Chen Tao thought about it carefully. With his grandfather's character, it is not impossible to set up some traps at home to prevent thieves and self-defense. After all, the house is now abandoned and there is no one to take care of it. It is easy to kill people if the traps are set up. Relatively speaking, illusions are not possible. Noxious weeds are the best choice.
However, upon thinking about it carefully, a strangeness filled Chen Tao's body.
When grandpa left the key to himself, he must have known that he would go there. Could it be that grandpa deliberately poisoned himself?
Is it possible that the old man wants his precious grandson to feel the warmth and warmth of the world?
Swallowing hard, Chen Tao rubbed the goose bumps on his arms and asked, "Uncle, what was under the car just now?"
"Alas..." Uncle Long glanced at Chen Tao with a complicated expression, then shook his head and looked thoughtfully into the distance, "That's something that shouldn't exist..."
"Something that shouldn't exist?" Chen Tao felt that he didn't understand. "Why did it attack us?"
"There are some things that are of no benefit to you if you know them..."
"But..." Chen Tao wanted to ask something else, but Uncle Long waved him away.
Depend on!
Chen Tao vomited three liters of old blood in his heart, and his outlook on life was refreshed again.
Something that shouldn't exist in this world?
What the hell, ghost? monster? Zhang Qi Ling?
What was going on with that weird hum just now?
Chen Tao leaned on the back seat weakly. After the fright, exhaustion and weakness surged up uncontrollably. I looked at the wasteland in the rearview mirror getting further and further away, and soon I knew nothing.
...
"Taozi, get up and eat!"
Chen Tao opened his eyes drowsily. When did he fall asleep? He got up and got out of the car, rubbed his sore neck, and looked around.
This is an ordinary high-speed service station, with vehicles of all sizes parked nearby. The place is not big, but there are a lot of people.
Chen Tao looked at his watch. It was already four o'clock in the afternoon.
Haozi smoked a cigarette and gave it to Uncle Long. Chen Tao didn't smoke, so he didn't give it to him. The three of them were bathing in the afternoon sunshine and moving their somewhat tired bodies. After a while, Shangui bought a few bottles of water and they were discussing whether they should go have something to eat.
After a long journey, no one had much appetite. After looking at the time and distance, it would probably take more than two hours to reach the destination.
Uncle Long blew out a smoke ring: "Let's go, we've already arrived, so we can give some clues. It will take a while to get to Blackwater Town." Then he turned to the mountain ghost next to him and said, "I'll come and drive in a while. , you sit back and rest for a while."
"Yes!" Mountain Ghost nodded in response.
"Come on, let's take a rest."
Uncle Long took the lead and walked forward. Haozi put out the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground and flicked it into the trash can nearby. The cigarette butt flew straight into the trash can. Chen Tao was stunned.
"sharp!"
Haozi raised his eyebrows at him and chuckled:
"How about it, handsome or not!"
"Yeah, handsome! But a little bit worse than me."
"I can pull you down!"
The three simply ate some wontons, rested for a while, and then set off on the road again.
With a full stomach and some energy, a few people chatted lively in the car and looked at the scenery flying outside the window. The journey was no longer boring.
The afternoon sun is warm but not dazzling. In the blue sky, the wind chases and tears the clouds wantonly. Beams of soft light pour down from the sky, coating the earth with a gorgeous golden color.
The breeze blows, the branches sway gently, and the grass dances lightly. It looks like the faces of beautiful girls are shining brightly.
Chen Tao couldn't help but roll down the car window, and a refreshing cool breeze blew in his face. It seemed that all worries and fatigue were ignored, and every nerve in his body gradually relaxed.
A big river appeared in the distance, which should be a tributary of the Yellow River. The wind wrinkled the surface of the river, creating layers of ripples, refracting the golden holy light, just like the glittering gold scattered across the river, dazzling the eyes of those who looked at it.
Chen Tao felt as if he was in paradise. Moments like this were his favorite.
Under the sunshine, you will feel endless power and comfort, and keep your mind sharp, allowing you to clearly feel the magic and magnificence of nature.
Everyone in the car seemed to be affected by all this. No one spoke. Everyone was quietly enjoying this rare comfort. Even the radio in the car seemed to be sensing it, playing soothing and moving pure music.
This feeling and scene are intoxicating.
When we got out of the highway, the sun was almost setting. The car walked along the county road, passed through the mountain tunnel, and turned onto a country dirt road.
"Fortunately, we came at the right time. It didn't rain, otherwise we wouldn't be able to get through this road." Uncle Long said.
The speed of the car was not very fast, and there were some bumps on the road.
Chen Tao held his backpack in his arms and put something on his stomach, which could alleviate the symptoms of motion sickness and make him feel vomiting. At least he felt a little more comfortable.
While walking, the car suddenly stopped.
Chen Tao turned his head and looked outside, only to see a black jeep blocking the road ahead.
"Mountain Ghost, go see what's going on." Uncle Long said.
Shangui got out of the car, went over there and took a look around, and came back and said, "Master Long, the tire of that car has burst. We are changing the tire."
"Oh?" Uncle Long looked at Shangui.
"They had two cars. This one had a flat tire. Several people were repairing it. The one in front was blocked."
"Who are they?" Uncle Long asked.
"It looked like they were taking pictures on a self-driving trip. The people in the car in front didn't get out, so I didn't feel like going over to take a look."
"It's a bit interesting to travel by car to a place like this..." Uncle Long said thoughtfully, looking at the black jeep in front of him.
"Then can we still go there?" Chen Tao asked.
"Well, I feel bad. The slope of the ditch on both sides of the road is too steep. The wheels can barely walk on it. If it slips, it will hit the chassis." Haozi said.
Uncle Long looked at them and smiled, "Shangui, you drive."
Shangui responded, got out of the car and changed places with Uncle Long.
The car was restarted and when they walked to the car, the people who were changing the tires stopped what they were doing and looked at Chen Tao and the others.
The people outside were all men, ranging in age. The youngest one looked to be in his twenties and was taking pictures with a camera on his back. The others looked to be in their thirties or forties.
Uncle Long rolled down the window and moved the rearview mirror on the right back to prevent it from rubbing against the black Jeep.
Haozi opened the window and looked at the ditches and tires outside. The tire was just grazing the edge of the ditch slope as it moved forward. There were piles of soil on both sides of the ditch, which collapsed when the wheels pressed down on them, and large pieces of soil rolled down the slope.
The car moved forward slowly, and Chen Tao finally saw the second car Shangui mentioned. Unexpectedly, the black Jeep drove forward a little and moved a few centimeters to the right.
"Huh? Make way for us." Haozi said.
When Chen Tao's car passed by the second car, Chen Tao saw a woman sitting in the back seat of that car. She looked very young, with long curly hair hanging behind her, and the setting sun was shining brightly. There are layers of light luster underneath. The woman leaned lightly on the back seat, and her punk-style dress added a bit of a different temperament to this woman.
Chen Tao once saw those so-called punk girls who wore thick smoky makeup and rebellious short hair. They looked like ghosts in the middle of the night. But the woman in front of her was different. She had a kind of beauty that they didn't have.
When Chen Tao looked at her, she was also looking at Chen Tao. The two looked at each other, and Chen Tao said in his heart,
"I bought that Buddha! Goddess, this is it!"
"Haozi, look, there's a mixed-race beauty in the car!"
"What, where?"
Hearing Chen Tao ask him to look at beautiful women, Haozi was surprised at first, and then he came over to take a look. He saw a long-faced man with permed curly hair picking his nostrils in the driver's seat of the opposite car.
The man rubbed his nose, glanced at Li Hao with his slanted single-lidded eyes, and stretched his hand out of the window to flick his nose.
"Holy shit, your sister! Chen Tao, are you a pervert?"
Haozi was startled and felt that his eyes were contaminated.
This is strange to say, that man is not ugly, but why does his whole body give people the urge to rush up and give him a slap?
"Oh, it's not that one, it's in the back, in the back!" Chen Tao was also so excited that he forgot that the car kept going forward. When Haozi looked, the two cars had missed the rear window.
Haozi hurriedly looked back. At this time, the car had passed the black jeep, and he could only see the nose-picking man shaking his head and talking in the driver's seat. He turned back to stare at Chen Tao, with an expression of hatred for steel.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Chen Tao said.
"Tell me, did you do it on purpose? Find a wretched man to disgust me." Haozi looked ready to strangle Chen Tao to death.
"Really, why did I lie to you!" After speaking, Chen Tao shook his head and said, "Oh, I can only say that you are not so lucky!"
Haozi gave Chen Tao a hard look.
Uncle Long laughed at the side and said: "Okay, okay, isn't it just a girl? There's nothing to argue about. We are almost at Blackwater Town ahead. Let's find a place to live after we get there."
The few of them said nothing. Chen Tao leaned against the back seat, as if he suddenly thought of something, and muttered in his heart: "Strange, why does that guy who picks his nose look familiar?"
After a bumpy ride on the bumpy dirt road, the car got onto a flat winding mountain road. Chen Tao felt that his butt was about to be smashed.
After getting on the highway, Chen Tao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I've finally survived."
The sun slowly sets, and darkness envelopes the land. Everyone entered the town and found a hotel to stay. The four of them opened two standard rooms, Chen Tao and Hao Zi lived in one room, and Uncle Long and Shan Gui lived next door.
After cleaning up, everyone cooked some dishes in the small restaurant downstairs. Everyone was a little tired after the long journey, so they ate something and went back to bed early.
A night of silence.
Early the next morning, Uncle Long called several people to his room. Shangui bought breakfast, and everyone ate while discussing the next plan. There was no table in the hotel, so Uncle Long spread out a map on the bed, and several people stood eating steamed buns and fried dough sticks while listening to Uncle Long's arrangements.
"This is a county-level map that someone got. Look, here is where we are now." Uncle Long pointed to a small red dot on the map with the words Heishui Town written next to it.
"This town has 6 villages within a radius of 15 kilometers." Uncle Long drew a circle on the map with his finger, pointed out the range he mentioned, and then said:
"Here is what the old farmer called Heizigou. If we want to go there, we have to go around these mountains. There are no tunnels on the mountains yet, and they are a few wild mountains. I asked about it and found that there is no hotel accommodation there, so we can only Live here and drive over.”
"Wild Mountain?" Chen Tao asked doubtfully.
"Yes, wild mountains." Uncle Long replied, "If there are really caves in such wild mountains, it would be more beneficial to us. There are no people on the wild mountains. As long as we hide ourselves, no one will find us."
"Yeah, I understand." Chen Tao nodded.
"The place we are here is a little closer to these four villages. We can start here and then go from village to village." Uncle Long pointed to several locations on the map.
"These villages are on this side of the mountain. We can sweep them down as soon as possible and then focus on investigating there."
"Why don't you go directly to Heizigou?" Chen Tao didn't understand again. His idea was that since the old farmer was from Heizigou, then he should go directly to Heizigou. Why go to these villages?
"One reason is that the old farmer said he was from Heizigou, but did not say where he found the bronze man. Moreover, within a radius of 30 kilometers, it is more likely that there are caves in these mountains, so we The center of our investigation is not around Heizigou, but these mountains." Uncle Long pointed to the mountain road on the map:
"The second reason is that Heizigou and another village are on the other side of the mountain, and these four are on this side. By going to these four first, we can quickly investigate this area and then focus on Come here. This can save time and narrow the scope." Uncle Long pointed at the map.
"To get from here to there, we have to go around the mountain road, which is inconvenient on the way back and forth. After we have checked this side, we can set up camp in the wild mountains. That will save a lot of trouble."
Chen Tao nodded, Uncle Long was still very purposeful and organized in doing things. But he had a vague feeling in his heart that if he went to Heizigou, he would definitely find something, although he himself couldn't figure out why he felt this way.
"Maybe it's some kind of misunderstanding on my part..." Chen Tao thought to himself, "After all, it's my first time and I have little experience. And Uncle Long is already a veteran, so it's not wrong to listen to him. "
"Before that, we have to do one more thing."
"What's going on?" Chen Tao asked.
"Watch the dragon."
"Watching a dragon?"
"Well, let's go and find a higher place."
This hotel has five floors, with shops and restaurants on the bottom floor, and the hotel starts from the second floor.
Several people climbed up the stairs to the top floor of the hotel. There was an independent small door on the top floor. After exiting, they were on the roof of the hotel. However, the door was locked.
Seeing that there was no one around and no cameras, Uncle Long winked at Haozi. Li Hao walked to the small door and looked down at the door lock.
"It's no big deal, it's up to me."
After saying that, he dug out his pocket and took out a piece of thin wire. He straightened it, folded it in half and bent it. He inserted it into the keyhole and fiddled with it for a few times. There was a crisp "click" sound and the lock opened.
Chen Tao looked on in shock.
"Haozi, have you been a thief in the past few years?"
