"Tsk... What's your attitude!" Zhao Lei shouted at Jing Kaiyu's retreating back.
Everyone shook their heads and ignored him.
Even Xu Duoduo floated ahead and said, "Follow my footprints, don't go the wrong way!"
Chu Tian was about to say, you're floating, where are your footprints coming from.
Then he saw that where Xu Duoduo floated, an indentation appeared beneath her.
He knew this must also be a manifestation of divine soul power.
Xu Duoduo led everyone, winding through the mist for over ten minutes.
Suddenly, the scene opened up, and the mist vanished completely.
They looked back, and there was no sign of the mist behind them.
This gave them a new understanding of formations, finding them truly magical.
A hundred meters ahead of them, a solitary village came into view.
A strange atmosphere arose.
Chu Tian felt his scalp tingle again.
He looked back, thinking Xu Duoduo was playing tricks again.
However, he saw a pair of vivid green eyes staring directly at them.
Dimly visible, these eyes belonged to a massive black body.
Its appearance bore some resemblance to his own transformed leopard form in the game.
Seeing Chu Tian looking, it gave him a deep glance, and then in an instant, the creature disappeared into the jungle behind them.
Ye Limiao...
These three words suddenly appeared in his mind.
A chill ran down his spine, and Chu Tian cried out, "Ye Limiao..."
Everyone turned around simultaneously, but saw nothing.
Under their puzzled gazes, Chu Tian pointed to the spot:
"It's true, it was right there, and it vanished in an instant!"
Seeing Chu Tian's certain expression, they turned around and went to the spot Chu Tian indicated.
Gao Kai squatted down and searched, then shook his head and said, "There are no traces left by any creature."
"I say, Brother Tian, you're not trying to scare us, are you!"
It was naturally Zhao Lei who could say such a brainless thing.
No one paid him any mind, but they all felt a sense of unease.
Especially Xu Duoduo, who had been here years ago and understood the strangeness of this place best.
After checking, they continued towards the village, everyone walking slowly. Gao Kai and the other two had already cocked their submachine guns.
A drilling rig was still erected at the village entrance. As they approached, they saw that the sheet metal of the machine had rotted to an unrecognizable state.
It looked as if it would collapse at the slightest touch.
An unfinished ancient well lay beneath the drilling rig's drill head.
Everything here was just as Xu Duoduo had described; it was as if time had stood still for forty-four years.
Chu Tian, gathering his courage, went to the well and looked down.
There was a lot of accumulated water below, whether it was groundwater seepage or rainwater filling it, he couldn't tell.
From above, nothing was found, only a strange atmosphere.
As the一行 reached the village entrance and entered,
"Is there really no one here?" Zhao Lei inexplicably said.
At first, when they arrived, no one had paid much attention to the village's interior.
Zhao Lei's comment made Chu Tian realize something. According to Xu Duoduo's description,
this place had been abandoned for over forty years. How was it that the houses in the village had no grass or vines growing on them at all?
Logically, in these mountains, it wouldn't take that long. Perhaps one or two years without maintenance,
and the entire village would be covered in various plants.
If not for the weathering of the drilling rig at the village entrance, which allowed them to judge how much time had passed,
looking at the village itself, no one would believe it had been abandoned for over forty years.
Apart from the absence of people, the entire village was devoid of even a single weed. The exteriors of the houses looked as good as new.
It was as if the people here had just moved out.
"This place... it hasn't changed at all!" Xu Duoduo exclaimed in surprise.
Hearing her words, everyone found it even more bizarre.
What had influenced nature's course to allow a village to remain in its original state for over forty-four years?
Ye Ling's brow furrowed as she looked at the courtyard at the village entrance. "This place... gives me a very familiar feeling, yet I've clearly never been here!"
Chu Tian followed her gaze and said softly, "If that's the case, then it proves we've come to the right place. This is the place where your memories were lost."
Ye Ling nodded and walked towards that courtyard. This should be the courtyard Xu Duoduo mentioned.
The一行 entered the courtyard. The room directly in front should be the one with the eight knife marks on the beam.
They entered the house and scanned the beam with their flashlights, indeed seeing seven knife marks within their visible range.
Chu Tian found the eighth mark on the back of the beam, near the mountain wall of the house.
Everything was exactly as Xu Duoduo had described.
"It's so quiet here!" Zhao Lei blurted out again.
It had to be said, Zhao Lei's random remarks often provided them with a hint.
Gao Kai also said, "That's right. Since we left the mist, there hasn't been a single chirp of insects or chirp of birds.
Although the weather has turned cold, we could still hear them when we were in the mist."
Gao Kai's expression was not good.
Having served in the special forces for so many years, his missions were always against living targets with clear objectives.
Facing something unknown like this, anyone would feel fear.
Even this veteran was no exception.
"You guys, come look here!" Jing Kaiyu had found something by the wall.
They all gathered around. In his hand was an opened, half-eaten pack of military compressed biscuits.
Gao Kai took it and looked. "These are the new type of compressed biscuits that came out in the last few years. We didn't use these back then.
Oh... there's a date here. The ones we used didn't have dates!"
He flipped the biscuit packet over and shone his flashlight on it. Everyone crowded around to see the date: September 7, 2031.
Ye Ling said, "According to the information provided, this should be left by the last group of people."
"This group of people actually discarded their supplies, and they even took a bite. Something must have happened urgently at the time.
What exactly happened to make them so rushed?"
Zhao Lei asked, looking at everyone as if they all knew the answer.
After this incident, it was further confirmed that Ye Ling and the other two groups had indeed come here.
Upon returning, they were inexplicably plagued by the Shadow Devouring Ghost Worms.
As for what the Shadow Devouring Ghost Worms were, no one knew.
Was it a curse, a disease, or truly a parasite entering the body?
Chu Tian began to worry, as they had also come here.
Would they also face such a situation upon returning?
According to the information, those who experienced this were all ability users.
But who could guarantee that ordinary people wouldn't be infected?
With the protection of the formation outside, it seemed ordinary people couldn't get in.
Besides, he himself was an ability user!
"I'm sorry, I've harmed you all. I shouldn't have brought you here," Ye Ling suddenly said.
"Captain, why do you say that?" Zhao Lei asked blankly.
Ye Ling looked at him. "Originally, I wasn't entirely sure this was the place, but judging by the situation, it should be.
If we can't figure out the entire matter this time, upon returning, you might end up like me."
"Oh, it's no big deal, I'm prepared!"
As Zhao Lei spoke, he began to rummage through his backpack.