The atmosphere suddenly became gloomy. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be so cold when the sun comes out. But this area is still eerie, and even the light has become dim. There are more and more dead trees, as if they are suffering from some disease. At the same time, there are more and more flowers with beautiful colors. They had never seen these flowers, never. It's not so much a flower as it is some kind of fungus or moss. They are so strange, they have no fixed shape of petals, they are just scattered everywhere, like something foaming dotted on the ground.
The moss on the ground is black.
There was a strange smell in the air, and the two of them couldn't tell whether it was the scent of flowers, rotten wood, or something else. It's a little damp, a little bit close to the muddy smell excavated from the soil washed away by heavy rains. It smells good if you say it smells good, and if it smells bad it doesn't smell good. Because it seems a little... smelly, but not too noticeable. To say it is fragrant, it can barely be considered fragrant. It's hard to describe, you have to smell it yourself to know it.
"When the scent of jasmine is strong enough, it is no different from feces." Liu Shenghan once said in a casual chat, "In other words, by diluting the smell of feces just right, you can extract the fragrance of jasmine. Want to try Want to try it out?”
At that time, their heads were shaking like three rattles.
There was a strange noise around, not really loud, but a strange kind of hustle and bustle. This made them feel like they were back at the top of the Xiangjiguo building. They could hear the sounds of people on the streets in the distance, but they didn't feel irritated.
As he continued walking with the drunken bee, he seemed to be getting closer to this invisible bustling city.
"I have tinnitus." Aoyan poked her ear with her little finger, "I always feel noisy."
"...Oh, it seems we don't have tinnitus."
"the same as you?"
Just as he was whispering, he saw Liu Shenghan's back from a distance.
"Shenghan!" Aoyan shouted in a low voice. For some reason, she didn't dare to speak loudly in this somewhat depressing environment.
Liu Shenghan didn't look back, but she heard Aoyan calling her. She bent her arms back and motioned for them to come over. So the two of them tiptoed to her side, even stepping on a dead branch would make them frightened for a moment. But this kind of fright came from touch, not sound, because the dense, uninterrupted noise became more and more distinct.
Liu Shenghan stood beside a bush that was about the height of a person, or even taller. The shrubs are relatively sparse, and there are large gaps where you can see the situation on the other side. She stood there, quietly observing the opposite side.
They stepped forward and looked through the bushes to where Liu Shenghan was looking.
The pupils suddenly dilated.
Corpses, human, more than one.
And the sky is filled with dark clouds and mist.
No...it's not clouds, but countless bees, the kind of murderous bees. They gather together in swarms, airtight. Here, that special smell is particularly strong, but anyone who looks at it just wants to retch.
"Yes, what is it?"
"They're all hives."
The reason why it was possible to identify those human corpses immediately was because all the dark honeycombs were connected together, and the coverings showed the outline of a human shape, and even the bones of human hands and feet were exposed. Of course, maybe these are monkeys or orangutans? Jun Aoyan was about to comfort herself in her heart, but immediately denied this idea - they would not lie down like humans. These dark lairs are filled with black slime and are shiny.
Of course they have the answer to why there is such concentration: it is man-made. Someone dumped a body here.
"I gonna go see."
With that said, Bai Ya was about to push aside the bushes. Liu Shenghan suddenly
Ran grabbed him with enough strength to make Bai Ya bar his teeth. If he didn't look back, he would have thought it was Jun Aoyan who pulled him.
"Don't go there."
"Didn't you say that they won't bite unless you attack them?"
"A hungry dog may not attack you...but a pack certainly will."
"They're just bugs."
"But there are enough of them." Liu Shenghan pinched harder and stared at him, which made him feel scared.
"..."
"A... special kind of crowd wisdom. Think of those yakshas."
Bai Ya thought for a long time and took a step back. Liu Shenghan slowly let go of his hand.
"Then according to you, how can we walk over?" Bai Ya was not reconciled, "If you don't get close to the body and inspect the scene, you will definitely not be able to find any clues."
"Don't rush there yet, lest you leave any traces. Think about it, why are there so many corpses piled up here?"
Jun Aoyan frowned and finally looked back. She said to Liu Shenghan: "The degree of decay is different... Although it is a little difficult to identify, the construction time can be judged from the color of the hive."
Liu Shenghan nodded in approval: "Very smart. So they didn't die collectively."
"Could it be related to the pharmaceutical refinery?" Bai Ya paced in place, "Pull the traitors or those who are sick and have lost their use value and deal with them..."
"It's not impossible."
With that said, Liu Shenghan took out a small silver hand stove from his arms. Her stove has become somewhat deformed. You can imagine what kind of crushing and bumps it has suffered.
"Let me try."
The sun is gradually rising, but the temperature seems to have not changed. Liu Shenghan took out some herbs from his body and picked some strange plants nearby. Bai Ya and Jun Aoyan just looked at her. If he needed help, Shenghan would definitely call them. If he didn't call, it was because he didn't want them to cause trouble. They really didn't know where they found some plants. Everyone was clearly passing by the same place, but what she needed always suddenly appeared. Her eyes were really sharp.
Finally, she lit the small hand stove and threw it through a gap in the bushes.
The hand stove stumbled twice and rolled for a while. Its twisted shape did not allow it to run further. A thin stream of gray smoke escaped from it, but it was different from the smoke stick she held in Bai Ya's hand when he first saw her. There was a sour and salty smell in the air, like spilled soy sauce. The swarm of bees suddenly became irritable, which was different from what Bai Ya had known before. The bees began to fly around, as if eager to escape this strange smell.
"The burning of such herbs can create the smell of their natural enemies." Liu Shenghan said, "When the number becomes thin, we will go over and have a look."
"What are their natural enemies?"
"Well...a plant."
"Plants?" Aoyan felt strange, "Shouldn't that be the smell that lures them here? For example... corpse odor? This smell seems different."
"Well, it's a plant that actively hunts. Its scent is used to drive away its natural enemies... I can't go on without saying it. Although the number of this plant has been greatly reduced, the fear of it is still engraved on bees. It’s in their blood.”
Seeing the "clouds clearing and fog dispersing" in the bushes, Liu Shenghan smiled slyly, pushed aside the branches and leaves and stepped forward.
The number of remaining bees is still not small, at least people can see the road clearly, and the disgust of the smell dominates every bee's mood, and they will not attack them. Walking among the insects, they looked at the corpses on the ground. They are like burnt black coals
, distributed here crookedly. Some were placed on rocks or leaning against trees, but they were all casual.
The skull, thorax, and pelvis are their favorite places to build nests, and nests are also scattered in other parts. This was the first time she saw Jun Aoyan, and she just felt sick. The most terrifying thing is the skull, with honeycombs overflowing from the mouth, nose and two eyes, as if the things in the head are carbonizing and expanding. She didn't want to watch it anymore, even the bloody scenes made her feel better than she did now.
Liu Shenghan picked up a branch and slowly poked open a loose nest. It may be abandoned there, there is no black honey, and there are no bees. The other two people came forward and saw that the dry gray-black hive was empty except for two ribs.
"They don't eat bones..." Liu Shenghan lowered his face, "Someone picked the bones."
"You can pick with peace of mind in a place like this - I'm afraid we guessed wrong before. This is not a place to dump corpses..." Bai Ya's tone also became lower, "It's a breeding farm."
They were silent, walking through the soy sauce-like atmosphere and looking at it. Bai Ya's guess may be right, because there are not even a few scraps of clothing here. It was obviously stripped and thrown here. Can someone who does this deliberately do it unintentionally?
"Liu Shenghan." In the silence, Bai Ya suddenly spoke, "Let me ask you, what are these bees used for?"
"The eroded bones can be used as medicine; honeycombs contain wax components, and they process corpse wax; honey is non-flammable and can be set on fire, and can be used as a coating for buildings, but because the amount is small, it is mostly used as ointment; and royal jelly... has drama Poison. What I have listed is just the tip of the iceberg. The specifics can go on for a long time."
Bai Ya suddenly stopped.
"...It must be related to the pharmaceutical refinery."
"Indeed, judging from this information, I..."
"No, look here."
Liu Shenghan and Jun Aoyan came over and looked in the direction he pointed. There was a corpse hanging from a tree, three limbs dangling, and half of the legs fell to the ground. Look carefully, one of the hands has six fingers.
"Oh, this is really..."
Liu Shenghan didn't say any more.
I'm afraid Songchuanyang's brothers have already encountered something unexpected. They all pursed their lips and didn't want to think about it.
"The most effective method at the moment is to stay here and wait for them to dump the body next time." Bai Ya frowned, "Other than that, we have no other evidence..."
"I'm so reluctant. I would rather guard the ruins of war and be with the corpses of those who died in battle..."
Liu Shenghan sighed quietly: "I have no choice."
This "breeding farm" was very big and they walked for a long time. Gradually, the bees began to gather back again, fearing that the scent of the medicinal herbs had almost evaporated. They quickly left here and went around to the open space on the other side. There are no barriers deliberately placed here, all the separations are natural.
After leaving, no one spoke anymore.
It's hard to imagine what kind of place that place is, eating human flesh and sucking human blood. Will those moth-eaten bones also become the stuff in the balm? Maybe the balm itself contains honeycomb ingredients. They have indeed never seen the so-called soul-taking incense itself, but they just default to white in their hearts. Now, they're starting to think it might be black.
After a long time, Liu Shenghan suddenly talked about his own affairs, as if to ease everyone's mood.
"The six realms of impermanence are all people who have died, do you know that?"
"Um."
"The state of my death is much more beautiful than theirs."
"..."
The atmosphere did not ease.
