Chapter 1 The Answer

No one answered the question, but from the faces of the crowd, Fatty already had his answer.

Slowly, Fatty's eyes turned red. His memories of Lin Wan'er weren't particularly deep, but he knew clearly what this woman meant to Doctor.

"Don't be too pessimistic. I don't believe Lin Wan'er would die so easily." Jiang Cheng looked at Fatty in a comforting manner, "I know her abilities."

Hearing this, Number 13 bit his lip, tore off the bandage on his hand with a fierce expression, intending to use his ability again to divine the safety of Lin Wan'er and Number 3, but Number 2 grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"What are you doing?" Number 13 raged, "Let go of me!"

Number 2's lips trembled, but in the end, he didn't say a word. It was clear he didn't want Number 13 to waste his ability in vain, draining his life, but he didn't know how to persuade him.

Until Jiang Cheng looked at the hysterical Number 13 and slowly said, "Calm down, you don't need to do this. I know a place that might… be able to find them."

These words instantly gathered everyone's attention. Number 13 was like grasping at the last straw. If someone else had said the same thing, he might not have believed it, but Jiang Cheng was different. He was the one who escaped from that ghost dream. He might have obtained some clues from the ghost dream related to Mr. and the others.

"Really? Where is it?"

Number 13 couldn't wait to ask. In comparison, Number 2 and Luo Yunshan appeared much calmer, especially Luo Yunshan. The look in his eyes towards Jiang Cheng was filled with complexity.

Jiang Cheng wasn't talking nonsense. He slightly organized his thoughts and simply narrated the incident of seeing the Jile Lou (Paradise Pavilion) in Mount Xixie, focusing on the fact that the missing people had entered the canyon.

"You're saying those people are in the canyon?" Luo Yunshan frowned.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's necessary to take a look, and the sooner the better. It's best to set off now." Jiang Cheng didn't care about Luo Yunshan's thoughts. He just had a feeling that Lin Wan'er and the others still had a chance of being alive.

"The situation here is out of control. I can't make the decision. I need to report to my superiors before I can give you an answer." Luo Yunshan's answer was very official.

Fatty stamped his feet anxiously, "Old sir, by the time you finish reporting and wait for a reply, how much time will be wasted? Time is life!"

"I know, but I also have to be responsible for your safety. Commissioner Lin and the others may have already met with an accident. The situation in the mountains is unknown. Your trip may be like throwing yourselves into a trap!"

This time, Number 2 and Number 13 completely stood on Jiang Cheng's side. "We don't need anyone to be responsible. This is an independent action within our Scarlet Deep organization and has nothing to do with anyone else. Please issue an order to the troops stationed at the foot of the mountain to open a gap and let us into the mountain now."

"No, even if you want to enter the mountain, you have to wait until the matter is investigated." Luo Yunshan's attitude was very firm.

Number 2 slowly straightened his body, his face turning cold, "Old Mr. Luo, we are not discussing with you, but informing you. Otherwise, do you think the people under you can stop us?"

Luo Yunshan took a deep breath, raised his hand, and slowly pulled open his collar. This action instinctively made Jiang Cheng and the others feel danger, as if he was taking out a weapon.

But the next second, the expressions of the crowd changed, because behind Luo Yunshan's collar, there was a very small black thing, slightly larger than a button, which was a bug.

In a brief exchange of glances, Luo Yunshan gently nodded to everyone, but the words that needed to be said still had to be said, "I advise you not to act rashly. The higher-ups are also very concerned about the matter of Commissioner Lin. We need to deliberate carefully."

Now everyone understood. It seemed that Luo Yunshan was also acting under duress. After all, this matter was too important, and the highest authorities were monitoring the entire process.

While Luo Yunshan was calmly dealing with everyone, he picked up the paper and pen on the table and drew a rough map of entering the mountain, also marking some special locations.

With this map in hand, it would save everyone a lot of trouble entering the mountain.

In the end, everyone reluctantly listened to Luo Yunshan's advice and agreed to stay here and wait for news, and Luo Yunshan also promised them that he would notify them as soon as there was any news.

After Luo Yunshan left, Jiang Cheng looked at the words "Be Careful in Everything" under the sketch and couldn't help but sigh. People in the martial world were often helpless, but this old man had done everything he could.

Everyone packed their bags and, following the guidance of the sketch, came to an off-road vehicle parked not far from the camp. The car door was unlocked, and even more miraculously, the key was still in it.

Fatty found many supplies in the trunk, as well as raincoats, tents, and other things they could use to enter the mountain.

Fatty couldn't help but sigh when he saw these things, saying that Old Mr. Luo was a good man and would definitely live a long life. The group didn't delay any longer and drove off, because there was a pass on the car, they were unimpeded all the way.

Arriving at the foot of the mountain, after finding a place to park the car, the four got out of the car, put on their backpacks, and followed a small path marked on the sketch, avoiding the patrolling soldiers, and sneaked into the mountain.

After a long trek, they finally arrived at their first destination, the long-abandoned mountain stronghold.

After seeing Jiang Cheng find the hidden entrance with ease, Numbers 2 and 13 were completely convinced. They stepped into the cave. The scene inside was exactly as Jiang Cheng had described. After seeing the huge ice blocks and various instruments and wires with their own eyes, Number 13 couldn't help but sigh, transporting these things into the mountain was a huge project.

And the level of secrecy of this operation was even more terrifying. Even for them, the core members of Scarlet Deep, Mr. hadn't revealed a single word.

The tents and traces of life left in the mountain stronghold all showed that there had once been a team of at least dozens of people stationed here, and all of these people had now mysteriously disappeared.

After searching the mountain stronghold, no more valuable clues were obtained. Jiang Cheng, according to the mountain sketch provided by Luo Yunshan, combined with the memories from his dream, roughly determined the marching route of that night. The group continued to set off on the mountain road.

The mountain road was not only rugged, but after entering the dense forest, the tall and wide canopies blocked out the sky and the sun. Underfoot were thick layers of leaves, stepping on them, making people feel very uneasy.

"What's going on? Are we there yet?"

Having heard Jiang Cheng's description of the dream, Number 13 had developed a psychological shadow of this dense forest. He was worried about getting lost in the dense forest and, at the same time, something even more terrible happening.

But as Jiang Cheng confirmed the direction little by little, they arrived beside that hillside. Jiang Cheng pointed to the bottom of the hillside and told everyone that this was the place where those missing people had appeared. At that time, they were holding torches, uniformly raising their heads, with pale faces looking upwards. Just listening to Jiang Cheng's description, Fatty felt chills running down his back.

After determining the direction, they continued forward. This time, they found the last place Jiang Cheng had reached in his dream without any difficulty. Unfortunately, there was no valley there, but a large stretch of rocky cliffs.

The rocky cliffs were like a huge knife, cutting off their path horizontally.

"There's no road..."

Number 13's expression gradually became desperate. Although he also understood that the hope of finding Mr. and the others was very slim, when he really saw this scene and confirmed the fact, the accumulated fear instantly surged out.

Walking forward and touching the stone wall with his hand, Fatty felt the same as Number 13. He hoped that this scene was also an illusion, but the reality was real.

Number 2 stared at the stone wall for a long time. Finally, he stepped forward and placed his hand on the stone wall. A strange force spread out, a vibration with a strange frequency.

After a few seconds, Number 2 paused, then, as if confirming something, suddenly shouted loudly: "There's someone! There are people inside this stone wall!"

Hearing this, everyone was shocked and quickly gathered around. Number 2 was trembling with excitement. He pointed to the stone wall and said that he had just used his ability to penetrate the stone wall, and the feedback told him that there was a huge space inside the stone wall, and there were people in the cavity of the stone wall, not just a few, but many people.

"Then what are we waiting for? Find a way to blast the stone wall open!"

Number 13 said excitedly. They might not be good at this kind of thing, but Luo Yunshan definitely had a way. As long as they could determine the approximate location, they could notify Luo Yunshan to call in a professional demolition team. This was not a difficult task.

This time, Fatty was a little calmer. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Can you... can you sense more information? Those people... those people inside now..."

Fatty didn't ask the last few words, of course, more because he didn't dare to. He was worried about getting a terrible result. After all, so many people were inside the stone wall, and the chance of survival was very slim.

And Number 2's next performance also confirmed this, "They haven't moved at all during this time."

Jiang Cheng stared at the stone wall, slowly retreating. Fatty also followed suit. Finally, at a place about ten meters above the ground, Fatty took the lead in finding an opening.

The opening was hidden by plants, relatively concealed, but judging from the size, it was enough for an adult to walk in.

After discovering the opening, Fatty immediately put down his backpack and took out binoculars from it. This time, he saw it more clearly. The vegetation near the opening had been damaged.

"That's right, it's here!"

After confirming, Number 2 quickly climbed up with the help of the protrusions on the stone wall. Soon, his figure entered the cave. Then, a rope was thrown down along the stone wall.

Fatty and Number 13 were left below to guard, and Jiang Cheng climbed up the rope. His backpack contained medicine and lighting equipment.

The cave opening was not large, just enough for an adult to stand upright and walk in, but after walking out more than ten meters, inside was a huge cavity. The view ahead was unclear, and Jiang Cheng and Number 2 didn't dare to go deep. The two turned on the lighting equipment. Suddenly, the scene that appeared in front of them made even the two of them, who had extremely strong psychological qualities, couldn't help but feel creeped out.

In front of them was a huge space, thousands of square meters in size, the ground was relatively flat, and hundreds of people were sitting cross-legged on the ground, gathered together, heads lowered, backs to them, as if they were in a meeting.

But the cave was silent, without a trace of human warmth.

Jiang Cheng mustered up his courage and walked up, gently touching the figure closest to him. The next second, the figure seemed to have lost its support and fell backwards to the ground.

After seeing the face of this person clearly, both Jiang Cheng and Number 2 took two steps back sharply, and the horror in their hearts couldn't be concealed.

This person's face was greenish, obviously dead, but a dead person was not enough to scare Jiang Cheng and the others. What really made the two of them uncomfortable was the expression of this dead person.

His eyes were curved and the corners of his mouth were grinning, giving the first feeling that he was smiling, and it was a kind of enjoyable smile. In the last moment before his death, he seemed to be attending a banquet, and everyone at the banquet was happy, indescribably extreme happiness, even… this happiness should not belong to the human world.

Looking at the hundreds of densely packed corpses sitting upright, Jiang Cheng's breathing became rapid. That's right, he thought of the legendary Jile Lou (Paradise Pavilion) again. Perhaps… perhaps only the banquet there could be so soul-stirring, so much so that people were reluctant to forget it even after death.

Judging from the clothes of these people, many were wearing the team uniforms of the geological exploration team, and some were wearing professional outdoor equipment. The further they went in, the more bizarre the scene became.

And what made the two most vigilant was that in the very center of the crowd, there was another figure.

This figure was hidden in the shadows, only half of his back was exposed. From a global perspective, all the hundreds of corpses around him were facing him, giving the feeling that they were worshiping him, or that he was the host of this banquet!

One on the left and one on the right, Jiang Cheng and Number 2 slowly approached the corpse. Similar to Jiang Cheng's feeling, Number 2 also sensed that there was a problem with this corpse. More importantly, he suspected that this corpse was not dead at all.

The distance was getting closer and closer. Jiang Cheng and Number 2 stopped at the same time. Jiang Cheng vaguely saw that the corpse's body seemed to move slightly, and Number 2 stared at the back of the corpse, his brows furrowed, as if he saw something.

Jiang Cheng made up his mind, no longer hesitated, picked up a torch and threw it at the figure. The instant the torch was thrown, Number 2 finally recognized him, but before he could stop him, the torch hit the figure, the torch that seemed not very heavy actually knocked the mysterious figure down, and the side face exposed after the figure fell made Jiang Cheng's heart tremble.

"It's him!"

Number 2 rushed over, helped up the figure, and immediately used his hand to probe the figure's breath, because this figure was none other than Number 3, who disappeared with Mr.

Number 3 was actually surrounded by many corpses being worshiped, which was also something Number 2 never expected. There must be a long and complex story inside, after all, Number 3's ability was related to dreams.

Jiang Cheng didn't think so much. After confirming that Number 3 was still alive, his confidence was even more firm. He gave up on Number 3 and immediately searched around, but unfortunately, except for Number 3 who still had a weak breath, everyone else was dead, but the good news was that Lin Wan'er was not among these people.

Where did Lin Wan'er go?

He turned the lighting equipment in his hand to its brightest and looked around. Suddenly, when scanning a remote corner, a figure appeared in his sight.

The figure leaned against the wall, with long hair draped down, covering half of her face.