Chapter 198 Ghost Banquet

"Because the old man was blind, the locals called him Blind Old Man. He was thin and small, with prominent cheekbones, like a skeleton covered with old skin. He came up and told the army to retreat quickly, saying that the bandits were not to be bothered with, they were surely dead."

"The officer in charge was puzzled and asked how he knew. After all, these bandits had blood on their hands, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they had a blood feud with the nearby villagers. It was unlikely that this Blind Old Man was deliberately lying to help the bandits get away with it."

"After much argument, the Blind Old Man finally revealed something that shocked everyone. It turned out that these strange disappearances of bandits weren't the first time it had happened. It had been going on for a long time. These bandits didn't disappear, they were invited to a banquet."

"A ghost banquet."

As he said these two words, Jiang Cheng and the others suddenly felt a tightness in their hearts, as if the words "ghost banquet" had changed the aura around them, attracting something bad.

"This mountain... is haunted?"

Fatty asked cautiously, while Luo Yunshan's face showed a trace of strangeness amidst his seriousness. Moreover, given his status, he would obviously not scare them with some nonsensical strange stories.

Luo Yunshan was not thrown off his rhythm and continued, "According to the Blind Old Man, his ancestors had warned their descendants a long time ago that they could enter the mountain during the day for hunting, gathering herbs, anything, but they must not stay overnight in the mountain, especially in the depths of the mountain, on moonless nights, otherwise they might be deluded and go to a ghost banquet."

"And once they eat the food at the ghost banquet, they will be trapped there forever, never to find their way back to the human world."

"Ghost banquet..."

No. 2 pondered for a moment. He wouldn't be intimidated by a mere name. He needed more precise information. "A banquet only ghosts can attend? Do you know anything about its origins?"

This time, Luo Yunshan hesitated slightly. "The Blind Old Man couldn't explain the specifics, but according to him, it's all because of a tomb. There is a large tomb deep in this mountain."

These words startled both Jiang Cheng and Fatty, and they simultaneously thought of the blood corpse tomb in their mission. More importantly, not long ago, they had received a call from Li Bai, who seemed to be in an extremely dangerous situation, just to deliver a message: the mission was not over.

The mission was not over!

Could it be... that this was it?

They didn't go looking for the blood corpse tomb, but now the blood corpse tomb was actively seeking them out.

But... why?

They had clearly met the so-called Marquis of Empty Words, who had no malice towards them. On the contrary, he showed a rare kindness towards Fatty. And they had already left that bus. Why... why was the mission not over? What was the problem?

The ominous premonition in Jiang Cheng's heart became clearer. This accident seemed to be attacking Lin Wan'er, but the ultimate target was himself.

But Jiang Cheng didn't plan to share what he had seen in the mission with anyone other than Fatty, because he couldn't be sure if the people around him were trustworthy. "Old man, do you know the identity of the tomb's owner?" Jiang Cheng's face showed no shock, only the curiosity that would be normal in this situation.

"I don't know. I only know that this tomb has existed for a long time, and the identity of the tomb's owner is very unusual. But unfortunately, no one has found the exact location of the tomb in the mountain yet. Many people say it's just a legend."

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Cheng suddenly thought that the reason Lin Wan'er led the team into the deep mountains was that their initial goal was to find the missing geological survey team. And this so-called geological survey team, which could alarm Lin Wan'er to rescue them, was obviously not ordinary either. He suddenly had a bold idea: could it be... could it be that this so-called geological survey team was just a cover, and the true identity of these people was an archaeological team with official backing, aiming for the large tomb in this mountain!

Lin Wan'er must have known about this, so she went to rescue them herself at the first sign of trouble. This would explain everything.

Imperceptibly, he felt that his trajectory in the mission actually overlapped with the world outside the mission. He didn't know if this was good or bad. He would only ask Lin Wan'er for an explanation after rescuing her.

"It is said that this ghost banquet revolves around the owner of this large tomb. Under certain circumstances, people who stay overnight in the mountain will receive an invitation from the tomb owner to attend the ghost banquet, and the location is the large tomb. However, because these people disappeared and never reappeared, no one knows what the truth is."

After a pause, Luo Yunshan took a deep breath and continued, "After all, there are too many ways for people to disappear in the mountains: mountain bogs that you sink into and disappear quickly, poisonous snakes and insects, and the most terrifying is the miasma. It is said that miasma can cause hallucinations, perhaps those troops inhaled a lot of miasma, which is why..."

At this moment, Jiang Cheng couldn't hear anything Luo Yunshan was saying. He was almost certain that all of this was related to the large tomb in the mountain, and that tomb... was very likely the blood corpse tomb in the mission.

The scene in the mission appeared in reality. This strange feeling was indescribable. The face of the ghost bride appeared in his mind: don't trust anyone... this was the ghost bride's warning to him.

"Are there still people in the mountain?"

Luo Yunshan shook his head. "No, after something like this happened, keeping people in the mountain would be sending them to their deaths. I know Lin Wan'er and my grandson's strength. If they are missing, then ordinary people will surely die if they encounter it."

No. 13 told him after they met that Mr. and No. 3 were still alive, but their auras were weak and their conditions were obviously very bad. They couldn't hold on for too long.

But they were still alive. As long as they were alive, there was still hope.

"When are we going into the mountain?"

This mountain not only had people Jiang Cheng wanted to rescue, but also secrets Jiang Cheng wanted to uncover. As long as he could get out of this mountain alive, many questions would be answered, his, and even Fatty's. He believed they would.

"Not now, we can only enter the mountain during the day." Luo Yunshan's tone was firm.

"Okay, then we'll rest now. I'll also trouble Elder Luo to organize a team to set off with us tomorrow." No. 2 nodded to Luo Yunshan.

"Wait." Jiang Cheng interjected, "I have one more thing to ask of you, Elder Luo. I want you to help me find two people."

Luo Yunshan, who had just stood up to leave, stopped and turned around. "Who?"

"One man and one woman. The man calls himself Yao Shun Yu, and the woman is called Li Bai. I don't know their real names, but I have their contact information. You can start from there." Jiang Cheng quickly took out paper and pen, wrote down the numbers, and handed them to Luo Yunshan. "Please do it as soon as possible. This is very important."