Chapter Thirty-Eight: Old Xiao's Story

"Don't worry, we have no ill intentions, we can assure you."

The man looked at us: "You are also people with status, I can let you in is to choose to believe you, what do you want to know from me." ”

"We already know the contents of the letter, and we want to know some more details, including your relationship with the missing man, and why he became abnormal and jumped to the cliff to save him."

As soon as I finished asking, the person frowned slightly, and Ji Ran glanced at me: "I'm sorry, this friend of mine has a very straight temper, she doesn't want to question you, she just wants to know the specific situation of the matter in a hurry." ”

The man smiled instead, and saw that he had a very good temper and upbringing, and he looked at me and said frankly: "It's rare that someone is really interested in this matter, in the truth of the matter." Actually, I don't want to say this openly, and I do have a lot of concerns, but I am afraid that some people will think that I am making up lies to get attention, and some people will question my behavior in the same way that she reacts.

Seeing that person jumping to the cliff with abnormal emotions, I didn't want to save him, because I was scared in the situation at the time, I hesitated, I didn't know what to do, his disappearance was reported to the police after I went down the mountain, my heart was far from the surface calm, and I was also struggling, after all, I saw innocent lives die in front of me, and I felt very uncomfortable in my heart. ”

"You can call me Lao Xiao, I am a photographer by profession, I signed a contract to work as a photographer in a fairly famous travel magazine, and in the last two years I quit my job at the magazine and became a freelance photographer. I love to travel, I like to explore different landscapes, and I'm a solo backpacker, but I meet random people along the way, and we will meet together to complete this trip.

I had long heard that there was a very famous spiritual temple on Mashan, which aroused my interest, and on the way to Mashan, I met a backpacker with a sad face, he was also alone, and we chatted a few words on the way, and we went up the mountain together.

He told me that his name was Lu Zhi, and that the purpose of my visit to Mashan was different, that he was very religious, and that he hoped that the spirit of the Spirit Temple would help him fulfill his wishes, and I didn't ask, because I knew that everyone had their own prayers.

We finished worshipping the Spirit Temple, and found that in fact, this Spirit Temple was only halfway up the mountain, we continued to walk up the mountain along the Spirit Temple, I didn't expect the scenery along the way to be particularly beautiful, I took a lot of beautiful scenery along the way, Lu Zhi told me that he also wanted to find a place to relax.

Before we knew it, it was evening, and we were thinking about going down the mountain, and we met a few backpackers who were traveling together, they came prepared, this time to get to the top of Mashan, they brought very complete equipment, and planned to camp here, and go to the top of Mashan tomorrow.

During the conversation, one of them told us that everyone is very famous as the spiritual temple of Mashan, and after worshipping the spirit god, they will go down the mountain, but they don't know that the top of Mashan is extremely beautiful, and they have a friend who once climbed the top of Mashan, saying that it is like a paradise, and there are beautiful horror legends, but it is not easy to reach the top of Mashan, and the more you climb the terrain, the more dangerous it is, so there are many people who give up halfway, but they are fully prepared this time and want to take this risk. Their conversation aroused the interest of me and Ludge, and Ludge and I did not go down the mountain that day, and decided to climb to the top of the mountain with these people. ”

Hearing Lao Xiao talk about this, I couldn't help but say: "I grew up in the village at the foot of Ma Mountain, and the people in the village often go to Ma Mountain to worship the spirit god, as for the top of Ma Mountain, there is really little mention of it, that is, when it comes to the top of Ma Mountain, there are rumors in our village, the legend is that the top of Ma Mountain is unlucky, there are evil ghosts there, and the scenery on the top of the mountain is extremely beautiful, like a paradise, and I have heard of it for the first time as a person who grew up there." Later, you came to the top of Mt. Ma, where is there really a beautiful paradise? ”

Because I recklessly interrupted Lao Xiao's words, Zhou Xuran glanced at me with a serious expression, Lao Xiao just smiled and took a sip of tea and continued to talk about his memories: "Our group camped on the mountainside at night, strangers who met in Pingshui, but they could confide in each other, the atmosphere was not bad, Lu Zhi has always been sullen, everyone who chooses to travel across the city backpacking has their own story, and when Lu Zhi arrived, he said that he was to say goodbye."

He has been in love for many years, and his girlfriend Xiaoting, who has a deep relationship, has successfully proposed, who would have thought that he died in a traffic accident, he was very sad and couldn't get out of the haze of this relationship for a long time, he began to travel around alone, trying to forget.

He said that he heard that the spirit god on the spiritual mountain was very good, and he prayed that he would have one last chance to see his deceased girlfriend, even if it was the last time, to say a final goodbye, and after he finished speaking, we all comforted him.

The next morning, after watching the sunrise in the mountains, we set off together and continued to climb to the top of Mt. Ma. It's just that the more you go up the mountain, the more difficult the road is, the road to the top of the mountain is not developed, and there are many steep cliffs, the danger of landslides several times is far more difficult than we expected, we have considered giving up halfway, but in the end we encourage each other to persevere to the end, the process is very difficult, the moment we reach the top of Mashan, we feel that it is really worth it, we are amazed, presenting the original natural landscape, beautiful, completely beyond our expectations.

What I didn't expect was that there were still several original residents living on the top of Mashan. There is really a kind of Tao Yuanming depicted in "The Story of the Peach Blossom Spring". These people do not know what the reason is, they themselves say that their ancestors have always lived on the mountain, guarded the mountain, they rarely go down the mountain, they are self-sufficient on the top of the mountain, they live a primitive and traditional life, these inhabitants are simple and kind, and they entertain us with wild game from the mountains at noon. ”

When I heard this Lao Xiao say this, I don't believe that there is a so-called paradise in this era, maybe when I studied Tao Yuanming's "The Story of the Peach Blossom Spring" when I was young, I felt that it was a weaving illusion that was divorced from reality, and there must be a hidden truth behind the illusion, this paradise described by Lao Xiao is definitely not so simple, I came back to my senses and listened to Lao Xiao continue to tell his story.

"Everything is so beautiful, but the tragedy that follows makes everything in this paradise so unreal. When it was almost dark, these aborigines uncharacteristically urged us to go down the mountain, and became very unwelcoming to us, they did not let us stay overnight, telling us that the top of the mountain has been a little unpeaceful recently, and that the monsters that their ancestors had guarded for many years have recently begun to awaken and appear.

We did not intend to heed the warnings of the aborigines, because it had been difficult to reach such a beautiful mountaintop. The night view and stars here are sure to be beautiful at night, and you can't miss the sunrise over the mountains.

The monsters that the aborigines talk about also think ridiculous in our opinion, here is isolated from the world all the year round, continuing the old customs, what age is it, and talking about monsters seriously, we laugh at their ignorance, frankly speaking, most of us who like adventure are atheists, and we don't believe that there are so many ghosts and monsters in this world.

We insisted on staying, they couldn't help us, they were also very helpless, it was dark, these people began to get busy, they used their firewood to pile up a barrier like a wall, told us that we could not cross the barrier there at night, only the inside of the barrier was a safe area, and those who crossed the barrier at night would definitely die, and no one could save them. And told us that we must get together, that we must not act alone, that it is best that there is no abnormality at night, and that if someone hears strange noises, we must tell ourselves to stay awake and not to be confused by the sounds, and when they say this, their expressions are very serious, so it seems very mysterious.

Those of us have been to many places, and we all know that each place has its own unique secret customs and taboos, which we usually don't believe in, but out of respect for ancient cultures, we all follow them.

We set up tents inside the barrier, lit bonfires, enjoyed the beautiful night view and starry sky on the top of the mountain, drank and talked, the night was beautiful, and the wine was strong. It was getting late, and we had to watch the beautiful sunrise at the top of the mountain tomorrow morning, and when the campfire went out, we were ready to go to the tent to rest, and there was nothing unusual during this time.

Every time I drink alcohol, there is something different from others, many people use alcohol to fall asleep, but I am the opposite, my mind is very clear. I couldn't sleep, so I sat outside the tent and sobered up. I sat for a while, I was a little bored, it was late at night, and I was about to go back to the tent to rest, when Lu Zhi suddenly came out of the tent.

"Why can't I sleep, but also come out to sit for a while, this place is really beautiful and like a paradise, I can't see enough of this scene, I really want to live in seclusion here, I am reluctant to leave." I got up and stood beside Lu Zhi to talk to him, and he didn't reply but talked to himself a little gleefully. I thought he was drunk, but I found that he kept talking, not to himself, but to some kind of conversation.

I smiled and patted him: "Man, you're not talking to me, you're talking to the air, don't be so weird and scary this big night, let's go back to the tent and rest." ”

Lu Zhi continued to ignore me, but became more excited, "Mashan is really a sacred mountain, it's really good here, Xiaoting, I'm so happy, I really didn't expect to hear your voice again." ”

On such a quiet night, in this empty mountain, there was no sound except Lu Zhi, I looked at him carefully and found that something was not quite right with him, his mood fluctuated very much, I was happy and sad for a while, I stopped and listened carefully to his self-talk, and was surprised to find that he seemed to talk to people again, and he seemed to talk excitedly to his deceased girlfriend Xiaoting who he had mentioned, I was shocked into a cold sweat, how can a living person talk to a dead person.

"Wake up, man, stop talking nonsense." But Lu Zhi seems to be still immersed in that world, we have known each other for less than two days, I don't think he is the kind of person who is nervous, nor is he drunk and crazy, I suddenly remembered what the patriarch on the mountain said, is there really a confusing voice? I'm not sure if Lu Zhi is in that kind of abnormal situation now, if what the patriarch said is true, then wouldn't Lu Zhi be very dangerous?