to say that terrible things will happen if he stays on the island for too long, unless he doesn't know the specific situation."
"Yes." Jiang Baimian was a little disappointed, because this was normal reasoning.
Jingle bell!
At this time, Shang Jianyao moved the bell on the faucet with great interest, as if he wanted to use it to play a piece of music.
Unfortunately, the bell can't do such a thing.
"......" Jiang Baimian took back his disappointment just now.
The two rode past the abandoned houses by the lake, and it took them more than ten minutes to finally see a market town.
Its style is very similar to that of Wild Grass City, with white walls and black tiles, cornices and arches, full of the charm of the ancient era of the old world.
Of course, there are also differences between here and Wild Grass City:
First, there are no city walls; Second, the houses are generally not high, mainly two or three stories.
In the market town, bluestone slabs are laid, and the withered yellow weeds are pulled up by the cold wind from time to time and rise to the sky.
For some reason, as soon as he entered this market town, Jiang Baimian felt that the light was a little dim.
This caught her eye, both ancient and quiet, and a little gloomy.
There is no doubt that there is no sign of human activity throughout the market town, and if it weren't for the winter now, it would have become a paradise for greenery and wildlife.
——Even now, Jiang Baimian can still see air-dried animal feces in corners and ditches.
"No taste." Shang Jianyao sniffed and made a judgment.
Jiang Baimian didn't bother to pay attention to him, turned his wrist and looked at his watch:
"It's 4:16, and we have to leave this town by 4:42, whether we find anything of value or not."
"You miscalculated." Shang Jianyao pointed out.
This is less than half an hour.
Jiang Baimian sneered while identifying the road and looking for the temple according to the confession of the fishman captive:
"This is called retention.
"The ghost knows if there is any difference between this and the ones the company has found before, and it cannot be completely in accordance with the precautions given by the company, and the standard must be raised."
"You are very suitable to join the Vigilant Sect." Shang Jianyao praised.
Jiang Baimian looked over squinted and muttered:
"I feel like you're scolding me.
"Can vigilance of sects and vigilance of normal people be the same thing?"
After confirming the general direction, she rode her bicycle along the roadside ditch to the center of the market town.
According to the description of the fishman captive, the temple was in the alley east of the market town square.
The inside of the market town is the same as outside the market town, except for the whining wind and the sound of bicycles running, it is quiet, so quiet that it makes people's scalps tingle.
"I don't think it's strange in the wild, but when I get here, it really feels weird to have no sound." Jiang Baimian glanced left and right, attributing part of the reason to the narrow road, cramped environment, and depressive atmosphere.
Shang Jianyao immediately sighed:
"It's a pity that Long Yuehong didn't come."
"What will happen when you come?" Jiang Baimian answered casually.
Shang Jianyao said "Hey":
"Then I can tell him ghost stories."
"You are really his good friend." Jiang Baimian said sincerely.
As they spoke, their eyes widened up, and a small square appeared.
To the east of the square, there is a half-meter-high platform with nothing on it.
Passing through this cement platform, you can see a narrow alley, and the entrance of the alley is filled with a stale smell, as if the wind has not blown in for a long time.
Jiang Baimian quickly turned over the bicycle and leaned it against the side.
Their destination has arrived.
Shang Jianyao got out of the car and talked about his worries:
"Do you want to lock it? If you come out and find that the car is lost, it will not be good."
"If you lose your car, I will give you a ride!" Jiang Baimian didn't say where to steal bicycles in such a ghostly place, and responded directly to Shang Jianyao's ideas.
After more than ten seconds, the two put down their bicycles, picked up their assault rifles, and entered the alley in front of them step by step.
The more you go inside, the more stale the air becomes, and there is a feeling that it is about to solidify, but this does not affect the breathing of Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian.
In this alley, all the doors and windows of the houses are closed, unlike other areas of the town, many doors are open, as if they have been searched.
Moreover, the doors here are all painted black.
As he walked, Jiang Baimian heard the footsteps of himself and Shang Jianyao.
They kept echoing in the alley, stacked together.
"This place is really peculiar." Jiang Baimian sighed that the temple had appeared in front of their eyes.
The temple is located higher at the bottom of the alley and is not fundamentally different from the surrounding architectural style.
Its black gate was tightly closed, with black tiles connected above it, and a white paper lantern hanging on each side.
Perhaps because of the eaves covering it, the lantern was not damaged by the rain, as if it had only been hung up last night.
The temple door is taller than the other buildings, and there is a plaque under the eaves with white letters on a black background.
Jiang Baimian just glanced at it casually, and then saw the content on the plaque clearly:
"Yama Hall"
"It's quite like that." She commented pertinently.
This did not affect her progress, and soon, she and Shang Jianyao arrived at the gate of the temple.
When she got close, she had a strange feeling, which was a fear that pointed directly to the bottom of her heart.
Jiang Baimian did not hesitate, stretched out his left hand, pressed it on the door, and pressed it slightly.
——Before riding a bicycle, she and Shang Jianyao had already put on latex gloves.
At this time, she was cautious and even used her left hand.
In the creaking sound, the black gate of the temple slowly opened back, revealing the scene inside.
The first thing that caught Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao's eyes was a courtyard with a water tank at each corner.
At the end of the courtyard, there was a palace with a white curtain hanging at the door.
After crossing the threshold and entering the temple, Jiang Baimian's fear dissipated instantly, but his heart seemed to be stacked with a few heavy stones, and he felt extremely depressed.
Even the sound of the wind seems to have disappeared here, and it is so quiet that it doesn't seem to be in the real world.
Suddenly, Shang Jianyao asked:
"Can I get a speaker?"
"Huh?" Jiang Baimian, who was fully engrossed, did not react for a while.
"Play the song." Shang Jianyao hurriedly explained.
Playing songs with speakers in this eerie, mysterious, quiet, oppressive, and eerie temple? Play those weird songs? Although Jiang Baimian thinks that this can effectively destroy the current atmosphere, he always feels too strange.
A place that can be "haunted" at any time echoes "You are my little apple" is simply crazy.
She thought about it for a moment and said:
"I don't need it yet, but I can prepare it."
"Okay." Shang Jianyao became excited.
The two people holding assault rifles immediately entered the door of the main hall in a corner.
When the white curtain was lifted and tied up, they saw the offering table, the incense burner, the ashes, the futon, and the white candles.
However, there was no statue on the offering table, and the back blocked by the offering table could not see the actual situation at a glance.
At this time, Shang Jianyao suddenly spoke:
"There is human consciousness, no more than ten meters."
He used a relatively vague description, and it seemed that he was not too sure of the specific scope.
"After you came in, did you sense it?" Jiang Baimian asked in surprise.
She remembered that Shang Jianyao's maximum range was twenty meters.
Shang Jianyao nodded heavily.
Jiang Baimian immediately concentrated and said hesitantly after a while:
"Indeed, there is an electrical signal, very weak...... Extremely low biological activity?"
As she spoke, she held a gun and went around to the back of the offering table with Shang Jianyao.
Then they saw a coffin, a black coffin.
The coffin was open, and a person was lying inside.
(End of this chapter)