Chapter 1, The Journey of the Shen Chimney Stand

Lin Luxian has always had the same dream every once in a while since he was a child, and since he can remember. In a place where there are dark clouds and no sunlight, there is a huge cylindrical tower. The diameter and width of the tower are 50 meters, the tower has 13 floors, each floor is nearly 30 meters high, and each floor of the tower has a window. From the bottom up, you can't see what's inside this giant circular tower. Every time he looked up from under the tower, he would suddenly enter the tower. He didn't write how many floors there were in the tower, but his intuition told him that this was the twelfth floor of the tower! He climbed up the stone staircase that spiraled up against the wall, and when he reached the end of the stairs, there was a closed iron door above his head, and the iron door led to the top of the tower, that is, the thirteenth floor! Lin Luxian raised his hands and pushed open the iron door above his head, but the moment the iron door opened, this dream would wake up!

Liaozhou Mainland 2023, modern, Lin Luxian was born in Guangqin City, a third-tier city, his parents divorced very early and lived separately, Lin Luxian grew up in his aunt's house. Lin Luxian didn't go to college, and after graduating from high school, he found a job outside, that is, helping pets bathe in a pet store, and he could get a fixed salary of 3,000 yuan a month, just enough to support himself.

But some cats and dogs don't like to take a bath, and when they take a bath, they either resist or run away. But these restless pets came to Lin Luxian's hands, and after Lin Luxian's appeasement, they became unusually obedient, which made Lin Luxian's work relatively smooth, Lin Luxian worked in the pet store for four years, and customers were relieved to hand over their pets to Lin Luxian for bathing, but the pet store owner never gave Lin Luxian a salary increase, which made Lin Luxian unhappy, and gradually had the idea of wanting to change jobs.

At ten o'clock in the evening, Lin Luxian got off work, and just after riding an electric car for a long time, he scratched an oncoming car, and the owner hurriedly got out of the car to stop Lin Luxian and prevent him from leaving. In the end, after Lin Luxian took out a thousand yuan, the owner of the car gave up! After Lin Luxian returned to his aunt's house, he lamented in the room that he was unlucky.

Early the next morning, Lin Luxian found that the battery of the electric car parked outside had been stolen! He had no choice but to run to work in a hurry, and he didn't even have time to eat breakfast.

When Lin Luxian came to the pet store where he went to work out of breath, he had to deduct 300 yuan of his salary because he was two minutes late! Lin Luxian sighed in his heart that fate was unfair. But what he didn't expect was that when people were unlucky, bad things would line up to knock on the door...

In the afternoon, when Lin Luxian had just finished bathing a cat and handed the cat to its owner, the cat began to struggle desperately, and its owner grabbed it hard, but was scratched by its claws. The angry cat owner blames Lin Luxian for his fault, and despite Lin Luxian's efforts to explain, he is eventually fired by the pet shop owner!

Lin Luxian walked on the street, feeling angry and puzzled. When most people are in a bad mood, the more they think about anything, the more extreme they become, and the more they think about it, the more pessimistic they become, and the same is true for Lin Luxian. When Lin Luxian thought of his life experience, his parents didn't want to raise him, so they abandoned him and went their separate ways, and he himself only went to high school because he had no money to go to college. And the conditions of my aunt's family are not very good. Lin Luxian thought about it again, he didn't have a girlfriend, he had been a single dog for many years, after all, who would fancy a poor man? And now, not only did he not save much money, but he lost a lot of money because of the events of the past two days! It's good now! Even lost his job...

It was the early summer of June, Lin Luxian was walking on the street in a daze, he didn't dare to look at the gorgeously dressed beauties on the road, because he knew that no matter how much he longed, it would be a fantasy after all! He felt inferior in his heart that he was not worthy of others.

While passing by a store, Lin Luxian was thirsty, and he took out a one-yuan coin in his pocket to buy a bottle of water to drink. But after thinking about it, I was so unlucky, so I might as well pay two more yuan to buy a bottle of Coke to drink!

Coming out of the store, Lin Luxian unscrewed the cap of the Coke bottle, took a look, and found that he had won the first prize! Shen Yanjia seven-day tour! All hotel accommodation expenses and round-trip air tickets were reimbursed by the event organizer! Lin Luxian couldn't cry or laugh, he sighed that his luck was always used in inconsequential aspects, and he hesitated in his heart whether to go to the event dealer to redeem the prize, or throw away the bottle cap? Let whoever picks it up get it... After thinking for a while, he still decided to go to Shen Yanjia for a seven-day tour, after all, he was already an idler.

Lin Luxian told his aunt that he was going to travel, and his aunt's family was supportive, and his aunt also felt that he was really too busy with work and really needed to relax.

A few days later, when it was the scheduled date of the event, after saying goodbye to his aunt, uncle and cousin at the airport, Lin Luxian got on the plane alone. A few hours later, the plane arrived at the station and landed, and Lin Luxian met Lao Bai, the person in charge of the event organizer, at Shenyanjia Airport. Soon after, the other people who won the first prize also arrived, and Lao Bai arranged for all the people who won the first prize to live in the hotel first. Lin Luxian calculated, there were a total of twenty men and women, all of whom were young men and women of the same age, all of whom were about eighteen to twenty years old, and the oldest was about twenty-two years old.

The next day from the hotel, a group of people took the shuttle bus to the Shenyanjia Scenic Area, along the way everyone talked and laughed, even Lin Luxian, who had some inferiority, slowly became active, he met Huo Qibing, the oldest boy who sat on his left, and He Yunchen, the girl who sat on his right. Twenty-two-year-old Huo Qibing has a calm personality and is also tall, giving people a sense of security. And He Yunchen, who has a cheerful and lively personality, was laughing with everyone throughout the whole process.

More than an hour later, the person in charge handed over Lin Luxian and the twenty of them to the male tour guide Xiao Li, and then Xiao Li led everyone into the Shenyanjia Scenic Area.

Along the way, Xiao Li was talking about all kinds of information about Shen Chimney, including climate, altitude, temperature, and specialties. The group also went deeper and deeper into the vast mountain forest of Shen Yanjia.

Half an hour later, when the group of people came to a warning sign, Xiao Li stopped walking, and he talked about the rumors that had been circulating for many years, the legend of the wild man! It is said that many people have witnessed the tall and agile wild man, and some people have been attacked and taken away by the wild man, and their whereabouts are still unknown!

He Yunchen, who likes to play, begged Xiao Li, "Brother Li, just take us in and have a look, we won't go far!"

Xiao Li hurriedly pointed to the warning sign and said, "Do you see it?" It clearly says that the forest area ahead is dangerous, and it is forbidden to enter!"

He Yunchen then said coquettishly, "Oh, Brother Li, it's hard to come out once, let's go in and have a look, open our eyes! Anyway, the savages are just legends, besides, there are so many of us, are we still afraid that the savages will not be successful?"

The others also followed her and chimed in, you and I said a word, Xiao Li was annoyed by the noise, so he had to agree to take them into the forbidden area in front of him, and he instructed everyone "Then don't run around, I'm not responsible if I lose it!"

Under the leadership of Xiao Li, a group of people crossed the forbidden area and walked towards the depths of the dense forest, and after walking for about ten minutes, they came to an open meadow. The meadow is surrounded by dense forests and mountains, and the meadow is full of flowers of various colors, attracting many bees and butterflies, and even the surrounding air carries a faint fragrance of flowers. Then Xiao Li went to the dense forest in front of him to relieve himself, while the others were playing and chasing each other on the grass, and some people took out their mobile phones to take pictures and wanted to send them to Moments, but there was no signal in the depths of the dense forest, and they couldn't even make a phone call.

More than half an hour passed, Huo Qibing was the first to notice that something was wrong, and he said suspiciously, "Something is wrong, why did Brother Xiao Li go to relieve his hands and not come back for so long? Even if you have diarrhea, you should finish it!" The others also stopped playing and began to follow Huo Qibing to the dense forest ahead to find Xiao Li.

Everyone shouted Xiao Li as they moved forward. But Xiao Li was never seen, and there was no response. A few timid girls in the crowd became scared and wanted to call for help. But there was no signal on the mobile phone, and the phone couldn't be called at all! At this moment, some people in the crowd began to panic and clamored to go back. Regardless of everyone's dissuasion, I saw the two boys running back without looking back! Now everyone was in chaos, and they didn't know whether to look for the tour guide Xiao Li or return like the two boys who ran away. Just when everyone was arguing with their own opinions, Huo Qibing suddenly shouted loudly, "Stop arguing!

Everyone stopped arguing, and saw that on a bush pointed out by Huo Qibing, there was a tour guide card hanging from Xiao Li's neck!

Huo Qibing said to everyone, "Don't panic, everyone! It seems that Brother Xiao Li is near here, let's look for it further, we can find the best! If we really can't find it, we will also return the same way! Everyone must not get separated! We must follow closely! If we get lost, it will be troublesome!"

Under the leadership of Huo Qibing, everyone continued to march into the depths of the dense forest. But not long after leaving, Huo Qibing, who was walking in the front, felt a liquid dripping on his head, he touched it on his head, red, smell it again, it's blood!

Huo Qibing immediately raised his head, he saw Xiao Li's head tightly stuck on the branch of the big tree above, and his body was still swaying lightly with the wind, swaying slightly, looking like this, he was obviously dead!

Huo Qibing screamed in fright! And the other people who followed Huo Qibing also followed the prestige, and they panicked when they saw this! On the spot, two timid girls screamed and fled into the woods on the left and right, one on the left and one on the right! Everyone looked around left and right, and saw that the two girls who ran away couldn't scream, and they couldn't scream, and they chased after them, but they didn't know which one to chase? They split up and chased for fear of getting separated! So the rest of the people could only stay where they were, watching the two girls disappear into the dense forest...

Huo Qibing comforted the others: "Everyone, don't run around! Everyone listen to me! This forest is very dangerous! We can't go any further! Since Xiao Li is dead, let's go back the way we came! Everyone must not panic, follow one by one!"

The remaining sixteen people began to return the same way again, but they had been walking in the forest for more than an hour, and there was no familiar road, and then everyone realized that they had lost their way! Maybe the forest was too dense and disturbed people's sense of direction, Huo Qibing thought so.

At this time, the group was agitated again, and the complaints became louder and louder. Lin Luxian looked at his phone, it was already past twelve o'clock at noon, it didn't matter if they had lunch or not, the important thing was that they had been lost in this dense jungle, and they were unconsciously walking towards the depths of the dense forest!

Everyone used fruit knives or stones to mark the trees along the way, so that they could remember the way, but when they marked down all the way, and when they returned to check, they found that most of the trees around them appeared on the marks they had made, and the entire dense forest nearby, the trees in all directions, there were marks they had made, but they obviously followed a row of tree markers...

Lin Luxian had a terrible thought in his heart, and he said to everyone, "It seems that someone or something is secretly deliberately imitating the marks we made on the trees, so as to confuse us and let us go deeper and deeper in the forest!"

When He Yunchen heard this, she became more and more scared, and she whispered, "Could it be... Did you meet a ghost?"

Huo Qibing shook his head helplessly and said, "Don't talk nonsense, where did the ghost come from in this broad daylight? Is it the ghost of the legendary savage?"

As soon as everyone heard that it was a wild man, they were even more flustered, and everyone got closer and closer, because Xiao Li said that the legendary wild man is quite smart, and his IQ is also close to that of humans!

At this time, a girl in the crowd began to cry, and the whole team was in an atmosphere of terror. No matter how much Huo Qibing comforted and encouraged everyone, everyone didn't want to try to find a way anymore, everyone was sweating and didn't want to move anymore. Lin Luxian suddenly thought of making a fire, and he thought that he might be able to attract people nearby with thick smoke!

Liao Qianfeng in the team hurriedly took out a lighter, and then everyone picked up dry branches and dead leaves around, and some girls simply took out all the nail polish in their bags and lit the fire. Huo Qibing reminded everyone on the side: "Everyone be careful not to burn the forest, set fire to the mountain, you will be fined and imprisoned! Control it, don't let the fire spread!"

Liao Qianfeng was dissatisfied and said, "Our lives are almost gone! If we don't burn the fire bigger, how can others find us?"

Everyone piled a bunch of things that could make a fire, set them all on fire, and watched the billowing smoke rise, and everyone began to expect that someone or a passing plane could find them. Lin Luxian looked at his phone again, it was almost two o'clock in the afternoon, and he said to Huo Qibing, "The fire has been lit, and a few people are watching, and they won't let the fire spread." You see, we've been missing for a few hours, and the scenic spot should send someone to search for us! Huo Qibing also nodded in agreement.

They sat there and waited for more than two hours, but no one came looking for them, and the fire they had made was about to be extinguished. Everyone hurried to find branches and dead trees to renew the fire that was about to burn out.

Until seven o'clock in the evening, the sky was already dark, and everyone was hungry, and the two of them in the team brought some snacks, which had already been divided, until everyone drank all the water they brought, and the anxious Liao Qianfeng stood up and complained loudly, "I just came out for a trip, I didn't expect to encounter this kind of! I really can't wait!" After speaking, Liao Qianfeng began to shout loudly, "Hey, is there anyone! Help!" Immediately after, two more boys shouted with him.

Not long after, there was a commotion in the forest not far away! Liao Qianfeng thought that the rescuers were coming, so he hurriedly ran towards the place where the commotion had just started! The others also hurriedly stood up.

Everyone watched Liao Qianfeng run into the dense forest in front of him and disappear into the darkness. Huo Qibing felt that something was wrong, he took a few steps forward and shouted, "Hey, Liao Qianfeng!

But Liao Qianfeng didn't respond, and there was a commotion in the forest not far ahead, as if something was moving quickly in the forest!

Lin Luxian also shouted to the front, "Liao Qianfeng, don't you see the rescuers, come back and wait if you don't see it, don't run around!" But everyone still didn't hear Liao Qianfeng's response. Everyone in the team was so nervous and scared that everyone approached the burning fire, after all, many things were afraid of fire!

At this time, on the other side, the Shenyanjia Scenic Area has sent search and rescue personnel into the mountain to search, and many people are leading search and rescue dogs in the mountains to search for missing people during the day. However, Shenyanjia is full of mountains, high mountains and dense forests, and the search is quite difficult! Even several helicopters have searched for a long time with searchlights on, but they have not found any missing persons during the day. And Lin Luxian's aunt saw the relevant reports in the news, she was anxious, and called Lin Luxian's mobile phone number over and over again, but she couldn't get through...

Everyone who disappeared in the forest survived this difficult night in fear.

At six o'clock in the morning of the next day, the weather was gloomy and foggy in the mountains and forests, which made Lin Luxian's situation even more difficult, and also made the search and rescue work on the other side even more difficult!

Lin Luxian and the other fifteen people saw that the mountains and forests were full of fog, and the visibility was less than 20 meters! They were hungry and thirsty, confused and panicked, they didn't know what to do, it seemed that they could only stay where they were and wait for the dense fog to dissipate before making plans...

After a while, everyone heard something moving in all directions, and the sound was getting closer and closer! All the girls were close together, trembling, obviously they were almost stupid...

At this time, the boy Tian Qianli stood up, holding a stick in his hand, and shouted loudly to the surroundings: "You monsters! Come on! Lao Tzu is not afraid of you!" As soon as Tian Qianli finished speaking, a smooth branch nearly two meters long with a sharpened tip flew out of the dense fog! The branch was impartial and stuck on the left temple of Tian Qianli's head! Tian Qianli immediately fell to the left, but was propped up on the ground by the branch inserted in the temple. In this way, Tian Qianli died in a strange posture, the body he was leaning on was supported by the branch inserted in his head, and the other end of the branch was also diagonally inserted into the soil on the ground, and Tian Qianli's two hands were still swaying in smaller and smaller amplitudes...