Seeing that it was a person who came out, not some random thing, Li Minghai and others silently breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly:
"Hello, we accidentally got lost in the mountains. I wonder if we can take a rest here."
The woman said nothing, nodded, and motioned for them to come in.
Everyone entered the Taoist temple, but the mist behind them slowly dissipated. To be more precise, they all settled above the Taoist temple.
The entire Taoist temple was wrapped in thick fog, almost forming a substance. Huge black-gray tentacles stretched out from the ground and wrapped around the periphery of the Taoist temple, as if something huge had been awakened.
If you look at Shangqing Temple at this moment, you will find that the entire Taoist temple is in an indescribable mist, and even the sign on the outside becomes a little blurry.
The big characters "Shangqingguan" were continuously distorted until they disappeared into the mist.
…
Squeak—bang!
Shortly after Li Minghai and others entered, the vermilion door slowly closed, even though there was no wind, as if a pair of invisible hands were pushing everything.
Everyone looked at the surrounding environment, which was very quiet and elegant. It must have taken a lot of effort to build such a Taoist temple in the deep mountains and old forests.
I don't know if it was their imagination, but it felt like the temperature had dropped a few degrees. Even though it was inside, it felt colder than outside. Several people were so cold that they sneezed.
The woman seemed to be a little afraid of strangers. She never spoke and just lowered her head silently to lead the way. Her speed was neither fast nor slow, and she always kept a certain distance from everyone.
The surroundings seem ordinary, but there is something unusual everywhere, always giving people a vague sense of violation.
Someone lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Li, don't you think it's too quiet around here?"
Li Minghai pondered for a moment, "It's normal to be quiet. After all, this place is in a remote place. Apart from us, there is probably no one else in the entire Taoist temple."
"Although I say that, we didn't see clearly what the woman who just opened the door looked like from the beginning to the end, and she didn't speak. It felt weird."
When she opened the door, the woman also had her head lowered, and her black hair covered most of her face.
Looking at the woman's slender back, everyone's eyes were filled with doubts, "Is there really anything wrong with her?"
Not to mention it was okay, but once I said it, it really felt a little wrong. Many people felt a little uncomfortable and the hairs on their bodies stood out.
Li Minghai's expression changed slightly, he coughed heavily, and then scolded: "I think you are just scaring yourself. There are so many of us, what's the problem?"
While everyone was talking, he looked up and found that the woman leading the way had disappeared.
"What about the woman?!"
Hearing only an exclamation, Li Minghai followed the sound and looked over. Sure enough, there was no sign of the woman in front of him, as if she had suddenly disappeared.
They were so lost in conversation just now that no one noticed where the woman had gone.
"It was obviously still there before, but why did it disappear in such a short time?"
"Are you going to the toilet?"
"Maybe he turned into the temple, right?"
Everyone was puzzled. Apart from them, there seemed to be no other living creatures in the huge Taoist temple.
"Let's look for it in case something happens."
Judging from the current situation, although the woman was a little weird, she didn't do anything out of the ordinary. They also hoped that after the fog cleared, the woman could help them show the way.
"There is a main hall here, will she be here?"
There was a house on the corner where the woman had disappeared.
Everyone walked in, and the interior of the hall was even more exquisitely decorated, with carved corridors and painted pillars, and outlines with gold paint, which could be described as solemn and solemn.
There were many exquisite cakes and tributes placed on the altar, as well as a few incense candles, which must have been lit not long ago.
The woman might have been here just now.
It is strange to say that the huge temple only enshrines one statue, and it is covered with red cloth. It is not clear what kind of statue it is.
Someone asked out of curiosity: "What is this offering?"
After saying that, I wanted to pull it off and see what happened.
Li Minghai felt a little bad in his heart and quickly stopped him: "After all, we are in a Taoist temple. Let's not touch it casually. There must be a certain reason for covering it with red cloth."
Someone next to him curled his lips and said, "Mr. Li, aren't you superstitious?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of red from the corner of his eye.
I saw the red cloth slowly falling down, and Li Minghai's expression changed slightly in an instant, "Who pulled it!"
The others looked at each other and shook their heads, "We are not kidding."
"Could it be that it was blown down by the wind?"
Li Minghai only felt strange, but did not notice the gradually strange expressions of the people around him.
As the red cloth fell, the covered statue was revealed to everyone. It was a snake statue!
This statue is lifelike, as if a real big snake is hovering here. The snake's head is facing everyone, and the bright red snake letter is close at hand. It looks very ferocious.
For a moment, the air was extremely quiet.
Everyone looked at the snake statue in front of them, but no one said anything.
Apart from this snake, there is nothing else enshrined in the entire hall.
Normal Taoist temples should not enshrine figures such as the Jade Emperor, Taishang Laojun, Yuanshi Tianzun, etc. Who would enshrine such a big snake!
What is the difference between this and worshiping a monster?
Do monsters have separate Taoist temples?
"Maybe it's Wujiaxian?"
Although it is a bit strange, there may be some special meaning in it. After all, in the northeast, snake is one of the Baojiaxian, so it has a relatively good background.
Everyone was a little surprised, but they didn't dare to think too deeply.
It's just that Li Minghai always felt unnatural. He glanced at the snake head subconsciously. He didn't know if it was his imagination. He always felt as if he was being stared at by something, and there was a lingering coldness all over his body.
"Let's go out and look for it again."
After a while, no one responded.
Everyone was looking at the snake statue, as if there was something there that attracted them, their eyes fixed on it.
Looking at the people around him, Li Minghai felt more and more strange, and raised his voice again. This time, the others came to their senses, and their tone seemed a little slow.
"Then, let's go take a look elsewhere."
After saying that, everyone walked out of the hall and saw that their actions were no different from usual. But for some reason, Li Minghai always felt that they were a little disobedient.
"Maybe I'm too worried."
He couldn't help but look back, only to find that the snake's head was still facing him, and its pair of faint beast eyes exuded endless chill.
Li Minghai shuddered and turned around to leave, but before he could take a step forward, he suddenly paused, as if he realized something!
"Obviously the snake's head was not in this direction just now..."
Li Minghai's face suddenly turned pale. Did he remember it wrong, or did the smuggler's head move along?
"Mr. Li, why don't you leave? You look uncomfortable."
Someone came closer and asked with concern on his face.
"This statue—"
Li Minghai was about to say that the statue was weird, but when he saw the appearance of the person next to him clearly, his words suddenly stopped.
The person in front of him was an engineer in the team. His facial features were honest and honest, but at this moment, his pupils showed a vertical line.
Human pupils simply cannot achieve this level. They look like some kind of cold reptile, and their originally simple and honest facial features look ferocious and terrifying.
Li Minghai subconsciously pushed the person away, looking a little frightened.
Others were suddenly pushed to the ground by him.
The movement here attracted the attention of others.
"What's going on here?"
The engineer felt a little aggrieved, "I don't know either. Seeing that Mr. Li didn't look very good, I went to ask him, but he suddenly pushed me away."
The engineer's eyes returned to their original appearance. The pupils were clear and black, but slightly cloudy. It seemed that the vertical line just now was Li Minghai's illusion.
Li Minghai rubbed his eyes and apologized quickly: "I'm sorry, I was a little too tired just now."
The engineer shook his head quickly, "It's okay, it's okay."
As everyone left the hall, the cold feeling lingered around Li Minghai like a shadow.
On the other hand, the people around him didn't seem to notice anything.
Li Minghai opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
The white cigarette in front of the snake statue turned gray unconsciously and slowly floated towards the inner roof of the hall. The murals carved on the inner roof were all related to myths and legends.
The fairy spirit floats and the clouds and mist surround it. It looks like a fairyland, with pavilions, towers and jade buildings hidden above the clouds.
However, with the infusion of gray mist, the overseas fairy palace buildings on the painting also began to decay, as if they had lost their disguise.
The overseas fairy mountains are actually vast abyss, and those unfathomable waters are like countless pairs of huge tentacles, constantly churning and stirring.
In the end, only an unfathomable hole remains, capable of swallowing everything.
The faces of these gods all became distorted and blurred, and their original kind eyes were replaced by empty eye sockets. They looked at them with a gloomy face as they walked towards the hall next to them.
The furnishings in this hall are no different from those where the snake statue was enshrined just now. There are exquisite snacks placed on the chopping board, and a few cigarettes curl up, as if they were lit just now.
Cigarettes were floating around everyone, and there was a pleasant scent of sandalwood. Li Minghai smelled it a bit pungent and couldn't help but cough a few times.
Although this smells good, it becomes a bit cloying after smelling it for a long time.
The statue here is still covered with red cloth.
Li Minghai was a little curious at first, but after passing the snake statue before, he stayed away from these things.
After all, who knows whether the gods or ghosts worshiped in this wild temple?
If there was something scary and strange again, he was really worried that he wouldn't be able to bear it.
But a deep voice suddenly sounded in the team, "Why don't we lift the red cloth and see what is being enshrined here?"
Li Minghai's expression changed slightly and he quickly looked over, following the sound, "Who is speaking?"
The people in the team looked at him silently, as if no one had spoken just now. Then they raised their heads in unison, their eyes focused, as if they were looking at something.
Li Minghai had a bad premonition in his heart. He turned around slowly, and sure enough he saw the red cloth sliding down and the offerings under the red cloth.
The half-human-tall statue looks like one enshrined in an ordinary Taoist temple. There is nothing special about it. It has a compassionate expression and looks at all living beings.
"Fortunately, it's just an ordinary statue of a god."
For some reason, Li Minghai breathed a sigh of relief.
However, he had just relaxed when he saw a piece of gold paint fall from the face of the statue, revealing the mottled clay statue inside.
In a daze, he saw countless black and gray tentacles writhing inside, as if they wanted to break through the shackles of the clay sculpture.
The statue, which was originally looking straight ahead, slowly lowered its head and met Li Minghai's gaze.
The clay statue smiled slightly, as if a miracle was coming again, but that smile, combined with the extending tentacles on its face, looked a bit evil.
The smile kept getting bigger and closer, and Li Minghai could even feel the smell of death.
His eyes widened, his face suddenly turned pale, and his heart seemed to be tightly grasped by two invisible hands, almost making him unable to breathe.
Huge fear came like a tide, and a layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on Li Minghai's forehead.
The statue was almost face to face with him, face to face!
"Mr. Li, are you okay?"
Fortunately, there was someone beside him to support him, but his hands were so cold that he couldn't help but shiver.
Li Minghai thought he was too frightened and his body temperature had dropped, but he didn't think too much about it.
He rubbed his eyes, but there was no change in the statue. There was no gold paint falling off, and there were no black and gray tentacles. It seemed that it was just his hallucination.
But the scene just now was too real and terrifying, and the black and gray tentacles almost touched his face.
So much so that when he thinks about it now, Li Minghai feels nauseated.
"Let's leave quickly. There's something wrong with this place. Stop looking for that woman. Leave here first."
Among the curls of cigarette smoke, the smell seemed to be getting stronger and stronger, and it seemed to be accompanied by a smell of decay.
Or maybe the cigarette was lit to cover up the smell.
The person next to me seemed a little confused, "Let's go?"
"This Taoist temple is so special. Mr. Li, why don't you take a closer look? You should also take a closer look at this statue."
The voice was cold and meaningless, exuding endless chill. It was exactly the same as the voice that asked to lift the red cloth just now.
Li Minghai shuddered hard and raised his head in disbelief.
Only then did I suddenly remember that no one in the team had ever had such a voice, and when the red cloth was lifted twice, I couldn't see clearly who had done it.
So is it really a human being who pulled off the red cloth?
Li Minghai suddenly pushed the people around him away and shouted: "Let's go! Leave quickly, something is wrong here."
However, no one listened to his words. Everyone was looking at the statue with obsessed eyes, and their expressions were even fanatical, like devout believers.
"Leave? Why are you leaving? This Taoist temple is so nice. Mr. Li, please take a look at it a few more times."
"Yes, if you look more you will realize how nice it is here."
"Why don't you look up and see these idols?"
Li Minghai was horrified to find that the people around him were motionless, but kept urging him to see the statue. His voice was trembling with great fear.
"You, what's wrong with you?"
Obviously everyone was quite normal just now, but as soon as they entered this weird Taoist temple, everything seemed to have changed.
Countless gold paint fell down, as if it had rained, and the mottled appearance of the statue made it even more ferocious and evil, as if it had completely given up on disguise.
When the golden paint completely peeled off, revealing the sinister interior, Li Minghai's pupils suddenly shrank. What kind of statue was this? It was clearly a skeleton of sinister bones!
The evil bones are sitting on a high platform, with incense lingering in front of them, enjoying the worship of the world. How ironic this is!
The empty eye sockets of the bones were staring at him, two groups of green will-o'-the-wisps slowly rose up, and his mouth opened and closed, as if he was saying something.
Li Minghai heard countless noises in his ears, but he couldn't understand the meaning at all. It seemed like they were coming from a higher-dimensional language, which almost drove him crazy.
Blood slowly flowed out of his ears.
More than the physical pain, it comes from the fear and fear of the unknown.
What the hell are these? !
Li Minghai covered his ears and tried not to listen to those sounds. At this moment, he could no longer care about others and ran out staggeringly.
However, when he walked out and took a look, he was instantly dumbfounded. The previously exquisite and elegant Taoist temple suddenly underwent earth-shaking changes.
The gray-black mist is constantly surging, as if it has life, constantly assimilating and devouring the surrounding environment, spreading huge tentacles, covering the Taoist temple.
Everything in the Taoist temple began to decay at a speed visible to the naked eye, and there were traces of dilapidation and antiquity everywhere.
The water in the pool that I saw earlier has long since dried up. The rockery is covered with cobwebs, and those gray tentacles are wrapped around the pillars, looking ferocious and evil.
It turns out that they were deceived from the beginning!
This is not a Taoist temple at all!
But a ghost temple!
Li Minghai rubbed his eyes. Huge fear came over him, almost leaving him speechless. He looked around, trying to find a way out.
However, the path he came from earlier had already been swallowed up and buried by gray tentacles. Those tentacles kept rolling and looked very ferocious.
The originally magnificent hall had long since turned into deep black holes. He could faintly hear whispers, like Sanskrit prayers. The noisy voices came from all directions, almost driving him crazy.
As the fog became thicker, the vision was affected, and in the haze, I saw countless statues of gods walking out of the temple where they were enshrined.
No, that can no longer be called a statue of God.
Black-gray mist enveloped them, and their lower bodies were all covered with squirming tentacles, looming in the mist, looking very disgusting and terrifying.
Their empty eyes were all staring at Li Minghai.
The people following behind the statue were all the people in the previous team. At this moment, their faces were pale, and their pupils, without exception, had all turned into vertical pupils, and they seemed to have been assimilated.
It turned out that changes occurred in these people as early as the first time they entered the Taoist temple, but unfortunately no one noticed it at the time.
Those people all looked at Li Minghai and kept waving to him, "Mr. Li, come here, let's worship the statue together. Look how pure the bone statue is."
Countless noises flooded into Li Minghai's ears again, and for a moment he couldn't tell whether these people were talking about a god statue or a snake statue.
"Monsters, all monsters."
Li Minghai staggered back, his expression full of despair. A strong sense of gaze came from the top of his head, and he slowly raised his head.
The indescribable mist has long been entrenched above the head, integrating with the entire Taoist temple, watching their every move. It turns out that they have never gone out, either in the beginning or now.
They wanted to stay away from the thick fog, but they walked into it unknowingly.
Li Minghai had an illusion in his trance that this Taoist temple was alive and so were the gray mist.
But now, he is the only one left alive here.
The other people in the team have been assimilated and can no longer be called human beings.
Huge fear kept crushing Li Minghai's fragile nerves. At this moment, his psychological defenses finally collapsed and he gave up all resistance.
His pupils gradually turned into vertical pupils, following the whispers ringing in his ears, he walked uncontrollably into the depths of the mist.
Deep in the mist, a strange woman wearing a Taoist robe slowly waved. Her long black hair covered most of her face, and only her bright red lips, as if soaked in blood, were visible, smiling towards Li Minghai.
But soon, all the flesh and blood on her body fell off, revealing a face full of bones, and the large robe looked particularly hollow.
No wonder he was so thin and frail, it turned out to be a skeleton wearing Taoist robes.
"Friends come from far away, and they cook well."
A faint voice came, and everyone, including Li Minghai, followed the White Bone Taoist and walked stiffly into the darkness.
The towering mountains in the distance are covered with a faint golden light under the reflection of the setting sun. The sun is setting in the west, leaving only a soft halo of light hanging on the treetops, rippling around in circles.
As it gets darker, people who go up the mountain still don’t come down.
Others in the project looked at the mountains not far away and couldn't help but feel worried.
"Mr. Li and the others have been going all day, why haven't they come down yet? Could something have happened?"
Although there are no traces of large beasts in the area, it is still a bit unsafe to spend the night on the mountain. After all, the area is all undeveloped forest areas.
Logically speaking, they should go down the mountain towards evening.
"Call them and check."
"I made several calls, but they were always out of the service area. I guess there should be no signal where they are."
"It's not an option to just wait here all the time. Go look for them on the mountain in case something really happens to them."
Others also felt strange. If something really happened on the mountain, they should at least send someone down to report the news. But now there is no news, which makes them a little puzzled.
Moreover, the group of villagers never left. From time to time they looked at the mountain and then at them, as if they were observing something secretly.
"Could it be that these villagers are secretly causing trouble? They have been blocking us from going up the mountain before. Maybe they have done something on the mountain to influence our development."
This possibility is very high. After all, the villagers were on the opposite side from the beginning and did not agree to the development of the scenic spot. Seeing that they could not stop it openly, they secretly made some small moves behind the scenes.
The more everyone thought about it, the more likely they felt that this was a possibility.
Other people in the project came to the villagers and said straight to the point:
"Did you do it behind the scenes? Otherwise, it's already this time, why haven't our people come down yet?"
The villagers were already feeling aggrieved and depressed, and now they were wronged, and they didn't feel good about it.
"What do you mean? It's none of our business if they don't come down from the mountain."
The people from the project engineering team looked at them suspiciously, "Then what are you doing sneakily here? It makes you feel uneasy."
The expressions of the villagers suddenly became indignant, "It's really funny. We haven't done anything here, and are we in your way?"
"This is your home around here. We can't even stand here. The rules are pretty lenient."
"They also say that we are sneaky and have good intentions. I think it's because you have something evil in your mind. If something goes wrong, you don't look for the cause on yourself. Instead, you blame others."
"I've told you a long time ago that there is a mountain god on the mountain and you can't disturb it easily. But you don't listen. Those people may have offended the mountain god. They deserve it and they can't go down the mountain now."
These words of the villagers made the project engineering team misunderstood, and their expressions changed slightly in an instant.
"What a mountain god? I think it's just you who are doing something secretly, and you want to use the mountain god to scare us. Tell me honestly what you did!"
The villagers have no other purpose here. One is to worship the mountain god and atone for their sins, and the other is to worry that if these people really offend the mountain god, they will be able to receive the news immediately if there is any movement.
But I never wanted to be misunderstood by the people in the project engineering team.
The faces of the villagers gradually turned cold, "Let me tell you again, we did nothing. Even if something happened to those people, it was because they offended the mountain god that they had to bear the blame."
The people in the project engineering team became increasingly excited.
"You just didn't bring it upon yourself. It must have been you who did it. You look simple and honest, but I didn't expect you to be so vicious."
"It doesn't make sense to people like you, who think that you are great just because you have a few bad dollars."
The villagers couldn't let them throw dirty water, and they didn't bother to argue with these people anymore. They were about to leave immediately, but were stopped by the engineering team.
"You feel guilty and want to run away? Let me tell you, we must give an explanation for this matter. You must have done something. Otherwise, why haven't Mr. Li and the others come down yet?"
A dispute broke out between the two sides again. Fortunately, someone saw that the situation was not good and quickly called the police.
When Sun Zhenbang rushed over, the two groups of people almost started fighting.
"Be quiet!"
He and other police officers quickly stepped forward and pulled the two groups of agitated people away.
Sun Zhenbang spoke sharply and said: "If there is anything we can't talk about properly, if we fight here, don't we all want to stay in the police station!"
After all, it still has some effect.
The emotions of both parties have calmed down a lot.
The people from the project engineering team glared at the villagers and said, "Officer, you came just in time. I want to sue these people. They are causing trouble in secret. Arrest these unruly people as soon as possible!"
The village chief was so angry that his blood pressure soared, "You are just a slanderer!"
Sun Zhenbang comforted him: "Don't get emotional first, I will investigate the matter clearly."
The villagers also believed in Sun Zhenbang's character and knew that he would not favor another party just because of his high status. The village chief took a deep breath, and his originally rapid breathing gradually became calmer.
Seeing that both parties had returned to a calm state, Sun Zhenbang finally said, "What exactly happened?"
"The person in charge of our project, Mr. Li Minghai, led dozens of engineers into the mountains during the day. They have not come back yet, and they cannot get through on their mobile phones. I suspect that this group of villagers has done something wrong."
After all, the villagers have always opposed the development and are constantly lingering around. It is difficult not to doubt their motives.
Sun Zhenbang knew the villagers well and knew that they would not do such a thing, but looking at the indignant engineering team and others, he couldn't say anything for the time being.
"So the current situation is that the members of the engineering team lost contact after entering the mountain?"
The others nodded, "There will be news coming at first, but later it may be because the signal is not good and we can't be contacted."
"When was the last contact? Do you know their approximate location?"
Sun Zhenbang asked very detailed questions, which also facilitated subsequent search operations.
"The last contact was probably around 2 p.m., and they said they wanted to continue surveying in the southeast direction."
Sun Zhenbang nodded, "Don't worry, we will immediately go into the mountain to search, but I hope you can also be sensible. It is impossible for the villagers to do these things."
There were not many people entering the mountain, probably dozens of people, and the villagers could not have that much ability.
The people in the project engineering team calmed down and understood this truth, but their faces were still a little ugly and they couldn't help but mumble.
"These villagers said that Mr. Li and others had offended the mountain gods, so we thought this matter had something to do with the villagers."
The speaker didn't mean it, but the listener meant it. Sun Zhenbang's face changed slightly.
Looking at the mountains not far away, as the sky gets darker, the green mountains that were gentle and harmless during the day began to show another face.
He had an inexplicable hunch in his heart that this matter might be closely related to that mysterious and mysterious existence!
So, nothing will really happen to those people, right?
(End of chapter)
