Chapter 17 Abnormal

Before Jiangcheng could speak, an old voice came from inside, "Aren't these two young brothers? Come in and talk."

Hearing the old man speak, the middle-aged man reluctantly stepped aside. After entering, Jiangcheng could see clearly that an amiable old man was sitting in the center. Beside him was a young woman, around seventeen or eighteen years old. Her attire wasn't fancy, but her heroic spirit couldn't be concealed.

Besides them, there was also a child, a simply dressed old nanny, a maid, a young man with a straight posture, and finally, a porter standing in the corner with a worried look on his face.

Looking around, Jiangcheng focused his gaze on the leading old man, cupped his fist respectfully, and said, "Thank you for saving our lives, old sir. I will never forget your kindness."

"Haha, young brother, you're too polite. We merchants who travel outside often help each other when we encounter difficulties. It's a tradition passed down since ancient times." The old man stroked his beard, appearing very amiable. "Besides, the two of you are from Bianzhou, so we can be considered half-fellow countrymen."

Although neither Jiangcheng nor the fatty understood why they were being labeled as people from Bianzhou, they assumed it was the identity the mission had given them. Jiangcheng didn't dwell on this issue and became even more polite. "In that case, it seems like it was our destiny to survive. Thank you for your help, old sir."

"May I ask... where is the old sir heading to on this trip?" Jiangcheng asked.

"A merchant goes wherever there are buyers. To be honest, we don't have a fixed destination this time. Once we sell all our goods, we'll be heading back." The old man replied with a smile.

Jiangcheng smiled freely. "I was being presumptuous."

Even the fatty could tell that something was off. It was clear that the other party didn't want to tell them the truth, but that was understandable, as one had to be cautious when traveling the martial world.

As the conversation deepened, Jiangcheng gradually learned what had happened before he woke up. According to the old man, they found him and the fatty at the bottom of a remote canyon.

They had gone down to the canyon entirely by chance. Their original route had been washed away by heavy rain, and they had encountered such strange weather with thick fog rising all around. As a result, they deviated from their planned route and somehow ended up at the bottom of the canyon, where they happened to find them after their fall.

"Old sir, did you only find the two of us at the time?" Jiangcheng asked, not giving up.

The old man was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant. "What, does the young brother have other companions?"

Jiangcheng sighed and nodded. "To tell you the truth, there were six of us brothers traveling together, but we encountered falling rocks. While trying to avoid them, I accidentally fell off a cliff, and I don't remember anything after that."

The old man pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "The fog was thick at the time, and we only saw the two of you. As for whether there were others nearby, we can't be completely sure."

"Even if there were, it's useless now. The weather outside is strange. If they fell off a cliff, they're definitely dead by now." The middle-aged man who had opened the door seemed to dislike Jiangcheng and the fatty, speaking in a cold tone.

The old man and the others didn't say anything upon hearing this, seemingly agreeing with the statement.

The fatty panicked upon hearing this. "Old sir, where did you find us? Could you draw a map for us so we can look for our way back?"

Hearing this, the old man gave a bitter smile. Before he could speak, the woman beside him said, "It's not that we're unwilling to help, but we're simply unable to. After we picked you up, we were also trapped in the fog and couldn't distinguish directions at all. In the end, we caught sight of the torches of the monks returning to the temple from afar, and followed them, which is how we were lucky enough to find this place to stay."

Hearing this, Jiangcheng's eyes flickered. "What, the monks from the temple led you back to the temple? You didn't come to the temple voluntarily?"

The middle-aged man sneered. "The fog outside was as thick as water at the time. Besides, this temple is so remote. How could we, who were new here, possibly find it?"

There was a discrepancy in the information. According to the monk Huide, these people had come to the temple voluntarily late at night, but the old man and the others said they had been lost for a long time and had been lucky enough to encounter monks returning to the temple, whom they followed to find this Abstinence Temple.

It was a trivial matter, and there was no need to lie, unless there was some kind of hidden secret. Jiangcheng couldn't determine who was lying, but it was more likely that the problem lay with the temple in the deep mountains and its monks.

Jiangcheng felt uncomfortable being here.

"Grumble..." The fatty's stomach growled inappropriately. He covered his stomach, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

The old man smiled upon seeing this and waved his hand at the porter not far away. The porter opened his luggage and took out a small bag of dry rations.

"The young brother is hungry. Take this and eat it. We can be considered to have a connection." The old man handed the bag of dry rations to the fatty.

Seeing the white dry rations, the fatty quickly thanked him and politely received them with both hands. "Thank you, thank you, old sir. I wish you great success in your business."

After chatting about some trivial matters and feeling the middle-aged man's expression growing increasingly displeased, Jiangcheng took the fatty and bid farewell. Jiangcheng's expression turned serious as soon as they left the room.

Seeing this, the fatty couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Are there problems with these people too?"

Jiangcheng nodded. "These people aren't ordinary merchants. They're government soldiers, and the leader must be in a high position."

"How do you know?" The fatty quickly asked.

"The porter is wearing government boots. He was far away before, and the room was dark, so I didn't see clearly. I only noticed when he came over to hand over the dry rations."

"The middle-aged man who opened the door for us kept one hand hidden behind his back the whole time. He must be carrying a weapon. And look at their personnel configuration. How could this be the configuration of merchants who live outdoors? Would merchants bring maids and servants who have difficulty moving?"

After Jiangcheng's analysis, the fatty felt it made even more sense. But then, he saw Jiangcheng take out his phone from his pocket, click a few times, and start playing a video.

The fatty leaned in, and the next second, he was surprised to find that the background of the video was actually outside the guest room they were just in.

The fatty immediately looked at Jiangcheng's pocket. There was a hole torn in it. Since his clothes were already ragged with holes everywhere, this hole wasn't noticeable at all. It seemed the doctor had secretly recorded the video through this hole.

As the distance grew closer, the door of the guest room was opened, but at that moment, the fatty was stunned, and then his eyes suddenly widened. The middle-aged man who opened the door couldn't be seen clearly.

To be precise, his face was a blur, as if covered by a layer of fog. As the middle-aged man stepped aside, the faces of the others in the room were also blurred.