Chapter 3: The Empty City

"Why? It's obviously easier to walk here! Xiao Xia asked in surprise.

Mao Fu and Zhao Jiayuan didn't reply for a while, they only glanced at each other, Xiao Xia keenly felt that these two people were exchanging information with their eyes, and they were very sneaky.

"Yes, why don't you leave Yangguan Avenue behind, it's not a sheep's intestine path." A reporter from a provincial television station was on hand to help.

Her name is Liu Hong, and Xiao Xia are the only two women in this line, so her physical strength is weak, and she is not wearing simple jeans, white shirts, sneakers, and a ponytail tied on her head like Xiao Xia, but wearing beautiful suits and high heels, so she is tired and panting after walking most of the mountain road, and the delicate makeup on her face has been spent, and she can't wait for someone to carry her away.

"Besides, maybe it's going to rain soon, and I can't walk!" She continued, looking up at the sky.

At this time, the sky was even more gloomy, and there was a faint sound of rolling thunder. Everyone understands that they are lucky that the rain has not fallen, and if they had braved the rain to make it halfway now! But in the current situation, we can no longer count on God to save face, and we must make a decision as soon as possible.

"You're not locals, and you probably don't understand that you can't walk through a new town that hasn't moved into people yet." Zhao Jiayuan explained under Mao Fu's eyes.

"But what is it for? Like a gift, do you have to open it on a good day? Without waiting for Xiao Xia to refute, Liu Hong quarreled first, fatigue made her a little angry, and she couldn't care about maintaining her ladylike demeanor all day.

"It's not." Zhao Jiayuan hurriedly waved his hand, not daring to provoke the mouthpiece of public opinion, "We have a custom here, before entering a new home, we must hold a ceremony and invite someone to sing a big drama for three days, and then we will move in." This time we are moving the whole town, so the town has already studied the relocation plan, and it will be carried out next month. It's not that time yet, and if you rush in, you will break the feng shui and commit the taboo of the townspeople. Although we are all materialists, we still need to consider the will of the people. ”

"It's just passing by, what's the matter." Liu Hong didn't give up, turned her face to look at Xiao Xia, and sought an alliance. But Xiao Xia felt that since people had this custom, it was better to respect it, although she felt that Mao Fu and Zhao Jiayuan's expressions were always a little flickering, but she still didn't say anything.

"Okay, if you don't go, I'll go by myself. Anyway, it's just feudal superstition, and it's not forbidden by law! Liu Hong saw that Xiao Xia, who was also a woman, and the male photojournalist who was a colleague did not help her, so she was irrationally angry, ignored others, and strode in the direction of Xinzhen, not listening to the calls of everyone behind her.

"Let her go by herself, anyway, we are feudal superstition, she is a woman in the new era!" An official in charge of political and legal work threw off a sentence impatiently.

Xiao Xia remembered that his name was Wang Wenge, in his forties, white and fat, and seemed to have a good temper, but he didn't expect him to be the first not to dump the account of this beautiful reporter of the provincial TV station.

"We people here believe that there will be unclean things hidden in the empty place where no one lives, the new town has been built for almost a year, and it has never been lived, and it is still so big, if Miss Liu is not afraid, please ask for more blessings! Mayor Mao, let's go this way! ”

He spoke loudly, and under the transmission of the mountain wind, he smoothly knocked into Liu Hong's ear drum, making her stop her steps, standing there neither in nor in retreat, that is, he did not dare to walk alone in that place that might be 'unclean', and he was embarrassed to turn back.

Seeing this, Xiao Xia hurriedly played a round and asked Liu Hong to come back and be with everyone. She understands that it is of course easy for people to say that they are bold, but there are not many who are really not afraid and can deal with it calmly, she has only seen two people when she is so big.

Xiao Xia greeted two or three times, and Liu Hongcai returned to the army in a huff and continued to walk the mountain road with everyone. As she walked, she said how unlucky she was this time, not only did she have to climb the mountain but also got drenched in the rain, and she would never come back again. I don't know if she read it, anyway, the sky was just blindly gloomy, although the rain was thick but it didn't fall, but after her nagging, in less than ten minutes, an earth-shattering thunder suddenly broke out in mid-air, pouring down the rain mercilessly.

This time, the group was even more embarrassed, the only few raincoats were given to Xiao Xia, the reporters from the provincial station and the two reporters from the town, and the rest of the people, including Mao Fu, lined up and walked forward in the rain.

The rain was unexpectedly heavy, so that people couldn't even open their eyes, and it was like hanging a thick rain curtain all around, and people who were a little farther away couldn't see their faces clearly, and the mud and weeds on the mountain road were very slippery after the rain, Xiao Xia was okay, Liu Hong would fall after almost three steps, and in the end they all fell and cried!

"Hold on a little longer, there's still a short way to get to town." Zhao Jiayuan's shout came from the front.

Xiao Xia also never walked such a mountain road, and he was tired enough at the moment, but he gritted his teeth and followed the person in front of him, although the raincoat blocked the rain, but the sweat on his body also soaked his clothes, not to mention that his face was also full of rain, and it was not much different from wearing a raincoat.

She walked with her head bored, but she didn't want to bump into the object in front of her, it was Wang Wenge's back, and her back was also hit by Liu Hong behind her.

"What's going on?" Liu Hong asked annoyedly.

However, Xiao Xia couldn't answer, because she, like the people in front of her, was completely stunned by the image in front of her!

In front of me, in the gray curtain of rain, a town stood quietly in front of it, strangely clear in a blur - the boxy city, although it had no walls, had a gate like an ancient city, but it was only symbolic, made of beautiful blue-gray stone, simple and historical. There are rows of small houses with neat green tiles and red walls, and a tall tower above all other buildings in the center of the town!

Didn't you say you wouldn't walk through the town? Why did you go around it again now?!

"This is the South Gate!" Wang Wenge muttered, as if he wanted to explain it to Xiao Xia and Liu Hong, and as if he was telling it to himself.

This new town, which has not yet been inhabited, is to the west of the old town, so it is the east gate that is facing the old town, and it is the west gate that Liu Hong insisted on entering just now, and they have now gone around to the south gate of the city?

"Is there something wrong?" The photojournalist, who had been at odds with a local reporter, came over at the moment, "We don't walk through the town, and if we walk from the periphery, we will pass through the south of the city." ”

"This mountain road back to the old town has to turn through a small hill, and the new town should not be visible from this direction." Wang Wenge replied mechanically.

His reply was not loud, but it was very clear in the heavy rain, and then he remembered all the things just now—the dead fire of the car for no reason, the discussion about the uncleanliness of the empty city, and the sudden heavy rain, and everyone's hearts 'chuckled' and had an ominous premonition.

"It's me! It was my fault. Haha, I'm sorry guys. Zhao Jiayuan's voice sounded in front of him, but he was obviously lacking in confidence, his voice trembled a little, and his laughter was extremely dry, "The rain is too heavy, I took the wrong way, so I turned to Xinzhen." We'll go back if we go again. ”

Will definitely go back? What does this mean, can't they go back? Or did you fall into some trap?!

But before Xiao Xia could figure it out, the team moved forward mechanically again, and after walking for a long time, when Xiao Xia was about to be exhausted, the people in front stopped again.

Xiao Xia felt quite bad, and sure enough, when she looked at it, she found that the empty city they had been trying to bypass appeared in front of her again, and this time the blue-gray city wall had 'East' written on it.

It's the East Gate! Then they should go back to the old town if they go in the opposite direction, but when they turn around, they will find that there is a high mountain wall in that direction, and there is no road at all, and there is no way to the old town!

"It's my fault, it's me-" Zhao Jiayuan shouted again, but it sounded like a reflex, and it was not convincing at all.

"Alright, let's keep walking!" The photojournalist's loud voice was transmitted to the front behind Xiao Xia, giving the people who were a little panicked for a moment a sense of stability, although not completely.

His behavior couldn't help but Xiao Xia was a little impressed by him, originally she saw that the photojournalist named Zuo De had been haking Liu Hong, and looked down on him a little, but she didn't expect that at the critical moment, he showed a bit of man's courage.

The team moved again, but this time Natsu kept an eye on it. Seeing that the scenery around her hadn't changed much, she began to wonder if they had stayed where they were walking around, and decided to make a mark. She had nothing else on her, so she had to tear off the twisted filigree and tie it to the branch. Unexpectedly, the trees here were so tall that she couldn't reach them, but fortunately, Zuode helped her.

He was probably because he was going to accompany Liu Hong, who started crying, and now he was following closely behind Xiao Xia.

"Don't come out no matter what happens! Something secretly contacted! She whispered to the bracelet.

If there is danger and Ah Bai comes out to save her, then other people will know about Ah Bai's existence, which may be unfavorable to Ah Bai, so it's better to be cautious!

At this time, the sky was getting darker and darker, and there was no light of stars and moon in the heavy rain, and a group of people staggered forward almost with a flashlight that was only available to every other person.

Xiao Xia followed behind dizzily, only to hear a 'ah' cry, and six flashlights shone in one direction in an instant—Xinzhen appeared in the rain again, but this time it was the North Gate!

Seeing this, Xiao Xia immediately looked around, Zuo De's flashlight followed her gaze, and sure enough, she saw a fluttering thing on the branches of the two trees growing close to her, and it was the beautiful multicolored twist filament!

Sure enough, they were spinning in place, either they got lost in the rainy night, or they encountered a long-lost ghost hitting the wall! But what about the city? Why do they stay where they are, but they see different doors? Is it an illusion or is the city alive, it will spin on its own?!

Xiao Xia was thinking about it, and he felt pushed by Liu Hong behind him, it turned out that the team started to leave again, this time there was no one to call, and they walked up automatically, probably this situation made everyone panic, and subconsciously wanted to escape, so they walked without thinking.

Xiao Xia was caught in the middle of the team, passively following behind, although he felt that something was wrong, but his brain was frozen and couldn't turn away, until he saw the silk thread that made the mark again, and at the same time saw the west gate of this town!

"Ahh

Liu Hong wailed, sat on the ground, hugged Zuo De's leg and began to cry for the third time tonight, but this time it was a frightened cry.

"I'm afraid! I'm afraid! Her delicate voice was poignant and hissing at this time, and her cry hooked out the fear and uneasiness in everyone's hearts, although there was no shouting out of control, but the scene was also unstable!

If people's hearts are scattered, danger will take advantage of the situation, which will invisibly increase the index of people's harm, so unity and composure are the most important things at this moment!

"Don't cry! Let's get together! Zuo De shouted again, and the person who seemed to be gentle was very stern.

When the others were in the midst of the six gods and no masters, they immediately quieted down a little when they heard him shout.

"Now we stay where we are, and we can't get out if we continue to run, it will only be in vain." Zode said loudly, "Sit together, the light shines outside, don't panic if anything happens!" ”

"I agree!" In order to strengthen the reliability of Zuo De's words, Xiao Xia immediately followed.

"Well, I agree." After being silent for a while, Mao Fu, who had not spoken, also answered, and then came to Zuo De's side.

As soon as he moved, the others also sat on the ground one after another, and the people in raincoats took off their raincoats, so that everyone could take shelter from the rain with their hands raised, and extinguished three flashlights as instructed to save electricity, and the other three were facing the outside.

It's dark now, but it's not even ten o'clock when I look at my watch. Even though they've been gone for four hours, there's still a long night waiting for them, and something to light must be kept!

Everything was arranged, Xiao Xia looked at Zuo De, who was still standing there, hoping that he could help her take the twist silk off the tree, which was given to her by Ruan Zhan, although it was not valuable, she didn't want to lose it.

Zuo De understood what she meant, and reached for the branch, but as soon as he staggered, Xiao Xia saw a black shadow standing behind him!

The black shadow couldn't see clearly, the whole body was black, just standing there in the dark night of the wind and rain, fluttering, unnoticed, and I don't know how long it had been standing, so that people couldn't tell whether it was an entity or a shadow, and Xiao Xia couldn't figure out whether it was only she who saw the black shadow or everyone could see it!

And just when she was so frightened that she couldn't even speak, the black shadow floated towards them!

Xiao Xia stretched out her hand and pointed at Zuo De's back, wanting to warn him, but at this time she found that she was speechless, not because of herself, but as if she was covered by something; She wanted to jump up to save people, but found that her body couldn't move! At the moment, she couldn't do anything, she could only look at Zuode anxiously!

Zuo De saw that Xiao Xia's expression was different, and he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, his hand slowly fell from mid-air, and then he realized what was the same, and suddenly turned his head!

...